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ENTS,
The recent discussions on forest health, restoration, and managing
for
old-growth are right up my alley. See, I have recently started
a job
in which I am charged with identifying specific locations on our
Southeastern National Forests where it is apporpriate to employ
timber
harvesting to further restoration causes. The hope is that the
efforts of the silvicultural establishment can be redirected to log
already degraded areas, start over in those areas, and use the
profits, if there are any, to address issues like controlling
erosion,
improving water quality, and controlling non-native invasive plants.
The areas that fit the bill so far are pine plantations. Here in
the
Southern Blue Ridge, most of those plantations would be hardwood
forests if allowed to regenerate naturally. There are
thousands
(maybe even millions) of acres of planted pine forests on National
Forest Land in the Southeast that could be a focus of logging
activities, rather than our diverse, productive, native hardwood
forests.
I am a botanist, and not a forester by training (though my father
did
own a sawmill). The personal resources I can draw on are my
education, research skills and lots of time spent in forests.
I know
what the forests of my region look like in many different community
types and all seral stages. I am hoping that many of the
knowledgeable
folks on the list, in particular the two Don Bs, could lead me to
resources to help in my restoration designs.
There are complexities in converting planted pine stands to hardwood
forests: Do seedling pines need to be controlled? How
about the
massive seed bank of pine propagules? Is pine root anosus
something
to be worried about in hardwood forests, as many of these pine
stands
are infected with it (no big deal really, it's a native fungus,
right?)? Is it advisable to log these stands when they first
become
commercially valuable (40-60 years), or to wait for an 80+ year
rotation time.
Also, are there other opportunities for restorative forestry that I
am
missing out on? What other opportunities are there to generate
revenue through forestry techniques, and restore native
ecosystems?
There has been a
vast amount research on such questions- you can find much in old
silviculture textbooks.
Do seedling pines need to be controlled?
You mention above-
"starting over"- here in Mass.- the state has come up
with the whacky idea that they must utterly eradicate the many
tree plantations established in the 1930s by clearcutting. I find
that policy to be extraordinarily ignorant. Some entire
plantations should be save to see how they might develop, others
should be thinned in various ways- maybe some very
"unhealthy" stands should be clearcut, but not all
clearcut.
If some pine seeds come
in, that's nothing to be ashamed of <G>. In the Northeast,
hardwoods "naturally" take over most "old field
pine" stands eventually, either after harvesting or not- as
the pines die off or get cut, they simply don't retain their
dominance of the site. Unless- the site is a true pine site, one
that is very well drained and not particularly fertile.
How about the
massive seed bank of pine propagules?
If on some sites, the
pine does retain dominance of the site- so what? Even though the
site may have been hardwood centuries ago- there should be urgency
to go back to 1500 AD. The idea that restoration forestry must go
back to some "natural" condition is over the top. If the
site is truly best for hardwoods, they'll dominate the site
eventually- struggling hard (and with extra cost to the taxpayers) to
have the hardwoods take over after the first "treatment"
is just silly, IMHO.
Some plantations, I
find very interesting- especially Norway Spruce- I happen to like
the species, yet on state land, they decided to wipe them all out-
in theory based on Green Certification since the species is not
native. But so what? They great trees. On the Quabbin Reservoir, I
saw a stand of Norway Spruce that the Chief Forester there, Bruce
Spencer, had clearcut- that's fine, but then Smartwood, when they
did their following review, told him that he should have wiped out
ALL the Norway Spruce plantations- a really crazy, politically
correct way of thinking.
Is pine root anosus something
to be worried about in hardwood forests, as many of these pine
stands
are infected with it (no big deal really, it's a native fungus,
right?)? Is it advisable to log these stands when they
first become
commercially valuable (40-60 years), or to wait for an 80+ year
rotation time.
Harvesting any stand
should never be based on some specific rotation system- it
should be based on good judgement of a forester on the site who
understands traditional forestry practices and the special
ecological needs of the particular property owner.
The trees (some of
them) might be valuable enough to cut in that 40-60 time period-
but trees aren't ready to cut just because they are valuable
enough to be cut- the right economic analysis is more about
"when the rate of return on existing value drops below
the owner's alternative rate of return". Some trees reach
that point very early due to defect and some don't reach it for
over a century- which is why even aged mgt., in my opinion, is
simplistic- uneven aged mgt. is economically and ecologically far
more sophisticated when done right- and it can include saving
individual trees forever and even some good sized stands.
Also, are there other opportunities for restorative forestry
that I am
missing out on?
All good forestry is
"restorative forestry"- the term should be abandoned,
and could be if all forestry actually becomes good forestry, but
that isn't likely to happen until more people make it happen.
Joe Zorzin
Oct. 1, 2007
Alright Joe, I guess I'll start by reading the old forestry
texts......
You know, a major difference between forests here in NC and those in
MA, is that in the interior Blue Ridge, on the bulk of the land that
is not on the escarpment or in river gorges, White Pine is somewhat
off-site. I basically agree with you that in most cases the
best
thing to do for the forest and the soil is to leave it alone.
Unfortunately, unless given a different mandate by Congress, that is
not going to happen on National Forests.
I suppose though, that some pines coming back into an oak-hickory
forest would be all right. Thanks for your thoughts.
Josh
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