Treesearch

Shelterwood cuttings on Swain Mountain Experimental Forest were measured to determine performance six to eight years after the shelterwood cutting and before shelterwood removal. Use of appropriate selecting criteria minimized windthrow of seed trees. Regeneration remained red fir, even where the major seed source was white fir. Density of seed trees may affect seedling growth only after the fourth year. Adequate regeneration can be attained and maintained at 25 trees per hectare (10/acre). In addition, the total number of seedlings produced each year was apparently not related to cone...

Established in 1946, the Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, Tulare County, California, is managed by the California Department of Forestry. It is a multiple-use forest with recreation as its primary focus, although timber management has always played an important role. Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl. ] Buchholz) occurs in isolated groves in the Sierra Nevada and grows on about half the acreage of the Mountain Home Forest. Old-growth specimens are protected, and selected young-growth trees are encouraged to grow to old-growth. Young sequoias are a valuable resource...

Management of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum,/i> [Lindl.] Buchholz) in Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite National Parks focuses on the need for maintaining and, where necessary, restoring natural ecosystem processes. Such a program includes restoration of natural fire regimes, mitigation of impacts from visitor use, support for basic research and monitoring, and careful evaluation. Research includes studying the effects of air pollution. Interpretation translates information on the ecology and management of giant sequoia for the public.

The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl.] Buchholz) groves in their natural setting are one of the outstanding scenic features of the southern Sierra Nevada. These groves where they have survived should be man-aged to protect their natural values and to restore former natural conditions wherever possible. Groves that are essentially intact should have the whitewoods removed that have encroached as a result of over-protection from fire. Pines and firs should be carefully removed to avoid damage to giant sequoias. Once natural conditions are restored, prescribed burning should be...

Wood properties of giant sequoia (Sequoia gigantea [Lindl.] Decne.) were compared with those for other coniferous tree species. Wood properties such as specific gravity, various mechanical properties, extractive content, and decay resistance of young-growth giant sequoia are comparable to or more favorable than those of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [D. Don] Endl.). It is recommended that giant sequoia be considered for planting stock in managed production forests to increase future supplies of wood having the characteristics so highly valued in coast redwood and other decay-resistant...

Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl.] Buchholz) is genetically less variable than expected; furthermore, it is less variable and its populations are less structured than are several associated or related conifers. Giant sequoia seedlings from open-pollinated seeds of isolated trees or from small outlier groves do not survive and grow as well as those from large groves, and cold susceptibility is related to elevation of origin. On the basis of these observations and other considerations, planting strategies for within and outside the native range are recommended. More information...

Very little information exists concerning growth and yield of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl.] Buchholz). For old-growth trees, diameter growth is the single factor adding increment since maximum height has been obtained. Diameter growth averages 0.04 inches per year in normal old-growth trees but will fluctuate with changes in the surrounding environment. Growth plots in natural California young-growth stands indicate stand yields of 629 board feet per acre mean annual increment at age 86. Planted European stands 76 to 122 years old have shown yields of between 285 and 601...

Logging roads are an important source of forestry-related erosion. The amount of erosion on a forest road is determined by the interaction between how the road is constructed and maintained and the environment in which it is built. The roads in this study were constructed with large bulldozers, and most excavated material was sidecast. The roads studied were constructed primarily for trucks transporting logs. They averaged 11.5 years old. Available running surface averaged 5 m wide, ranging from 3 m to 9 m. About 68% of the roads were surfaced with crushed rock, 15% were unsurfaced, and...