Early Seral Forestry: A State Trust Lands Perspective Keeping Common Species Common

Agenda Policies Planning as Related to Early Seral Stages Silviculture & Other Disciplines Examples Techniques and Field Craft SummaryThe Process

Tenets of The Trust Mandate –Prudent person doctrine –Undivided loyalty to the trusts –Intergenerational equity of benefits –Maintaining future options WA-DNRs Policy for Sustainable Forests –Forest land planning determines rotation age –Landscapes are issue driven WA-DNRs HCP –Multi-species entire Endangered Species Act spectrum –Adaptive management based Cohort Management –Enables managing single stands for multiple objectives –Identifies and manages objective-specific stand cohorts –Accounts for silvics of tree species

Planning as Related to Early Seral Stages Northern Spotted OwlNSO Landscapes –Longer rotationsAt least 50 percent of each landscape in structural stages –SO: Up to 50 percent of each landscape could be in early seral stands General Ecological Management (GEM) Landscapes –Shorter rotations –Most of landscapes in competitive exclusion or earlier seral stages KEY: Formulating and Integrating Objectives for: –Landscape –Unit-Rotation –Unit-Activity

Techniques and Field Craft At the Unit Scale: Cohort Management –Unit Rotational Objectives Represented by Distinct Stand Cohort(s) –Rotational Silvicultural Prescriptions (Chronology of EventsOver a RotationThat Best Achieve Unit/Stand Objectives) Include Activities of: Planting (early seral): mix shade tolerant and intolerant species Variable Density Thinning (VDT): retains a portion of early seral Variable Retention Final Harvest: around 15 percent left in late seral cohort aggregates; remainder is early seral At the Landscape Scale: –Ample opportunities – accidental or not – for early seral habitat –Sustain between 30 and 60 percent of landscapes in early seral conditions, depending upon landscape objectives

Summarythe Process Objectives for early seral management are defined and quantified by disciplines from whom concerns emanateObjectives for early seral management are defined and quantified by disciplines from whom concerns emanate –Unit-rotational scale –Landscape scale Foresters devise unit-level rotational silvicultural prescriptions that best achieve unit-rotational objectivesForesters devise unit-level rotational silvicultural prescriptions that best achieve unit-rotational objectives Foresters define objective-specific stand cohorts and plan their presence on appropriate spatial and temporal scalesForesters define objective-specific stand cohorts and plan their presence on appropriate spatial and temporal scales Activity objectives are drawn from rotational prescriptions with a focus on refinement of imminent activitiesActivity objectives are drawn from rotational prescriptions with a focus on refinement of imminent activities Landscapes are perpetuated in desired proportions of early and later seral stand conditionsLandscapes are perpetuated in desired proportions of early and later seral stand conditions

Questions?

Q&A Slides on --What is Silviculture? --Early Seral TTs in Older Forest Objectives

Silviculture & Other Disciplines... the art and science of cultivating forests to achieve objectives Thus, silviculture is the tool; it does not have its own objectives Objectives at stand and landscape levels must be expressed by their associated disciplines (i.e., wildlife biologists, financial interests, etc.) Objectives must be defined in terms of arrays of threshold targets i.e., discrete and measurable stand parameters

Older Forest Objectives: Some Retention of Early Seral Conditions Landscape: Sustain at least 50% of SOMU in sub-mature NSO habitat (i.e., 50% of SOMU could be early seral stands) Unit-Rotational: Attain sub-mature NSO habitat –Main canopy at least 30 percent conifer –Curtis RD > 50 for trees > 4 inches DBH –115 to 270 trees per acre for trees > 4 inches DBH –Dominant and co-dominant trees > 85 feet in height –At least 3 snags or cavity trees per acre > 20 inches DBH –At least 5 percent of the ground covered with LDWD Activity: VDT to average Curtis RD 45 for trees > 12 inches DBH –Vary RD by +/- 8 RD points over 85% of area on a scale of ½ to 5 acres –Create skips and gaps over 15% of area on a scale of ½ to 5 acres –Leave/create > 3 snags/ac > 20 inches DBH –Leave/create at least 5 percent ground cover of LDWD –Leave all bigleaf maple with 3 stems or less