Treesearch

Federal policy has embraced risk management as an appropriate paradigm for wildfire management. Economic theory suggests that over repeated wildfire events, potential economic costs and risks of ecological damage are optimally balanced when management decisions are free from biases, risk aversion, and risk seeking. Of primary concern in this article is how managers respond to wildfire risk, including the potential effect of wildfires (on ecological values, structures, and safety) and the likelihood of different fire outcomes. We use responses to a choice experiment questionnaire of U.S....

Optimizing fertilization programs in the nursery and field may help improve regeneration and restoration of temperate deciduous hardwoods. Our research program has demonstrated the applicability of nutrient loading in fine hardwood systems to promote seedling uptake and storage of nutrients during the nursery phase. We also have shown the benefits of nutrient loading for subsequent seedling establishment under a wide range of transplant conditions.

Wildfire management in the United States and elsewhere is challenged by substantial uncertainty regarding the location and timing of fire events, the socioeconomic and ecological consequences of these events, and the costs of suppression. Escalating U.S. Forest Service suppression expenditures is of particular concern at a time of fiscal austerity as swelling fire management budgets lead to decreases for non-fire programs, and as the likelihood of disruptive within-season borrowing potentially increases. Thus there is a strong interest in better understanding factors influencing suppression...

Spatially explicit burn probability modeling is increasingly applied to assess wildfire risk and inform mitigation strategy development. Burn probabilities are typically expressed on a per-pixel basis, calculated as the number of times a pixel burns divided by the number of simulation iterations. Spatial intersection of highly valued resources and assets (HVRAs) with pixel-based burn probability estimates enables quantification of HVRA exposure to wildfire in terms of expected area burned. However, statistical expectations can mask variability in HVRA area burned across all simulated...

Direct seeding of fine hardwood trees has been practiced in the Central Hardwoods Region for decades, but results have been inconsistent. Direct seeding has been used for reforestation and afforestation based on perceived advantages over seedling planting, including cost and operational efficiencies, opportunities for rapid seedling establishment and early domination of planting sites by desirable trees, improved tree form through increased competition, and ability to select the parentage of planting stock. Some barriers to successful direct seeding have included poor seed quality,...

An international effort is under way to conserve populations of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus L. [Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae]). Monarchs complete an impressive migration each year, flying from winter roosts on the California coast and the central mountains of Mexico to breeding areas throughout North America. Monarchs depend on habitats along their migratory paths that contain milkweed species (Asclepias L. [Apocynaceae])-larvae are obligate feeders on leaves, and adults visit flowers for nectar. More than 130 species of milkweeds grow in North America and are readily propagated...

Today, new tools and lessons learned from established plantations of black walnut and other fine hardwoods can provide landowners with guidelines to design and establish successful plantations to produce quality timber for the future. From earlier plantations now maturing, we can recognize design features critical during establishment. Current production practices combined with improved tools, ongoing genetic improvement, and lessons learned from various spacing and species mixes make it possible to establish higher quality timber plantations today than previously possible. We summarize...

The Sawmill Improvement Program (SIP) provides guidance to improve the bottom line of a sawmill both by recovering more lumber from a log and by using simplified procedures to produce more grade lumber. Lessons learned from SIP have led to improved yields of grade lumber through improved log manufacturing, reducing sawing variation by using thinner kerf saws and better decisionmaking from debarking of logs to edging of grade lumber, and better product sizing by reducing dimensional oversizing and excessive planning allowances. Developing higher grades of lumber requires a skillful edger...

Wood residues offer biorefinery opportunities for new products in our industries including fuel and chemicals. But industry must have two capabilities to succeed with biorefineries. Most forest products companies already have the first capability: knowing where the resource is, how to get it, and how much it will cost. They will need to integrate the acquisition of woody residues for making new products while minimizing competition for valuable timber suitable for dimension lumber and other traditional products.

Polycaprolactone (PCL) filled with microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), wood flour (WF), or both were characterized before and after exposure to various environmental conditions for 60 days. PCL/WF composites had the greatest tensile strength and modulus compared to neat PCL or PCL composites containing MCC. Electron microscopy indicated better adhesion between WF particles and PCL than between MCC particles and PCL. Neither wood flour nor MCC cellulose appeared to significantly affect the crystallinity of PCL. Environmental conditioning resulted in only minor deterioration of mechanical...