Landowner Tree Selection for Forest Improvement 2” in 10 years Peter J. Smallidge Cornell University State Extension Forester www.ForestConnect.info Welcome to everyone Express excitement for the nations first forestry seminar webcast series, installment #2 Turn “RECORD” on Introduce yourself Profile audience (13 states, plus Germany Average of 105 acres, high of 360) Allow for any early questions in the chat box. Poll #1

What I Hope You Learn Today Overall: how to grow healthy trees that make you feel good about your forest. Specifically: How your objectives relate to tree selection Factors to consider when selecting trees to cut and leave Strategies to remove unwanted trees This presentation will focus on what you need to know to improve the health and “outputs” from your forest.

Why Grow Healthy Trees Accomplish goals sooner and with greater control Timber production Wildlife habitat Wildlife foods Aesthetics Water quality Healthy trees are important for a healthy forest. A healthy forest provides many important values and is more efficient and less hazardous than a forest that isn’t healthy.

What makes for healthy trees? The outputs related to health require adequate tree growth. Sunlight typically limits tree growth. Cutting releases desired (uncut) trees from competition for sunlight. Individual trees retain their health by being able to sustain growth. Growth is sustained when a tree has a competitive advantage over neighboring trees. Some trees are naturally advantaged, other trees need to have the competitors removed so they can remain healthy. But, this isn’t to say that you have to cut trees, but cutting trees is necessary for ownership objectives that desire certain species and certain qualities of those trees.

One example of good growth following thinning Sugar maple: 2” radial increment, 4” diameter, 10 years Crown closure in a spruce plantation.

Does an action support your objective? Many landowners rate privacy, aesthetics, and wildlife as a primary ownership objectives.

How to Pick Winners and Losers You’re making an investment of time, money, and sunlight. Pick your investments carefully.

Pick Winners and Losers Based On…. Owner objectives for favored species (soils) Healthy crowns Crown class Species mix for soil Vigor and defect Spacing

The tree crown is the production factory. Trees are like a company or business, where growth depends on the ability to respond to opportunity. Thinning is an investment – physically, physiologically, and financially. Don’t invest in a tree (or company) that doesn’t have the ability to respond to improved conditions. When thinning cut those trees with small crowns, poor stems, or symptoms of poor health. The tree crown is the production factory. Don’t invest in a weak factory.

Favor for Crop Trees Avoid as Crop Trees From Nyland, 1996. p. 355 Thin to favor the trees with crowns in the dominant or co-dominant crown class. These make the best crop trees. The horse race is half over, who is winning and who should you bet on? From Nyland, 1996. p. 355

Know your soil type and the tree species that grow well on those soils Know your soil type and the tree species that grow well on those soils. Favor trees suited for the soil. You can’t squeeze blood from turnip. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ http://www.gmushrooms.com/Greenwood/Guide.htm Make investments in trees that are best suited to the site (1st) and that match your objectives (2nd). Sandy loam, good organic matter. Sugar maple, red oak, beech, white pine. Sand, low organic matter, very well drained. White pine, red pine.

Matching Species to Objectives Wildlife Species Red oak Black cherry Red maple Hickory Service berry White/chestnut oak Hemlock Timber Species Black cherry Sugar maple Red oak White ash Red maple White/chestnut oak White pine If possible, encourage a variety of species in your forest. However, don’t include diseased or high-risk trees just to add diversity. Note that many wildlife species also support timber objectives

Eutypella Weak Crotch Fusarium Nectria We have a fact sheet on tree health in the publications section of www.ForestConnect.info Maple borer Reduce defective trees. They have slower growth, provide inoculum, and are more likely to break during a storm.

Try to adjust spacing for equitable distance among retained trees Try to adjust spacing for equitable distance among retained trees. Not always possible. Sometime you have to make a tough choice based on spacing. By doing nothing you may hamper the growth of two trees. This is easier when trees are 6 to 10 inches, but the choice is difficult when the trees are 12 to 16 inches because the loss of one good tree won’t be offset by the growth on the retained tree. It’s best to start the thinning when the trees are younger.

Safe operations depend on your skill level and available equipment Safe operations depend on your skill level and available equipment. Most people aren’t as good as they think they are. Obviously select against trees that are hazardous. Be careful if you’re doing the cutting or advise those who do the cutting. Don’t undertake a thinning activity unless you have participated in a training session that teaches chain saw safety and skill.

A garden approach to forest management. Crop Tree Management http://na.fs.fed.us/stewardship Thin around the crowns of the most desired trees.

FTG = Free to Grow = 0 1 2 4 3 What makes a good crop tree? In this “cartoon” of an aerial view of the forest, the tree in the center has zero sides of it’s crown that are free to grow. Dark green crowns are potential crop trees, light green crowns are competitors of crop trees, and cross-hatched crowns are not competition with crop trees. What makes a good crop tree?

FTG = 4 = Optimum Growth 1 2 3 4 This tree has optimum growth.

FTG = 3 = OK for Adjacent Crop Trees 1 2 4 3 If two crop trees are adjacent, you can think of their crowns as one unit, and thin around that.

High Intensity Crop Tree Release Notice the number of trees with potential for growth.

Low Intensity Crop Tree Release This forest has a higher residual number of trees, and the trees that were released will grow well, but there will be less of an increase in growth per acre than with a more intensive application of crop tree management. The right decision depends on your objectives.

What to Expect from Correct Thinning – the numbers* Species Index % Tree Size Increase Author BE, SM sapl Diameter 33 Donoso Oak 35 – 100 Hilt Maple, cherry Cords 75 Hough N. Hdwds Diameter & basal area Marquis N. Red oak Diameter, precomm 85 Ward Upland oak Board ft. B. oak, r. maple, b. birch 50 BC, SM, RM Basal area 25 Smith, et al. * Most thinning removed approximately 33% of the basal area

What to Expect from Correct Thinning – general trends Positive effects Best growth response with High site quality Trees 50 to 85 years Healthy residual trees 30 to 50% growth (cords, board feet, etc.) increase Improved quality of stems Reduced mortality Improved live crown ratio (start with young trees) Diameter response in 2 to 5 years, varies by species Diameter doesn’t predict response potential (Leak) Response depends on intensity of cut

What to Expect from Correct Thinning – general trends Cautions Increase in epicormics by 30% (Marquis 1969), but little effect on butt log quality (Smith et al 1994) No effect on height growth No effect on release of low canopy trees

Directional Felling …”you decide the direction a tree falls.” Game of Logging for Landowners Don’t “chase the tree” Directional Felling Advantages Reduce hung trees Safely and quickly release hung trees Position log for extraction Reduce risk of personal injury Increased productivity

Should you girdle ? In areas you don’t often go, you can girdle trees to kill them. This leaves a standing snag, good for some bird species but not something you want near a campsite or picnic table.

Flame Weeding (research) Will kill trees Is USDA organic approved Some logistical advantages Economics are unknown

Herbicide Treatments for Thinning Cut-stump treatment [Misc. publications at www.ForestConnect.info ] Basal bark treatment Foliar treatment http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/UH174.pdf google psu uh174, #2 on list

Leave the losers to avoid damage to residual trees This landowner is teaching other landowners about crop tree management in his woodlot. He decided to leave the competitors on the ground, that is was cheaper to get firewood from other parts of his woodlot or to buy it than to risk damaging the crop trees.

So, should you thin? You should thin if You should not thin if Closed canopy and irregular crowns Dead lower branches No understory Disease and defect Slow radial growth You should not thin if Shallow roots and thin soils You see daylight Contact a NYS DEC forester for a FREE visit to evaluate stocking (number of trees per acre). Flag trees and have a DEC forester discuss your selection with you. DEC foresters will mark an acre to illustrate correct tree selection, or, will assess your marking with constructive ideas.

For More Information www.ForestConnect.info NYS DEC, public service forester http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4972.html Consulting or industrial forester http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5230.html Master Forest Owner volunteer (CCE) www.CornellMFO.info http://na.fs.fed.us/stewardship (crop tree management) Poll #2