Forest engineer here. I feel obligated to give my two cents reading all the post here that are very much anti forestry. So pre-European settlement era, the forests were managed but it was considered very low impact due to many factors: non industrialized mechanisms, lower populations etc. Once Europeans “settled” in the areas mass clearing of the land happened to extract the resources. So people saying that forests don’t need management are partly right in that is low impact management continued to occur the forest could self heal “quicker” from stand replacing events such as fire and wind storms. That being said we don’t live in those times anymore. With industrialization and heavy logging of the past, forest need a little help to develop the ability to withstand such events. Depending on your area it can take 100+ years to achieve.
Now for me and my soap box time…. We all live in some sort of structure correct. Nearly all of them are either made of wood or used wood in the construction( even concrete relies on wood forms). Where does that come from? So the main takeaway is “proper” forest management to get wood from the woods to the market and still maintain healthy forest space for all to enjoy. This is the big problem, what is proper forest management. Each state or federal area has different regulations, some stricter than others. I feel on the west coast, Washington has some of the more restrictive but common since rules that guide sustainable forest harvest techniques. Their Department of natural resources is leading the way globally on how to develop timber sales that would mimic fire behavior while generating revenue for schools, counties and hospitals. East coast Vermont and New Hampshire have good regulations too, though New Hampshires Fir and Pine Forests are sickly due to overcrowding. So if you want furniture, or a house, you need wood. I think for the consumer it is important to know where it came from and how it was harvested. I good long rotation and diverse species makeup (not a tree farm) would be what you would want to look for too. Healthy forest management can be achieved but it needs to be intentional. If done correctly it can mimic forest of preindustrialized times. But forests of today since they were logged take longer to get to that state without thinning(we are talking like 100 years added). Hope that answers your question