At last, a volume that relates the goal of the retention of biodiversity in managed forests to ecosystem management through the integrated considerations of the attributes of the ‘macro management’. Some of these attributes include tree species, dynamic forest mosaics, environmental gradients, edges, ‘forest islands’ and fragments, riparian zones, and wetlands in the context of forested landscapes.

The authors, then, delve into the ‘micro management’ of some important attributes of individual forest stands such as dying, dead, and down trees; vertical within-stand diversity; special species emphasis; retention of genetic diversity; and silviculture for both wood production and retention of biodiversity.

These approaches include restoration ecology, establishment and maintenance of forest reserves, and the preparation of forestmanagement plans built on producing wood fiber while maintaining biodiversity. This discussion of planning and management includes the critical elements of consideration of economic and socio-political perspectives.

Every once in a while, I pick up a book and think, ‘I wish I had done this book.’ This is such a book. This effort is both thorough and most timely. The editor and authors have done a most excellent job of weaving various related ideas, concepts, philosophies, and technical attributes of managing to retain biodiversity into a tapestry of interwoven relationships.

When I was Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the agency had embarked upon ‘ecosystem management’ in response to the recognition that the overriding objective of the management of the Federal Lands had become the preservation of biodiversity.