An Idaho State Journal opinion contributor recently suggested a healthy forest is one that’s frequently decimated by severe fires and insect infestations, as if millions of acres of dead and dying trees represents an acceptable outcome. We’ve tried this approach through decades of “hands-off” forest management on federal lands. Today 28 percent of Idaho’s forested area is at risk of mortality, according to the USDA’s National Insect and Disease Forest Risk Assessment report.

The author argues we should tolerate these severe events because they happened in the distant past. Yet the forests we see today look nothing like those found by settlers. Pre-settlement forests were a constantly evolving network of open- and closed-canopy forests that experienced frequent fires smaller by today’s standards. Now we have unnaturally dense forests with smaller trees that don’t withstand fires as easily as they used to. These unhealthy forest conditions have occurred at the same time as timber harvests on federal lands have decreased by 80 percent.

How we respond to these conditions in our forests is up to us. Thanks to continually improving science and technology, we can use a range of active forest management tools such as logging, thinning and controlled fire to help restore forest resiliency and influence the size and severity of fires. But if we continue to take the hands-off approach, we are choosing to live with the results of catastrophic wildfires, insect outbreaks, degraded recreational opportunities and more.

Idaho’s elected officials have wisely made it a priority to increase active forest management, particularly on federal lands. They recognize that it’s possible to restore our forests and conserve our natural resources while providing the wood fiber that supports Idaho jobs and produces renewable, carbon sequestering products.

There are over 21 million acres of federally-owned forests, of which 12 million acres are suitable for active forest management activities. Nearly nine million acres of these lands are at high risk of insect, disease and fire mortality. That’s why the State of Idaho is utilizing “Good Neighbor Authority” to partner with the U.S. Forest Service to increase the pace and scale of needed treatments on our federal forests.

Through collaborative efforts, 4.6 million acres of these forests are designated for treatments right now. In addition to restoring forests and providing timber to support local economies, this work is generating tax revenues to support public services. It’s also proving additional resources to support wildlife habitat enhancements, stream restoration, fish passage improvements and road maintenance to offer better forest access.

Active forest management provides many positive outcomes including improved ecosystem health, enhanced recreational opportunities and a decreased risk of catastrophic wildfires. These outcomes would not be possible if we continued with the status quo of the past several decades, which allowed our forests to burn, die and decay. If we wish to avoid losing more of our forests to mortality, we should continue to encourage Idaho’s political leadership to increase opportunities for active forest management.

Nick Smith is the executive director of Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, an Oregon-based organization that advocates for active forest management on federally-owned lands.