Stephens State Forest, 2007

Stephens State Forest is actively managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Forestry Bureau to provide timber resources, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. The primary mission of Iowa's state forests is to demonstrate sound forest management under the principles of multiple use and sustainability. The forest is intensively managed through thinning overcrowded trees, harvesting mature, diseased or damaged trees, and planting trees in open areas to create new forests. Regeneration of the native oak-hickory forest is a major management emphasis