Good Silviculture will Increase Productivity and Value over Time: A 72-Year History in a Northern Hardwood Forest
| Authors: | Kevin Evans |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Type: | Proceedings - Paper |
| Station: | Northern Research Station |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.2737/NRS-GTR-P-211-paper34 |
| Source: | In: Kern, Christel C.; Dickinson, Yvette L., eds. Proceedings of the first biennial Northern Hardwood Conference 2021: Bridging science and management for the future. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-211. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 168–171. |
Abstract
A 27,000-acre forest in northern New Hampshire provides a case study for evaluating the long-term outcomes of silvicultural prescriptions and cutting practices on forest growth and quality. This 214-year ownership has harvested timber since 1828 and maintained inventory data since 1947. The hardwood inventory data collected in 1947, 1967, 1986, 1998, and 2018 indicates that the practice of sound silviculture has not only upgraded products for increased value but has increased overall productivity allowing an increased sustainable yield. The study considers how exploitive cutting and diameter limit cutting in the early years led to a significant decrease in sawlog volume and an increase in pulpwood volume. The changing of silvicultural practices, in the late 1980s, to a single tree and group selection method, resulted in improved residual volumes of sawlog and decreases in pulpwood volume. Comparisons of consecutive hardwood inventories since 1947 show a significant increase in the amount of hardwood sawlogs and decrease in the amount of pulpwood on the property.