United StatesDepartment ofAgriculture

Forest Service

ForestProductsLaboratory

GeneralTechnicalReportFPL–GTR–100

Role of Wood Production in Ecosystem ManagementProceedings of the Sustainable Forestry Working Group at the IUFRO All Division 5 Conference, Pullman, Washington, July 1997

National Project on Wood Utilization for Ecosystem Management

International Union of Forestry ResearchOrganizations

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Research and Aids for Management

Sustainable, HealthyEcosystems

AbstractThe presentations at this symposium discussed con-cepts of ecosystem management and sustainability asviewed by various levels of government and privateland managers. The theme was to integrate ecology,silviculture, forest operations, wood products, andeconomics to find ways to develop healthy sustainableecosystems under financially sound managementpractices. Speakers discussed ways to manage distur-bance to create landscapes with the desired level ofdiversity and resilience to fire, disease, and insects.Others identified technical aspects of improving theoptions for producing wood and promoting healthyecosystems. The feasibility of the various modes offorest operation were considered along with methods toevaluate the financial aspects of activities in differentstand types. Lastly, the concept of sustainability wasdiscussed, both in theory and through case studies. Afull paper is presented for the majority of presentations;an abstract is included for others.

Keywords: Ecosystem management, sustainableforestry, wood utilization, small-diameter timber,silviculture, forest operations, economic feasibility,wood quality, pulp quality

July 1997

Barbour, R. James; Skog, Kenneth E., eds. 1997. Role ofwood production in ecosystem management Proceedings ofthe sustainable forestry working group at the IUFRO AllDivision 5 Conference, Pullman, Washington, July 1997. Gen.Tech. Rep. FPL-GTR-100. Madison, Wl: U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 98 p.

A limited number of free copies of this publication are availableto the public from the Forest Products Laboratory, One GiffordPinchot Drive, Madison, WI 53705-2398. Laboratory publica-tions are sent to more than 1,000 libraries in the United Statesand elsewhere.

The Forest Products Laboratory is maintained in cooperationwith the University of Wisconsin.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibitsdiscrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color,national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs,and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply toall programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternativemeans for communication of program information (braille, largeprint, audiotape, etc.) should contact the USDA’s TARGETCenter at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint,write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department ofAgriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340(voice), or (202) 720-1127 (TTD). USDA is an equal employ-ment opportunity employer.

Role of Wood Productionin Ecosystem ManagementProceedings of the SustainableForestry Working Group at theIUFRO All Division 5 Conference,Pullman, Washington, July 1997

Edited byR. James Barbour, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,Portland, OregonKenneth E. Skog, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory,Madison, Wisconsin

PrefaceAn ecosystem approach to forest management usesnew strategies to conserve biodiversity, improve thebalance among forest values, and sustain healthyecosystems. Ecosystem management retains theaesthetic, historic, and spiritual qualities of the land.Various silvicultural techniques maybe used to alterthe developmental trajectory of existing stands and thecomposition of the landscape to provide this range ofvalues.

In some cases, wood is removed as a secondaryobjective during treatments to improve forest health,restore wildlife habitat, create recreationalopportunities, mitigate impacts of forest pests, or alterthe vegetative mix for increased biodiversity. In othercases, ecosystem strategies will include removingwood as a primary goal.

Treatments that remove wood may yield materialsdifferent from those that the existing industry hashistorically processed. This material is often of similarquality to the traditional resource, but for variousreasons it may be more expensive to manage orremove. The removed stems may be small, rangingfrom 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 cm) in diameter at breastheight. Silvicultural treatments maybe complex, in aneffort to minimize site impacts or create specificconditions favorable to certain species of plants or

wildlife. These changes increase handling ormanufacturing costs associated with producing a givenvolume of end product. Tree species may also be thosethat were previously ignored, thus manufacturers havelittle experience processing them. Silvicultural systemsare changed to alter current and future conditions ofthe stand and quality of wood in the stand. Harvestingsystems may be unfamiliar to local operators and canbe expensive to purchase, operate, and maintain.Layouts of forest operations are also becoming quitecomplicated, requiring more time to plan andimplement, and this increases the cost.

Some types of treatments may evoke publicopposition. Those who feel that extraction of wood isresponsible for degradation of our forest resources areloath to accept the idea that wood removal, orsometimes active management, can play a positive rolein restoring damaged ecosystems or maintaininghealthy ones. In contrast, some members of the publicfeel that the sustainable yield of wood products is agood forest management policy and should not bechanged. Somewhere among the range of views onnatural resource management is the idea that, in somecases, natural resources can be actively managed toprovide a range of benefits. A key feature, oftenunstated, of this view is that someone will have to payfor every management activity. On Federal land, manyoptions are possible. The taxpayers could recognize thevalue to society of maintaining and restoring healthy

ecosystems and choose to pay the fill cost. Receiptsfrom the sale of timber or other forest products, such asmushrooms, floral greens, decorative plants, could beused to pay management costs. Fees could be chargedto enter public land or subscriptions could be soughtfrom people who do not use the land but want to see itmanaged in certain ways. All these techniques are nowused in various combinations to pay for themanagement of public lands. As time goes on, othermethods will be conceived and the relative importanceof each will change.

As long as timber sales are used to aid in treatments,there will be a need to understand what types ofmaterials have value and how those values can best berealized—with improved forest operation or utilizationtechnologies. People will want to understand the costsassociated with different activities and why someactivities are economically viable in one location butnot in others. They will want to know whensilvicultural prescriptions are likely to result in theconditions they value and are trying to promote. Publicresource managers will want to find ways to bringgroups together and explain planned activities in waysthat address their concerns honestly and openly whileproviding divergent groups with the information theyneed to understand the points of view of others.

The work and opinions presented during thissymposium are intended to help achieve some of thesegoals. Some speakers talk about policy and how it isimplemented. Others talk about how bringing togethertechnical ideas from various disciplines can aidmanagers in plans to achieve ecosystem managementgoals. Another group talks about the concept ofsustainability and how it is viewed by public andprivate land managers from around the world. Thepapers in this report are intended to illustrate howcoordinated research in a range of disciplines can aidmanagers with specific problems in attainingecosystem goals. Research is presented on silviculture,forest operations, wood quality, wood products, andeconomic feasibility. These papers show how forestproducts research contributes with other areas ofresearch to help restore and maintain healthyecosystems. These research activities and theirapplication will help achieve the USDA Forest Servicegoal of caring for the land and serving the people.

R. James BarbourKenneth E. Skog

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ContentsPage Page

Sustainable Forestry WorkingGroup Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Policy Considerations

The Role of Wood Removals in Implementationof Ecosystem Management on Federal Lands:A Multifaceted PerspectiveHal Salwasser and Barry Bollenbacher . . . . . . . .1

A Demonstration of Ecosystem Management,Incorporating Private LandBrad A. Holt and Stephen P. Warren . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Broad Perspectives on the Role of Wood

Disturbance Management and ResourceProduct AvailabilityRichard L. Everett and David M. Baumgartner . . . . . . 14

Utilization as a Component of RestoringEcological Processes in Ponderosa Pine ForestsCarl E. Fiedler, Charles E. Keegan,and Stephen F. Arno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Developing a Comprehensive ReforestationProgram in the Russian Far EastWilliam Schlosser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Identifying Wood Utilization Options forEcosystem Management: Summary of aNational Research ProjectKenneth E. Skog, R. James Barbour,John Baumgras, and Alexander Clark III . . . . . . . . .31

Role of Wood Production: Examples

Link Between Southern Pine SilviculturalTreatments and Stand ValueAlexander Clark III and James W.McMinn. . . . . . . 37

Forest Operations for Ecosystem ManagementBob Rummer, John Baumgras, and Joe McNeel. . . . 46

Linking Log Quality With Product PerformanceDavid W. Green and Robert J. Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Objectives and Study Design of the Colville Study:Silviculture, Ecology, Utilization, and Economicsof Small-Diameter Densely Stocked StandsR. James Barbour, Steven Tesch, Joseph McNeel,Susan A. Willits, Roger D. Fight, Andrew Mason,and Ken Skog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Lumber and Veneer Yields FromSmall-Diameter TreesSusan A. Willits, Eini C. Lowell,and Glenn A. Christensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Pulp Quality from Small-Diameter TreesGary C. Myers, Saket Kumar,Richard R. Gustafson, R. James Barbour,and Said Abubakr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Financial Analysis of Ecosystem ManagementActivities in Stands Dominated bySmall-diameter TreesRoger D. Fight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Forest Products Research

Strategies for Sustainable Wood Supplies in theChanging Indian ScenarioSatish Kumar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Sustainable Forestry and People’s Participation:A Case Study of IndiaJagbir Singh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

“The Green Certification”: Chances andChallenges for Central European Forest IndustriesGero Becker, Marion Karmann,and Markus Metzger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Differing Views of Sustainability

Collins Pine Company—57 Years ofSustainable Forest ManagementBarry Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

Potential of Small Dimensioned, Low QualityRound Wood of Scots Pine for the Productionof Valuable TimberUdo Hans Sauter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

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Sustainable Forestry WorkingGroup Presentations

Policy Considerations for EcosystemManagement and Sustainable Forestry

Moderator: Thomas Snellgrove

The role of wood removals in implementation ofecosystem management on federal lands: A multifac-eted perspective. Hal Salwasser and Barry Bollen-bacher (USDA Forest Service, Northern Region,Missoula, Montana)

Balancing wood production and ecosystem values onstate land. Jennifer Belcher (Commissioner of PublicLand for Washington State, Olympia, Washington)

A demonstration of ecosystem management, incorpo-rating private land. Brad A. Holt and Stephen P.Warren (Boise Cascade Corporation, Boise, Idaho)

Broad Perspective of the Role ofWood in Ecosystem Management

Moderator: Thomas Snellgrove

Disturbance management and resource product avail-ability. Richard L. Everett (USDA Forest Service,Pacific Northwest Research Station, WenatcheeForestry Sciences Lab, Wenatchee, Washington) andDavid M. Baumgartner (Department of NaturalResource Sciences, Washington State University,Pullman, Washington)

Utilization as a component of restoring ecologicalprocesses in Ponderosa pine forests. Carl E. Fiedler(School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula,Montana), Charles E. Keegan (Bureau of Businessand Economic Research, University of Montana,Missoula, Montana), and Stephen F. Arno(Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory, USDAForest Service, Missoula, Montana)

Developing a comprehensive reforestation program inthe Russian Far East. William Schlosser(Environmental Policy and Technology Project,Khabarovsk, Russia)

Urban forestry in South Asian region and sustainabledevelopment. D. Bandhu

Identifying wood utilization options for ecosystemmanagement: Summary of a national research project.Kenneth E. Skog (USDA Forest Service, ForestProducts Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin), R. JamesBarbour (USDA Forest Service, Pacific NorthwestResearch Station, Portland Oregon), John Baumgras(USDA Forest Service, Northeast Forest ExperimentStation, Morgantown, West Virginia), and AlexanderClark (USDA Forest Service, Southern ResearchStation, Athens, Georgia)

The Role of Wood Production inEcosystem Mangement:Specific Examples

Moderator: Susan LeVan

Link between southern pine silvicultural treatmentsand stand value. Alexander Clark III and James W.McMinn (USDA Forest Service, Southern ResearchStation, Athens, Georgia)

Forest operations for ecosystem management. BobRummer (USDA Forest Service, Southern ResearchStation, Auburn, Alabama), John Baumgras (USDAForest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Sta-tion, Morgantown, West Virginia), and Joe McNeel(University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

Linking log quality with product performance. DavidW. Green and Robert J. Ross (USDA Forest Service,Forest Products Laboratory)

Potential of small dimensioned, low quality roundwood of Scots pine for the production of valuabletimber. Udo Hans Sauter (Institut fuer Forstbenutzungund Forstliche Arbeitswissenschaft, University ofFreiburg, Germany)

The Role of Wood Production inEcosystem Management:Specific Examples

Moderator: Ken Skog

Objectives and study design of the Colville study:Silviculture, ecology, utilization, and economics ofsmall-diameter densely stocked stands. R. JamesBarbour (USDA Forest Service, Pacific NorthwestResearch Station, Portland Oregon), Steven Tesch(Oregon State University, Department of ForestEngineering, Corvallis, Oregon), Joseph McNeel(University of British Columbia, Vancouver),

Susan A. Willits and Roger D. Fight (USDA ForestService, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Port-land Oregon), Andrew Mason (USDA Forest Service,Colville National Forest, Colville, Washington), andKenneth Skog (USDA Forest Service, Forest ProductsLaboratory)

Lumber and veneer yields from small-diameter trees.Susan A. Willits, Eini C. Lowell, and Glenn A.Christensen (USDA Forest Service, Pacific NorthwestResearch Station, Portland, Oregon)

Pulp quality from small-diameter trees. Gary C. Myers(USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory),Saket Kumar and Richard R. Gustafson (University ofWashington, Seattle, Washington), R. James Barbour(USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest ResearchStation, Portland Oregon), and Said Abubakr (USDAForest Service, Forest Products Laboratory)

Financial analysis of ecosystem management activitiesin stands dominated by small-diameter trees. Roger D.Fight (USDA Forest Service, Pacific NorthwestResearch Station, Portland Oregon)

Forest Products Researchfor Forest Sustainability

Moderator: Jamie Barbour

Strategies for sustainable wood supplies in the chang-ing Indian scenario. Satish Kumar (Forest ProductsDivision, Forest Research Institute, Debra Dun, India)

Sustainable forestry and people’s participation: A casestudy of India. Jagbir Singh (Department ofGeography, Delhi School of Economics, University ofDelhi, India)

Photo presentation. N. Akuffo-Lartey (Ghana)

Proposed criteria and indicators for sustainable forestindustries. R. G. Moncado and R. Guevara(Costa Rica)

Forest Products Research forForest Sustainability: DifferingViews of Sustainability

Moderator: Jamie Barbour

Government views of sustainability. Barbara Weber(USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC)

Native American views of sustainability. Ted Strong(Columbia Intertribal Fisheries Commission,Portland Oregon)

Conservation community view of sustainability.Dennis McCaffrey (Nature Conservancy, Washington,DC)

Collins Pine Company—57 years of sustainable forestmanagement. Barry Ford (Collins Pine Company,Chester, California)

“The green certification”: Chances and challenges forCentral European forest industries. Gero Becker,Marion Karmann, and Markus Metzger (Institute forForest Utilization and Ergonomics, University ofFreiberg, Germany)

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The Role of Wood Removals in Implementationof Ecosystem Management on Federal Lands:A Multifaceted Perspective

Hal Salwasser and Barry Bollenbacher, USDA Forest Service, Northern Region

AbstractUnderstanding the roles and function of measures toconserve, restore and produce wood resources fromFederal lands requires an in-depth understanding of thebio-physical and socio-economic dimensions ofEcosystem Management. Key elements in ourunderstanding of sustainable ecological conditions andsustainable resource production include knowledgeabout supply and demand for wood resources, integratedwith our social wants and needs for a diversity ofresources conditions all of which are influenced by thehealth and productivity of our forests. Many of oursociety’s values are reflected in our legal mandates thatprovide guidance for management on Federal lands.

Currently per capita wood consumption in the UnitedStates approximates 75 ft3 each year, with globaldemands expected to increase significantly by the year2020. As an example, the supply of wood resources onNational Forest lands within the Northern Region ofthe Forest Service are noteworthy. The NorthernRegion comprised of approximately 24 million acres innorthern Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, haveforested ecosystems on 20.6 million acres. Under thecurrent Forest Plans, approximately 8.7 million acreshave associated wood utilization objectives, with anoption for more limited opportunities on a portion ofthe remaining acres. A basic analysis of demand, and anunderstanding of current supply related to public and

private lands managed at least in part for a woodutilization objective, gives us a rather incompletepicture of sustainable development over time.

To gain a more complete understanding of the aboverelations, a multiple scale understanding of ecologicalprocesses and the integration of many other resourcesneeds which our society values must be included.

Developing, implementing, and securing a sustainableEcosystem Management strategy on Federal lands willrequire conservation, restoration, and intensive forestculture and production. Silvicultural treatments andinvestments consistent with ecological capabilities ofthe land will require us to use traditional tried and truemethods in some cases, while in other situationsimplementation of restoration techniques will involvenew challenges on a fairly broad scale. Due to severalfactors, many of our forests have a large component ofsmaller diameter trees, with few associated productmarkets. For our overall Ecosystem Managementstrategy to be successful, the restoration componentwill require the implementation of creative silviculturalprescriptions that typically require expensive harvestingsystems, producing smaller diameter materials thanhave traditionally been common. For these creativetreatments to be successful, part of the solution to therestoration challenge will be the development of newmarkets for small diameter trees of many species.

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Upper Columbia Basin Fire Regimes on ForestedLands on BLM / Forest Service Lands

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Regional Ecosystems

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A Demonstration of Ecosystem Management,Incorporating Private Land

Brad A. HoIt, Stephen P. Warren, Boise Cascade Corporation, Boise, Idaho

AbstractImplementation of Ecosystem Management requires thelinking of multi-resource inventory data with detailedspatial data to support ecosystem analysis at a variety ofspatial scales. The planning landscape is first quantifiedthrough the use of an ecological land classificationsystem to determine a measure of ecological complexityand temporal stage of forest development. Aclassification tool called the Ecosystem DiversityMatrix is described along with the data managementprocesses to facilitate use of the classification systemwithin the planning landscape of the Idaho SouthernBatholith. The framework of the matrix is used todescribe historical disturbance regimes, existinglandscape conditions required to support biodiversity,and to determine desired future conditions.

Keywords: ecological complexity, ecosystemmanagement, Ecosystem Diversity Matrix, ecologicalland classification, biodiversity.

I n t r o d u c t i o n

Today, there are many different agencies, organizationsand private corporations proposing various strategies forimplementing and addressing the social, economic andecological objectives of ecosystem management. Unliketraditional resource management which has focused onindividual resource values, ecosystem managementfocuses on managing multiple resource values acrossecological communities and plans for the sustainabilityof all of its resource values. In other words, it integratesand considers a variety of resources together as opposed

to planning for each resource separately. It also extendsbeyond traditional ownership boundaries and considersthe ecological integrity of the landscape.

This fundamental change to the larger context ofecological communities and the environment requiresdata that describes ecological processes and interactionsamong components at a variety of spatial scales, from asub-forest stand scale to the landscape. Currently, thereare many efforts to develop resource management toolsand collect resource inventories which meet ecosystemmanagement objectives at the landscape scale. Thispaper describes some of the resource tools that havebeen developed for integrating forest and ecologicalinventories into resource and GIS databases and thenillustrates how these tools can be used to implement aecosystem management process in west-central Idaho.

In 1994, Boise Cascade Corporation initiated anecosystem management project to develop an ecosystemstrategy for the 5.8 million acre Idaho SouthernBatholith landscape. The Idaho EcosystemManagement Project has implemented an existingecological land classification system known as theEcosystem Diversity Matrix (Haufler 1994) to quantifyecological diversity in the Idaho Southern Batholithlandscape. As a ecological land classification system,the (EDM) provides the foundation for ecosystemmanagement planning and represents the primary toolfor quantifying existing conditions, describing historicalconditions, and developing targets for desired future

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conditions. The EDM also provides an avenue forBoise Cascade to quantify its contribution to ecosystemdiversity both today and into the future byincorporating its knowledge of existing forestconditions with potential plant community successionalpathways to predict potential outcomes over time.

Developing An EcosystemDiversity MatrixThe purpose of the EDM is to describe the planninglandscape in an ecological context. To accomplish thistask the matrix is comprised of two axes. Thehorizontal axis describes ecological complexity throughhabitat type classes which characterizes combinations ofoverstory and understory vegetation associations. Ahabitat type class system is an ecological classificationsystem which describes the biotic potential of the landas expressed through combinations of environmentalinteractions which determine the vegetation found onany given site (Daubenmire 1968). A habitat typeclassification system describing potential or climaxvegetation has been developed for central Idaho bySteele et al. (1981) and is the basis for describingecological complexity in horizontal axis of the EDM.The habitat type classes (i.e. columns on the horizontalaxis of the EDM) are groups of individual habitat typesthat have been combined due to similar productivitypotential, influence of historical disturbance patterns andecological functions. This classification of habitat typeclasses allows an understanding of successionaltrajectories, provides the predictability of future seralvariants of plant communities, an describes theproductivity of a given site for different tree species.

In contrast, the vertical axis describes vegetation growthstages or vertical forest structure by characterizing thephysical attributes of overstory and understory in aforest stand. More importantly, it describes andquantifies the sequential development of vertical foreststructure systematically over time and space from ashrub seedling vegetation growth stage to an oldgrowth or old forest growth stage. The quantification ofsuch forest structure and analysis of the variation foundwithin the forest across the landscape is a measure ofoverall ecosystem health and is a potential indicator ofwildlife habitat suitability.

The intersection and combination of habitat type classesand vegetation growth stages (e.g. an individual cell inthe EDM) results in new information classes defined asecological land units or ELU's (Table 1.). Each ELUdescribes the existing vegetation for both overstory andunderstory characteristics, and predicts the ecologicalprocesses associated with the forest site such assuccessional pathways, site productivity, forest health,and habitat suitability. When ELU's are mapped acrossthe entire landscape, the EDM becomes the framework

for quantitatively characterizing region ecosystemdiversity, it provides a basis for assessment of wildlifehabitat quality, it quantifies the contributions ofecosystem diversity by all land owners, and it forcesland managers and planners to recognize the dynamicnature inherent in ecosystems.

Table 1 - Simplified Ecosystem DiversityMatrix Populated with Acres by EcologicalLand Unit.

Inventory Base For The EcosystemDiversity Matrix

Once the landscape is classified, ecological land units(ELU's) become the base unit for field inventorysampling. Inventory field staff collect a variety ofresource data to describe forest stand attributesassociated with each ELU on the landscape to supportdata requirements for timber and wildlife resourceplanning models and tactical management decisions.Field data including measures of overstory andunderstory vegetation, down-woody material, snags,stumps, and horizontal cover are entered directly intohand-held data recorders. Each data recorder is equippedwith a Global Positioning System receiver whichcollects the real-world coordinate of each plot location.The plot data is tagged with the spatial position anddown-loaded into a resource data base to store andmaintain information on ELU's overtime.

GIS Support For The EcosystemDiversity Matrix

Implementing the ecosystem diversity matrix in GISrequires two essential layers of mapped resourceinformation. First, habitat type classes need to beidentified. Typically this has been achieved by usinghabitat type classification system dichotomous keys andfield mapping techniques to identify individual habitattype polygons. Once mapped digitally into GIS, habitat

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types are then reclassified into habitat type classes and anew GIS habitat type class input layer is created.Secondly, a separate layer of existing vegetativecharacteristics is needed to supply information on thecurrent vegetation growth stage present. Currently thevegetation growth stage GIS layer is generated from anexisting forest stand layer. For each forest standpolygon, a set of forest structure decision rules areapplied to the forest inventory information associatedwith that forest stand and a vegetation growth stageclassification is made. When each of these layers havebeen processed, the habitat type class layer (i.e. thecolumns in the EDM) is overlaid with vegetationgrowth stage layer (i.e. the rows in the EDM) withinthe GIS and the resulting union of map polygonscreates the ecological land unit layer (Figure 1), Withthe creation of a new ELU map layer, the number ofacres by ELU can be calculated and used to populate theindividual cells of the EDM.

GIS Ecological Land Unit LayerLink To The Ecosystem DiversityMatrixWith an Ecosystem Diversity Matrix classificationsystem and GIS ecological land unit (ELU) layer inplace, the challenge is to develop the capability toelectronically link GIS information to the matrix and

visually display the quantity of acres or other significantecological variables for the entire landscape bothpresently and into the future. To accomplish this, aprogram was written to graphically display quantitativevalues associated with the ecological land unitcoverage, in the form of a 3-D bar chart. Figure 2.illustrates an example of the graphical display of acresfor each ecological land unit in the matrix for the entirelandscape.

Using The EDM As A Basis ForImplementing An EcosystemManagement Process

With the mapped ecological land unit GIS layer linkedto the 3-D graphical display of the Ecosystem DiversityMatrix (EDM), the matrix can then be used toimplement specific steps in an ecosystem managementprocess. In the Idaho Ecosystem Management Project,the staff and project partners are using the EDM as aframework for describing historical disturbance regimes,existing landscape conditions, ecological land unitthresholds overtime and desired future conditionsrequired to support biodiversity. The followingdiscussion describes each of the primary componentsthat the project and cooperators are pursuing in theecosystem management process (Haufler et al. 1996)and how the EDM is used as a foundational element tosupport the development of each process component.

Figure 1 - Overlay of Habitat Type Classes with Vegetation Growth Stages to CreateEcological Land Units.

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Figure 2- 3-D Graphical Display of Ecosystem Diversity Matrix Linked to mapped GISEcological Land Unit Ploygons.

Describe Historical DisturbanceRegimes

Understanding past disturbance regimes and how theyoperated across a landscape provides essential referenceinformation for ecosystem management. First, itprovides information on the ecology of vegetationgrowth stages described in the Ecosystem DiversityMatrix and describes a rationale for their distributionacross the landscape. Secondly, it provides informationon the natural history of the area and conditions towhich native species were adapted. In the Idaho project,a 1915 timber cruise was used to reconstruct historicalstand conditions for low elevation habitat type classes.The results revealed that under past historicaldisturbance regimes, the forest stands on lowerelevation habitats were influenced in structure andspecies composition by frequent low to moderateintensity understory fires. With this and other historicalinformation, an Ecosystem Diversity Matrix (i.e.Historical EDM) describing the range of historicalconditions can be developed for the planning landscape.

Quantify ExistingConditions

Another component of the ecosystem managementprocess is the quantification of existing landscapeconditions. The EDM provides a means of quantifyingecological land unit contributions by each landowner inthe landscape planning area. Once the habitat type classand vegetation growth stages for the entire landscapehave been overlaid to create a ELU layer and the acres ofELU's have been quantified, further analysis of theexisting landscape can be conducted. For example, anewly constructed EDM with ELU's provides aframework for understanding, documenting andquantifying both biodiversity and the available habitatcomponents for dependent species across the landscape.In addition, the matrix, in combination with mappedELU polygons in a GIS, also provides information onthe potential spatial distribution of native specieshabitat in the planning landscape.

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Check Adequate EcologicalRepresentation

Another primary component of the ecosystemmanagement process is the concept of adequateecological representation. Adequate ecologicalrepresentation is defined as the sufficient size anddistribution of inherent ecosystems to maintain viablepopulations of all native species dependent on theseecosystems (Haufler 1994). Determination of adequateecological representation is based on understandinghistorical disturbance regimes and characteristics of theecological land units that occurred under these regimes.

Coarse Filter Examination of theLandscape - The development of adequateecological representation is dependent on a coarse filterexamination of the landscape. In this approach, coarsefilter refers to the use of an appropriate classification ofthe landscape, the EDM, to quantify acreage thresholdsof ecological land units. In essence, the EDM is theclassification tool for performing a coarse filterassessment of the number of ecological land units whichare essential for maintaining ecosystem diversity andfunction across the landscape. The 3-D graphic displayalong with quantitative acreage measures is animportant tool for both developing and evaluating theappropriate acreage thresholds for maintainingecosystem integrity and viable populations of nativespecies.

Fine Filter Examination of the Landscape- Once the coarse filter examination is complete and anEDM describing adequate ecological representation isestablished, a fine filter examination must occur. A finefilter examination of the landscape refers to assessingland management decisions based on the needs ofindividual species or guilds (Roloff 1994). In otherwords, the adequate ecological representation EDMmust be further evaluated with single species or guildassessments to assure that there is sufficient habitatwithin the established ELU acreage thresholds tomaintain viable populations of any native species ofconcern. The fine filter or species assessment approachexamines both the quantity of ELU’s as well as thequality or spatial distribution of ELU habitat across thelandscape.

In the Idaho Ecosystem Management Project, the tinefilter/species assessment process is supported throughhabitat suitability index models for selected species.Vegetation variables related to species needs areidentified and quantified in the habitat model for eachecological land unit in the matrix. The habitat modelsare programmed into a GIS to incorporate the spatial

arrangement of species’ requirements. These models aretypically developed in ARC/INFO Grid and use focalfunctions or “moving windows” to assess the quality ofhabitat within a species home range or territory. Theresulting GIS output layers represent habitat suitabilitysurfaces that are derived from and reflect the spatialdistribution of habitat quality for the existing landscapeof ecological land units. These habitat map surfaces ofhabitat potential (see Figure 3.) are then assessed for theselected wildlife species to determine whether theexisting habitat quantity, quality, and spatialdistribution is adequate.

Together, the mapped ecological land units describingadequate ecological representation, the coarse filter 3-Dbar chart illustrating the quantity of ecological landunits, and the species assessment GIS surfaces can beused to benchmark future ecological objectives. If thecoarse-filter evaluation indicates that these baselineconditions are provided over time, it is assumed thathabitat conditions for native species are being met. Thespecies habitat assessments are used as checks to assurethe proper functioning of the coarse filter thresholds.This coarse and fine filter approach should be madeprior to and throughout the forest planning period toensure that ecological objectives are maintained infuture forest plans.

Figure 3 - Habitat Suitability Index M a pSurface for Flammulated Owls Derivedfrom ELU GIS Layer in the IdahoSouthern Batho l i th .

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Determine Desired FutureConditions

The last component of the ecosystem managementprocess is the determination of desired futureconditions. With ecological objectives defined,successful ecosystem management then integrates socialand economic objectives for the landscape. Economicconsiderations include needs of natural resource basedeconomies while social considerations include diversedemands for natural resource based recreation andaesthetics, cultural and archeological values, and otherconcerns unique to the landscape. Identification andquantification of these values are necessary to determinethe desired conditions for the landscape. Theculmination of the ecosystem management process isdetermination of desired future conditions. The EDM isimportant for understanding the contributions of eachlandowner at any point in the planning horizon. Theadequate ecological representation matrix is used to setthe needed threshold requirements for ecologicalobjectives. The existing conditions matrix depictslandowner contributions toward these thresholds andwhere future contributions may be needed. TheEcosystem Diversity Matrices in concert with economicand social objectives are then used to define desiredfuture conditions. Once desired future conditions havebeen identified, the management activities needed toproduce them overtime need to be identified,implemented, monitored, evaluated, and adjusted tomaintain adequate ecological representation whileproviding the optimum mix of social and economicbenefits.

Literature Cited

13

Disturbance Management and ResourceProduct Availability

Richard L. Everett, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,Wenatchee Forestry Sciences Lab

David M. Baumgartner, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, WashingtonState University

AbstractDisturbance is an integral part of ecosystemprocess; its conservation is of equal importance asthe conservation of species or habitats, and itprovides an ecological approach to resourceproduct availability. Disturbance management is atechnique that can be used to maintain ecosystemintegrity and associated sustainable levels ofcommodity extraction on public lands. Publicexpectations for resource conditions and resourceextraction need to be grounded in the reality ofrequired disturbance regimes to maintainecosystem integrity. The mosaic of post-disturbance vegetation patches contributing tobiodiversity also represents a portfolio ofeconomic opportunities. Management fordisturbances and resulting patch dynamics acrosslarge landscapes in “whole-unit management” issuggested as a flexible institutional approach toresource management that incorporates plannedand unplanned disturbances into long-termmanagement goals for ecosystem integrity andresource extraction.

Keywords: Inherent disturbance regimes, patchdynamics, whole-unit management, economicopportunities, resource extraction.

IntroductionDisturbance management is managing for thedisturbance effects that maintain ecosystemintegrity (Agee and Johnson 1988) and providecommodity outflows (Oliver 1992). Themanagement of disturbances provides a linkagebetween the biocentric and anthropocentricapproaches to ecosystem management as definedby Stanley (1993).

The biocentric approach recognizes the role ofdisturbance in the dynamic nature of ecosystemsand the anthropocentric approach recognizes theneed for disturbance in extracting resources tomeet human desires. Disturbance managementprovides a process that can work with nature inincreasing ecosystem resiliency while facilitatingresource extraction. The restoration of ecologicalprocesses, including disturbance, required tomaintain ecosystems is a tenet of conservationbiology and a prime consideration in defining thesize of biological reserves (Pickett and White1985, White 1987). Everett and Lehmkuhl (1996)and Pienkowski et al. (1996) expressed the needto expand disturbance management beyondreserve boundaries to maintain ecosystemintegrity of larger systems.

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Anthropocentric approaches that emphasizehuman needs over maintenance of ecologicalintegrity may attempt to minimize disturbance tomaintain “static” resource conditions or mayincrease severity and duration of disturbance toextract resources. Neither the static preservationof conditions nor excessive extraction activitiesare likely to be within the long-term biologicalcapacity of many forest settings nor are theseoptions designed to accommodate unplanneddisturbance events.

Serious hazards to ecosystem resiliency andeconomic stability occur when disturbance isprescribed that is inconsistent with long-termmaintenance of ecosystem integrity. In systemswhere “feedback” loops are delayed, indirect, orunmonitored, the loss of species and habitat(Endangered Species Act 1978) and long-term siteproductivity (Forest Management Practices Act1976) is possible and contrary to governingregulations and legislation (Pulliam and O’Malley1996). Stability in economic returns from bothnon-consumptive use and extractive products aredirectly related to maintenance of the integrity ofecosystems on which they are based. There areseveral stable states for a given biophysical area(Stone and Ezrati 1996); the challenge is to definethe conditions and the rate of change that bestconserves biodiversity, and long-term siteproductivity and that meets public expectationsfor resource conditions and commodity outputs.

Disturbance and Recovery ProcessesDisturbance is a core process of ecosystems(Sprugel 1991) and forests systems are in aconstant state of change (Botkin and Sobel 1975).Change is one of the few constants in nature andecological change is often not continuous andgradual, but episodic with a sudden release andreorganization of biomass accumulated over longperiods (Hollings 1996). Species have adapted toand are dependent upon pulses of disturbancesuch as seasonal flooding in aquatic and ripariansystems or periodic fire in California chaparral(Odum 1969). The need for periodic loss of forestcover to provide habitat for edge and open canopyspecies is well known (Oliver et al. 1994).

The need for disturbance is balanced by the needfor sufficient recovery periods betweendisturbances to prevent long-term site degradation(Perry and Amaranthus 1997). Turner et al.(1993) describe stable and unstable, equilibriumand non-equilibrium landscapes based on the ratioof disturbance and recovery periods and therelative extent of the disturbance on thelandscape.

Ecosystem integrity is at risk when disturbanceoccurs too often or with too great a severity forrecovery prior to the next disturbance. Also,ecosystem integrity is at risk when disturbance isexcluded and excessive biomass accumulates withsubsequent severe disturbance events (Harvey etal. 1995). Disturbance management isrecommended to ensure periodic disturbanceswithin historical ranges of variability rather thanlarge-scale catastrophic events with long-termimpacts on species, habitats, and site productivity(Morgan et al. 1994). As a result of periodicdisturbance events or stem exclusion phases instand development there may be opportunities toextract forest products not required as futureforest legacies (Oliver et al. 1994).

Inherent and Altered DisturbanceRegimesAll forest stands pass through stages of initiation,development, and eventual collapse ordestruction. In the progression of a stand to oldgrowth status the stand must pass through amyriad of disturbance events that can partially orcompletely reinitiate stand development. Ineastern Washington Cascades Camp et al. (1996)found only 10 to 16% of forest stands in pristineforests of the Swauk Late Successional Reservewere late-successional old growth: conversely88% of the landscape had been subjected to atleast partial stand disturbance.

Each biophysical environment is characterized bydisturbance and recovery periods indigenous tothe biological and physical attributes of the siteand associated landscape. Inherent disturbanceregimes for fire, insect, pathogens, blowdown,and mass wasting define the frequency, extent,and severity of disturbance and the vegetation

15

structure and composition that can be maintained(Wargo 1995). For example, Agee (1994)described frequency and severity of fire regimesfor the Pacific Northwest forest types.Probabilities for insect epidemics can be inferredfrom stand stress and host species representationand continuity across the landscape (Hessburg etal. 1994, Harvey et al. 1995). Knowledge of rootrot pathogen presence and rates of spread provideinsight into potential for tree mortality and rate ofchange (Filip and Goheen 1984, Hagle et al.1995). Different types of disturbances can beclosely related (fire, insect and pathogens) suchthat composite disturbance regimes are definedfor an area (Hagle et al. 1995). This composite orinherent disturbance regime defines the characterof the landscape, the spatial and temporalarrangement of stands, and their structure andcomposition (Wargo 1995). This array ofvegetation patches and their rate of changeprovide a first approximation of resourceconditions and resource extraction potentialcharacteristic of high integrity ecosystems.

Given the wealth of information on disturbanceregimes for forest types, these are onlyprobabilities of occurrence and are not absolutesite-specific events, otherwise old growth standswould not occur. Although sufficiently strongdisturbance events may transgress localenvironmental effects, there are opportunities topredict where disturbances are more likely tooccur on the landscape. Forest landscapescomprised of varying aspects, elevations, andtopographic settings contain heterogeneous foresttypes, rates of development, and susceptibility todisturbance events (Camp et al. 1996). As theprobability of an event to occur increases witharea considered, our ability to manage fordisturbance increases with the size of themanagement area as described in the “whole-unit” management approach (Everett et al. [inpress]),

Dry forest and woodland disturbance regimeshave been significantly altered sinceeurosettlement, resulting in dramatic changes inforest composition and structure (Arno 1988,Covington and Moore 1994, Harvey et al. 1995).

As a result of reduced fire effects and livestockgrazing, pinyon-juniper woodlands haveexpanded off ridge tops into adjacent sagebrush-grass communities (Everett 1984). Fine fuelscontributed by grass and shrub species declinedand the previous high-frequenc /low-severity fireregime of grasslands has been replaced with oneof indeterminate frequency and catastrophicseverity.

Arno (1988) and Agee (1994) have shown thatfire regimes for dry pine and fir forests have beenaltered from high-frequency/low-severity to low-frequency/high-severity fire regimes. Prolongedfire-free intervals allowed tree densities inponderosa pine sites to increase from less than 30trees per acre in the 1700’s to over 500 trees peracre in the 1990’s (Harvey et al. 1995). Withoutperiodic fire, tree composition shifted to moreshade-tolerant fir species and forest structureshifted to smaller diameter classes (Arno 1988).In the southwest, tree density increased from 12 to757 trees/acre, basal area doubled (63 to 120 sq.ft./acre) and fuel loadings increased from lessthan 1 to 19 tons/acre since eurosettlement(Covington and Moore 1994). Harvey et al.(1995) demonstrated an increase in biomass as aresult of shifting from short to long fire-freeintervals for dry forest sites (Figure 1). Biomassin excess of that which can be supported byinherent disturbance regimes of this dry foresttype is likely to be lost over time with an increasein the severity of the disturbance event as biomasscontinues to accumulate (Harvey et al. 1995).

Biomass conversions during catastrophic eventsare inefficient both biologically andeconomically. A previous shortage of snags andlogs for wildlife becomes an overabundance thatmay lead to increased severity of future fires(Wellner 1973) and long-term loss of deed woodstructure. On large burns the abundance of deadtrees may prohibit efficient timber extractionprior to decline in wood quality and market value.Oliver et al. (1994) suggests periodic harvestingof surplus biomass, that amount subject to loss byfire (Figure 1, left side), rather than waiting forcatastrophic fire events (Figure 1, right side).Given the large amounts of biomass accumulation

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Figure 1—Carbon accumulation and cycling under short (left) and long (right)fire-free intervals fordry forest sites. Bars reflect historical range of values with common conditions betweenhorizontal lines. Below ground C is shown as a negative. (Figure taken directly from Harvey et al.1995 and Oliver et al. 1994).

over historical levels there are opportunities forperiodic removal of biomass for timber whileleaving adequate coarse woody debris for wildlifeand soil organic matter. Under periodic biomassremoval we have better opportunities formaintaining continuous coarse woody debrisavailability than if we are responding tocatastrophic fire events.

Increased Flexibility in Forest Policyand InstitutionsGiven dynamic and somewhat unpredictableforest ecosystems on a constant land base andincreasing public demands for both old growthforest conditions and extractive resources weneed increased institutional flexibility to preventloss in ecosystem integrity (Hollings 1996) and tomaintain economic stability. New guidelines thatuse historical range in variability (HRV, Morganet al. 1994) or inherent disturbance regimes (IDR,

Everett et al. [in press]) key management toinevitable change in forest systems, disturbancerequirements, and resulting patch dynamics. Bymaintaining forests in a dynamic mosaic ofvegetation patches (Oliver et al. 1994)characteristic of historic conditions, species andprocesses (both known and unknown) aremaintained (Hunter 1991).

Previous land-use allocations based on conceptsof static vegetation conditions and historical usesmay prevent meeting current public expectationsfor extractive resources while maintainingecosystem integrity. Ehrenfeld (1991) suggestedthe “loose coupling” of sites to previous land-useallocation protocols to maximize individual patchmanagement and ecosystem integrity withinbiological reserves. This concept has beenexpanded to “whole-unit” management wheredisturbances and patch dynamics would be

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managed across large landscapes to providedesired resource conditions and extractiveresources from an entire area rather thanindividual land-use allocations (Everett et al. [inpress]). Continuity in disturbance regimes acrossland-use allocations is encouraged and land-useprotocols minimized such that patch managementis practical over large landscapes. The largelandscape approach allows experimentation at thescale appropriate to the size of the majordisturbance events and the scale required foradaptive environmental and resource management(Hollings 1996). Both whole-unit and disturbancemanagement concepts embrace required

disturbance events and maximize institutionalflexibility in dealing with unplanned disturbancein uncertain environments. As such theseconcepts meet Hollings (1996) criteria foradaptive management tools in maintainingresilient ecosystems and flexible managementsystems. Also, these concepts are in line with the‘flexible systems” bottom-up managementapproach promoted by Reich (1983) and Oliver etal. (1994) because they allow rapid response tounplanned disturbances by shifting patch goalsamong disturbed and undisturbed patches.

Disturbance and patch dynamics have bothbiological and economic significance. Resourceconditions and sources of extractive resources are“patchy” on the landscape and the management ofdisturbance affects the types, amounts, and spatiallocations of resources. Geographically-baseddecision support systems allow multiplelandscape scenarios to be evaluated for desiredresource conditions and commodity outputs andthe ecological and economic benefits defined foreach scenario (Wood et al. 1989, Oliver et al.1994).

Environmental and EconomicInteractionsThe linkage between economics and ecosystemintegrity can be improved by using theconservation of disturbance and ecosystemintegrity as a component for long-term economicstability, capitalizing on sequential economicopportunities following disturbance, andincreasing economic benefits from unplanned

disturbance events. Pulliam and O’Malley (1995)recommended integration of environmentalperspectives with economic policy to preventshort-term economic gains from contributing tolong-term ecosystem degradation. Publicexpectations for socioeconomic benefits need tobe coupled to the realities of disturbance eventsand recovery periods required to maintainecosystem integrity. As a case example, theAmerican Indian realized the need for disturbanceto create and maintain forest conditions thatsupported their cultural and economic needs (Kay1995). They used fire to maintain open forestsettings to graze their horses, provide wildlifehabitat (Robbins and Wolf 1994), and tomaintain favored root and berry gathering areas(Ubelacker 1986). Overutilization of preferredfood sometimes occurred requiring shifts inresource utilization, and subsequent socialadjustments (Kay 1995). Similarly, informationshould be provided to the American public oneconomic opportunities resulting fromdisturbances and also on potential problems whendisturbance is in excess or insufficient to maintainecosystem integrity. As ecosystem integrity is aprimary management goal on public lands,maximum economic return may be foregone toaccomplish other holistic ecosystem objectives(Oliver et al. 1994), but economics will play animportant role in defining our ability to practiceholistic management.

Knowledge of post-disturbance vegetationresponse provides guidelines to the sequentialoccurrence of resource conditions and availabilityof extractive resources (Figure 2, Everett et al.1996). Economic gain can be made directly froma series of cash crops occurring on the same siteover time: salvage logging, livestock grazing,Christmas tree harvest, and commercial thinning.Indirect economic benefits to rural communitiesmay also arise from an array of recreationalopportunities and associated tourist dollars fromberry picking, hunting, or wildlife viewing thatresult from disturbance and loss of canopy cover.These post-disturbance product models provideimproved planning or at least awareness ofchanges in the resource base to the local public.With the knowledge of post-disturbance

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vegetation response, resource-dependentcommunities would be better able to respond toboth planned and unplanned disturbance events.Integration of ecosystem principles of disturbanceand patch dynamics into local and regionaleconomic planning identifies economicopportunities consistent with maintainingecosystem integrity.

Maintenance of inherent disturbance regimes andan array of stand structures across the landscapeto conserve biodiversity (Oliver et al. 1994) isalso a process of maintaining a diverse portfolioof economic opportunities. Forest-derivedrevenues are increasing from non-timber sourcessuch as recreation and special forest products. Forexample, it is of economic importance tomaintain, through disturbance, a portion of thewestern hemlock zone landscape in mid-successional stage for continued availability ofsome specialty forest products such as floralgreenery and berry production (Schlosser et al.1992). The special forest products industry of thePacific Northwest generated an estimated $47.7million in raw products and $128.5 million infinished product sales and employed over 10,000people in 1989 (Schlosser et al. 1991).

Unplanned disturbance are ubiquitous in theenvironment and are a significant part of anyattempt to manage resources in the long term.Although we acknowledge the high probability of

unplanned disturbances, we treat each occurrenceas a unique event. We have streamlined theprocess of ecosystem restoration, but have donelittle to streamline the process of capturingeconomic benefits. Salvage sales following insector fire events are reinvented with eachoccurrence. During the lengthy process ofdefining where, how, and what tree biomass toremove, the wood quality (Hadfield andMagelssen 1997) and associated market value andthe economic capability to remove biomass maydecline

With the increase in fire sizes in the inland foresttypes (Covington et al. 1994) much of the burnedarea may not be treated to reduce biomass loadingbecause of economic and environmentalconsiderations. On the 140,000 acre Tyee fire ineastern Washington only 30% of the area wassalvaged logged. Although this would appear tobe a gentle management practice on the land, theremaining 70% of the area with excessive snagand log loadings now represents a hazard forfuture fire events (Habeck and Mutch 1973,Wellner 1973). Salvage logging protocols fordifferent forest types, based on historical standcharacteristics and amounts of coarse woodydebris supported by inherent disturbance regimes,could streamline the process of defining theacceptable range in biomass to remove and whatcoarse woody debris to leave on site as futureforest legacies.

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Figure 2—Hypothetical example of resource conditions and commodity availability followingstand-replacement fires (Everett et al. 1996).

There are costs associated with managing forestecosystems actively or custodially. But in the longrun “proactive management [disturbancemanagement] will be less costly than fire fightingand associated rehabilitation, especially if donejointly with environmentally-sound production ofcommodities” (Oliver et al 1994). Withcatastrophic disturbance, rehabilitation costs willensue. If rehabilitation budgets are not sufficientthen the payment will occur in lower site potentialand commodity production foregone (Weigandand Everett 1995).

Decades of Opportunity or IncreasedHazardBecause of increased tree densities and biomassin excess of historical ranges of variability for dryforest types there may be decades of opportunityto extract wood resources and still retain

historical levels of snags and logs for futureforest legacies. The challenge will be in thetechnological capacity to remove fiber withoutlong-term impacts on site productivity andincreasing the flexibility of existing institutionsand regulations to allow removal of excessbiomass in a timely manner. The inability toreduce biomass loads to within the carryingcapacity defined by inherent disturbance regimesmay create catastrophic disturbance events withexcessive erosion and slow regrowth ofvegetation (Harvey et al. 1989). Such eventscould contribute to the loss of critical wildlifehabitat, sensitive species, long-term soilproductivity and reduced short and long-termeconomic benefits.

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Literature Cited

21

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23

Utilization asProcesses in

a Component ofPonderosa Pine

RestoringForests

Ecological

Carl E. Fiedler, School of Forestry, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812,Charles E. Keegan, Bureau of Business and Economic Research, The University of

Montana, Missoula, MT 59812,Stephen F. Arno, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory, USDA Forest Service,

Missoula, MT 59801.

AbstractEcological restoration of western ponderosa pineforests to a semblance of their historic conditions hasbeen recommended by numerous ecologists andforesters. Prior to the early 1900s, frequent low-intensity fires maintained these forests as mostlyopen stands of large, fire-resistant trees. Many of thestands were perpetuated in uneven-aged structures bytires which thinned stands from below. Exclusion oftiequent fires, coupled with selective logging of largetrees, has resulted in dense thicket stands that are athigh risk from insect and disease epidemics, andsevere stand-replacing wildfires. Restorationtreatments in pine forests are often considered to beuneconomical; however, their feasibility has not beenevaluated relative to typical stand structures, timbervalues, and associated harvest costs. We haveevaluated two stands, each representing widespreadconditions in ponderosa pine forests, and report somegeneral conclusions here. Restoration treatments areeconomically feasible in many previously-loggedponderosa pine stands, including some on terrainrequiring cable harvest systems.

Keywords: ponderosa pine, ecological restoration,utilization, prescribed burning, thinning, productvalues.

Elimination of the historic pattern of frequent low-intensity fires in ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)and pine-mixed conifer forests has resulted in majorecological disruptions that are of concern tomanagers of federal wildlands, such as NationalForests. Prior to 1900, open stands of large, fire-resistant ponderosa pine were typical. These wereaccompanied in some areas by other long-lived, fire-dependent species such as western larch (Larixoccidentalis). Today, as a result of exclusion of low-intensity fires and early-day logging of larger trees,particularly ponderosa pines, many stands arecomprised of dense thickets of late successionalspecies, with varying amounts of larger trees in theoverstory. These overstocked stands are nowexperiencing increased insect and disease epidemics,and severe wildfires (Mutch and others 1993).

Restoring more natural and sustainable conditions inthese stands is complicated not only by profoundchanges in stand composition, structure, and overallvigor, but also by an accumulation of fuels.Numerous studies have determined that low-intensityfires at 5- to 30-year intervals were influential inmaintaining open stands dominated by pine andassociated seral tree species (Arno 1988; Agee 1993;Covington and Moore 1994). Many stands were self-perpetuating in uneven-aged structures as a result ofmortality of individual trees or small groups (White

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1985; Arno and others 1995a, 1997). When the smallopenings containing dead trees burned conditionsfavored establishment and survival of the most fire-resistant saplings--pine and larch. Historic stands inponderosa pine-interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsugamenziesii var. glauca) forests commonly supported100 to 250 trees/ha (40 to 100 trees/ac), many beinggreater than 25 cm (10 in) in diameter (Habeck 1994;Arno and others 1995a, 1997). In contrast, present-day stands support 750 to 1,500 trees/ha (300 to600/ac), with the majority less than 20 cm (8 in) indiameter. Figure 1 illustrates stand structure in thepine/fir type in the Bitterroot National Forest in circa.1900, prior to logging (Arno and others 1995a),compared with typical conditions in the 1990’s.

The scope of the problem and the need forreintroducing fire and fire substitutes on thelandscape is staggering. In the Inland West, pureponderosa pine and mixed pine/fir types are the mostextensive fire-dependant forests (Arno and others1995b). Threatened stands cover about 16 million ha(40 million ac) in the western United States, and arethe focus of concerns about declining forest health(American Forests 1995, Phillips 1995).

It is difticult to devise acceptable methods forrestoring fiee-dependent ecosystems, which arecharacteristic of much of the West, because

prescribed fire alone will often not accomplishrestoration goals in ponderosa pine forests. Historicfires maintained relatively open stand structures,primarily by thinning sapling-sized trees growingbeneath large, open-grown trees. Because severalnatural fire cycles have been missed due to successfultire exclusion efforts, overstocked regeneration layershave now developed into densely stocked stands witha large component of late successional trees. Thesetrees cannot be selectively thinned by burning. Firessufficiently intense to thin significant numbers ofthese unwanted trees would torch and kill or damagemany of the larger, early successional trees thatmanagers want to leave and feature in the restoredstand (Harrington 1996).

Therefore, restoring ponderosa pine forests to morehealthy and sustainable conditions generally requiressome kind of silvicultural cutting. Cutting andremoval of excessive fuels can create the appropriatestructural conditions and improve tree vigor, therebyallowing successful reintroduction of fire.

Conceptually, it is desirable to combine cutting, fuelremoval, and prescribed burning for the initialrestoration treatment. Thinning coupled with fuelreduction treatments is considered especiallyimportant for reducing wildfire damage in thesuburban/wildland interface (Anderson and Brown

Figure 1 —Structure of an old growth stand west of1993 and as reconstructed in ca. 1900 (B-4 in Arno

Hamilton, MT, inand others 1995a).

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1988; Schmidt and Wakimoto 1988; Babbitt 1996),After the initiat treatment, conditions can bemaintained with cutting and burning carried out atintervals of perhaps 20 to 30 years. Fire’s contributionis in thinning saplings, reducing ground fuels, andrecycling nutrients.

A primary advantage of cutting is that it allows forthe controlled removal of specific trees in terms ofnumber, size, species, and location to more preciselydevelop the desired stand condition (Fiedler andothers 1996). A major concern of land managers ishow to pay for restoration treatments. Cutting treesallows them to be used for forest products, generatingincome to offset treatment costs. These treatmentsalso can provide indirect economic benefits byreducing potential losses from severe wildfires.

Before cutting treatments are initiated, generalrestoration goals need to be established in the form ofa target stand or desired future condition. Historicaldescriptions, old photographs, forest inventoryrecords, and ecological reconstruction studies can beinterpreted to provide ideas for restoration goals(Fiedler 1996), For example, plot data can providedensity targets for thinning (to improve vigor) and forshelterwood and selection cutting (to secureregeneration) in second-growth ponderosa pinestands (Barrett 1979; Fiedler and others 1988).Actual targets can diverge considerably from historicconditions, but still feature relatively open standsdominated by seral species over significant areas ofthe forest. In contrast, present-day stands commonlymanifest a dense growth of climax species.

In this paper, we describe two different stands -- 1)overstocked, second-growth pine/fir, and 2) mosaicof fir thickets, with scattered pine/fir overstory --each reflecting a widespread condition in ponderosapine forests in the West. We then present restorationtreatment prescriptions appropriate for eachcondition. Finally, we evaluate the degree to whichthe value of product removals under the respectiveprescriptions might underwrite treatment costs. Netproduct values are determined as the differencebetween potential mill-delivered values of the trees tobe removed, less harvest and haul costs (Pfister andothers 1997). Harvest costs are estimated using amethodology developed in an earlier study (Keeganand others 1995).

Timber product uses are based on species, diameter,and value using reported mill-delivered prices from1994-1996 (BBER Log Price Reporting System1997). Studlogs, sawlogs, veneer logs, and pulpwoodare the major timber products identified for the two

stands in our example. Since the market forroundwood pulpwood ranges from strong tononexistent as paper markets and lumber productionfluctuate (Keegan and others 1995), we estimate thenet value per acre with and without a roundwoodpulpwood market. We also estimate net values onboth moderate terrain using ground-based harvestequipment, and steep ground requiring cable yardingsystems.

Restoration ApproachStand 1: Our first example is an overstocked second-growth pine/fir stand comprised of 1,500 trees/ha(600/ac), of which 600 trees/ha (240/ac) are 218 cm(7 in) in diameter. This stand has a basal area of 28m2/ha ( 120 ft2/ac). Most of the overstory trees areponderosa pine, with lesser amounts of Douglas-fir.Symptoms of declining vigor include narrow growthrings in recent years, and scattered pockets of barkbeetle mortality. The restoration prescription calls fora reserve density of 11 m2/ha (50 ft2/ac), comprisedof the largest and best pines to provide site protectionand a well distributed seed source. While this cuttingresembles a shelterwood, it is the first step in a long-term restoration effort to develop an uneven-agedstand structure, so is best described as the initial cutin the implementation of the selection system. Futurecuttings would occur at 20- to 30-year intervals, withthe purpose of reducing stand density andregenerating pine in newly created openingsfollowing each entry. The long-term goal is to createa relatively open, multi-aged ponderosa pine standwith smaller amounts of Douglas-fir, allowing someoverstory trees to reach a very large size, and a few tosenesce, Most of the sapling and pole ladder fuels(primarily firs) would be killed in the harvestingoperation or removed in a subsequent thinning. Ofthose that remained, most would be killed by thefollow-up prescribed underburn.

On gentle terrain, trees cut under the restorationprescription for the overstocked second-growthpine/fir stand have a net product value ofapproximately $750/ha ($300/ac) with a pulpwoodmarket, and $500/ha ($200/ac) without one.Implementing this same prescription on steep groundwith a cable yarding system has a small positivevalue of about $250/ha ($100/ac) with a roundwoodpulpwood market. In the absence of such a market,the timber product values are not sufficient to coverharvest and haul costs.

Stand 2: Our second example is a mosaic of firthickets, with a scattered overstory of largeponderosa pine and Douglas-fir. This stand iscomprised of 1,200 tree/ha (485/ac), with a basal

26

area of 31 m2/ha (135 ft2/ac). Approximately 85percent of the trees are < 23 cm (9 in) in diameter. Ofthe 37 overstory trees/ha (15/ac) > 46 cm (18 in) indiameter, two-thirds are Douglas-fir, and about one-third ponderosa pine. Douglas-fir outnumberponderosa pine by over 20 to 1 in the understory, andmany of the Douglas-fir, including most large firs,are heavily infected with mistletoe. The existingstand manifests high fire hazard, declining vigor dueto pathogen infection of the major stand component(fir), and successional transition from an early seralto climax species composition. The restorationprescription has a target reserve basal area of 11m2/ha (50 ft2/ac). All ponderosa pine (7 m2/ha; 30ft2/ac) would be marked for leave to provide both acurrent and future pine seed source. The remaining 4m2/ha (20 ft2/ac) of leave trees needed to reach the 11m2/ha (50 ft2/ac) basal area target would becomprised of the biggest and best non-infectedDouglas-firs. Small firs would be greatly redued bythe logging operation, slashing, and prescribedburning. Scattered openings of 0.1 to 0.2 ha (0.25 to0.5 ac) would be created from the removal of firthickets. The associated slash would be burned andthe openings subsequently planted with ponderosapine. The immediate post-treatment goal is toestablish anew age class of ponderosa pine; longer-term, the goal is to create a relatively open, multi-aged stand dominated by ponderosa pine, with somevery large-diameter trees.

On terrain suitable for ground based skiddingsystems, the stand comprised of dense thickets andscattered overstory trees has a net value just over$5,000/ha ($2,000/ac) with a roundwod pulpwoodmarket, and $4,700/ha ($1,900/ac) without one. Onsteeper ground requiring a cable harvest system, netproduct value is over $2,500/ha ($1,000/ac) evenwithout a roundwood pulpwood market.

Summary and ConclusionsThe role of utilization in restoration harvesttreatments was demonstrated for two different standsrepresenting considerable acreages of ponderosa pineforest in the West. On moderate terrain, theecological restoration prescription developed for eachcondition generated a positive revenue flow, with orwithout a roundwood pulpwood market. Even onsteeper ground requiring cable harvest systems, thestand with large diameter, late successional treesneeding removal has the potential for substantialpositive cash flow.

The positive dollar return associated with removingtrees to restore desired species compositions and

stand structures in two different stand conditions isencouraging. Furthermore, the considerable revenuegenerated from some restoration prescription/harvestsystem combinations is sufficient to carry substantialadditional treatment costs, such as prescribed burningor planting. This is especially true on terrain thatpermits use of feller-bunchers and grapple skidders.Presence of a roundwood pulpwood market is alsomoderately beneficial in both examples.

Some stand conditions requiring restoration treatmentwill require considerable investment. Stands on steepground with little timber over 20 cm (8 in) indiameter to be removed would generally not providea positive cash flow from timber products,particularly during periods of weak demand forroundwood pulpwood. However, such stands couldbe blended into larger projects with other stands thatdo provide a positive return.

References

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AcknowledgementsThis paper is based on research funded by theBitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project,USDA Forest Service, Missoula MT.

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Developing a Comprehensive ReforestationProgram in the Russian Far East

William Schlosser, Environmental Policy and Technology Project,Khabarovsk, Russia

AbstractTimber harvesting and excessive wild fires combine inthe Russian Far East (RFE) to create a large demand forconifer seedlings. Working under intergovernmentalcooperative project of the USA and Russia theEnvironmental Policy and Technology Project (EPT)has developed and implemented a world classcontainerized seedlings program in the RFE at twogreenhouse locations. The program involved US basedtraining for Russian greenhouse specialists, Russiabased training by US specialists consulting in theRFE, redesign of greenhouses, and the installation ofnew technologies and equipment such as; seedprocessing equipment, a seed freezer, a seedling cooler,a peat moss shredder, seed sowing line, new seedlingcontainers, water supply systems, fertilizer injectors,irrigation systems, and other technologies needed tooperate the two complexes. The short term results ofthe program have increased the production of two greenhouse complexes from 3,000 in 1995 to 1.2 millionseedlings expected in 1997. The main species producedfrom the efforts include Korean pine, Siberian larch,and Siberian spruce.

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Identifying Wood Utilization Options for EcosystemManagement: Summary of a National Research Project

Kenneth E. Skog, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products LaboratoryR. James Barbour, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research StationJohn Baumgras, USDA Forest Service, Northeast Forest Experiment StationAlexander Clark Ill, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station

AbstractUsing an ecosystem approach to forest managementwill change silvicultural practices, thus requiringutilization options to provide revenue and to help offsetthe costs of the silviculture treatments. The ForestService, university cooperators, and several industrymills in the southern, western, and northeastern UnitedStates have been involved in a nationalmultidisciplinary research project to provideinformation and methods to evaluate current and futureproduct opportunities for woody materials removedfrom ecosystem-managed forests. This paper explainshow research from a range of disciplines is providinginformation to aid in making management decisions.

Keywords: ecosystem management, wood utilization,forest management, silvicukure, forest operations,economics

IntroductionThe ecosystem approach to forest management ischanging silvicultural practices. Some approachesinclude removing woody materials to achieve desiredecosystem management objectives, As a result of thechange in the species, size, and quality of wood that isbeing removed from the forest, utilization options areneeded to provide revenue and help offset the cost ofsilviculture treatments.

Since 1994, eleven Forest Service research units, nineNational Forests, nine university cooperators, andseveral industry mills have been involved in a nationalproject called Wood Utilization Options for EcosystemManagement (WUEM). The objective of this project isto provide methods for evaluating the economicfeasibility of different silvicultural treatments, variousharvesting methods, and current and future productoptions for woody materials removed from forestsmaintained under an ecosystem approach.

To achieve this objective, multidisciplinary research isbeing conducted to (i) develop alternative silvicultural,harvesting, and utilization options, and (ii) incorporateunderstanding of these options in management decisionmodels to aid National Forests (NF) in treating specificecosystem conditions in three U.S. regions: the South,West, and Northeast. This research, specifically, islinking options for silvicultural treatments with forestoperations, with impacts on current and future woodqualities, and with options for current and future woodproducts. In addition, economic evaluation tools arebeing developed to help managers evaluate thefeasibility of various silvicultural treatments, forestoperations, and wood products. This paper presents theongoing progress of multidisciplinary research for theWUEM project.

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Uneven-Aged Mixed-Species Forests inthe Piedmont Region of the SouthResearch studies in the South are designed to identifythe effect of ecosystem management strategies andresultant silvicultural treatments on speciescomposition, growth, survival, properties, and productquality from forest stands in the Piedmont Region. Thepurpose of this research is to link silviculture,harvesting, wood quality, and economic models toevaluate alternative silviculture treatments for movingthe ecosystem toward uneven-aged pine mixedhardwoods.

The Piedmont physiographic region is located east andsouth of the Appalachian Mountains and west andnorth of the fall-line of the Coastal Plain in theSoutheast. The Piedmont contains about 8.5 millionha (21 million acres).

Before European settlers arrived in the Piedmont,nearly one-half of the area was probably occupied bypine mixed hardwood stands and the other half by otherhardwood stands. The Piedmont had been extensivelycleared for cotton and other row crop production by1860. By the 1930s, most top soil had eroded away.Subsequent abandonment of agriculture andreforestation stabilized the land, and by 1990, only asmall percentage was still row cropped. Mostagricultural land has been converted to pasture,naturally seeded to pine forests, or planted to pineplantations.

Current Forest ConditionsThe Piedmont area contains 8.78 x 108m3(31 x 109

ft3) of growing stock: 44 percent pine, 1 percent othersoftwoods, 26 percent soft hardwoods, and 29 percenthard hardwoods. The NF land in the area waspurchased by the government in the 1930s. At present,Piedmont NF growing stock is 58 percent pine, 3percent other softwoods, 18 percent soft hardwoods,and 21 percent hard hardwoods. The NF account for 2percent of the timberland in the Piedmont. Themajority of stands are natural even-aged pine or pine–hardwood.

Desired Forest Ecosystem ConditionsForest soils in the Piedmont Region are in a highlydepleted condition. In many cases, centuries of carefulmanagement will be needed to restore them to theiroriginal fertility. Nevertheless, the general health of theforests is good, except for problems with fusiform rustand outbreaks of southern pine beetle.

National forest lands have been managed under themultiple use concept since the 1960s. In the past,timber management objectives were to improve thehealth, quality, and volume of pine stands. Older pinestands were often clear cut and replanted with pine or

harvested using seedtree cuts to regenerate pine.Younger stands were thinned using various partial-cutmanagement systems to stimulate pine sawtimbergrowth.

Under ecosystem management objectives, pine andpine–hardwood stands on Piedmont NF are beingconverted from even-aged to uneven-aged mixed speciesstands or to two-aged pine stands. Silviculturaltreatments include single tree, group selection,shelterwood, and seedtree harvests.

Research ActivitiesThe research objective for the Piedmont Region is tolink ecosystem management strategies and resultantsilviculture to species composition, wood quality, andeconomic models that evaluate the economic feasibilityof alternative silviculture treatments.

To develop the link between silviculture and woodquality and wood products, 55 monitoring plots havebeen established on NF and other sites in stands withhistories that represent a range of silvicultural practices.Piedmont NF in the study include the Oconee, Sumter,and Uwharrie. Characteristics inventoried include a newtree grade measure that is being used to provideestimates of volume and grade yield for lumber underalternative silvicultural regimes (Clark and McMinn1997).

Several mill studies have been conducted to determinegrades of lumber from trees of various grades grownunder different regimes. Nondestructive evaluation(NDE) tests have been conducted to link speed ofsound in logs to strength of lumber. Use of NDE helpsidentify the highest value use for each log, includingmachine stress-rated (MSR) lumber and laminatedveneer lumber (LVL) (Ross et al. 1996, Schad et al.1996).

A special growth projection model has been developedfor loblolly–hardwood stands to project growth underalternative uneven-aged silvicultural regimes. Aneconomic optimization model is being developed toestimate the degree to which alternative silviculturalregimes can meet economic return criteria and/or treesize and species diversity criteria. This modelincorporates data on wood utilization options andindicates tradeoffs between economic return and treesize and species diversity (Lin et al. 1995).

Harvest productivity and cost estimates as a function ofremoval levels for uneven-aged management of pinestands in the South have been developed. Equationswere developed for chain saw felling, grapple skidding,and tree-length loading that link harvestingproductivity to level of removals for a range ofsilvicultural treatments (Rummer et al. 1997).

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Treatments include single tree, group selection,seedtree, shelterwood, and clear cut. This informationis used in the growth projection model (previouslymentioned) for evaluating economic return fromalternative silvicultural and utilization regimes. Aninitial version of the uneven-aged pine growth andeconomic evaluation model has been distributed to allNF in the South.

Dense Small-DiameterStands in the WestDense, small-diameter stands are widespread in theWest. To improve ecosystem health and biologicaldiversity, in some cases, thinning or other silviculturaltreatments may be used.

Current Forest ConditionsFire suppression has resulted in small-diameter,densely stocked stands throughout the interior West.These stands typically lack vegetative and structuraldiversity and are more susceptible to attack frominsects and disease, compared with uneven-aged,sparsely stocked stands. Mortality from competition,insects, or disease leads to an increase in fuel materials(fuel loading) and consequent increased risk ofcatastrophic fires.

Research has focused on the representative conditionson the Colville NF in northeast Washington. Under aprogram known as Creating Opportunities (CROP), theColville NF surveyed 44,516 ha (110,000 acres) withtrees 102 to 178 mm (4–7 in.) diameter at breast height(dbh) and 1,300 to 2,000 stems per acre. Naturaldevelopment has led to stands mostly consisting offire-origin lodgepole pine, western larch, and Douglas-fir. These stand conditions are common in northeastWashington, northern Idaho, and northwest Montana.A heavy western redcedar understory is also present inmany stands on the east side of the Colville NF.

Desired Forest Ecosystem ConditionsThe desired outcome for the Colville stands is to createhealthy, vigorous stands that contain structuralcomponents (age, species) within the historic range ofvariation for the region and that support wildlife. Toachieve this outcome requires creating a higherproportion of late successional forest structure asquickly as possible. The objective is to improvewildlife, forest health, and forest aesthetics.

Research ActivitiesSimulation of various silvicultural prescriptions for thenext 150 years suggests that the no treatment option isunlikely to result in development of desired standconditions. The simulations also suggest that activemanagement options are more likely to result indesired conditions (Ryland 1996, Willits et al. 1996).

Thinning operations, studied on the Colville NF,identified how operation costs decrease with increasingtree size. Results indicate how, with current markets fortimber in that locality, a small difference in averagediameter of trees selected for harvest from a stand canaffect economic viability of the timber sale (Barbour etal. 1995, 1997).

Harvesting system alternatives, used for improvementcuttings to manipulate ecosystem structure andcomposition in western stands, were compared andcontrasted (Wang and Greene 1996, Hartsough et al.1995). The harvesting cost estimates were then used todetermine potential economic return to stumpage, whenusing small-diameter trees for a range of specificproducts. The study estimated manufacturing costs,capital costs, and return to stumpage for orientedstrandboard, stud lumber, random-length dimensionlumber, MSR lumber, LVL, and pulp for paper.Results indicate that pulp and LVL are likely to yieldthe greatest return to stumpage among the realisticprocessing alternatives (Spelter et al. 1996).

Studies are also underway to evaluate the palpability ofwood from dense, small-diameter stands. Wood chipsfrom the Colville NF have been tested for mechanicaland chemical pulpability. Raw materials include small-diameter Douglas-fir, western larch, and lodgepolepine.

Mechanical pulping tests at the Forest ProductsLaboratory indicate that lodgepole pine consumed themost energy but yielded the strongest handsheets ofpaper (Myers et al. 1997).

Three mill studies have been done to link log qualityto that of the resulting lumber or veneer using NDE.Data collected from the mills indicated a strongcorrelation between log quality and lumber quality.Such correlations provide a means to assess the highestvalue-added product that can be achieved from eachindividual log (Green and Ross 1997, Will its et al.1997).

Financial analysis software is currently being developedthat will allow resource managers to understand howdifferent mixes of species, classes, and sites of timberaffect the economic projection for a particular sale. Thissoftware also considers how different productpossibilities can alter the economic feasibility of atreatment (Fight 1997).

Central Appalachian Hardwood ForestsStudies in the Northeast are designed to identify theshort- and long-term links between ecosystemmanagement and wood utilization opportunities(Baumgras 1996, Miller 1996). Initial research focusedon central Appalachian hardwood stands in the

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Monongahela NF in West Virginia and the AlleghenyNF in Pennsylvania. Innovative silvicultural practicesare being evaluated as a means for meeting ecosystemobjectives for a wide variety of forest types and standconditions.

Current Forest ConditionsWest Virginia has representative central Appalachianhardwood forests. In 1989, 79 percent of West Virginiawas forested, with 4.9 million ha (12.1 million acres)forested. Two-thirds of this forest land is fully stockedor overstocked. Surveys indicated that sawtimberstands predominate, which indicates the maturing ofthe forests. However, two-thirds of the sawtimbervolume is in low value grade 3 and 4 logs. Althoughoak–hickory and northern hardwood forest typesdominate, species composition on a single treatmentarea can be extremely variable.

Desired Forest Ecosystem ConditionsThe ecosystem management concerns associated withcentral Appalachian hardwood forests are (i)maintaining forest health and vigor, (ii) maintainingdiversity of tree species, (iii) maintaining andregenerating oak species, and (iv) minimizing residualdamage from forest operations.

Given the high proportion of sawtimber stands andfully or overstocked stands, maintaining forest vigorwill require regeneration of maturing sawtimber standsand intermediate cuts in other fully stocked andoverstocked stands.

Shade intolerant species such as yellow-poplar andblack cherry cannot be adequately regenerated with thelight partial cuts or diameter-limited cuts common onprivate land, and clear cutting is seldom an option onNF lands. The shade intolerant species are veryimportant to wildlife and as wood products. Manywildlife species also require tall trees and crownstructure diversity.

Oak species are essential to several species of wildlifeand are important for wood products. Light cutting onmesic sites does not regenerate oak, but with heavycutting, young oak cannot compete with shadeintolerant species. One method may be to remove theunderstory without making canopy openings. It may bea significant challenge to arrange commercial harvestingand products to support such thinning. Silviculturaltreatments are also needed to reduce susceptibility togypsy moth defoliation in forests with an oakcomponent.

Residual stand damage, which results from morefrequent partial cuts, needs to be reduced to preventloss to decay and loss in wood quality.

Research ActivitiesIn 1995 and 1996, WUEM identified issues associatedwith specific NF ecosystem management activities thatcould affect wood utilization opportunities anddetermined the specific types of information required toaccomplish ecosystem management objectives(Baumgras and LeDoux 1995, Baumgras et al. 1995).Many of these issues are closely related to the maturingof the Monongahela and Allegheny NF and themaintenance of their inherent diversity. Regeneration,maintaining species diversity, and maintaining healthare the main issues in these forests. Two-agedmanagement is a key system being studied (Rummer etal. 1997).

For the central Appalachian hardwoods, studies areunderway to link silvicultural treatments to estimatesof multiproduct volumes and to harvesting costs. Onestudy, based on data from 100 forest plots in WestVirginia, developed methods to estimate multiproductvolumes from hardwood trees. A second study linkedcut stand attributes to forest operation costs forhardwood forests. Information from both studies isbeing used to improve a model that, for a giventreatment, will estimate product yields, forest operationcosts, and overall economic feasibility.

To evaluate implications of two-aged management forfuture stands, a study was conducted to assessregeneration and quality of trees left on the site. Datawere collected on the Monongahela NF from 20 standsharvested under two-aged management.

A study is being conducted to evaluate residual standdamage in hardwood partial cuts harvested with severaltypes of systems including conventional rubber-tiredskidders, skyline yarding, helicopters, and fullymechanized operations. Given the significant reductionin clear cutting on NF and the implementation oflonger rotations, the potential effects of residual standdamage on future product yields and value is animportant concern.

Within the bounds of the WUEM project, work hasexpanded to the northern hardwoods in New Englandto examine links between silviculture and tree qualityand utilization options. Data from 421 plots on theUSDA Forest Service Bartlett Experimental Forest,which were grown under alternative silviculturalregimes, have been used to estimate lumber yields byspecies and grade.

Concluding RemarksTo summarize, the national project on WoodUtilization Options for Ecosystem Management(WUEM) is focusing on moving from even-aged pinestands to uneven-aged mixed species stands in thesouthern United States. In the West, the project is

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focusing on late successional structural diversity inareas now covered with densely stocked, small-diarneter stands. In the Northeast, focus is onmanagement concerns for the central Appalachian andnorthern hardwood forests. The WUEM project is aneffective means to pull together and focus research onsilviculture, forest operations, wood quality, woodproducts, and economic feasibility of managementdecisions and to support outreach efforts that aid inmanaging specific ecosystem conditions (Skog et al.1995).

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Link Between Southern Pine Silvicultural Treatmentsand Stand Value

Alexander Clark Ill, James W. McMinn, USDA Forest Service, Southern ResearchStation, Athens, GA 30602-2044

AbstractAn ecosystem approach to managing southern NationalForests is being used to conserve biodiversity, improvethe balance among forest values and achieve sustainableconditions. This paper reports on a study established toidentify the implications of ecosystem managementpractices on loblolly (Pinus teada L.) and shortleaf (P.echinata Mill) pine stands in the Piedmont. Stand valueis expressed in terms of species richness, diversity andevenness; in terms of wood properties for products andT&E habitat; in terms of tree quality for fiber and solidproducts. The impact of silvicultural practice, siteproductivity and stand age on species composition, woodproperties and tree quality is discussed. Silviculturalpractices include partial cuts, group selection cuts, seedtree cuts and no human disturbance.

I n t r oduc t i onDuring the eighteenth century the Piedmontphysiographic region of the Southeastern United Stateswas extensively cleared for cotton and other row-cropproduction. By the 1930’s, most topsoil had eroded andproductive cultivation was difficult. Thus, in the 1930’sthe Federal government purchased abandoned farm landlater included in the National Forest system. Nationalforest lands account for only 2 percent of the timberlandin the Piedmont. Currently, Piedmont National Forestscontain 58 percent of their growing stock in pine, 3

percent in other softwoods, 18 percent in soft hardwoods,and 21 percent in hard hardwoods. The majority of standsare natural even-aged pine or pine/hardwood stands.

Piedmont National Forest lands have been managedunder the multiple-use concept since the 1960’s. Underthis concept, objectives were to improve the health,quality and volume of pine stands. Older pine standswere clearcut and planted back to pine or harvested usingseed tree cuts to establish pine regeneration. Youngerstands were thinned to stimulate pine sawtimber growth.

In the early 1990’s an ecosystem approach to managingNational Forests was introduced to conserve biodiversity,improve the balance among forest values, and achievesustainable, healthy conditions while retaining theesthetic, historic, and spiritual qualities of the land.Under ecosystem management pine and pine/hardwoodstands on National Forests in the Piedmont are beingconverted from evenage monocultures to unevenaged ortwo aged pine and mixed species stands.

This paper reports on a study established to identfy theimplications of ecosystem management practices onloblolly (Pinus teada L.) and shortleaf (P. echinata Mill)pine stands in the Piedmont of the Southeast. Stand valueis expressed in terms of species richness, diversity, andevenness; in terms of wood properties for products and

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T&E habitat; and in terms of tree quality for fiber andsolid products. The impact of partial cuts, group selectioncuts, seed tree cuts and no human disturbance on standvalue of natural pine stands on National Forests in thePiedmont is described.

MethodsA series of permanent measurement plots have beenestablished in loblolly/shortleaf pine stands in thePiedmont on the Oconee, Sumter and Uwharrier NF tomonitor the response of these stands to a range ofecosystem management practices. The managementpractices included: (1) partial cuts, (2) group selectioncuts, (3) seed tree cuts and (4) reserve areas. Included inthe partial cuts are single tree selection, salvage cuts,stand improvement cuts and shelterwood cuts. Reserveareas are stands in which no human disturbance isplanned. Each monitoring plot is a cluster group (CG)consisting of three 1/5 acre circular plots and is randomlylocated within each stand selected for monitoring. Clustergroups are inventoried at establishment, then prior to andfollowing harvest treatments. Cluster groups will also beinventoried every five years and after any naturaldisturbances. Cluster groups were established in standsrepresentative of five 20-year age classes (1, 20,40, 60,and 80 years) and two broad site-index (SI) classes(SI < 80 and SI > 80) for each management practice. Table1 shows the distribution of the 49 cluster groupsestablished in the Piedmont by management practice, ageclass and SI class.

On each 1/5 acre plot all trees > 5.0-inches in diameter atbreast height (d.b.h.) were located by azimuth anddistance from plot center. Species, d.b.h., total height,merchantable height, crown class, tree grade and defectindicators were recorded for each live and dead tree. Five1/300 acre micro-plots were located 30 feet from plotcenter at 72° intervals within each 1/5 acre plot to tallyseedlings and saplings. Seedlings (trees up to 1.0 d.b.h.inches) were tallied by species count. Saplings (trees 1.0to 4.9 inches d.b.h.) were tallied by species, d.b.h. andtotal height. Softwoods 5.0 to 8.9 inches d.b.h. andhardwoods 5.0 to 10.9 inches d.b.h. were classified aspole timber. Softwoods > 9.0- and hardwoods > 11.0-inches d.b.h. were classified as sawtimber if they containone or more 16-foot sawlog. Pine sawtimber trees wereclasstified using a tree classification system for naturalpine developed by Clark and McAlister (1997) andhardwood sawtimber trees were classified using USDAForest Service hardwood tree grades (Hanks, 1976). Thesawtimber pine trees were classified based on size andfrequency of branches, bole straightness and other visualdefect indication. The pine classification system placed atree into one of three grades where lumber yield would

be expected to meet the following specifications:

Grade 1: Tree of high quality which would yield> 40% No. 1 & BTR lumber

Grade 2: Tree of average quality which wouldyield > 20% but < 40% No. 1 & BTRlumber

Grade 3: Tree of below average quality whichwould yield < 20% No. 1 & BTRlumber

Increment cores (5 mm in diameter) for wood propertiesanalysis were extracted from bark to pith 4.5 feet aboveground from four trees in each 1/5 acre plot. The largestdiameter pine at 90° intervals in each plot was selectedfor boring. A total of 408 trees were bored. Incrementcores were analyzed to determine tree age, earlywoodand latewood annual radial growth and amount ofjuvenile wood, sapwood and heartwood at breast height.

Species diversity and evenness were calculated usingShannon’s indices of diversity and evenness based onspecies stem counts. (Magurran, 1988).

ResultsSpecies CompositionA stand can be seen and valued through many differenteyes. To many, species composition is an importantmeasure of a stand’s value. Species group compositionwas fairly uniform across the management practicessampled (Table 2). On average 81 to 87% of stand basalarea was in pine species, 9 to 16% in soft hardwoodspecies and 0 to 6% in oak species.

Average number of stems per acre for seedlings, saplingsand pole & sawtimber was highest in the reserve standsand lowest in the seed tree cuts (Table 3). Speciesrichness and diversity for sapling and pole & sawtimbertrees were also highest in the reserve stands and lowest inthe seed tree cuts as would be expected. The three mostabundant species in the seedling class were red maple(Acer rubrum L.)(18%), loblolly pine (15%) andsweetgum (Liquidombar styaciflua L.)(13’%). In thesapling class the most abundant species were sweetgum(25%), loblolly pine (18%) and dogwood (Cornusflorida L.)(1l%). The most abundant species in the pole& sawtimber class were loblolly pine (57%), sweetgum(13%), and shortleaf pine (6%).

Number of stems per acre in the seedling class in theyounger natural pine stands was lower than that found inolder stands (Table 4). This occurs because the youngpine stands have a closed canopy and little sunlightreaches the forest floor. However, when these young

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stands are thinned the crown canopy is opened and thenumber of stems in the seedling class increasessignificantly. Species diversity and evenness forseedlings, however, decreases in the older stands (Table4). Species diversity and evenness for pole & sawtimbertrees was lowest in the young stands and highest in theoldest stands that have been thinned several times.

Wood PropertiesThe value of a stand may also be dependent on theproperties of the wood in the trees. On National Forestsmanaging for red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoidesboreales) (RCW) habitat the effect of managementpractice, site productivity and tree characteristics onheartwood formation are important. The RCW, a T&Especies, requires a minimum of five inches of heartwoodat cavity height to envelop the nesting cavity. One result

of this long-term study will be increased knowledge onhow and where forest managers can expect to findincreased heartwood for RCW cavity habitat.

A regression equation developed by Clark (1994) wasused to estimate heartwood diameter at 22 feet based ond.b.h., tree age and heartwood diameter at 4.5 feet. Initialstudy results confirm that the diameter of heartwood atcavity height (22 feet) increases not only with tree agebut site productivity (Figure 1). The proportion of treesbored that had 25 inches of heartwood at 22 feet washigher for pines growing in stands with SI > 80 comparedto trees growing in stand with SI < 80. This indicates thatmanagers should concentrate RCW recruitment activitiesnot only in older stands but also on high productivitysites.

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Tree QualityThe size and frequency of branches and size andstraightness of tree boles can also determine the value ofa stand. The proportion of pine basal area per acre inpulpwood, grade 1, 2 and 3 trees in the Piedmontchanged significantly with increasing stand age (Figure2). The proportion of stand basal area in pulpwood treesdecreased and proportion in grade 1 trees increasedsignificantly with increasing stand age, The proportion ofpine basal area per acre in in grade 2 trees and deadstanding trees increased slightly and proportion in grade3 trees remained relatively constant with increasing standage.

The stocking and tree quality of a stand can be alteredbased on the forest practice and quality of the treesmarked for harvest. In the Piedmont three commonpractices prescribed under ecosystem management are

single tree selection, shelterwood cuts and seed tree cuts.Table 5 shows the average proportion of pine basal areaper acre before harvest, marked for harvest and left in theresidual stands for the monitoring plots established instands that were marked for harvest.

In the two stands marked for single tree selection anaverage of 30 ft2 of basal area was removed of which87% was in grade 1 trees, none in grade 2 trees and 8%in grade 3 trees. The tree quality of the residual standschanged little compared to that of the stands beforeharvest. In the 5 stands which were harvested using ashelterwood cut, an average of 55 ft2 of basal area washarvested, of which 28% was grade 1 trees, 42% wasgrade 2 trees, 21% grade 3 trees and 9% pulpwood(Table 5). After harvesting these stands contained ahigher proportion of their basal area in grade 1 trees(55%) and a lower proportion in pulpwood (2%) but still

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contained 16% of their basal area in grade 3 trees. In the4 stands marked for seed tree cuts an average of 86 ft2 ofbasal area was harvested and 11 ft2 left in the residualstand (Table 5). After harvest the residual seed treestands contain an average of 32% of their basal in grade1 trees and 38% in grade 2 trees. No grade 3 trees wereleft as a seed source, but 28% of the standing basal areawas in dead trees.

Based on these monitoring plots the timber markers onNational Forests in the Piedmont are doing a good jobselecting trees for harvest and improving the overallquality of the residual stands.

The impact of harvest operations on volume of trees cutand harvested, cut and not removed, accidentally downedin harvest, and the health of the residual stand are

important. After monitoring plots were established in thematural pine stands seven of the stands were harvestedusing some type of partial cut, two harvested using groupselection, and four harvested using seed tree cuts. Themonitoring plots were remeasured following this treelength harvesting. In the partial cut stands only 1% of thebasal area marked was cut and not harvested, 1% waspushed down during harvest, 65% was left standinghealthy, but 7% of the initial basal area or 11% of theresidual timber contained logging damage (Table 6). Inthe group selection cuts, 5% of the initial stand basal areamarked was cut but not removed. This increase involume of trees cut and not removed was because thefeller-buncher felled all the trees in the 1 ½ acreopenings into a crisscross pile and then the skidderremoved the felled trees. When operating in these smallopenings it appears best to cut and skid a portion of the

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trees at a time.

In the stands marked for seed tree cuts, none of themarked trees were cut and not removed, 3 percent of theoriginal basal area was pushed over during the harvestand 25% of the initial basal area was left standing andhealthy. However, 5% of the initial basal area or 16% ofthe residual standing timber contained logging damage.

SummaryThis paper describes a study established to monitor theimplications of ecosystem management practices onloblolly/shortleaf pine stands on the Oconee, Sumter andUwharrie National Forests in the Piedmont ofSoutheastern United States. Stand value is expressed inseveral ways. It is expressed in terms of species richness,diversity and evenness; in terms of wood properties forRCW habitat; and in terms of tree quality for lumber. Themanagement practices examined include partial cuts(single tree selection, shelterwood cuts), group selectioncuts, seed tree cuts, and no human disturbance.

Study results show that pole & sawtimber trees in olderpine stands that have been thinned have a significantlyhigher species richness, diversity and eveness than youngunthinned stands. Results also show that when managingfor RCW cavity habitat, managers should concentrateRCW recruitment activities in older pine stands on highproductivity sites. Results also indicate that rotationlengths of 60 to 80 years produce the highest proportionof stand basal area in grade 1 trees that are most capableof producing high quality lumber. Based on this studyNational Forests in the Piedmont are applying ecosystemmanagement practices that are improving all standvalues.

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Forest Operations for Ecosystem Management

Bob Rummer, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research StationJohn Baumgras, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment StationJoe McNeel, University of British Columbia

AbstractThe evolution of modem forest resource managementis focusing on ecologically-sensitive forest operations.This shift in management strategies is producing a newset of functional requirements for forest operations.Systems to implement ecosystem managementprescriptions may need to be economically viable overa wider range of piece sizes, for example, Increasingdemands for more efficient fiber utilization andrecovery from forest operations also put pressure onmerchandising the resource for maximum valuerecovery. Conventional forest operations are often notwell-suited to meet these constraints. This paperreviews the development of functional requirementsfor forest operations in ecosystem management andsummarizes regional investigations in the northeast,south, and Pacific Northwest.

Keywords: Costs, environmental impacts, forestoperations, prescriptions

New Challenges for Forest OperationsManagement is an active term. It implies applyingknowledge and resources in an intentional method toachieve desired objectives. Resource managers aredoers. What resource managers do, however, is beingredefined by the evolution of the concept of ecosystemmanagement. The ecosystem management approach

specifies new objectives in resource management andplaces new constraints and values on the managementprocess, Resource management is no longer aboutachieving single-commodity output targets, but ratherabout broader issues of restoring and maintaininghealthy, productive ecosystems. Managementperformance is no longer measurable in cost/unit ofproduction, but also considers the value of biodiversity,long-term site productivity, water quality, andesthetics.

True scientific management proceeds from principle toapplication (More 1997). As the underlying scientificprinciples of ecosystem management evolve, thequestions shift from “what” to do to “how” to do it,Managers must have practical, cost-effective forestoperations tools to manipulate the forest and achievedesired ecological conditions. However, the scientificprinciples of ecosystem management define thecontext, constraints, and value system within whichmanagement tools will operate and be judged.Developing management tools for ecosystemmanagement is the new challenge for forest operations.

While there is still discussion about the definition ofecosystem management, some key principles andconstraints which affect forest operations have beenidentified. One of the most basic principles is that,

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fundamentally, ecosystem management is abouthumans (Salwasser 1994). Human needs defineresource consumption. With an expanding globalpopulation and a shrinking forest landbase, productionof consumables such as paper, lumber, and fuel areplacing an increasing demand on the forest resource.Human needs for non-commodity production ofrecreational, esthetic, and spiritual values are also partof the ecosystem management construct. Futurehuman wants and needs are also considered byemphasizing sustainability— maintaining healthy andproductive forest ecosystems for the use and enjoymentof future generations. As an integral component of theglobal ecosystem, humans demand both forestproduction and protection. While these two seeminglyconflicting objectives are often at the core of debate,forests provide the opportunity to satisfy both if theunderlying ecological processes of renewability andsustainability are understood.

A second key principle is that because of its broader,science-based approach, ecosystem management isinherently more complex than conventional single-output approaches. Considering the myriad ecologicalinteractions requires an extensive knowledge base anddetailed, site-specific prescriptions. Irland (1994)observed that the complexity and detail of ecosystemmanagement will require an intensive application ofresources to implement more sophisticatedprescriptions. The complex prescriptions will be basedon a mixture of quantifiable information, subjectiveassessments of intangible parameters, and informedjudgments about incompletely understood ecologicalprocesses. Standardized “cookbook” prescriptions willbe the exception and unique, flexible, adaptivestrategies will be required.

As the principles of ecosystem management becomeclearer, new functional requirements are established forforest operations. For example, ecologicalrequirements for natural regeneration in a particularforest type may specify certain light levels, soilconditions, and seed source spacing. These ecologicalrequirements translate into functional requirements forthe forest operation. The stand must be opened up to acertain density; stems selectively removed based onsize, species, and spacing; the soil litter layer should bedisturbed for seed catch, but not compacted. Thesefunctional requirements in turn define the managementtool (forest operation) which can be employed toimplement the management prescription.

Some examples of the implications of ecosystemmanagement which affect functional requirements for

forest operations include:

Older stands will be increasingly represented in theforest matrix. Older stands will contain a wider rangeof piece sizes which directly translate into equipmentrequirements for maximum cutting diameter and liftcapacity. Older stands also contain a wider range ofpotential products. This should lead to a greateremphasis on sorting and merchandising capabilities.

Stands will be manipulated regardless of productvalue. Prescriptions for forest health, stockingreduction, certain wildlife prescriptions, can generate asignificant volume of low-grade timber. The cost-effectiveness of such operations will depend on forestoperations which can merchandise and transport thematerial to the highest value end use. Small-diametertimber is a special challenge to forest operations sincemany production costs are inversely related to piecesize.

Protection of ecological values will be emphasized.Sustainability, uneven-aged management and longerrotations will put a premium on forest operationswhich minimize residual site impacts. Soil compactionand residual tree damage are long-term impacts whichmay reduce growth and promote mortality. In somecases, disturbance and damage to non-woodyvegetation may be critical. These constraints requirelight-on-the-land technologies for forest access andextraction.

Prescriptions will attempt to fit within the range ofnatural disturbance. The scale of natural disturbancesvaries from single-tree mortality to watershed-scaledisruption. Most disturbances, however, are at thesmaller end of the scale. Mimicking naturaldisturbance will require operations that can move in forsmall, scattered areas. Therefore, move-inrequirements for transport and access development willneed to be minimal.

Large units of mature forest will be unroaded orminimally roaded. Timber extraction costs areprimarily a function of transport distance andinfrastructure capital costs. Reducing road networkswill extend extraction distances beyond currentpractices. Generally this will require systems withlarger payloads.

These few examples show how managementrequirements will affect the development and selectionof forest operations. The challenge is to integrateecological principle with engineering practice.

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Recent Forest Operations StudiesIn order to better understand the functional issues ofapplying ecosystem management prescriptions, a seriesof studies has been conducted in three forest regions ofthe United States. These studies are examining forestoperations from both a technical perspective and anecological perspective. What are the costs andperformance capabilities of alternative systems used toimplement ecosystem management prescriptions?Equally as important, what is the ecologicalperformance of these systems, both in terms ofattainment of ecological objectives and avoidance ofadverse ecological impact? These studies have beencoordinated and supported through the WoodUtilization in Ecosystem Management project at theUSDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory.

Cable Logging in the AppalachiansCable yarding has been used in the Appalachianhardwood region for timber extraction on steep slopes.Typically, cable systems are used in relatively largeclearcut units. There is growing concern, however,about the visual and ecological effects of clearcutting.Thus, resource managers are searching for informationabout the effect of using conventional cable loggingequipment in alternative prescriptions.

A case study was conducted on the Nantahala NationalForest near Franklin, North Carolina to monitorproduction rates and costs, and to measure residualstand damage and soil disturbance, of cable logging inpartial cut prescriptions. Three cutting units wereharvested with the following silvicultural prescriptions:conventional shelterwood cut, irregular shelterwoodcut to initiate a two-aged structure, and crown thinning(Table 1). All of the units were located in a yellow-poplar, white oak, and red oak forest type on good toexcellent sites. The units averaged 2.8 ha on slopes of30 to 50 percent.

The silvicultural prescriptions were marked and all ofthe designated cut trees were felled before yardingcommenced. Four to five skyline corridors werelocated after felling, Each unit was harvested using atwo-drum yarder with an 11 -meter tower. The systemwas rigged as a live skyline with a gravity carriage thatlocked to a stop on the skyline. Maximum uphillyarding distance ranged from 165 to 300 m. Averagelateral yarding distances ranged from 8 to 14 meterswith maximum lateral distances from 40 to 45 m.

Working from the detailed elemental production data, acycle-time equation was developed and used with theTHIN model (LeDoux and Butler 1981) to simulatecable yarding operations and estimate standardizedproduction and costs. Computer simulation was usedin a sensitivity analysis of harvesting costs andrevenues for 13 variations of silvicultural treatments,including group selection and diameter limit cuts inaddition to the three treatments actually studied in thefield (Baumgras and LeDoux 1995). The simulationstested the effects of varying harvest intensity and cuttree size.

Results of the economic analysis demonstrate thesensitivity of cost and revenue to silviculturaltreatments: logging costs ranged from $5.64 to$14.90/m3, gross revenues from $20,84 to $46,26/m3,and net revenues from $143 to $6938/ha. Due to thecomposition of the initial stands, the group-selectiondiameter-limit, and heavy shelterwood cuts all yieldedlarge cash flows. However, treatments which requiredsignificant reductions in harvested volume per hectareand/or volume per cut tree resulted in large reductionsin estimated net revenue--as much as $4967/ha for theconventional shelterwood cuts and $3727/ha forthinnings. There also were significant variations in netrevenue resulting from location and dimensions oft h egroup selection units. These estimates reflect therelatively low cost of a shop-built yarder, which iscommonly used in southern Appalachia.

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While cost is one significant consideration, theecological performance of cable logging in partial cutsis also important. Soil disturbance was sampledimmediately after yarding using randomly locatedtransects. In addition, 0.0809-ha fixed-radius plotswere installed to sample residual stand damage. Treedamage was classified by type and dimension. Therewas no significant difference among the threesilvicultural treatments in terms of areal soildisturbance. More than 70 percent of the total standarea was undisturbed and only 10 percent of the areawas deeply disturbed or compacted. Most of thedeeply disturbed area was associated with portions ofthe corridors where skyline deflection was limited.The residual stand damage surveys indicate thatlogging damage was significantly greater on the twoshelterwood units than on the thinning unit. Sixteenpercent of the residual trees were destroyed on theconventional and irregular shelterwood units comparedto only 5 percent on the thinning unit. Trees destroyedwere uprooted or broken off, generally during fellingoperations. Bark wounds occurred on 13 percent of theshelterwood trees while only 1 percent of the residualstand in the thinning unit received this type of damage.

Cable logging can serve as a valuable management toolin a range of management prescriptions for uplandhardwoods. This study quantified the impact of thespecifications placed on forest operations bysilvicultural prescriptions. Changing from ashelterwood cut removing 70 percent of basal area, forexample, to one removing 50 percent of basal areareduced net revenues by about 40 percent. Selectioncriteria for residual trees which affect average cut treevolume also impact the costs of the operation. Standdamage measures highlighted the importance of properplanning and training to implement alternative harvestschemes. Soil disturbance was significantly affectedby corridor placement and rigging which indicates thatimproved planning and control of harvestingoperations can moderate environmental impacts.Residual stand damage was affected by corridorlocation and felling skill.

Alternative Operations in the Western U.S.A significant percentage of the forested area in thewestern U.S. consists of stands that have been alteredover time by human activities, especially firesuppression, and are now being damaged by drought,insect attack, and wildfire. In general, the ecologicalprescription to restore stand health focuses on reducingthe number of trees per acre. Direct reduction of fuelloading can minimize the risk of a catastrophic wildfireand enable the re-introduction of natural fire cycles.

With a wide range of stand, terrain, and marketingoptions across the West, a range of alternative forestoperations is needed which can perform selectiveremovals in low-grade material. A series ofoperational trials was conducted to examine the costsand performance of forest operations for forest healthprescriptions.

In California, a forest health prescription wasdeveloped for a mixed conifer stand that had beenpartially logged by railroad in the 1940’s and hadnaturally regenerated. The stand had a widedistribution of diameter classes and a range of species.but was overstocked. Many of the larger trees hadbeen killed during the drought of the previous years. Athinning prescription was developed with two primaryobjectives: enhance habitat for spotted owls, andreduce fuel loading. All live trees over 46 cm DBHand all snags over 41 cm DBH were retained. Theunderstory was thinned, and pockets of small treeswere left as wildlife screens. Three different forestoperation systems were compared in this treatment(Hartsough et al. 1994).

A second operational trial was conducted on theMescalero Reservation in New Mexico (Watson et al.1995). Several stands were treated to reduce basal areathrough selection of dying and at-risk trees. Afeller/buncher-skidder-chipper system was used to felland extract material for chipping as pulpwood.

The third operational trail was conducted in northeastWashington, on the Colville National Forest (Barbouret al. 1995) These stands were characteristic of the 50-60-year-old fire-generated stands common in theintermountain region, Stocking averaged over 2470stems per acre, and more than half the trees weresmaller than the minimum utilization specification atlocal mills. These stands were thinned to increasegrowth, reduce mortality, decrease fuel loading, createwinter browse sites, and to move the stands toward alater-older successional stage. A harvester-forwardersystem was used to perform the operation.

Conventional time and motion studies were conductedin each trial to determine production and costs.Subjective observation of soil disturbance andmeasures of residual stand damage were also recorded.Table 2 compares the five different forest operationssystems on an array of performance characteristics.

Some general trends are apparent from these studies.Harvester-forwarder systems are more expensive perunit volume handled. They become economically

49

feasible by recovering higher value per unit volume.Single-entry chipping systems require a high volume ofchippable material to justify move-in costs and to keepthe expensive chipping equipment fully utilized. Colddecking material for subsequent chipping (a two-entrysystem) can operate with a wider range of productmixes since the chipper can be fully utilized when it ison site. Whole-tree systems realize higher recoveryrates and may be appropriate where markets exist forfuel chips and the silvicultural prescription permitshigh biomass removal.

Harvesting costs for all systems decrease as tree sizeincreases. Since diameters are generally small in theoverstocked stands typical of forest health cuttings,smaller, cheaper machinery can be utilized. However,it is important to be able to handle the occasional largediameter trees. Harvesters and forwarders tend to bemore sensitive to tree size effects than feller-bunchersand skidders.

Forwarding products from the woods, in general,results in lower residual stand impacts. Soildisturbance is reduced and damage to residual stems isminimized when logs are carried rather than dragged.Systems which incorporate harvesters may furtherreduce soil disturbance by providing a mat of limbsand tops on the trails. Leaving residues in the woodsavoids disposal problems at landings, enhances nutrientcycling, and provides better visual quality. However,

in stands where existing fuel loading is high it may beinappropriate to leave residues in the woods.

Secondary transport requirements must also beconsidered in selecting a forest operation. Chippingsystems are restricted to areas with higher standardroads that can carry highway chip vans. The highwoodflow associated with most chipping systems isoften achieved by keeping extraction distance down.This translates into a higher road density. Forwardingsystems, on the other hand, are less sensitive toextraction distance costs and may be preferred whenroad density is relatively low.

The selection of a harvest system for a givenmanagement prescription depends on many factors anda large number of alternatives are available. It isimportant to remember site-specific factors such astransport distance or local market conditions inaddition to operating system characteristics in makinga system selection. Unique combinations of existingequipment and modifications to methods can providemanagement with flexibility in addressing prescriptionrequirements.

Alternative Operations in the SouthThe traditional objective of resource management hasbeen commodity production. This is especially true inthe southern United States where private forest

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landholdings represent nearly 75 percent of the forestlandbase. Conventional forest operations in the Southhave been developed to minimize production cost.However, even in private ownerships, there is growingconcern about the sustainability, public perception,ecological effects of current management practice.Drive-to-tree feller-bunchers and grapple skidders canbe used effectively with acceptable environmentalimpacts in clearcut operations. In selective cuttingsystems, however, the effectiveness of a drive-to-treetree-length system is reduced. More extensive use ofuneven-aged management, natural regeneration, andselection cutting will require alternatives to theconventional operations.

Cut-to-length (CTL) technology was examined as analternative to skidder systems in a study on theTuskegee National Forest in Alabama. Five variationsof CTL operations were tested in four types ofselective cutting prescriptions. The forest operationsincluded: manual felling with forwarder extraction;manual felling with horse prebunching and forwarderextraction; feller-buncher with manual processing andforwarder extraction; a 3-wheeled harvester withforwarder; and a 4-wheeled swing-to-tree harvesterwith forwarder.

The prescriptions varied in removal intensity, removalopenings size, and tree size. Conventional time andmotion studies were conducted to determineproduction and costs. Soil disturbance was assessed ontransects through the stands. Damage to residual treeswas documented on sample plots.

Seixas et al. (1995) summarized the comparison of soildisturbance. There was no significant difference in soildisturbance level due to the different types of

silvicultural prescriptions. However, there was asignificant difference in soil disturbance due to thetype of system employed (Table 3). The feller-buncher/forwarder system had the least amount ofdisturbance and the 3-wheeled harvester systemproduced the most disturbance.

In general, the soil disturbance was a result of eithermachine movement (soil-tire interaction) or piecemovement (positioning felled trees or parts of trees).Variations in soil disturbance could be explained bythe different methods each system used in felling,processing, and transporting. While systemdifferences were apparent, overall the CTL systemsproduced significant disturbance in less than 10 percentof the stand.

Productivity data from the study is being incorporatedinto a harvesting simulation study (Wang and Greene1996). The harvesting simulation is based on standmaps generated by computer. Images of harvestingmachines are maneuvered through the stand by thesimulation operator. Combining distance and treeinformation with the production equations from fieldstudies provides an estimate of production and cost.The primary advantage of the harvesting simulationapproach is that it permits modeling different systemsoperating in identical stands. It also permits the samestand to be treated with a range of prescriptions.Currently, the simulation has been used to investigatethe relative impact of removal intensity on feller-buncher productivity.

Concluding RemarksManagement is fundamentally about translatingprescription into practice. In this translation, themanager seeks tools that achieve the required

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ecological manipulations, minimize undesirable sideeffects, and are economically acceptable. Ecosystemmanagement is altering this entire decision process.Ecological goals are becoming more complex, there isnew sensitivity to the ecological impacts of forestoperations, and the costs must be minimized whileplacing values on many non-traditional outputs.

Successfully implementing ecosystem managementwill require the development of new management tools(forest operations) and the adaptation of conventionalpractices. Just as the debate over the scientificprinciples of ecosystem management has beendeveloped and refined over a period of years, forestoperations will have to be developed and refined.

Forest operations research is beginning to develop theknowledge needed to make appropriate selection offorest operations. What systems can be utilized toachieve certain silvicultural goals? How domechanical factors such as equipment specificationsaffect ecological parameters? What requirements ofecosystem management are not fully met by existingmethods of working in the forest? These questions arebeing prompted by the evolution of the ecosystemapproach to forest management. Successfulimplementation of ecosystem management requires anongoing research effort to provide reasonable answers.

AcknowledgementParts of the research reported here were fundedthrough the Wood Utilization in EcosystemManagement project of the USDA Forest Service,Forest Products Laboratory.

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Linking Log Quality With Product Performance

David W. Green and Robert J. Ross, USDA Forest Service,Forest Products Laboratory

AbstractIn the United States, log grading procedures use visualassessment of defects, in relation to the log scalingdiameter, to estimate the yield of lumber that maybeexpected from the log. This procedure was satisfactorywhen structural grades were based only on defect sizeand location. In recent years, however, structural prod-ucts have increasingly been graded using a combinationof visual estimation of defects, coupled with nonde-structive evaluation of other parameters, to obtain amore precise estimate of product properties. Today, themost commonly used nondestructive evaluation pa-rameter is modulus of elasticity (MOE). This papersummarizes the results of three studies that used longi-tudinal stress wave techniques to determine the MOE oflogs prior to processing into lumber. The MOE oflumber was then determined by transverse vibration. Agood relationship was generally observed between theMOE of logs and the average MOE of the lumber cutfrom an individual log. These results indicate that im-proved sorting of logs for structural products might beachieved using a combination of visual assessment anddetermination of the MOE of the logs using longitudi-nal stress wave techniques. Future research will quan-tify the improvement in log sorting efficiency relativeto other nondestructive testing options.

Keywords: Log grade, longitudinal stress wave,modulus of elasticity, lumber, spruce, balsam fir,Douglas-fir, western hemlock, Southern Pine.

IntroductionConsiderable savings in material and processing mightbe achieved if a better relationship could be establishedbetween log quality and the quality of products cut fromthe log. The capability to improve log sorting becomesespecially important as the wood industry adapts to aresource base that includes more plantation-grownsoftwoods, nontraditional species, and small-diametertrees (Skog et al. 1995).

Log grades are used to relate log size and quality to theyield of products that can be cut from the log. Since the1940s, the Forest Service and industry researchers havebeen developing log grades to estimate lumber yield(Gregory and Person 1946; Southern and SoutheasternForest Experiment Station 1953; Campbell 1964;Ostrander and Brisbin 1971). These log grading systemsare based on visual estimation of the number, size, andtype of knots and other defects in relation to log scalingdiameter. The visual log grading systems generallywork satisfactorily for estimating the yield of visuallygraded structural lumber that may be expected from alog (Gregory and Person 1946, Lane et al. 1973; Wood-fin and Snellgrove 1976; McDonald et al. 1993).

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Structural lumber, visually graded by standardized pro-cedures, has been available in the United States since atleast the early 1920s (Newlin and Johnson 1923). Inthe early 1960s, mechanically graded structural lumberalso became commercially available. This lumber isgraded by a combination of visual assessment of knotsand other lumber characteristics and nondestructiveevaluation of the relationship between lumber modulusof elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR).Nondestructive evaluation of MOE, along with visualassessment of surface characteristics and defects, is alsoused for sorting lumber for the production of glued-laminated beams (AITC 1993), structural lumber fromhardwood species (Green et al. 1994), and laminatedveneer lumber (Sharp 1985). Green et al. (1996) re-cently proposed that nondestructive evaluation of MOEbe used to grade heavy timbers. Despite the increasingimportance of grading structural wood products by acombination of visual and mechanical means, the rela-tionship between log and lumber stiffness has generallynot been investigated for U.S. species.

In a limited study with six Douglas-fir logs, Galliganet al. (1967) were able to rank lumber obtained fromthe logs with reasonable accuracy, using only the lon-gitudinal vibration characteristics of the logs. Recently,studies in other countries have begun to evaluate therelationship between log and lumber stiffness. For ex-ample, Arima et al. (1990) found a 0.83 coefficient ofdetermination between log MOE and the average MOEof lumber from individual Sugi (Crypotomeria japon-ica) logs using longitudinal stress wave techniques.Aratake et al. (1992) reported coefficient of determina-tion values of 0.82 between log MOE and the averageMOE of the lumber from a log for green lumber. Thecoefficient of determination value was 0.71 between logMOE and average lumber MOE for dry lumber withoutthe pith present and 0.58 with the pith present. Sandozand Lorin (1994) reported coefficient of determinationvalues of 0.44 between log MOE and lumber MOR cutfrom 12 spruce logs.

In 1992, we proposed to evaluate the relationship be-tween log and product properties for a range of speciesand products. The goal of our research is to access im-proved procedures for sorting logs, and eventually trees,for production of products graded by mechanical means.This paper summarizes some of the results from threeof these studies.

Materials and MethodsThe first study evaluated the relationship between logand lumber MOE using randomly selected easternspruce and balsam fir logs (Ross et al. 1997). The

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second study evaluated the log MOE–lumber MOErelationship for Southern Pine sampled from both natu-ral and plantation forests (Green et al. [in progress A]).The third study utilized Douglas-fir and western hem-lock logs 660 mm (26 in.) and less in diameter (Greenet al. [in progress B]). The procedures followed in allthree studies were similar (Fig. 1).

In each study, logs were selected at a mill and meas-urements were made of log length, scaling diameters,and visual grade. For each log, longitudinal speed-of-sound stress wave transmission was determined usingaccelerometers fixed to the ends of the logs. A stresswave was introduced into the specimen through ahammer impact on one end and the signal obtainedfrom the opposite end. The stress wave signal was re-corded on an oscilloscope to obtain the transit timefrom the distance between signal peaks (Ross et al.1994). Although a preliminary study indicated thatequivalent measurements could be obtained with stackedlogs, all stress wave measurements were taken with thelogs removed from the stack (Fig. 2) (Ross et al.1997). The logs were then sawn into lumber, with

special care taken to ensure that individual lumberspecimens could be traced to the log from which theywere sawn. Flatwise MOE was determined for eachlumber specimen using transverse vibration techniques(Ross et al. 1991).

Results and DiscussionLinear regression was used to evaluate the relationshipbetween the lumber MOE values and the MOE of thelogs (Table 1). The log–lumber MOE relationship wasevaluated two ways. First, the correlation was deter-mined between log MOE measured by stress wavetechniques and the MOE of each individual board in thelogs measured by transverse vibration (called“individual boards” in Table 1). Second, the correlationwas established between the log MOE and the averageMOE of all boards obtained from a given log (called“average of boards” in Table 1). In general, a good cor-relation was found between log MOE and the averageMOE of the lumber cut from a log for eastern spruce,Southern Pine, and Douglas-fir (Figs. 3–5). For thesethree species, coefficients of determination ranged from0.50 to 0.82. Significant, but lower, correlations werefound with balsam fir and western hemlock (0.33 and0.13, respectively). The low coefficient of determina-tion for western hemlock was probably a result of hav-ing a limited range in log MOE values in the sampleselected. The range in MOE values was about half thatexpected from tests of dimension lumber. The westernhemlock was sampled primarily from trees growing atlower elevations (Green et al. [in progress A]). Whencombined with Douglas-fir, the log MOE–averagelumber MOE correlations were excellent. The reasonfor the low correlation between log and lumber MOEfor balsam fir could be similar to that for western hem-lock (Ross et al. 1997). However, the low correlationcould also be a result of the frequent occurrence of bac-terially infected wood in balsam fir (Ward and Pong1980). Additional research on western hemlock andbalsam fir is needed to clarify the relationship.

The log MOE–average lumber MOE correlation is oneindication of the potential of using log MOE values asan additional factor to incorporate into a log gradingrule to improve the prediction of the yield of mechan-ically graded lumber. Another indicator is the logMOE–individual board MOE correlation. If thevariability in MOE of individual boards within a log istoo large, this might negate the benefit of sorting thelogs by MOE. As would be expected, the correlation oflog MOE and individual board MOE is less than thatbetween log MOE and the average MOE of the boards(Table 1). As shown in Figure 6, there appears to be

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good potential for sorting eastern spruce logs using thisapproach. With other species, such as the balsam firshown in Figure 7, the potential is questionable. Asdiscussed previously, additional work is needed beforedeciding to abandon this approach with balsam fir andwestern hemlock.

A detailed discussion of the log MOE-lumber MOEcorrelations for the species discussed in this paper willbe given in the full reports (Ross et al. 1997, Green etal. [in progress A and B]). In addition to the three stud-ies previously noted, several studies are nearing com-pletion that evaluate the correlation between log andlumber properties for other species. Also nearing com-pletion are studies that relate the MOE of logs to theMOE of veneer cut from those logs. Future studies willdevelop alternatives, using the stress wave based ap-proach, to incorporate log properties into log gradingrules and compare these results with existing rulesbased solely on visual assessment or density.

Concluding RemarksBased on the results to date, we conclude the following:

● There is a good correlation between log MOE andthe average MOE of the lumber cut from an individ-ual log for eastern spruce, Southern Pine, and Doug-las-fir. Correlations are not as good for balsam firand western hemlock. However, a limited range ofMOE values in our samples may have reduced thecorrelations for the latter two species.

●

●

●

With eastern spruce, Southern Pine, and Douglas-fir,the correlation between log MOE and the MOE ofindividual boards cut from the log appears to be highenough so that within log variability would not ne-gate the benefits of sorting logs by log stiffness.Additional work is needed to quantify this assump-tion.

Results indicate that improvements in log sortingcapability may be possible for predicting the yield ofstructural products that use MOE as part of thegrading criteria.

Additional research is needed to establish the log–product MOE relationship for other species andproducts and to evaluate the incorporation of logMOE values in log grading rules.

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References

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58

Potential of Small Dimensioned, Low Quality RoundWood of Scots Pine for the Production of ValuableTimber

Udo Hans Sauter, Institut fuer Forstbenutzung und Forstliche Arbeitswissenschaft,University of Freiburg, Germany

AbstractThe aim of this study is to select end uses for Scots pinetimber produced out of low dimensioned round woodwith high value and to define its specific quality requests.In general two product groups are possible: timber forfurniture, floors etc. and construction timber. 120 testtrees from two different growth regions from thesouthwest of Germany were included. The sawn productsare characterized by high contents of juvenil wood nearthe pith. The first optically orientated product groupshows an unexpected high percentage of 54% of gradingclass A according to the strict grading rule “NordicTimber”. The bending and tension strength values aresimilar with such from older Scots pines and Douglasfirs. Also the grading result using the DIN 4074 givesvery good output of highest grading classes.

Keywords: Scots pine, sawn timber, quality, visualgrading, machine grading, Nordic Timber, DIN 4074,mechanical properties.

Introduction and AimThe European market for small dimensioned round woodof Scots pine, shows actually nearly no acceptance for theproduction of high quality timber. Only traditional marketpotentials with low round wood prices in the particleboard and pulp industry are used (Becker, 1989; Beckerund Niepagen, 1990).The economic meaning of this fact is given by 1.3 Mio

hectares commercial forests in Germany covered withScots pine. Additionally Scots pine is one of the mostimportant softwoods in Europe in general

The aim of a complex research project as a commonchallenge of the forest enterprises in the southwest ofGermany, the involved local timber industry and thewood research was to select future-orientated timberproducts with concrete end uses which could beproduced out of the resource small dimensioned roundwood of Scots pine. Further, to define quality limitsunder realistic market conditions resp. consumerdemands and to test the sawn timber in relation to thesequality definitions on its potential for high valuabletimber.

The research concept was devided into two tasks relatedto the product groups:I. optically orientated sawn productsII. structural solid timber and laminated structural

timber for construction purposes.

The first group of end products contents boards forfloors, lamellas for laminated boards for the furnitureproduction and endless studs without high requests onthe load-carrying capacity.The second product group includes structural timber onlyfor construction purposes with high demands atconstruction security.

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The timber resource for the project was sawn out of 120Scots pine trees from five different stands. Theconstruction timber was traditionally sawn, whereas twosizes of studs were choosen with cross-sections of 60 by120 mm and 38 by 100 mm as well as one board cross-section of 35 by 120 mm.

The optically orientated sawn products were produced ina modem saw mill with automatical output optimization.Timber sizes in this case were boards with 29 mmthickness and different width and one stud cross-sectionof 58 by 105 mm.

In both cases, it was consciously accepted to includejuvenile wood near the pith. After conditioning andsurface finishing the timber was graded according todifferent grading standards adapted to defined end uses.For example the new strong standard from Scandinaviafor “Nordic Timber” was used for optically orientatedproducts and the actual version of “DIN 4074” for visualand machine grading of construction timber.

ResultsTimber Quality in Consideration of OpticallyOrientated Sawn ProductsThe optical classification of sawn product surfaces ismainly determined by esthetic appearance. In thismeaning the number, size and condition (green or dead)of knots are dominant criterions.

In Figure 1 is shown the relation of dead knots to healthygrown in green knots. There is a clear increasing trendwith the height of the tree for the number of knots. Theabsolute dimension of biggest knots along the total stemsurface of every tree lies in average at 23.4 mm.

The included sawn timber of this study shows only fewpresence of resin pockets and nearly no resinous wood,which is often a serious problem of Scots pine timberfrom northern European regions.

The most negative factor for the grading result wasbesides the knots (85%) the grade of warp which is muchmore obvious in the collective of studs than for thinboards. There are a lot more criterions to consideraccording to the “Nordic Timber” grading rules. Forexample the content of resin, grown in bark, coulour,surface roughness. But all these criterions are nearlywithout effect on the grading result in this case. A seriousproblem seems to be the extent of warp in sawn productsfrom the centre part of the stem with high content ofjuvenil wood. The effect increases with the thickness ofthe sawn timber.

Figure 1 —Mean number of green and dead knots in different stem heights, measured on thesapwood side of sawn timber

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Grading Results “Nordic Timber”

after including criterion(s):

Boards Studs

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The boards and studs for non construction purposes showTimber Quality of Studs and Boards foran unexpected big percentage of high quality timber of Construction Purposesclass A, which is related to most valuable end products. In the case of timber for construction purposes theThe reasons for that are the small knots with a resonable density level is one of the most critical factors for thepercentage of dead knots and few resin pockets caused byresulting mechanical properties. The average densitya very slow growth in dense stands, which are typical ranged between 0.54 to 0.61 g/cm3 with a maximumgrowing conditions for Scots pine in middle Europe. density for one single stud, beam or board with 0.72

g/cm3. These values show a high density level, despiteA second result of practical importance is that the that all timber pieces were located in the centre of thepercentage of high classified timber produced out of stem section and at least 4070 includes the pith.small dimensioned round wood decreases above the stemheight of about 10 m dramatically, so that there should bea height limit for high valuable timber.

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The density values represent despite the position of the A similar positive result were recognized for the knotstimber from the centre part of the stem with high measured according to the grading rules for timber withpercentage of juvenil wood high level, this not only in structural sizes DIN 4074. Even the biggest knots showcomparison to other studies about the same tree species seldom a diameter greater than 40 mm. These resultsbut also in comparison to Douglas fir timber. Reasons give an idea about the fully different wood stucture ofare small ring width of the test material with 1.6 to 2 mm Scots pine in comparison to wood from home grownand following low early wood percentages resp. Douglas fir (Fischer, 1994; Sauter, 1992).dominating late wood in the growth ring. Neverthelessthere is a large range of density values to recognize.

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The strength tested in bending for beams and studs withsmall cross sections reflecting the small dimensionedround wood resource, is related to grading classes of theDIN 4074 not different to tested construction timberfrom German Scots pine and Douglas fir. Arround twothirds of the total timber output of the test trees havesufficient load-carrying capacity for high qualityconstruction timber (Table 2).

The high strength values of class S13 (Table 2 andFigure 5) may interpreted as clear reference toconsiderable unused strength potentials of theconstruction timber resource. The only way of betterusing this potential requests machine grading includingMOE as most valuable criterion (Glos and Diebold,1994; Sauter and Glos, 1995).

Table 3 allows the comparison of bending strengthvalues with studies from other authors and tree species.Glos et al. (1986) showed quite similar strength andstiffness values for beams in two dimensions fromGerman Scots pine round wood. This comparisonindicates that there is no mentionable difference betweenmechanical properties of timber sawn out from outerparts of the stem section and the material from this studysawn from the centre part of each stem.

For the production of laminated beams solid boards ofhigh quality are used. The main loading direction ofevery board in a laminated beam is parallel to the fibreand the critical strength is the tension strength. For thisreason the tension strength and also the MOE in tensionhave been tested for the Scots pine boards. The strengthlevel of the tested boards show sufficient valuesregarding the request of the new European standard EN338 for construction timber.

In a first step after sawing, drying and planing the testmaterial was visual graded according to DIN 4074. It isknown that the visual grading process includes a highportion of insecurity. This is pointed out in a relativelylow coefficient of determination for the relation betweengrading parameters and the strength of the timber, in thiscase the tension strength. When the most efficient visualgrading factor knotiness is used the regression results acoefficient of determination of R2=0.37. In the opposite itis possible to do the grading of sawn timber forconstruction purposes with new grading machines. Oneof such a machine is the Euro-GreComat, produced inGermany, which includes into the multiple regressionmodel the wood density, knotiness and MOE in bending.The grading results are very stabil and give a highpractical security for the user of construction timber.

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Figure 6 shows the result of the machine grading processfor the 150 Scots pine boards. The multiple regressionmodel gives a satisfying fit with a coefficient ofdetermination of R2=0.64 which is much more better thanwe could reach for visual grading parameters. Nearly allboards with its individual mechanical properties are rightrelated to the grading resp. strength classes. Even theboards with high strength potential have been cleardetected.

In the case of the tested Scots pine boards the output ofvaluable timber with highest load-carrying capacity couldbe increased by machine grading using the Euro-GreComat in comparison to visual grading from 19%(visual grading class S13) to 44% (machine grading classMS13 and MS17).

In general the machine grading will be improve thesecurity of wood constructions and support thecompetitive position of the building material wood in thefuture.

ConclusionsAs conclusion it is to remark that the small dimensionedround wood from Scots pine grown in the southwest ofGermany contents the potential for the production of highvaluable timber. There are reasonable differencesbetween material from the region Pfaelzer Wald withslow growing, dense stands and the Rhine Valley withbetter growing conditions and more or less roughmaterial with lower quality in general.

For optically orientated end uses the surfaces of the sawnproducts graded according to the strict grading rule fromScandinavia “Nordic Timber” show with more than 50%A-classed timber an unexpected high percentage of bestquality. For typical stands in middle Europe a height limitof about 10 m stem height is to recomend for thepractical use.

The Scots pine timber sawn out of small dimensionedround wood performs to more than two thirds higherrequests for construction purposes. In the case of boards

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as basis for the production of laminated beams it could beproved that the output of timber with high load-carryingcapacity is extremly increasing by using machinegrading.

For the transformation of these results into practical use aproject group works on plans for concrete investmentsfor an industrial timber production.

AcknowledgementsThe study was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, VinGrowing and Forestry and by the Forestry ResearchStation of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

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Objectives and Study Design of the Colville Study:Silviculture, Ecology, Utilization, and Economics ofSmall-Diameter Densely Stocked Stands

R. James Barbour, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station,Steven Tesch, Oregon State University, Department of Forest EngineeringJoseph McNeel, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,Susan A. Willits, Roger D. Fight, USDA Forest Service, PNW Research Station,Andrew Mason, USDA Forest Service, Colville National Forest,and Kenneth Skog, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory.

AbstractPublic land managers in the United States areincreasingly interested in managing forests to provide arange of ecological and social outputs in addition totimber. These outputs might include healthy riparianareas, connected blocks of late-successional forests,habitat for threatened and endangered species, and high-quality recreational opportunities. On National Forestsin the Inter-mountain West, millions of acres of denselystocked small-diameter stands create large, structurallyuniform areas. These areas present opportunities toimprove biological diversity and ecosystem healththrough thinning and other silvicultural treatments. Thepurpose of the Colville Study was to help NationalForest land managers understand when forest operationsare a cost effective way to accomplish ecologicalobjectives. The study was composed of four technicalfocus areas: silviculture and ecology, forest operations,timber conversion, and economic analysis. Results willhelp timber staffs and forest planners evaluate differentkinds of treatments in a variety of stand types tounderstand their relative merchantability. The analysesconsiders silvicultural prescriptions, harvesting costs,distance to the mill, and the products manufactured. Theprocedures developed will help forest staff and localindustry to communicate about each other’s needs whileproviding a detailed picture of the expected timberoutputs from a forest over time. Cooperators includedthe Colville, Idaho Panhandle, and Ochoco NationalForests; Boise Cascade Corp.; Riley Creek Lumber;Vaagen Brothers Lumber; Oregon State University; the

University of Idaho; the University of Washington;Washington State University; the USDA Forest Service,Forest Products Laboratory and Pacific NorthwestResearch Station.

Keywords: Small-diameter wood, silviculture, ecology,forest operations, wood products,

IntroductionUnder the umbrella of ecosystem management, theUSDA Forest Service emphasizes sustaining healthyforest ecosystems and restoring damaged ecosystems tohealth. Land management plans are being developed tocombine both preservation and manipulation to promoteresiliency through diversity of future composition,structure, and function that will also provide a variety ofbenefits from our public lands (Thomas, 1994). Toaccomplish this, ecosystem assessments are typicallymade at the landscape level (Haynes et al., 1996;Iverson, 1996; Quigley et al., 1996; USDA and USDI,1994). As landscape level assessments and watershedanalyses are completed, forest managers are givenmandates to accomplish general themes. They receivestrategic instructions about how the landscape shouldappear on some temporal and spatial scale and areexpected to make the tactical decisions about where andwhen to practice active management or use a hands-offapproach.

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In the past, we changed the composition and structure oflandscapes through activities such as fire suppressionand the way we selected stands for harvest. In the firstinstance, by choosing to limit disturbance, we createdmany densely stocked stands with a high proportion ofsmall-diameter stems. In the second, we tended to selectthe stands with the best economic return and oftenignored those with many small stems. When combined,these activities resulted in the development of millionsof acres of small-diameter, densely stocked standsthroughout the Western United States.

A recurring theme in western landscape management isto alter the developmental trajectories of some of thesedensely stocked stands. Many of these stands havemarginal economic value and may be at risk for insectattack, disease, and stand replacement fires that canperpetuate these conditions. In other places, they simplyoccupy a part of the landscape where it might bedesirable to have stands with a different structure andcomposition. These concepts are illustrated in figure 1.

When stand manipulation is the tactic, forest managersmust choose between many alternatives. Should fire beused to reduce stocking density or is harvesting a betterchoice? Should fire and harvesting be combined? Doesa specific thinning operation require helicopters or can aground based logging system meet the ecologicalobjectives for the site? Is a specified silviculturalprescription likely to result in the desired change in a

stand’s developmental trajectory? Can a desired standcondition even be developed on a given site in a specifictime frame?

The Colville Study was designed to help managers andplanners answer these and related tactical questions.Often their questions will be fiscal in nature. Budgetsare limited. Federal managers currently have fewalternatives to timber sales for funding of treatmentsdesigned to accomplish ecological objectives. As aresult, they want to be able to quickly and inexpensivelyidentify places where timber sales are not a feasiblemethod. It is better to reject timber sales early in theprocess than to expend the funds necessary to plan themonly to discover there are no interested bidders.

The Colville Study also was intended to help NationalForest level planners understand the kinds, quality, andquantities of commodities or alternative wood productsthat might be produced over the long term underdifferent planning scenarios. This information will helplocal community and business leaders in makinginvestment decisions and in discussing those decisionswith National Forest staff.

The study centered on the Rocky II Timber Sale area ofthe Colville National Forest, in northeasternWashington. This sale involved a range of silviculturaltreatments that, if successful, are likely to be used inmany other situations (Colville NF, 1994). The types ofstands included in this sale were economically marginalat best (Barbour et al., 1995, 1997) but representedconditions where stand manipulation may provide anopportunity to develop late-successional structuralcharacteristics more rapidly than is possible througheither natural processes or clearcutting and replanting(Ryland, 1996; Ryland et al., in prep.).

An Integrated Team ApproachThe Colville Study was organized by a team ofresearchers and forest managers (the authors of thisnote) representing expertise in each of the study’s fourtechnical focus areas: (1) silviculture and ecology, (2)forest operations, (3) timber conversion, and (4)economics. Information generated in each technicalfocus area flows to the others (figure 2). Developinginformation and providing answers to specific questionsis expected to be adaptive, and thus figure 2 includes aprovision for iteration through the process.

The activities under each technical focus area weredeveloped collaboratively within the Colville Studyteam and through interactions with National Forest

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staffs, industry representatives, members ofenvironmental groups, and the general public. Fourinformation meetings were held at the Colville andOchoco National Forests during the planning stage forthe projects, and over 100 people participated indiscussions about the design of the study and possibleformats and uses for outputs.

Silviculture and EcologyResults of work in this technical focus area are reportedelsewhere (Ryland, 1996; Ryland et al., in prep.; Willitset al., 1996). Analyses used the forest vegetationsimulator or FVS (Wycoff et al., 1982) to simulate standdevelopment patterns associated with various timingand intensities of silvicultural treatments. There was nointention to establish long-term monitoring plots.Several scenarios, including no entry (i.e., natural standdevelopment), thinnings, and treatments promotingregeneration, were modeled. The resulting speciescomposition, diameter distributions, growth rates, etc.,were evaluated by comparing them with desired futureconditions. They are (1) increase structural diversity, byincreasing the number of large trees and snags, anddeveloping a reverse J-shaped diameter distribution; (2)decrease, forest health risk, by increasing stand vigor;(3) improve wildlife habitat, by increasing habitat forcavity nesting birds while maintaining winter range forWhite-tail deer; and (4) improve stand aesthetics byencouraging development of large western larch.

Some of the considerations used in selecting areas forstand manipulation and the types of treatments selected

are as follows: (1) uniform, dense stands provideinsufficient space, for individual trees to attain largediameters. When diameter-growth is slow it may take avery long time for trees to reach dimensions adequatefor the large-diameter snags required by cavity-nestingspecies. Under some conditions, trees of suitable sizemight never develop. (2) Individual tree vigor may bepoor in very dense stands when stagnation occurs andcrown class differentiation is susceptible to insect- anddisease-related mortality. Although such processes canbe considered natural, the results of these events may ormay not move stands towards the desired compositionand structure. (3) Thinning may have to be approachedwith caution in some situations. Opening up densestands may leave residual stems susceptible to snowbreakage, windthrow, or sunscalding. Site-specificevaluations will be important when identifyingappropriate silvicultural strategies. (4) Thinning mayalter, forest, floor microsites. Development of shrubs orherbaceous plants desirable for some habitat objectivesmay benefit from increased light and moisture levelsprevailing after thinning. (5) Mortality associated withcompetition between trees for additional resources or asa result of insects and disease will lead to increasingfuel loads and fire hazard in these stands over time.Thinning operations that remove stems likely to die willminimize fuel buildup and provide opportunities tocontrol the composition, spacing, and distribution ofremaining trees.

Forest OperationsPreliminary results from this technical focus area havebeen published or reported elsewhere (Barbour et al.,1995, Schroder and Johnson, 1996) and a detailedreport on the productivity of the harvester-forwardersystem used on the Rocky II timber sale area is beingdeveloped (McNeel and Barbour, in prep.). Schroderand Johnson (1996) summarized the challenges ofoperating in small-diameter densely stocked stands asfollows: “Implementation of forest managementactivities that facilitate the goals of “ecosystemmanagement will probably involve the harvesting ofsmaller trees with decreased road density. The locationof the processing step may also be shifted to the woodsto allow the retention of the nutrients in the limbs andtops on site. These constraints present significantchallenges for conventional logging systems. Expressedon the basis of dollars per unit of volume, small treesare expensive to handle and process. Larger skidding orforwarding distances add to the economic challenge,since the economic haul distance of the transportequipment is generally a, function of machine capacityand speed.

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A partial solution may lie in prebunching material to askid or, forwarder trail for movement over largerdistances with larger capacity, forwarding machines,This would allow smaller equipment to work in the

forest stands moving material from the point of harvestto the forwarding trail. ”

Research was linked to the silvicultural optionsestablished in the silviculture and ecology section.Results available so far (Barbour et al., 1995; McNeeland Barbour, in prep.; Willits et al., 1996) suggest thatcosts associated with both the harvesting andforwarding steps of harvester-forwarder systemsincrease rapidly in stands with average tree sizes of lessthan 10 inches (25 cm).

The analysis of the study results and information fromthe literature are being used to evaluate the effectivenessof using a range of harvesting systems to attainspecified post treatment conditions. Effectiveness isdefined as a combination of ecosystem benefits,technical feasibility of using a specific system, and costsassociated with each system. The greatest emphasis wasplaced on harvester-forwarder systems because that wasthe system used on the Rocky II Timber Sale. Thissystem was chosen because it (1) has less impact on thesite than conventional systems, (2) leaves slash in thetrails thus reducing nutrient losses, and (3) improvesrecovery of the limited saw-log resource. A study ofsmall tractor logging systems has yet to be completed.Information on production costs from this technicalfocus area will provide input data for the financialanalysis model being developed under the economicstechnical focus area (figure 2).

Timber ConversionPreliminary results from this work are presented byOlson (1996), Willits et al. (1996); Barbour et al.(1997); Fight (1997); Myers et al. (1997a, 1997b); andWill its et al. (1997). Technical evaluations wereconducted for several different conversion options,including lumber, veneer, pulp, and composite products.Manufacturing cost estimates for use in the economicsensitivity analysis were developed for each conversionprocess (Spelter et al., 1996). Lumber and veneerproduction were evaluated in mill settings. Field-leveltrials of nondestructive testing technology for logs wereincorporated into the mill level recovery studies toinvestigate the possibility of selecting the logs with thehighest value for lumber and veneer. Pilot-scale trials onchip, kraft pulps, mechanical pulps, and compositeproducts were conducted to evaluate the quality of theseproducts. The purpose of these studies was to identifythe unique properties of small, slow-grown stems thatmay hold previously unrecognized value; e.g.,

tight-grain, small knots, and possibly superiormechanical properties.

Results so far suggest that the quality of wood productsmanufactured from trees removed from small-diameterdensely stocked stands is generally as good or betterthan the quality of products manufactured from thetraditional resource (typically stands with averagebreast-height diameters of 12 inches [30 cm] or greater).The costs associated with manufacturing products fromsmall-diameter trees is higher because more small stemsmust be processed to recover the a given volume. Aswith forest operations, the production relationsdeveloped under this technical focus area provide inputfor the financial analysis model (figure 2).

EconomicsAn initial analysis evaluated economic return to timberthat could be obtained by manufacturing variousproducts: oriented strandboard (OSB), stud lumber,random-length dimension lumber, machine stress rated(MSR) lumber, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), andbleached chemithermomechanical pulp (BCTMP). Theproducts providing the highest return to wood were(highest first) LVL, BCTMP, OSB, and MSR lumber(Spelter et al., 1996).

Manufacturing costs developed during the initialanalysis were used in a simulation tool being developedby Fight (1997) to conduct financial analyses for theviability of forest operations in the types of standsexpected to be treated under ecosystem managementprescriptions in the U.S. interior West. This tool iscalled FEEMA for financial evaluation of ecosystemmanagement activities. It integrates the costs associatedwith specific treatments by using different forestoperation and manufacturing options. It has theflexibility to consider a wide array of stand conditions,harvesting systems, and product options in determiningthe net cost or revenue from a specific treatment regime.It emphasizes identification of the conditions whereforest operations assist in achieving ecologicalobjectives. FEEMA allows the rapid evaluation of manysilvicultural prescriptions for a given set of standconditions and ecosystem objectives.

FEEMA was not intended for use in designingindividual timber sales. Other tools, such as TSPAS(Schuster et al., 1995), are already available for thatpurpose. Rather FEEMA is intended to help managersevaluate the types of silvicultural prescriptions andequipment combinations that might be economicallyfeasible under a range of prevailing economicconditions, given the manufacturing facilities locatedwithin a reasonable haul distance from the forest.

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ConclusionsA major assumption of the Colville Study is that forestmanagers want to balance the costs and revenuesassociated with management activities in stands wherethere are compelling ecological reasons to manipulatestand conditions, but forest operations yield marginal ornegative returns. At the present time, Federal landmanagers have few ways to finance ecosystemrestoration or forest health improvement treatments.Timber sales currently are the most frequently usedfunding mechanism. Even if new authorities are created,it is unlikely that appropriated funds will be sufficient,and timber sales will probably remain an important wayto fund forest operations.

Federal land managers also are presented with morecomplex silvicultural prescriptions, an array of new andunfamiliar harvesting systems, an increasing list ofrestrictions on activities, and a resource composed of adifferent mix of species and sizes than they areaccustomed to. National Forest staffs must determinehow to allocate limited funds and personnel toaccomplish important objectives. They want to knowwhich activities truly need to be subsidized and whichcan carry their own costs. The results from each of theColville Study’s technical focus areas provide standalone information to answer some of the questionsFacing land managers. Together with FEEMA, theresults of the Colville Study provide a powerful tool thatcan help managers understand some of the complexinteractions that make activities profitable or result in aloss.

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AcknowledgmentsThe authors wish to thank the USDA Forest Service,Forest Products Laboratory and Pacific NorthwestResearch Station for funding provided for this work.We also wish to thank the Colville, Idaho Panhandle,and Ochoco National Forests and Vaagen BrothersLumber, Riley Creek Lumber, and Boise Cascade Corp.for their participation in various aspects of the project.

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Lumber and Veneer Yields From Small-Diameter Trees

Susan A. Wlllits, Eini C. Lowell, and Glenn A. Christensen, USDA Forest Service,Pacific Northwest Research Station

AbstractForest management activities since the start of the 20th

century have created vast acreages of densely stockedsmall-diameter stands throughout the intermountainWest. Current management goals include reducing thestocking of these stands to increase their resistance toinsect and disease attacks, to reduce the risk ofcatastrophic wildfires, to create diverse mosaics ofwildlife habitat, and to provide economic benefits tothe public. One of the economic benefits of activemanagement of these stands is to use the material beingremoved from the forest to produce wood products. Toefficiently use the small-diameter material, informationabout the volume and quality of products that can beproduced is necessary. A recent series of mill recoverystudies was conducted on small-diameter Douglas-fir,western larch, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, andwhite fir trees from eastern Washington, northernIdaho, and southwestern Oregon. Results of the lumberstudy showed that the volume recovery is as high orhigher than previously experienced from timber of thissize. Lumber grade recovery was also good, with 50percent of the lumber from the lodgepole pine sampleand 65 percent of the Douglas-fir sample graded asConstruction or better. Veneer volume recovery alsocompared favorably with previous studies with the

exception of the ponderosa pine sample, which hadfairly low recovery.

Keywords: Densely-stocked small-diameter stands,Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, larch,lumber recovery, veneer recovery.

IntroductionForest management activities since the start of the 20th

century have created vast acreages of densely stockedsmall-diameter stands throughout the intermountainWest. Current management goals include reducing thestocking of these stands to increase their resistance toinsect and disease attacks, to reduce the risk ofcatastrophic wildfires, to create diverse mosaics ofwildlife habitat, and to provide economic benefits tothe public. Once the overall goals for ecosystemmanagement or ecosystem restoration have beenestablished; key decisions will be made on thevegetation management treatments are necessary tochange stand trajectories within the National Forests.Questions of what, when, where, why, and how toimplement treatments must be addressed at thelandscape, watershed, and stand levels. The answers tothese questions require a balance of information oncurrent forest conditions; growth and yield projections;insect, disease, and fire risk; species diversity and

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aesthetics; water supply and quality; soil conditions;and economics. Areas considered to have highpriority for treatment include densely stocked standsof small-diameter trees that have become stagnant orare not developing structural diversifying at fastenough rates.

Management of these stands will likely requireremoval of small-diameter trees of mixed species,unlike the removal from traditional harvest. Forwood products, a large part of the economic questionis related to the cost of removing the material fromthe site, but an equally important issue is the value ofthe products that can be manufactured from the rawmaterial. This paper presents the results of recentstudies on the quality and quantity of lumber andveneer products that can be manufactured from treesremoved from densely-stocked stands with averageages of 60 to 90 years and diameter at breast height(dbh) ranges from 8 to 14 inches. Species included inthe studies were Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzriesii(Mirb.) Franco), lodgepole pine (Pinus contortaDougl. ex Loud.), western larch (Lark occidentalisNutt.), white fir (Abies concolor (Gord. & Glend.)Lindl. ex Hildebr.), and ponderosa pine (Pinusponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.).

Much of the existing information on these specieswas developed in the 1970s when the resource wasprimarily older and larger and the products wereConstruction grade solid lumber (Fahey and others1986, Snellgrove and Ernst 1983, Plank 1979). Justas changes have occurred within forest management,changes in the manufacturing sector have beensubstantial. Technological changes have allowedmills to decrease sawkerfs and decrease the targetgreen sizes, thus increasing the volume of wood thatends up in finished product. Technology andeconomics combined have created opportunities tocapitalize on the specific properties of wood withproducts such as machine stress rated (MSR) lumber

and laminated veneer lumber (LVL), The mainobjective of the recent set of studies was to evaluatethe potential of the small-diameter resource forproducing traditional solid wood products as well asfor producing engineered wood products.

MethodsTwo veneer studies and one lumber study wereconducted on small-diameter timber. Samples camefrom three geographically different areas havingsimilar stands conditions; the Applegate AdaptiveManagement Area in southwestern Oregon andnorthern California, the Colville National Forest (NF)in northeastern Washington, and the Idaho PanhandleNF in northern Idaho. All the stands were between 60and 90 years old, had slow growth rates (10 growthrings or more per inch), and were considered typicalof stands that would need treatment in the nearfuture. Trees were selected across a range of diameterclasses (from 8 to 14 inches at dbh) and locationswithin the study areas. Sample were selected to coverthe range of diameters and not represent a “normal”distribution of logs processed by the mills. Table 1summarizes sampled trees by area, species, anddiameter class.

Trees were felled and bucked and logs tagged with anumber identifying which tree it came from and itsposition within the tree. Felled trees were bucked tonormal industry standards; log lengths were inmultiples of 8.5 feet for veneer and 12 to 20 feet forlumber to a minimum top diameter of 6 inches. Logswere hauled to the mill sites for log scaling and non-destructive testing of stiffness. Each log was thenbucked into either 8.5-foot blocks or sawmill-lengthlogs and remeasured and nondestructively tested forstiffness (Ross and others 1997).

VeneerVeneer blocks were conditioned in a hot water bathand then peeled into veneer (l/10-inch thickness for

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the southwestern Oregon sample and 1/1 5-inchthickness for the northeastern Washington sample).All the veneer from each block was sprayed with dyeso that its identity could be maintained through theveneer dryer. The veneer was clipped primarily intofill sheets (54-inches wide by 102-inches long).Blocks were peeled down to a 3-inch core diameter.Veneer was dried and graded only for grade C or D.The dried veneer was tested for stiffness with aMetriguard testing machine.

LumberMill-length logs ranged from 12 to 20 feet in 2-footmultiples and were sawn into primarily 2-inchdimension lumber (89 percent) and the rest as 1-inchboards. Each board was labeled with a numbercorresponding to the log from which it was sawn.With this level of detail, the volume and value ofsawn material from each log could be calculated.Lumber was kiln-dried, surfaced four sides, andgraded by a Western Wood Products Association(WWPA) grade inspector according to WWPAgrading rules (WWPA 1995). Lumber was non-destructively tested with an E-computer forestimating modulus of elasticity (MOE) andestablishing a MSR lumber grade level.

AnalysisLumber and veneer volume recovery were estimatedfrom cubic volumes. Gross cubic-foot volume ofgreen veneer or rough-green lumber was used as thedependent variable and cubic-foot volume of log wasthe independent variable. Covariance analysis wasused to test for differences among species and mills.

Because the veneer was not graded visually, only theproportion of veneer that would meet the stiffnesscriteria for LVL is reported. Lumber was graded bothvisually and by using a combination of visual andmechanical testing data. Average lumber value isestimated by multiplying the percent grade recoveryby the current $/MBF for each lumber grade.

Results and DiscussionVeneerResults indicated that for some species there is afairly strong relation between cubic-foot veneervolume recovered and block volume. Regressionanalysis of combined Douglas-fir and larch data gavethe strongest relation (R2 = 0.82). Differences in

recovery results of Douglas-fir and larch were foundto be insignificant therefore the data were combinedfor analysis. For these species, as block volumeincreases more veneer is recovered (Figure 1). Whitefir gave results similar to Douglas-fir and larch.Analysis of the ponderosa pine data suggests asomewhat weaker relation between veneer volumerecovered and block volume (R2 = 0.15) and loweroverall veneer recovery. Blocks that had no veneerrecovery were not included in the analysis.

To evaluate the potential of producing a significantquantity of veneer from small-diameter trees, percentveneer recovered in full sheets was assessed byspecies. Results indicate that, in general, small-diameter Douglas-fir trees produce high recoveryrates of till-sheet veneer (about 70 percent) and thatrecovery is constant across diameters sampled.Analysis of white fir and larch indicated the samegeneral recoveries as with Douglas-fir. Ponderosapine produced the lowest full sheet recovery and hadthe greatest proportion of blocks which produced nofill sheets (29 percent). By comparison, 2 percent ofDouglas-fir, 11 percent of white fir, and 4 percent oflarch blocks produced no fill sheets. Table 2 givespercent volume recovered by species in full sheets,random width strip, and fishtails.

Findings indicated that recovery compares favorablyin volume with other studies. The combinedDouglas-fir and larch veneer recovery was comparedwith a study of second-growth Douglas-fir from theCoast and Cascade Ranges of Oregon andWashington (Fahey and Willits 1991) and a study ofDouglas-fro and larch from Montana (unpublisheddata on file). Volume recovery was found to averageabout 20 percent greater than either of the previousstudies. Differences in recovery among studies aredue mainly to a difference in core diameter, 3 inchesin these studies versus 5 inches for Fahey and Willitsand 5.25 inches for Montana.

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There also was a difference in full sheet recovery incomparison with the Fahey and Willits (1991) studybecause of the end products being produced. Veneerfrom the earlier study was used for plywood withclipping priority being on producing high-grade veneernot full sheets as done in the present study; thereforethe proportion of full sheets was only half that of thecurrent study. Analysis of grade recovery results foundno difference in visual grades, all sheets were C or Dgrade veneer.

LumberVolume recovery results were not different among thethree species (lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and westernlarch) processed at the sawmill. Lumber recovery wasstrongly correlated with log volume (R2 = 0.90), with60 percent of the cubic log volume recovered as greenlumber. A comparison of the volume recovery toprevious studies (Fahey and others 1986 andunpublished data on file) of dimension lumberrecovery from inland mills showed the effect ofchanges in technology, rough-green target sizes, andquality control overtime (Figure 2). Differences inthese studies conducted over the last 20 years include areduction in sawkerf from 0.250 inches to 0.115inches and in green target size from 1.81 inches to1.645 inches for a 2-inch thickness. These changesallow for the recovery of more boards from a givensize log.

Lumber grade recovery also is important fordetermining the value of the small-diameter resource.Lumber grades were combined into four categoriescorresponding to differences in market prices. TheConstruction grade group includes Select structural,Construction, and No. 2 Common boards and is pricedat $500/MBF. Standard grade group includes Standard,Stud grade, and No. 3 Common with a price of$425/MBF. Utility is priced at $300/MBF, andEconomy at $200/MBF. Figure 3 shows the averagegrade recovery for each species and a comparison withstudies run in the 1970s. The overall results show anincrease in the percentage of Standard grade lumberwith a corresponding decrease in Utility and Economylumber. Differences in average value of the lumberrange from a 3-percent increase for lodgepole pine to a5-percent increase for Douglas-fir. This increase ingrade recovery is reflective of increased quality controland a change in the resource from tops of old-growthtrees with large limbs and greater amounts of defect, tothe densely stocked resource with smaller knots andlittle or no defect.

Engineered ProductsA summary of nondestructive testing of veneer byspecies is given in Table 3. Based on the summaryanalysis, the combined Douglas-fir and larch fromnortheastern Washington had the greatest meanstiffness, as indicated by the lowest mean Metriguardreading. A Metriguard reading of 450 or less was usedto measure the volume of veneer suitable for LVL. Theproportion ranged from as low as 39 percent forponderosa pine to as high as 87 percent for Douglas-fir

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and larch combined. This indicates that Douglas-firand larch have better quality characteristics overother species sampled for products such as LVL. Incomparison, a study of plantation grown Douglas-fir(Kretschmann and others 1993) found only 20percent of the veneer produced tested at the 450level and below. Amount of juvenile wood andaverage width of the growth rings are critical factorsin producing high stiffness veneer, and here again,the small-diameter resource from densely stockedstands produced a higher quality product.

The MSR lumber recovery results also are favorablefor the small-diameter resource. Table 4 shows thepercentage of lumber by MSR grade level for eachspecies. Grade level 2100f is the most valuable witha value of $560/MBF. A comparison to second-growth Douglas-fir in western Oregon andWashington (Fahey and others 1991) shows that forlow amounts of juvenile wood (30 percent) and anaverage knot size of 1-inch, the recovery of higherquality MSR lumber was much lower in the earlierstudy than that in current study.

Conc lus ionWe found that this small-diameter resource hadvolume and grade recoveries similar to those foundin larger trees. Comparison to previous studiesindicated that technological improvements haveslightly increased the volume that can be recoveredfrom a given size log and that visual grade recoveryis very consistent. Using nondestructive techniquesto measure the quality of the resource for engineered

wood products shows some economic benefit.When comparisons were made to fast grownDouglas-fir trees of the same size class, the small-diarneter trees from densely stocked stands producedsignificantly higher quantities of the higher gradeproducts.

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Pulp Quality from Small-Diameter Trees

Gary C. Myers, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products LaboratorySaket Kumar and Richard R. Gustafson, University of WashingtonR. James Barbour, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research StationSaid Abubakr, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory

AbstractKraft and thermomechanical (TMP) pulps were pre-pared and evaluated from lodgepole pine and mixedDouglas-fir/western larch sawmill residue chips;lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, and western larchsubmerchantable logs; and lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir,and western larch small trees and tops. Kraft pulp fromsmall trees and tops was identical to that from sub-merchantable logs, except for Douglas-fir submerchan-table logs. Lodgepole pine showed higher yield thanwestern larch at the same target kappa levels. Thehandsheet properties of western larch from differentraw material sources were the same. However, therewere differences in tensile and tear indexes for lodge-pole pine from different raw material sources. Douglas-fir submerchantable logs produced higher burst indexthan the small trees and tops. Thermomechanical pulpprepared from Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine smalltrees and tops had equal or better paper properties thanpulp from sawmill residue chips of the same species.Thermomechanical pulp prepared from Douglas-fir,western larch, and lodgepole pine submerchantablelogs and western larch small trees and tops had lowerpaper properties than pulp from sawmill residue chipsof the same species. Thermomechanical pulp preparedfrom lodgepole pine submerchantable logs and westernlarch small trees and tops had the poorest properties ofthe eight raw materials evaluated. The results indicatethat submerchantable logs and small trees and tops aresuitable for pulping.

Keywords: Nontraditional wood species, forests, pulpand paper, ecosystem management, mechanical pulp-ing, thermomechanical pulp, chemical pulping, kraftpulping, pulp properties, paper properties, handsheetproperties

IntroductionVarious silviculture methods will be applied by forestmanagers to alter the growth trajectory of stands andincrease ecosystem diversity in many U.S. forests.Thinning is one such method, but it can draw publicopposition, be expensive, and generate a large volumeof small-diameter woody material with only marginaleconomic value. Another silviculture tool is cuttinglarge tracts of timber that have been killed by insect ordisease outbreaks. This type of treatment has proven tobe even more controversial. At the same time, doingnothing might make additional forest resources vulner-able to insect and disease outbreaks, increase fuel loadon the ground, and set the stage for stand replacementfires.

Thinning will probably be applied in two entirely dif-ferent situations. Many young plantations and second-growth stands require thinning to maintain vigorousgrowth. Without thinning, competition between treeswill slow growth and mortality will increase. In theInterior West, millions of acres of forests are composedof mature trees with small diameters in densely spacedstands. Development of these stands is slow, and thestands may never reach desired structural conditions.

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These two situations yield entirely different types ofwood, which will affect their end-use possibilities.

Trees from a young, vigorously growing forest usuallycontain a large proportion of juvenile wood. Saucier(1987) reported that the percentage of juvenile woodcan be controlled by rotation length, ranging from20 percent in a 40-year rotation to 50 percent in a22-year rotation. Juvenile wood has several featuresthat make it different from mature wood, such as lowspecific gravity, thin-walled cells, shorter tracheids,high lignin and hemicellulose content, and low cellu-lose content (Zobel and van Buijtenen 1989). Juvenilewood occupies the center of a tree stem, varying from5 to 20 growth rings in size, and the transition fromjuvenile to mature wood is gradual. This juvenile woodcore extends the full tree height, to the uppermost tip.

Low-yield chemical pulp quality is affected whenjuvenile wood is more than 20 percent of the chipsupply (Zobel and van Buijtenen 1989). For the samechemical pulping conditions, pulp yield for juvenilewood is about 25 percent less than pulp yield formature wood. Paper made from juvenile wood chemi-cal pulp has low tearing and tensile strength values.However, Carpenter (1984) reported that southern pinejuvenile wood is desirable in the preparation of stonegroundwood and refiner mechanical pulp fornewsprint.

The other type of forest mentioned consists of denselyspaced, small-diameter, mature trees. Structural diver-sity in this type of forest is often low, and late succes-sional structures develop slowly. These trees mightalso contain a high proportion of compression wood(Timell 1986).

Compared with normal wood, compression wood hasgreater density and slightly more extractives. Compres-sion wood tracheids are shorter with thicker cell walls,have 30 to 40 percent more lignin, 20 to 25 percent lesscellulose, about the same amount of xylan, and twicethe galactoglucomman of normal conifer wood (Timell1986).

Compression wood is inferior to normal wood for themanufacture of pulp and paper (Timell 1986). Com-pression wood does not chemical pulp as well as nor-mal wood. Identical kraft cooking conditions will pro-duce a lower yield compression wood pulp that hasstiffer fibers with a higher lignin content comparedwith a normal wood pulp. Papers made from kraftcompression wood pulp are weaker than those obtainedfrom normal wood. Stone grinding compression woodbreaks the thick-walled tracheids into fiber fragmentsthat produce weak paper. Compression wood fibersalso do not respond as well to mechanical refining,probably as a result of their short length, thick walls,and high lignin content.

Many forests growing on the eastern side of the PacificNorthwest Cascade Mountains consist of denselystocked, small-diameter trees. These forests resultedfrom large stand replacement fires and tend to be uni-form. They consist of tree types that are abundant inthe landscape, but in some cases, these forests coulddevelop structural characteristics that are relativelyscarce, such as large widely spaced green trees andsnags. These features are desirable in providing habitatfor certain wildlife species and developing a high levelof diversity on the landscape. However, managementof these stand types is costly and will probably gener-ate large volumes of low value raw material. Thesematerials might find a market in the Pacific Northwestpulp and paper mills, returning revenue to the nationalforests to help offset the high management costs.Therefore, the objective of this study was to establishthe suitability of nontraditional woody materials forkraft pulping at the University of Washington (UW),Seattle, WA, and high yield mechanical pulping at theForest Products Laboratory (FPL), Madison, WI.

Experimental

Raw MaterialsAll raw materials used in this study were obtained fromthe Colville National Forest (eastern Washington) orthe Idaho Panhandle National Forest (western Idaho).The species selected were Douglas-fir [Pseudotsugamenziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco], lodgepole pine(Pinus contorta Doug]. ex Loud,), and western larch(Larix occidentalis Nutt.). A Douglas-fir/western larchmixture and lodgepole pine sawmill residue chips(SRC) were obtained from Vaagen Bros. Lumber,Colville, WA. Identical samples of SRC were shippedto the UW and FPL. The UW screened their SRC toremove chips <2 and >10 mm thick. The submerchan-table logs (SML) had a <89-mm end diameter and werethe top logs cut from the trees. The small-diametertrees and tops (STT) had a <127-mm diameter at breastheight, and tops had large end diameters <89 mm. TheSTT were the entire tree. All logs were shipped to FPLwhere they were hand peeled to remove all bark andchipped to a 19-mm length in a four-knife commercial-ized chipper. Chipped logs and FPL’s SRC werescreened to remove all particles >38 and <6 mm long.Screened chips were thoroughly mixed in a largeV-mixer. To assure that FPL and UW were researchingthe same SML and STT, ~100 kg of chips from eachraw material were shipped to U W for experimentation.The UW air dried all of their chips and stored them atroom temperature in polyethylene bags until pulping.The FPL divided their green chips into 4-or 5-kgsample sizes, placed them in polyethylene bags, andstored them at 4°C until pulping.

In this study, SRC are the controls, representing rawmaterials currently used for pulping. The SML and

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STT are considered an alternative, or nontraditional,raw material that might be suitable for pulp and paper.

Kraft Pulp PreparationThe pulping experiments were carried out in 10-L dualvessel Aurora digesters. White liquor of 30.38 g/L(expressed as sodium monoxide) and 25 percent sul-fidity was prepared using sodium hydroxide and so-dium sulfide. Chips were placed in one of the 10-Lvessels and impregnated by applying a vacuum for 5rein, using the vacuum to flood the chips with roomtemperature white liquor (17.5 percent effective alkalion ovendry wood). The 6:1 liquor-to-wood chip mix-ture was heated to 170°C for 120 min, with three tofour ventings to prevent buildup of noncondensibles.Temperature was held at 170°C until five H-factor lev-els between 900 and 1700 were achieved. At the con-clusion of the cook, the spent liquor was drained fromthe digester and cooked chips were removed and dis-integrated in a 2-L laboratory blender at medium speedfor 2 min. The pulp was screened, dewatered in a cen-trifuge, fluffed, and placed in polyethylene bags forrefrigerated storage. Based on the kinetics obtained inthe initial pulping experiments, chips from all eightraw materials were cooked to produce 30 kappa num-ber pulp. These unbleached kraft pulps were beaten ina PFI (Norwegian Pulp and Paper Research Institute)mill across the range of 0 to 10,000 revolutions.

Thermomechanical Pulp PreparationAn Andritz Sprout-Bauer Model 12-1CP 305-mm-diameter pressurized refiner, fitted with plate patternD2B505, was used for fiberization. All raw materialswere steamed for 10 to 20 min at 206.8 kPa before fi-berization. Fiberized pulp was wet screened through a0.2- or 0.3-mm-slot flat screen. Screen accepts andrejects were refined separately in a Sprout–WaldronModel 105-A 305-mm-diameter atmospheric refiner,also fitted with plate pattern D2B505. A constant vol-ume of shredded pulp was delivered to the atmosphericrefiner inlet by a constant-speed belt conveyor, anddilution water was added to the shredded pulp to adjustrefiner consistency to ~20 percent. Multiple passeswere necessary to reduce pulp Canadian StandardFreeness (CSF) to ~200 mL, when the accepts and re-jects were combined. An additional pass was run on thecombined pulp to reduce CSF to <100 mL. Energyconsumed during fiberization and refining was meas-ured using an Ohio Semitronic Model WH30-11195integrating watt-hour meter attached to the power sup-ply of the 44.8-kW electric motor, measuring amperes,volts, and power factor. Energy consumption values forfiberizing and refining were reported as watt-hours perkilogram (ovendry weight basis), with the idling en-ergy subtracted. Latency was removed from the pulpafter fiberization and each refining step by soaking thepulp in 90°C water for a minimum of 30 min, with

occasional stirring. Four replicates were prepared foreach raw material evaluated.

Pulp Testing and HandsheetFormation and TestingAlkali content of the kraft white liquors were deter-mined by TAPPI Test Method T624. The CSF wasmeasured according to TAPPI Test Method T227.Shive contents of the TMP were determined with aPulmac shive analyzer, using a disk with 0.10-mm slotopenings. Average fiber length, fines content, and fibercoarseness were determined using a Kajaani FS-100analyzer for the TMP and a Kajaani FS-200 analyzerfor the kraft pulps. Handsheets weighing 60 g/m2 weremade according to TAPPI Test Method T205. Burstand tear indexes were measured according to TAPPITest Methods T403 and T414, respectively. Tensilebreaking properties and paper smoothness were meas-ured according to TAPPI Test Methods T494 andT538, respectively. Brightness, printing opacity, andlight-scattering coefficient were measured with aTechnidyne Corporation Technibrite Model TB-1diffuse brightness apparatus according to TAPPI TestMethod T525.

StatisticsNo statistical analysis was performed on the kraft pulpsor their handsheet results. Each TMP was processed tofreeness levels above and below the 100-mL target, and10 handsheets were made and tested for each pulp.These results were regressed, and values at 100 CSFwere estimated (Tables 1 and 2). Individual test resultswere used to perform a Dunnett’s multiple comparisonprocedure, which provided confidence intervals onratios of the medians of the original data and statisticalsignificance.

Results and Discussion

Kraft Pulping Studies

Kappa Compared with H-Factor – Results for kraftpulping of STT, SML, and SRC are presented in Fig-ure 1. Douglas-fir SML had a distinct pulping response. Itproduced a higher kappa number pulp compared withother species at the same H-factor level. All other SMLand SRC produced pulps with kappa numbers only 2 to3 units different. All three STT species showed similarpulping response and had higher kappa numbers thanSML and SRC at a low H-factor. Pulping a mixture ofSTT species and SRC in liner board mills (kappa numberrange 70–100) may produce pulp with significant chemi-cal nonuniformity.

Kappa Number Compared with Yield – The rela-tionships between yield and kappa number for all rawmaterials are shown in Figure 2. There are several nota-ble differences between all raw materials that can beextracted from this figure.

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Douglas-fir SML had a steeper yield to kappa numberrelationship compared with all other raw materials.That is, for an identical change in the target kappa num-ber, yield loss is higher for the Douglas-fir SML. Theyield response is related to a slow pulping rate for theDouglas-fir SML. Douglas-fir STT and Douglas-fir/western larch SRC were nearly identical in theiryield response.

Lodgepole pine SML had ~2 percent higher yield forthe same target kappa number than lodgepole pine SRC.The increase is large enough that a mill pulping a highproportion of lodgepole pine SML for a long timewould realize measurable gains. Lodgepole pine SMkappa to yield response is between the lodgepole pineSML and SRC.

Western larch STT and SML were nearly identical andhad the lowest yield for the same target kappa numberof all species and raw materials. The Douglas-fir/western larch SRC showed a higher yield than westernlarch STT and SML because of the Douglas-fir in theraw material. Lower yield for western larch is due topresence of higher amounts of water-soluble arabi-nogalactans (Adams and Douglas 1963, Fengel andWegener 1989, p. 124).

All three species of STT yielded pulps with a kappanumber within 1 to 3 units of each other (Fig. 1). How-ever, for the same target kappa number, there weredifferences in yield (Fig. 2). The order of increasingpulp yield is as follows: western larch STT < Douglas-fir STT < lodgepole pine STT. Douglas-fir yield was~2 percent greater than that for western larch, and yield

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for lodgepole pine was ~0.5 percent greater than thatfor Douglas-fir. There was no consistent trend for anyof the three wood sources among species except forhigher kappa at low H-factor in the case of STT. Therelationships between species, raw materials, H-factor,yield, and kappa are summarized in Table 3.

Kraft Pulp PropertiesThe weighted-average fiber lengths (WAFL) of theunbleached kraft pulps are shown in Table 4. Averagefiber lengths of STT were similar to those of their corre-sponding SML for each of the three wood species. TheSRC produced a moderately higher WAFL value thandid STT and SML of any species.

Fiber coarseness values for the unbleached kraft pulpsare shown in Table 4. Fiber coarseness did not varygreatly for the different western larch raw materials.

Coarseness differences among one species were largestfor lodgepole pine. Douglas-fir pulps from differentraw materials had a moderate coarseness difference.The coarsest fibers were obtained from SRC rawmaterial.

Kraft Paper PropertiesHandsheets from unrefined and PFI-refined unbleachedkraft pulp samples were tested for their mechanicalproperties, and the development of sheet properties wasinvestigated. The analysis did show some differencesbetween raw materials for the three wood species. Someof the differences found in the handsheet study are high-lighted in the following sections.

Pulp Freeness as a Function of PFI Revolu-tions— The freeness values at different beating levelsfor all raw materials are presented in Table 5. Freenesscharacteristics were similar for the STT and SML forall three species. The SRC produced pulp with higherfreeness values at a given beating level.

Unbleached Kraft Handsheet Properties- Thedata given in Table 5 quantify the following narrativeof differences and similarities between different rawmaterials for the three wood species.

There were no differences in tensile indexes among thedifferent raw materials of Douglas-fir and western larch.Lodgepole pine STT produced a lower tensile indexthan lodgepole pine SML. In general, lodgepole pinepapers had higher tensile indexes than western larch andDouglas-fir papers. As illustrated in Figure 3, all SMLrequired lower refining energy to produce handsheetsof 90 N·m/g tensile index than did all STT and SRC.

There were no differences in burst indexes among thedifferent raw materials of lodgepole pine and westernlarch. Douglas-fir SML produced higher burst index thandid STT. In general, lodgepole pine papers had higherburst indexes than western larch or Douglas-fir papers.

There were no differences in tear indexes among Doug-las-fir and western larch raw materials. Lodgepole pineSTT produced a lower tear index than did SML. In gen-eral, western larch had higher tear indexes than Douglas-fir. Lodgepole pine had the lowest tear indexes.

Tear Index Compared with Tensile Index— ThePFI mill revolutions and the tear indexes from differentraw materials that had a 90-N·m/g tensile index arepresented in Table 4. Lodgepole pine had the lowest andwestern larch the highest tear indexes (Fig. 4). Tear indextrends for Douglas-fir and western larch were similar tocoarseness for these species (Fig. 5), with the coarserfibers producing handsheets with higher tearing resis-tance. Douglas-fir STT and SML did not show a signifi-cant difference in tear indexes. The western larch SMLhad a lower tear index than did STT.

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Lodgepole pine STT produced a lower tear index than Thermomechanical Pulp Resultsdid SML. This maybe due to weakening of fiber A minimum of four replicates were run for each of thestrength because lodgepole pine STT required more eight raw materials, the results for each raw materialbeating (Fig. 3) to produce a 90-N·m/g tensile index. In were regressed, and a value was predicted for 100-mLwell-bonded paper, tearing resistance depends more onCSF. These predicted values are presented in Tables 1fiber strength than on fiber length (Seth and Page and 2 for the eight raw materials.1988).

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Making comparisons between raw materials was ac-complished by computing the percentage of changefrom the controls (SRC), as shown in Figures 6 through9. The results of a statistical analysis were also addedto Figures 6 through 9, and the presence of a capital Sindicates that a specific property was significantlydifferent than the SRC.

Thermomechanical PulpPreparation and PropertiesEnergy consumption is traditionally high in preparingmechanical pulp; therefore, any new raw material thatreduces energy consumption is desirable. All raw mate-rials in this study used less electrical energy than SRCduring pulp preparation, except for the Douglas-fir andwestern larch SML (Fig. 6). All the differences in en-ergy use compared with the SRC were statistically sig-nificant, except for the Douglas-fir SML.

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Pulmac shive declined for all but the western larch andDouglas-fir STT, which showed an increase (Fig. 7).The changes in Douglas-fir SML and western larchSTT were significantly different. This implies a morecomplete fiber-to-fiber separation for the nontraditionalraw materials. Fiber length was expected to be shorter,based upon the literature (Zobel and van Buijtenen1989), for all the nontraditional raw materials (Fig. 7).The fiber length decline for lodgepole pine SML wassignificant. A reduced fines content is always desirable,but the fines content increased for all nontraditionalraw materials other than lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir STT (Fig. 7). The frees might have been generatedfrom fiber breakage and shortening or materials beingremoved from the fiber surface. Coarseness also de-creased for everything except the western larch SMLand STT (Fig. 7). Because most western softwood spe-cies are rather coarse fibered, a reduction in coarsenessmight be desirable.

Examination of the combined energy consumption andpulp properties showed that several of the nontradi-tional raw materials (lodgepole pine and Douglas-firSTT and lodgepole pine and western larch SML) wereequal or higher quality than the traditional SRC.

Thermomechanical Pulp PaperStrength PropertiesHandsheet density differed <5 percent from SRC for allbut the lodgepole pine SML and western larch STT(Fig. 8), which had significant reductions. Moststrength properties are density dependent; therefore,this decline could affect the strength properties. Burstindex values decreased compared with SRC for allnontraditional raw materials except Douglas-fir STT,and the decreases were significant for lodgepole pineSML and western larch STT (Fig. 8). The most spec-tacular differences occurred in tear index. Tear indexhad four large and statistically significant increases andtwo decreases. The lodgepole pine SML had a largeand significant decrease in tear index (Fig. 8). Tensileindex and tensile energy absorption (TEA), for themost part, followed the general trend of burst index.The Douglas-fir STT was the only nontraditional rawmaterial to show an increase in all strength properties.Surface smoothness increased for all nontraditional rawmaterials except the Douglas-fir STT, which had asmall decrease.

Based on strength properties alone, the Douglas-fro andlodgepole pine STT appear to be stronger than theircorresponding SRC. The remaining nontraditional rawmaterials were not as strong as their correspondingSRC.

Thermomechanical Pulp PaperOptical PropertiesHigh opacity and light scattering properties are impor-tant for mechanical pulps, which are heavily used toproduce various printing and writing papers. In general,except for two instances, none of the nontraditional rawmaterials improved the optical properties of the finalpaper compared with paper from their correspondingSRC. Brightness decreased for all nontraditional rawmaterials except western larch and Douglas-fir STT(Fig. 9). Printing opacity was high for all nontraditionalraw materials, and even though several changes com-pared with SRC were significant, the actual changeswere very small. Scattering coefficient had some largeand significant decreases for all the nontraditional rawmaterials (Fig. 9). Scattering coefficient is affected bychange in fiber length, fines content and characteristics,and fiber-to-fiber bonding.

ConclusionsThe principal conclusions for kraft pulp follow:

The results of this study indicate that STT andSML can be exploited as potential raw materialsources in kraft mills. These wood sources producepulps that have a kappa number comparable withSRC, except for Douglas-fir SML. Pulping Doug-las-fir SML together in large quantities with SRCwill produce pulp with inherent chemicalnonuniformity. The STT species pulped togetherwith SRC in liner board mills (70–100 kappanumber range) may produce pulp with significantchemical nonuniformity. Western larch appears tobe a poor raw material source due to its low kraftpulp yield.

The WAFL of unbleached kraft pulps from STTand SML were similar. The SRC produced fiberswith moderately higher WAFL and coarsenessvalues than those obtained from STT and SMLraw materials. Coarser fibers produced sheets withhigher tearing resistance for Douglas-fir and west-ern larch.

In general, lodgepole pine sheets had higher burstand tensile indexes but lower tear indexes com-pared with western larch.

The principal conclusions for TMP follow:

Lodgepole pine and Douglas-fir STT were equalor higher quality than the TMP prepared from theircorresponding SRC.

Douglas-fir and western larch SML produced TMPand paper that were slightly lower quality thantheir corresponding SRC.

TMP and paper with the lowest property valueswere made from lodgepole pine SML and westernlarch STT.

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AcknowledgmentsWe thank the following people for their assistance inconducting this study: Dean Parry, USDA ForestService, Pacific Northwest Station, for obtaining theraw materials and arranging shipping; Vaagen Bros.Lumber for the sawmill residue chips andsubmerchantable logs; Colville Ranger District,Colville National Forest, and Priest Lake Ranger Dis-trict, Idaho Panhandle National Forest for the logs;David Bormett, Charles Hillary, and Robert Kelley forpeeling, chipping, screening, and bagging chip sam-ples, and the latter two for TMP preparation; NancyRoss Sutherland, Sara Spielvogel, and Richard Shiltsfor pulp testing and handsheet making and testing; andSteve Verrill for statistical analysis.

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Financial Analysis of Ecosystem ManagementActivities in Stands Dominated by Small-diameterTrees

Roger D. Fight, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station

AbstractCost should be considered in the design of ecosystemmanagement activities requiring the removal of trees,to avoid the cost of preparing plans that cannot beimplemented and timber sales that will not sell. Thiscan be minimized by an awareness of the types oftreatments, stands, conditions, and harvestingrequirements that are likely to result in positive versusnegative contribution to the net value of a timber sale.The primary intended purpose of software beingdeveloped is to provide a tool to do such an analysis ata stage of planning prior to the preparation of specifictimber sales. A tool that makes it easy to do thatanalysis also would make it easier for planning teamsto recognize and carefully consider the tradeoffs madewhen management objectives are set.

Keywords: financial analysis, sotfware, ecosystemmanagement, planning

IntroductionIn National Forests of the U.S. Intermountain West,attainment of ecosystem management objectivesoften call for removal of small-diameter trees fromstands that may or may not include larger trees.Prudent stewardship of taxpayers’ financial resourcesrequires that commercial use of these trees beconsidered as a means to accomplish the management

objectives, when it is appropriate and the least costlyway to achieve the objectives. Attempts to accomplishthese treatments through timber sales have sometimesbeen unsuccessfull for lack of bidders. Prudentstewardship of taxpayers’ money also requires thatmanagers try to anticipate the circumstances that willlead to a lack of interested bidders to avoid the expenseof preparing timber sales that do not sell. The purposeof this paper is to describe requirements for an analysistool that will help foresters and managers determineunder what circumstances various stands and proposedtreatments are likely to make a positive contribution toa timber sale from the perspective of a potential bidder.This model is being developed as part of the ColvilleStudy (Barbour et al. 1997).

Criteria for an Analysis ToolA well-designed analysis tool will provide informationrelevant to the issue, use data that is reasonablyavailable at the stage of planning where it is intendedto be used, use terminology and concepts appropriatefor the intended users, and provide flexibility in fittingthe level of detail to the user. The analysis tool we aredeveloping, Financial Evaluation of EcosystemManagement Activities (FEEMA), was designed withthese criteria as guiding principles.

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Planning StagePlanning and analysis tools already exist that areintended to be used in a production mode to prepareevery timber sale (Schuster et al. 1995). These toolsfocus on how to combine stands into timber sales.They use the regional timber sales transactionsdatabase as their starting point. They do not easily dealwith the effect of product options and product grademix on revenue potential. They also do not easilyprovide descriptive information on how standattributes, silvicultural prescriptions, and harvestingsystems interact to affect harvesting costs. My focus ison an earlier stage in the planning process, and theintent is to provide a tool to help managers examine thefinancial viability of a range of forest operations invarious stand types. A better understanding of thepotential profitability of stands should make the timbersale planning process more efficient and cost effective.

CriteriaThe potential profitability of stands is viewed from theperspective of a timber purchaser. It is affected by thethings that affect the potential revenue from productsmade from timber and the things that affect the costs ofharvesting and processing the timber. Important factorsfor potential revenue include the type of products thatcan be made from the timber, the tree attributesaffecting the volume and grade recovery of products,and the market conditions affecting product prices.Important factors for harvesting costs include tree size,volume of timber per hectare, the type of harvestingsystem required, and the accompanying activitiesrequired by the sale contract, such as erosion controlmeasures and deposits for future activities. Importantfactors formanufacturing costs include the product produced, themix of log sizes, and mill performance characteristics.A useful indicator of profitability of a stand is theprojected net return to a purchaser from a timber salecomposed of identical stands under specifiedassumptions about harvesting methods, salerequirements, and market conditions.

Data requirementsEcosystem management objectives and desired futureconditions for large areas are considered in a planningstep typically done by an interdisciplinary team. At thatstage of planning, the data available on many foreststands will be plot data from stand examinations thatinclude an estimate of the number of trees by speciesand diameter with a small sample of tree heights. Thatconstitutes the minimum stand data requirements foruse of FEEMA. Missing heights will be estimated with

a regression equation developed from the dataprovided for that stand. If there are no measuredheights or an inadequate number of measured heightsfor some species, the user can specify that the trees ofthat species be combined with another species forwhich there are sufficient measured heights to developthe regression equation. Other variables that may beuseful in predicting product volume and graderecovery are provided for, but their use is optional (fig.1).

Level of detail in resultsIt is expected that developing an understanding of therelative profitability of different types of stands wouldbe done through analysis of representative stands ratherthan analysis of every stand. The analysis might bedone under different assumptions about mill productmix and market conditions. The simplest level ofproduct detail would be to buck the trees into logs andprice by species and log diameter, if desired. If productinformation is desired, the user will be able to specifythe allocation of logs to product types or allow theprogram to allocate logs to the product having thehighest net return. If pricing is by product, it isnecessary to estimate manufacturing costs.Manufacturing cost tables will be provided with theprogram but also can be entered by the user.Manufacturing cost is entered by species and producttype and can differ with log size if desired (fig. 2). Thesimplest level of harvesting cost is to specify a cost perhectare or a cost per unit of cubic log volume. If moredetail is desired, harvest cost tables that differ with treesize and volume per acre can be used (fig. 3). Variousother cost components can be specified individually byunit of area or unit of volume (fig. 4). Once the level ofdetail in harvesting costs and products is set, variouslevels of detail are available in program output. Themost basic summary is a listing of various cost andrevenue components with an estimated net value forstumpage (fig. 5). Other available output includestables of gross value or volume for trees by species anddiameter class (fig. 6), tables of net value or volumefor logs by species and product type (fig. 7), and tablesof gross value or volume of products by species andproduct by grade (not shown). It is anticipated thatmost users will find sufficient detail in the standardizedtables. If users want some combination of informationnot in the standardized tables, they have access to thefiles from which the summary data was drawn. Thosefiles can be read into a spreadsheet or a database forfurther analysis or manipulation.

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Figure 1—input form for stand data. Only species and diameter breast height (DBH) are requiredfor all trees.

Figure 2—Input form for manufacturing costs. Costs can differ with small-end diameter of logs.

Figure 3—Input form for stump-to-truck harvesting cost. Cost can be entered as a unit cost (top ofform) or as a table by tree size and per-acre quantity (bottom of form).

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Figure 4-Input form for additional harvesting costs. Costs not specifically listed on the form canbe added in the blank lines at the bottom of the form.

Figure 5-Format for table of summary results.

Conclusions small-diameter trees. If it proves useful to planners in

Although FEEMA calculates residual values for stands determining the relative profitability of stands under

and can allocate logs to products based on highest net predefined silvicultural prescriptions, it may also prove

return, it is neither an appraisal nor a merchandising useful in thinking about the tradeoffs involved in

tool. The level of resolution is keyed to the needs of modifying prescriptions to increase the financial

planners who are trying to make decisions about feasibility of creating the desired future conditions.

silvicultural prescriptions for stands dominated by

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Figure 6—Format for table of volumes or values of trees by species and DBH

Figure 7—Format for table of volumes or values of logs by product and species.

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Strategies for Sustainable Wood Suppliesin the Changing Indian Scenario

Satish Kumar, Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute,Debra Dun, India

Abstract Key Words: India, wood preservation, waste reduction,

Indian forests produce nearly 12 million m3 of supply enhancement

industrial wood against an annual country requirementof over 25 million m3 Although timber yieldingspecies number 400-500 making India biologicallyrich. Timber species available on commercial scalenumber over 150. This large variety available in mixedform makes their utilization difficult due toidentification and processing’ problems. Deficit in woodsupplies is met by imports and other forest and nonforest resources like bamboos, palms, canes andplantation woods like robber wood, eucalyptus, babul,poplar, etc.

Wood prices are relatively lower in the country, whichhas been responsible for inefficient and unscientific useof wood. Significant losses occur in various stages ofhandling/storage transportation/processing, manufactureand utilization. Scientific practices can cut downresidues and proven technologies can reduce wastefuluse making available resources to the tune of8,5 million m3 annually. Additional resourcesexceeding nearly 4.4 million m3 can be generated byadopting wood preservation treatments alone. The totaltimber so saved (12.9 million m3) can thus augmentsupplies by nearly 50 percent and release pressure onforest.

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Sustainable Forestry and People’s Participation:A Case Study of India

Jagbir Singh, Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics,University of Delhi, India

Abstract while the joint management of reserved and protectedIndia’s existing systems of forest management are forests offers a new hope. It is important that forestfailing to sustain natural forest ecosystems. Lands at departments and communities have commitment andimagery indicates that India’s remaining natural forests flexibility to work cooperatively to evolve effectiveare being rapidly degraded. As forest resources are management system.depleted, communities dependent upon them areimpoverished. As forests are lost, hundreds of millionsof rural people loose sources of fuel, fodder, food sawmaterials for village industry, medicines and shelter. Asthe vegetative cover is removed, soil and water are lost,leaving the land drier and less fertile. The importance ofIndia’s natural forests in meeting the needs of her vastrural population is immense. If the government has topay for this support it would no doubt cost hundreds,even thousands of cases of rupees. Deforestation and thepoverty, displacement and disruption it causes can alsoresult in economic and political instability.

This paper indicates that forest department efforts toestablish participatory management system have beenmost successful in areas with committed field staff whoreceive strong encouragement from their senior officers.The state forest departments have begun to encouragethe spread of strategies like joint forest management.Participating communities and foresters agree that

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“The Green Certification”: Chances and Challengesfor Central European Forest Industries

Gero Becker, Marion Karmann, and Markus Metzger, Institute for Forest Utilizationand Ergonomics, University of Freiburg, Germany

AbstractSimilar to the process in the U.S. in Central Europeforest industry, trade, unions, buyers and environmentalgroups have a common commitment to the principle ofsustainability, driven by the responsibility for theenvironment as well as a justified degree of self-interest(protection of resources).

The certification of sustainable managed forests (sfm)and the labeling of timber and timber products,originating from these forests, is a market-orientatedincentive, combining two functions: (1) a steeringfunction for encouraging ecologically, economicallyand socially sfm, and (2) a marketing function, to beutilized for competitive advantage of non-certifiedproducts in the interest of sfm.

Induced by issues of the rapid deforestation in thetropics some 5 years ago especially in Germany strongconflicts existed between forest industry and calls forboycott and abandonment of wood consumption. Todaythe idea of certification is developing faster in Europethan in the USA, partially due to the influence ofconsumers organized by environmental groups likeWWF. The crucial question in Central Europe is nolonger whether but how to put certification and labelinginto practice.

While U.S. forest products industry has largely chosenthe second-party certification scheme, the Europeanstakeholders are mainly orientated to operate under athird-party certification scheme like FSC or ISOprovide, which they feel is the more credible way.

Questions to be answered are in the field of nationalforest policy (willingness for internationalharmonization, sponsoring), in the area of technicalimplementation (verification of “chain of custody”), inresearch (definition of regional and local standards ofsfm; how to cover audit costs / license fees?), instakeholder groups (joint cooperation of small scaleforestry?). Further more questions due to the structureof Central European timber industry (small to mediumsized business with a high degree of specialization) arein marketing (would high audit costs scare off smallforest owners and businesses? Certified products for abroad market or for niche markets only?). Thesequestions have to be solved as the system is put intopractice and resolved through adjustments to thesystem.

Key Words: certification, labeling, sustainability,marketing

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Collins Pine Company—57 Years of SustainableForest Management

Barry Ford, Collins Pine Company, Chester, CA

AbstractCollins Pine Company has managed the 94,000 acreCollins Almanor Forest since 1941. The land is locatedabout 20 miles south of Mount Lassen National Park,in northeastern California. This forest produces asustainable harvest of about 30 million board feet orone-half the annual log requirements for its mill locatedin Chester, population 1,700. At 4,500 feet, Chesterboarders the 34 square mile Lake Almanor, with thesurrounding forest land ranging from 3,800 to 6,000feet in elevation. The forest is managed in two blocks,because they had very different stand structures at thetime of purchase by Collins Pine Company. The77,000 acre Chester block was purchased around 1900,in pristine condition, with timber harvesting beginningin 1941. The Wolf Creek block, around 17,000 acres,was purchased in 1946 in a cut over condition, withmost trees over 20 inches in diameter at breast height(DBH) having been logged. Management willeventually bring both blocks to a similar standstructure. An unevenaged silviculture system andnatural regeneration has been used for 57 years tomanage the mostly Sierran Mixed Conifer vegetationon the forest, with average stand volume of 18,500board feet per acre, and over 150 square feet of basalarea. Sugar pine is about 26 percent of the standvolume, with ponderosa pine at 19 percent and white firaround 40 percent. Douglas-fir and incense cedar make

up the remainder of the volume. Tree sizes range fromone to over 50 inches DBH and tree ages from one to400 years. Merchantable trees are over 80 years old andat least 11 inches in DBH. For sustainable wildlifepopulations, the forest has more than adequate numbersof small snags under 24 inches DBH, large woodymaterial over 24 inches large end diameter, andcomplete coverage of litter on the forest floor. A shortterm management goal is to slightly increase thenumber of large snags, over 24 inches DBH. Most ofthe forest is in mid to late seral structural condition,though the horizontal and vertical structural diversity ishigh within stands.

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