Silvics and silviculture in the southwestern pinyon-juniper woodlands

Southwestern pinyon-juniper and juniper woodlands cover large areas of the western United States. The woodlands have been viewed as places of beauty and sources of valuable resource products or as weed-dominated landscapes that hinder the production of forage for livestock. They are special places because of the emotions and controversies that encircle their management. Silvicultural methods can be employed on better sites to meet multiresource objectives and to maintain the health and sustainability of the woodlands. Silviculture must be based on an understanding of the silvics of the woodlands and their major species. Single-tree selection and diameter-limit prescriptions are being evaluated in central Arizona. Silvopastoral prescriptions that can maintain the tree component and provide for increased forage production and improved wildlife habitat are being tested in New Mexico.