text: [Themes: edutainment, socially important]
  
  In a quiet town in Southern British Columbia, there once was a forest manager. He worked very hard everyday tending to his forest estates to produce the best timber he could for his towns mill. For many years he diligently followed all the forest practice acts and codes, and his stands were lush and rich. Biodiversity flourished throughout, and all the wildlife lived in harmony. The people of the town all loved his stands; they would enjoy running, biking, walking their dogs and just relaxing in the understory. The collection of stands he managed, contained Douglas-fir, Lodge pole pine, Ponderosa pine and Western Larch. There were small pockets of deciduous species as well, but he was most concerned with the conifers. Everything was perfect in his small town and the people had the best wood possible for construction of their homes.
  
  [Author's Note: This game is intended for students studying Forestry, and specifically Pathology. Forest health is a concern to all stand level managers, and this is intended as a resource tool for managing stands in Southern British Columbia. This game is extremely serious and should only be played by those who wish to take it seriously.]
  
  > Decision #1
  But one day....Dougie, the towns mischief maker, approached the forest manager and said that while he was out poaching quails that he noticed many trees fallen over in a crisscrossed pattern. The manager thanked Dougie for the tip and headed out himself to further investigate.
  
  Upon arrival the forest manager saw a mess of trees down in a very un-uniform pattern with exposed root balls. He had never encountered anything like this. Typically during wind events all the trees fell in a more uniform direction. There were also white mycelial fans under the bark, mushrooms at the base of the tree, and rhizomorphs in the exposed soil. What disease should he manage for?
  
  > Armillaria
  Congratulations !!! The forest manager has correctly identified the disease and he can now prepare a management strategy.
  
  > Stump removal and avoidance plant.
  The newly managed stand looks great !!! The stocking standards meet the requirements and the stand is growing vigorously again.
  
  Just as quick as the forest manager finished dealing with the armillaria, doomsday struck once again.... While going for her daily summer jog through the forest Marise realized that there was a stand of young pine trees that were almost entirely red. As soon as she arrived back into town she ran to the forest managers house to inform him of her discovery. The forest manager was puzzled as he was sure it was not drought because of the unusually wet summer they were having... what could this disease be?
  
  > Red Band
  Congratulations !!! The forest manager has correctly identified the disease.
  
  Things went smoothly for the forest manager, his stand continued to produce a high yield of timber at a very high quality. The market was high and the mill was always in demand of his timber. He slowly took over a few more stands in the Southern Interior. However; with the extra land came more problems, and one day.....
  
  There was an ecologist in town to tour a group of forestry students through his woodlot. The Ecologist named Bill seemed very interested in a particular area of a stand where there were symptoms and signs of stem swelling, long narrow cankers and some black stain under the bark.. Bill asked the forest manager what was up with this forest? The manager knew that the pressure was on because Bill was a well known Ecologist and did not want to look foolish.
  
  > Atropellis
  Lucky guess, the forest manager is still respected by Bill, ands now only has the unfortunate task of finding a solution to the diagnosis.
  
  Now that the forest manager has Atropellis on his plate, he has to choose one of the following three different possible strategies for defense against the disease. Choose the best strategy.
  
  > Harvest and space trees prior to 15 years of age
  Great Job !!! The forests are well respected in the province of B.C. and the people of the town are supporting all the fine management decisions.
  
  But before the manager has time to enjoy his recent successes a warm, moist summer is upon him and the trees and understory vegetation are thriving. One warm morning, while out stealing firewood from a block Jim notices that there are small perfect diamond shaped cankers on some of the trees. The trees also has some branch flagging. Jim reports his findings back to the manager after taking his fire wood home.
  
  > Comandra
  Fantastic Managing, the Minister of Forests has asked for your autograph. But before he comes down to visit your stand you must implement a strategy to control the outbreak.
  
  > sanitize the stand, promote a mix and prune up to 2 meters
  The forest manager now has his picture with the Minister of Forests. He has now met all the upper echelon of the forestry society and hosts tours of his estates for them. Unfortunately, while he was wining and dining with the President of the CIF, the President mentioned that while flying over the managers stand in his private jet, he noticed a particular area with many large spindle shaped swellings in the canopy, and dense branching with clear over growth. The President offers the manager three options as to what it could be.
  
  > Dwarf Mistletoe
  The President is impressed with the forest manager and has asked him to join the CIF for a fee of $70.00 annually. The manager accepts the offer to join and becomes the Southern Interior Rep. The manager now has to decide on a strategy for the Dwarf mistletoe and his three options are:
  
  > harvest and plant a donut and mix species
  Outstanding managing!!! Finally, it's time to retire and pass the stands on to the future forest managers. As an active member in the CIF and all the Government connections made, the forest manager will enjoy his well deserved retirement and will live happily ever after.
  
  The End.