Habitat restoration is all about speeding up the process. It can take hundreds, or even thousands, of years for a climax habitat to be reached, and then a fire can start it all over again. The real trick is to avoid monocultures of invasives that really slow down the process. For me, getting a diversity of "desirable" plant established, and then seeing which ones thrive, is entertainment, especially seeing the wildlife come. I am no purist. The muskrats are kept at bay, so all my emergent plants don't get eaten to the ground, and stocking ponds so each has a different mix, is part of the management. And of course, there is the deer hunting!