Growth and yield of a managed 30-year-old noble fir plantation.

Abstract

A thinned and fertilized noble fir plantation produced 3,450 cubic feet per acre 30 years after it was planted in western Washington. More than half of this volume was in trees with diameter at breast height of 10 inches and larger. Current annual increment the last 6 years was 295 cubic feet per acre. Ornamental boughs have been harvested annually for about a 15-year period within the 30 years of the plantation's existence. The measured yield of the noble fir plantation was compared with the estimated yield of a Douglas-fir plantation of the same age; total noble fir volume was about 5 percent less than the estimated volume of Douglas-fir. The estimated value of the noble fir, including saw logs and boughs, could exceed the value of Douglas-fir grown on the same site 48 years after plantation establishment.

Citation

Murray, Marshall D. 1988. Growth and yield of a managed 30-year-old noble fir plantation. Res. Note PNW-RN-475. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 8 p