Treesearch

Logging costs, product yields, and harvest revenues were determined for three thinning treatments (75, 60, and 45 percent residual stocking) and clearcutting in 60-year-old cherry-maple stands. The study area was logged by a three-man crew using chain saws and a wheeled skidder. Time study and yield data indicated that production rates and costs were similar among the four treatments. Production rates ranged from 18.5 to 19.3 cunits per day, depending on the treatment. Total logging costs, including felling, bucking, skidding, loading, hauling, and roads, ranged from $44 to $35 per cunit,...

The severity of future defoliation can be estimated from the percentages of basal area in oaks (Quercus), black oak (Q. velutina) and chestnut oak (a prinus), and in trees with good crowns, along with the average diameter of the stand. With information on these variables, the defoliation potential of any hardwood forest stand in an approaching gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) infestation can be rated.

Dutch elm disease control practice in 15 communities showed a wide range of time and material required to apply control methods. The median time used for each method was: sanitation survey, 9.8 hours per square mile; symptom survey, 96 hours per thousand elms; systemic fungicide injection, 1.4 hours per elm; and root-graft barrier installation, 2.2 hours per barrier (5.6 min/ft). The median amount of Arbotect 204 used for disease therapy was 13 ounces per elm. The median amount of Vapam used for soil fumigation for root-graft control was 3 ounces per foot.

This paper concentrates on the potential economic importance of Vermont's sawtimber. The timber industry employed over 9,000 workers in 1980, and the value of stumpage cut that year was worth approximately $459 million to the State's economy. Preliminary resurvey data indicate that sawtimber inventory now exceeds 14 billion board feet. Yet, sawtimber removals have averaged only 200 million board feet per year over the last 10 years. We used an input-output model called IMPLAN V1.l to predict socio-economic impacts of several sawtimber production levels. The results indicate that improved...

Board-foot and cubic-foot yields developed with the forest growth model SlMTlM are presented for northern hardwood stands grown with and without management. SIMTIM has been modified to include more accurate growth rates by species, a new stocking chart, and yields that reflect species values and quality classes. Treatments range from no thinning to intensive quality product management over a range of sites.

Analyzes technical and economic factors for six conventional logging systems suitable for operation in eastern forests. Discusses financial risks and business implications for loggers investing in high-production, state-of-the-art logging systems. Provides logging contractors with information useful as a preliminary guide for selection of equipment and systems. Discusses economic effects of harvesting systems on future stumpage prices and longrun supply of roundwood material.

Describes changes in limb-related defects on 18-year-old, even-aged hardwoods 6 years after thinning. Stocking levels of 30, 45, and 60 percent were studied. There were fewer defects per square foot of surface area in the higher stocking plots than in the lower stocking plots. The average number of live limbs decreased 83 percent in the unthinned plots and increased slightly in the heavily thinned plots. The results showed that frequency and size of limb-related defects are affected by stand density over a short period of time.

Operation and management costs for several dispersed overnight site locations and backcountry trails in the White Mountain National Forest were studied. Average annual costs ranged from $200 to $1,500 per mile for trails and from $0.35 to $4.29 per visitor for overnight sites. Average annual costs for trails and overnight sites increased with elevation and use levels, but on a per-visitor basis, high-use trails cost less to maintain than low-use trails at all elevations. Costs per visitor at overnight sites were less well defined. The method used in this study may be useful to backcountry...

Low-grade, small-diameter black cherry (Prunus serotina) timber was used to make System 6 cants. Cherry from the Allegheny National Forest (Ludlow, PA), west-central Pennsylvania (Glen Hope, PA), north-central Pennsylvania (Dushore, PA), western Maryland (Oakland, MD), and the Monongahela National Forest (Middle Mountain; WV) was used. The cants were resawed to-414 boards, the boards dried, and blanks were made at the Princeton Laboratory's System 6 pilot plant. By varying the rough mill procedures, differences in board quality and cutting bill requirements were accommodated keeping yields...

In System 6, small-diameter, low-grade hardwood timber is used to make blanks in standard sizes. Blanks are made in one thickness and one quality class but in all the standard lengths during each production run. The quantity of blanks per length can be varied, while keeping total yield high, by using proper production control techniques. However, when the percentage of long blanks is increased beyond 15 percent, yields of required blanks will drop-though total yields remain constant-and earnings will be lowered. We describe a procedure that can be used to keep constant or improve earnings...