Fundamentals of Forest Management Planning FOR 272 – Sustainable Forest Management
FOREST MANAGEMENT PRESCRIPTIONS Prescription = A schedule of activities for a stand, landscape, watershed, or other management unit Five key elements: 1.Statement of goals 2.Understanding of historical processes 3.Land-type classification 4.Treatment schedule 5.Quantitative projection of conditions and outcomes
I. Goals and Objectives 1.Goals Timeless statement of intent Statement of direction, don’t necessarily expect to fully achieve a goal 2.Objectives Specific statement of intended accomplishment Measurable, observable, has a reference to time, an associated cost, and is attainable.
Historical Context for Forest Management in New England
HRV Historical Range of Variability Figure from Aplet and Keeton (1999)
HRV Scale: Small Watershed Scale: Drainage Basin Scale: Region Hurricane Hurricanes Source: Aplet and Keeton (1999)
Stand Age/Structural Condition YoungMature Old- growth 19 th century Current Pre-Settlement Proportion of Forest Cover Changes in Age-Class Distributions 1.0 0
HRV Historical Range of Variability Figure modified from Aplet and Keeton (1999) using data from Cogbill (2000) Year Proportion of Landscape in Early-Succession
Pre-Settlement: 1600
Early Homestead: 1740
Height of Clearing: 1830
Abandonment: 1850
Old Field White Pine: 1910
Hardwood release and succession: 1915
Young hardwoods: 1930
Stand Improvement Cutting
Commercial Thinning
Shelterwood Harvest
Forest Cover Trends in New England Since European Settlement
Forest Cover in Vermont Data courtesy of Harvard Forest (2003)
Wildlife Population Trends in VT and NH Since European Settlement
Altered Successional Pathways Resulting from a Complex History of Land-use Figure from Foster (1992)
Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH Species: Abundance: Chestnut Elm Beech Sugar Maple Hemlock White Pine Red Spruce White Birch Cottonwood Pin Cherry Red Maple Functionally Extirpated Communities: Abundance: Old-Growth Forest of All Types Floodplain Silver Maple and Sugar Maple Rich Lowland Oak/Basswood/Ash Forested Wetlands Native Grasslands and Shrublands Forest Composition Sources: Cogbill (2000); McLachlan et al. (2000); Fuller et al. 1998; Foster 1992; Siccama (1971)
Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH Landscape Pattern Patch Size Patch Shape Complexity Fragmentation vs. Connectivity Bottomland Openings Ridgeline and Upper-Slope Openings Topographic Distribution of White Pine Topographic Distribution of Red Spruce Sources: Cogbill (2000); Mladenoff and Pastor (1993)