Since the 1960's, forest as weill as high altitude cattle, horse, or goat and sheep pasturing is no longer practiced. The impacts on soil and to some degree, the forest, are still evident. At present, game ungulate damage is more acute and obvious. Spruce debarking impact by red deer has been judged as especially problematic for forestry interests and sustainability. The forest estate owners counter activities and preventive measures like supplemental feeding and intensified hunting, are only partially successful in ensuring forest sustainability. With a decrease in red deer numbers the browsing impacts by roe deer and chamois increased. The intensification of hunting was less successful than increasing night activities combined with hunting. The forestry estate is characterized by frequent natural events like blow-down, snow-breaks, floods, snowless winters and dry summers. Past timber use and rejuvenation practices have repeatedly enhanced rather than prevented ungulate game damage. This was especially evident with preharvest thinning, which was not practiced to improve the cover to forage ratio. Pure forest stand, thinned stands and plantations of exotic species are a characteristic of Austrian forests in general, but are particularly common in Styria. Unfortunately, these practices make the forest stands more attractive to ungulates, increasing bark peeling damage. The result of this case study indicates a vicious circle of three interacting and mutually conditional forces: natural climatic impacts, traditional (spruce dominated) forestry, and ungulate game overabundance.
