RSB has been telling us that forest health determines herd health and that you can't have a healthy herd over the long term with having a healthy forest with good regeneration. But here is what Bret Wallingford had to say about forest health.
"First, all habitat quantity and quality, not just "forest habitat health" will affect deer health. Deer health depends on habitat because deer get their nutrition from the habitat in which they live. However, we only consider "forest habitat health" in making management recommendations.
Other habitat types can provide nutrition to deer, but are not a part of our "forest habitat health measure".
For example, in agricultural landscapes, deer can impact forest health, but forests are not the only type of
In agricultural areas, deer can impact forests significantly, yet still be healthy because of the high nutrition plane in the ag land.
So even if a herd is healthy, if forest health is not at the goal, then forest health is all that is considered in making management decisions to reduce the herd even more. Of course in areas with high human populations deer human conflicts are also considered , but that is a totally subjective way to manage the herd.