Why are NTFPs an important component to sustainable forestry? Essentially, NTFPs 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 plantations.  Active management for NTFPs on the other hand can potentially maintain ecosystem complexity and play an important role in restoring biodiversity and balance to damaged forests.  Furthermore, extraction of a broader range of natural resources other than just timber products can lead to economic diversity and stability for rural forest communities and the state economy in general.