Arizona Forest

Restoration Products Inc.

Forest Ecological Restoration

Arizona Forest Restoration Products Inc. supports the forest ecological restoration principles developed by the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry (http://www.for.nau.edu/cms/) and the Northern Arizona University Ecological Restoration Institute (http://www.eri.nau.edu/cms/).

In the words of the Northern Arizona Ecological Restoration Institute, ecological restoration is:

"an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity and sustainability. . . . Restoration attempts to return an ecosystem to its historic trajectory.

Unlike previous forest management strategies, restoration seeks to work with, rather than against, ecological realities. In southwestern ponderosa pine forests, restoration recognizes that fire is crucial in maintaining forest structure. Only with frequent fires can the ecological values of these forests maintain themselves. But reintroducing low-intensity ground fire can often not be safely done until dense forest stands have been thinned."

Source: Ecological Restoration Institute http://www.eri.nau.edu/cms/content/view/647/843/

and it is urgently needed because:

"In the southwestern United States, most forests have been degraded during the last 150 years due to a combination of livestock grazing, logging, and fire suppression. As a result, many areas, especially in ponderosa pine forests, have become dominated by dense thickets ... Forests in this condition are highly susceptible to damaging high-intensity fires. Restoration of these forests centers on reintroducing frequent, low-intensity surface fires often after first thinning dense stands."

Source: Ecological Restoration Institute http://www.eri.nau.edu/cms/content/view/524/719/

One of the critical issues facing ecological restoration is that it essentially cannot be implemented in the current state of the forest and must be preceded by a sometimes heavy thinning of the small diameter trees that have proliferated.

But the low economic value of the small diameter trees for most applications has made it generally impossible to attract commercial operators, and the lack of public funding has made it impossible for government agencies to implement the required thinning on the required scale.

Enabler of Ecological Restoration

Arizona Forest Restoration Products sees itself as an enabler of ecological restoration in Northern Arizona. By providing a high value-added output for the small diameter trees harvested during ecological restoration thinning, Arizona Forest Restoration Products meets its three missions of serving the forest, serving the community, and rewarding its investors.

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Forest Ecological Restoration

Arizona Guiding Principles For Forest Ecosystem Restoration And Community Protection

Arizona Guiding Principles For a New Economy Based on Forest Restoration

New Mexico Forest Restoration Principles

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