The Cornerstone of Clarity

Evergreen exists for one reason: to make complex forest science understandable without stripping it of truth.

This year, much of our work focused on something deceptively simple and increasingly urgent—language. When terms lose precision, understanding erodes. When understanding erodes, bad policy fills the gap.

Two pieces from this year illustrate why Evergreen continues to slow the conversation down and examine how science-based forest practices are described, measured, and understood.

Featured articles:

• Eliminating the “Gold Standard” — An examination of proposed cuts to Forest Service research and development funding, and why the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program is foundational to understanding forest conditions, risks, and management outcomes.
• What Is “Climate-Smart Forestry”? — A research-based analysis that challenges common assumptions about climate change and forestry, explaining the roles forests and forest management play in moderating climate fluctuations by storing carbon in trees, root systems, and long-lived wood products.

These articles do not argue for or against a position. They do something more fundamental: they insist on clear definitions before terms are treated as evidence or guidance.

Clarity like this is not accidental. It is earned—through discipline, experience, and the freedom to question language that has become too comfortable to challenge.

Explore Further

If these pieces resonated, Evergreen’s Library holds decades of reporting that examine how language, science, and policy shape real forest outcomes.

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