Fire and timber harvesting are two major factors affecting the development of forests in the Inland West. Prior to 1900, wildfires burned at various intervals and intensities, regenerating and tending forests creating a mosaic of conditions. After 1900, fire exclusion and timber harvesting created forests that are overstocked with trees and prone to epidemics of insects and diseases and forest replacing fires. The tools and methods developed by silviculturists for producing high value timber products can be used to manage forests for sustainability. If forests of the Inland West are going to be sustained, some type of active management other than fire exclusion is going to be needed. These management activities can best be determined by analyzing large tracts of forests in both temporal and spatial scales. These ecosystem analyses can guide the development of silvicultural systems for the long-term maintenance of ecosystems.