FOREST OPERATIONS >> RESIDUAL STAND PROTECTION
During an operation the risk of damaging the residual stand is very high. The trees left standing after a harvest are the future forest. Bark wounds, broken tops and damaged roots can lead to decay, lower timber value and slower growth for decades. Most of this damage can be avoided by planning the layout of the operation and taking care during felling and skidding.
During an operation the risk of damaging the residual stand is very high. The trees left standing after a harvest are the future forest. Bark wounds, broken tops and damaged roots can lead to decay, lower timber value and slower growth for decades. Most of this damage can be avoided by planning the layout of the operation and taking care during felling and skidding.
- Make protecting the remaining trees a stated goal of the harvest plan and the logging contract.
- In thinnings and other partial cuts, keep healthy, well-formed trees of desirable species to provide seed and future growing stock.
- Time partial cuts to avoid periods when bark is most easily damaged or when insect and disease activity is high, following forester recommendations for the species present.
- Lay out skid trails before felling so logs can be moved without rubbing standing trees. Use bumper trees at trail turns where needed.
- Bark slips easily in spring and early summer. Take extra care when felling and skidding near residual trees during this period.
- Flag or paint special trees, plant communities and other features to be protected before work begins, and review them with the crew.
- Ensure that a stand compatible with long-term management objectives remains after intermediate treatments.
- Rather than selecting trees for cutting, select for retention.
- Avoid high-grading (See also TUSAF)
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
- Practices to Minimize Logging Injuries to Residual Trees
- PA SFI Treatment Unit Sustainability Assessment Form
- PA SFI Timber Harvesting Assessment Form
- Best Management Practices for Pennsylvania Forests [See residual stand protection]
- Diameter-Limit Cutting and Silviculture in Northeastern Forests: A Primer for Landowners, Practitioners and Policy Makers
- A Damaging Tradition: Diameter-Limit Cutting Diminishes a Woodlot
- High Grade Harvesting: Understand the Impacts, Know Your Options
- High Grade Timber Harvesting Bad News for Forest Landowners [Video]
- Just Say No to High‐Grading, Selective Cutting, and Diameter‐Limit Cutting
- Regenerating a High-Graded Stand [Webinar]
- Seeing Past the Green: Managing High-Graded Woodlots [Webinar]
