The following sentences provides examples of poor writing, why they may not meet landowner needs, and alternative ways to present the same information. Good writing is unambiguous, concise, and targeted to the primary audience.

Poor example: “There are no significant soil and water protection problems present on the property.”

Poor example: “There are no significant soil and water protection problems present on the property.” The Problem: Passive voice An Alternative:Soil protection and water quality issues do not exist, or only minimally exist, on your property.

Poor Example:“Maintain boundaries.”

Poor Example:“Maintain boundaries.” The Problem: Incomplete logic and guidance An Alternative:Maintain property boundaries by painting, blazing, or posting. Marked boundaries reduce the risk of timber theft.

Poor Example: “The woodlands of the property are a combination of hardwood deciduous, and hardwood deciduous mixed with hemlock forests in varying stages of development.”

Poor Example: “The woodlands of the property are a combination of hardwood deciduous, and hardwood deciduous mixed with hemlock forests in varying stages of development.” The Problem: Long, unclear, jargon An Alternative: Your forest has areas dominated by hardwood species and other areas dominated by mixtures of hardwoods and hemlock. Within these areas, some patches of forest are more mature than other patches.

Poor Example: “There is considerable white ash stocking in many areas of the property and much of this material is suffering from the ash yellows viral disease.”

Poor Example: “There is considerable white ash stocking in many areas of the property and much of this material is suffering from the ash yellows viral disease.” The Problems: Jargon, wordy An Alternative: White ash dominant many areas of your forest, yet many of the ash trees appear infected by the ash yellows virus.

Poor Example: “This [stand #2] is a well stocked site II stand with a basal area of 96 with 81 trees (5”+DBH) per acre.

Poor Example: “This [stand #2] is a well stocked site II stand with a basal area of 96 with 81 trees (5”+DBH) per acre. The Problem: Jargon An Alternative: …the rewrite should define “well stocked”, “site II”, “basal area”, and “DBH”. No units were provided with “basal area”, presumably sq. ft. Perhaps include a glossary in the management plan.

Poor Example: “This can be accomplished by pruning selected plants and removing any plant competition around them.”

Poor Example: “This can be accomplished by pruning selected plants and removing any plant competition around them.” The Problem: Vague reference and unstated criteria for selection. An Alternative Pruning the healthiest wildlife plants and removing adjacent trees will increase production of fruits, nuts and berries.

Poor Example: “Thinning and cull removal is recommended to improve growth and species composition in area 4.”

Poor Example: “Thinning and cull removal is recommended to improve growth and species composition in area 4.” The Problem: Jargon, passive voice An Alternative: In area 4, the growth and health of the tree species desired by the landowner will improve by cutting the low value, diseased, and poor formed stems.

Poor Example: “Density is typically measured as basal area in square fee per acre.”

Poor Example: “Density is typically measured as basal area in square fee per acre.” The Problem: Inaccurate and jargon An Alternative: Density is a numeric index that describes the abundance of trees. The density index is often reported as square feet of basal area per acre. Basal area is the cross- sectional area of trees.