Ecological Restoration Calls for a New Kind of Language

Abstract

In recent years, national forest managers have increasingly practiced ecological restoration in collaboration with local communities. However, in communicating with the public about proposed projects, U.S. Forest Service employees tend to use the technical language of silviculture. Such language is difficult for lay audiences to understand; moreover, because it originated in a timber culture, it can cause confusion about a restoration project’s true purpose. For collaboration to work and restoration to succeed in public lands, a new kind of language is needed; one that more clearly communicates the intended purpose of ecological restoration. In this article, we explore the kind of language typically used in national forest management and the need for something new.