Public understandings and professional management of northern Arizona’s forests have shifted with careful, deliberate attention to the environment’s natural processes and how human activity has affected them over time. The exhibit timeline has shown that forest management was once characterized by the extractive conservation of timber for industrial use. In recent decades, forest management has taken on a more holistic approach, considering all facets of forests including timber, range, fire, watershed, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and human communities’ place in the whole picture. 

From the 1960s onward, the story of northern Arizona’s forests has shifted toward environmental sustainability, activism, public forestry knowledge, continued research, and the promotion of the environment’s natural processes. Advancements in information and technology have allowed public knowledge to disseminate exponentially faster then before. As a result, the previously small, exclusive, elite class of scientists and policy-makers concerned with environmental matters has shifted to include the greater population. The public has become involved in environmental management and policy now more than ever through grassroots movements, forestry careers, and educational opportunities. Interests beyond the planned use of natural resources have been recognized as legitimate reasons for guiding environmental decision-making, including wilderness, aesthetic, cultural, and climate interests.

The value of northern Arizona’s timberlands is no longer the sum of its commercial value. Rather, there has been an increasing acceptance of humans’ place in the environment and the importance of forest health for the earth’s climate, making timber a priceless resource.