Years of research and practice have taught foresters that mimicking natural systems produces the most benefit to industry and the environment.

Foresters are working to return the forest back to conditions observed when settlers first explored the Sierra Nevada: tree densities of 50-150 per acre and large areas cleared by wildfires, which were less intense and helped also clear the understory, the vegetation beneath the forest canopy. Today we have 300-400 trees per acre, fewer large openings in the canopy, and a very dense understory that increases the risk and intensity of wildfires.

Forest managers are using controlled burns to clear the understory or removing that biomass for use in cogeneration facilities. Forest thinning and tree planting practices can bring densities down to about 200 trees per acre, which allows more robust growth and increases timber quality and carbon sequestration. State and federal regulations require that tree diversity be maintained inorder that habitat quality is improved.

Lower density forests with a well-managed understory also retain and filter more runoff, which improves water storage, water quality and flood control.