National Forests in North Carolina Jason A. RodrigueForest SilviculturistCAFMS, July, 2015 W.D. USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Part 1: Who, What, Where, Why & How of Shortleaf Management on the NFsNC Part 2: An Anecdotal Survey of Appalachian Shortleaf Management – Lessons Learned

The National Forests in North Carolina Nantahala National ForestPisgah National Forest Three Districts Nantahala, Cheoah, TusquiteePisgah, Appalachian, Grandfather 532,000 acres512,000 acres Established in 1920Established in 1916

Shortleaf Pine Management J. Rodrigue, 2015 C. Keyser, 2015

 European settlement hasn’t been kind to Shortleaf!  History: Desirable tree for home and ship building (1800’s)  Silvics:  Shade intolerant  Slow early growth  Sprouts when young  Forest Health  Drought  Southern Pine Beetle C. Oswalt t M Carter 2015

 Cherokee: Below 2500 feet considerable shortleaf pine scattered over the area. Cleared land regenerating to yellow poplar or shortleaf pine (1911)  Jackson: Shortleaf and pitch pines along lower elevations of the Tuckasegee River (1911)  Graham: Some yellow pine (much white pine) (1882)  Haywood: Yellow pine regenerating in old fields of western and central part of county (1911)  Madison: Shortleaf, pitch, and “scrub” occupy cliffs over the French Broad (1911)  Buncombe and Henderson: Shortleaf pine regenerating in old fields and cut-over areas. (1911)  Caldwell: (southern 1/3) has a uniform and heavy growth of yellow pine to the exclusion of every other growth (approx. 100 sq. mi) (1883)

 Vegetation Management (Restoration & Forest Health)  Landscape Prescribed Fire  Seed Production & Genetic Resources C Keyser 2015 V Gibbs 2015

 Management prescriptions (restoration) implemented in southern pine forest types between 2006 &  Most common prescription:  Commercial Harvest (73%)  Site Preparation (52%)  Slash (11%)  Slash/Burn (26%)  Chemical (12%)  Burn/Chemical (46%)  Mechanical (5%)  Planting (100%)  Release (51%)  Mechanical (17%)  Chemical (83%)  Site prep without release (39%)  Release without site prep (35%)  Received a cultural treatment (88%)

 Tree Planting & Survival  Averaged 235 trees per acre  141K trees planted (2006 – 2015)  Ave 1 st Year Survival = 83%  Ave 3 rd Year Survival = 74%  104K trees surviving after 3 years C. Keyser 2015

 Southern Pine Beetle (SPB)  Western counties have had greatest number of outbreaks. SPB Outbreak History Birt, 2011  The early and mid- 2000’s saw the most recent widespread SPB epidemic on the NFsNC, with outbreaks in WNC. D. Almquist

 Last outbreak from 2002 to 2007  Two approved options for suppressing SPB outbreaks: Salvage and Cut & Leave  Typical SPB Restoration Prescriptions:  Slash (100%)  Burn (94%)  Plant (100%)  Release (90%)  Chemical (90%)  Mechanical (10%)  Second Release (24%) J Brown 2015

 Restoration plantings averaged 207 trees/acre  Roughly 380K trees were planted from 2001 to 2008  Average 3 rd year survival = 71%  Almost 270K surviving to the third year post planting  Roughly 10% percent of the plantings needed supplemental planting. V Gibbs 2015

 Beech Creek Seed Orchard  Contains 3 blocks of superior shortleaf from southern Appalachians R Taylor 2015  Block 1: Established in the mid-1960’s (65 acres)  Block 2: Open pollinated block of NC families (5 acres) R Taylor 2015

 Block 3: Grafts of NC families (2013) from state- wide progeny tests (7ac)  In agreement with NC Forest Service (also developing replicates of new family blocks) National Forests in North Carolina also tracks/maintains several shortleaf pine progeny tests.

 Rational: Paucity of management recommendations for shortleaf pine East of the Mississippi.  Goal: To identify the current state of knowledge and lessons learned from working with shortleaf pine in the S. Appalachians.  Posed 5 questions to address that goal  65% Response Rating

 What key management strategies have you employed when working with or restoring shortleaf pine in the Southern Appalachian landscape? J Brown 2015  How did those strategies vary based on presence or absence of mature shortleaf?

 Use technology to determine proper site selection  Find existing stands and prioritize them  Low Hanging Fruit:  mixed hardwoods with minor shortleaf  Virginia Pine stands  White Pine plantations  known high graded shortleaf V Gibbs 2015

 Tract 2: Full Stocking, Shortleaf/Hardwood Mixtures/Woodland  Harvest: Two-age (leaving desirable species in overstory) Thinning (40 to 80 RBA) Shelterwood if you have good trees in overstory with understory burning  Slashing: 2 to 8 inch hardwoods or other competition from May through June  Prescribed Fire Use: (Site Preparation, mid-rotation, or understory management)  Late Growing Season (RH< 50% and damp duff layers)  5 to 7 year return interval

 Planting: (10x12, 12x12 for full stocking) (15x15 or wider for mixed hardwoods or woodland)  In conjunction with site preparation  Orient planting not to compete with desirable hardwoods  Release: A minimum of 3 or 4 years post planting (to start)  Understory: Sow grasses in the understory after overstory work is complete (woodlands)

 Plantations of loblolly or white pine or stands of Virginia pine that don’t contain shortleaf  Give Shortleaf a chance (but not too much of one)  Wait on planting and burn to control vegetation and then see if natural regeneration develops  Natural regeneration (seedtree/shelterwood) is erratic, insignificant, negligible  Planting under 40ft 2 /ac of reserve basal area is not advised  Establishing diverse grass and forbs requires a max of 60% canopy closure.  Choose to manage sites with mature shortleaf

 What were the objectives that you were operating under?  How did you measure success? J Brown 2015

 Generalized Objectives:  Co-dominant shortleaf supporting fire suitable for wildlife habitat  Regenerate low quality hardwood stands to more productive mixed hardwood pine communities  Reduce fuels and fire intolerant trees, regenerate SLP/oak, protect mature SLP  Have shortleaf standing volume, good seedling survival & recovery of underrepresented species  Successful Regeneration:  70% survival of seedlings, 3 to 4 feet tall after 3 growing seasons.  Shortleaf survival >75%  Keeping up with competition and well dispersed with desirable species  Forest Plan: Retain or create 50% shortleaf dominants (70% dominant in timber production management areas) after 10 years

 Restoration:  % canopy of yellow pine with scattered hwds  Reduced understory competition < 30% shrubs  60-90% grass dominated understory  A 5 to 7 year fire return interval (maintenance phase)  Fully stocked stands:  shortleaf or shortleaf/hardwoods  300 trees per acre, free to grow  Woodlands:  < 60% canopy closure  A well-developed grass and forb community  200 trees per acre

 What do you see as the biggest challenges in managing/restoring shortleaf pine in the Southern Appalachian landscape? J Brown 2015

 Natural Regeneration – Its still a mystery  Seedbed conditions for NR (timing)  Planning & implementing the complex sequence of activities  Restoration at the right site and scale  The entire community  Controlling competing vegetation for 10 to 12 years  Unwillingness of landowner to do necessary work  Finding labor to do intensive work  Managing for white or loblolly pine is easy, well documented and successful.

 Growing Season Burns (WUI, smoke, short burn)  Lack of hot fires for site prep burns  Burning and its negative effects  Burning too hot or too often  Fire use with seedlings  A fire free period  Competing objectives: (fuel reduction, fire intolerant stem reduction, protecting mature pine & oak)

 Shortleaf Myths: Inferior to Loblolly & more susceptible to SPB  Lack of current growth and yield or financial return information  Southern Apps: mature trees for natural regeneration are lacking or exist as scattered overmature individuals in a sea of hardwood.  Cost of removing species like laurel and planting  Lack of public interest  Generation of foresters without confidence or experience with shortleaf

 What are your key lessons learned when working with shortleaf pine in the S. Appalachians? J. Brown 2015V Gibbs 2015

 Shortleaf Pine restoration and management will work on the right sites  Dry sites below 3000’ feet (with or without fire)  Drier sites require less management  Shortleaf pine does well in mixed stands, where it appears most frequently  A yet underdeveloped potential for managment  Restoration of shortleaf is a long-term commitment (at least half a career)  Understory restoration can be expensive and challenging

 After site selection control white and Virginia pines  Natural regeneration has not proven dependable  Pitch pine is harder to find so make sure you can acquire them  Planting at odd spacing is hard to track for QC and reporting  Initially planting at lower densities may be problematic  Shortleaf seedlings will grow fast with good rain and competition control  Be diligent with cultural treatments including release (15 to 20 years)  Shortleaf is susceptible to snow and ice  Shortleaf responds well to thinning  Shortleaf growth habitats are more suited to long-term rotations

 Fire alone is not enough (fire, harvest, herbicide)  SP burn is critical  A hot burn in laurel can generate 30 to 50 foot flame lengths  Thick diff = good soil protection  Shortleaf will resist fire when GLD is > 4 inches and 15 feet tall  Burning under moderate drought, late in the season can kill mature shortleaf  Fire can reduce competition in the overstory  Also create thickets of hardwood sprouts  Desirable hardwoods (oaks) also require a fire free period.  Don’t count hardwoods in your stocking if you plan to burn too early  Fire use requires good monitoring, especially landscape fires.

 Do you have key references or management guides you use for shortleaf in the S. Apps.?  See handout

 Questions?