What are Non-Timber Forest Products?
Nontimber forest products (NTFP), also referred to as Special Forest Products, encompass all forest species other than tree parts used for timber. They include both commercial and potentially commercial species. NTFP is not a biological category but rather a political economic category useful for highlighting the lost value when timber is the primary focus of forest managers. Oregon’s vast temperate forests have both an extensive diversity and density of nontimber forest products. Examples of NTFPs in Oregon include wild mushrooms, ferns, ornamental plants, floral greens, medicinal plants, cones, and much more. Why are NTFP’s an important component to sustainable forestry? Essentially, NTFP’s can be used to supplement or supplant timber cutting from forests ecosystems. Even-aged timber management, the most common form of forest management in Pacific Northwest forests, typically contributes to a decline in forest health through reducing complex ecological systems to monocrop tree planta
