I've come a little late to this discussion (been away on vacation with my camera ), but will add my two cents. I've found that forests are just about the most difficult type of landscape to photograph. The dynamic range is tough, and the aspect ratio of trees makes them hard to fit into a photograph in a way that works well. Given the difficulties, I think you've come up with an excellent photo that I like a great deal. I like the way you've balanced the darks with the sunlight. My only comment (and it's minor) would be to crop off the half-tree along the right edge, which I find somewhat unbalancing.
I've tried for a long time to get a good photo of a redwood forest (my favorite kind ) that really gets the feeling of a redwood forest across, and have only rarely succeeded. I recently got one, though, if you're interested:
{redwood forest photo}Lisa