Transcript Document

Issue Area – Silviculture
Discussion lead:
James M. Guldin [email protected]
870-723-1623
Project Leader, Southern Research Station:
SRS-4159, Ecology and Management of Southern Pines
(Hot Springs AR, Monticello AR, Crossett AR,
Nacogdoches TX, Normal AL)
SRS-4158, Restoring and Managing Longleaf Pine
Auburn AL, Pineville LA, Clemson SC
(effective 4/20/14)
Longleaf Pine
A. Markets
B. Growth and Yield Models
C. Inter-active GIS Imagery;
Using imagery to identify LLP
blocks/corridors
D. Anything else that comes up
Markets are changing.
Should we get used to it?
In today’s markets,
grade 1 logs sold
from restored
longleaf pine stands
like this…
bring the same
price per ton as
grade 3 logs from
plantation loblolly
stands like this.
Anecdotal observations:
A. Crossett EF, trees > 24” dbh
2002: timber sale, $80/ton
2011: timber sale, $35/ton
B. Timber sale, family land
Trees> 24” dbh, anonymous
longleaf pine family producer:
2000: $75/ton
2013: $28/ton, same price as
these plantation-grown logs
Lumber markets must be modified to account
not just for volume, but also for higher
quality associated with large pine
sawtimber…
…rather than having the big box
stores sell these for the same price, in
the same stack!
Thanks to SRS scientist Don Bragg, during a weekend project last year
A high sawtimber:pulpwood price ratio
favors even-aged and uneven-aged
natural regeneration systems
(Guldin and Guldin 1990, GTR SO-79)
(
<- Uneven-aged Farm Forestry 40, Escambia EF
Longleaf shelterwood after removal cut
Escambia EF
Conversely, a low sawtimber:pulpwood price
ratio favors intensive plantation silviculture
(Guldin and Guldin 1990, GTR SO-79)
Plantations can be
used to plant longleaf
pine where it is absent,
but are difficult to
manage for economic
returns from sawlogsized trees through a
long rotation
Longleaf plantation
Kisatchie NF
If this loss of value from high-quality
sawtimber continues, we will lose landowners
interested in longleaf restoration.
2. Growth and Yield Models
Derived from the RLGS—
Regional Longleaf Growth
Study
Initiated by the late RM
Farrar, 1960, Escambia EF
and elsewhere
Maintained by USFS
cooperative agreements
with Auburn University
Published by the University
of Florida, 2013
Two models exist:
1) Longleaf pine plantation model (bare root origin)
http://carboncenter.ifas.ufl.edu/model_longleaf_planted.shtml
This model allows the user to simulate stand
dynamics of planted longleaf pine stands:
• Growth and Yield (BA, TMCV; Sawtimber CV, CNS
CV, Pulpwood CV)
• Pinestraw production
• In Situ Biomass stock
• Ex Situ C stock (dynamics of C sequestered in
forest products: sawtimber, chip-and-saw and
pulpwood)
• Stand C balance (In Situ + Ex Situ – Emissions
due to Silviculture)
• Effects of prescribed burning on forest floor,
coarse woody debris and understory biomass.
Two models exist:
2) Longleaf pine, even-aged natural origin
http://carboncenter.ifas.ufl.edu/model_longleaf_natural.shtml
This model simulates stand dynamics of even-aged
naturally regenerated longleaf pine stands:
• Growth and Yield (BA, TMCV, Sawlog volume,
CNS volume, Pulpwood volume)
• Pinestraw production (pinestraw production from
current year needlefall).
• In Situ Biomass stock (aboveground, coarse
roots, forest floor, coarse woody debris, standing
dead and understory).
• Effects of prescribed burning on forest floor,
coarse woody debris and understory biomass.
I have not run the models to see how well
they work
However, Dan Leduc
(SRS Pineville) is
custodian of the longterm data, and assisted
in model development
We will beta-test the
model results in the
context of economic
returns
One of the RLGS plots on the Escambia EF
3. Using interactive GIS Imagery to
detect longleaf plantations on private
lands
If States and
NGOS are
interested in
longleaf
restoration, how
can they identify
and help
landowners who
are planting
longleaf pine on
family forest
lands?
There are
stewardship
funds through
NRCS (EQIP)
available to help
landowners do
this work
Within the
Longleaf
Partnership
Council (LPC),
regional working
groups called
Longleaf
Implementation
Teams (LITs) are
working to
promote longleaf
State governments are using GIS tools to
identify new longleaf plantations on private
lands as part of a landowner outreach
program
New longleaf plantation
Escambia EF
This is tied in with the math of seedling
production vs enrollees in cost share
programs:
In 2013:
• Nurseries grew 113 million longleaf
seedlings
• LPC reports 156,000 ac planted in
longleaf (~725 seedling/ac)
• But only 84,000 ac of ownerships have
been reached using stewardship plans
• Who is being missed, and why? Or, are
our assumptions in error?
Is this a good idea? If so, how to apply it?
Pros:
• Creates landscape corridors of longleaf
stands to enhance wildlife habitat at
landscape scale
• Assist landowners who might not be
being reached through traditional
outlets (such as minority landowners
not dialed in to NRCS programs)
• Provide landowners with technical
advice and possibly cost-share funding
Is this a good idea? If not, what are the
concerns?
Cons:
• Intrudes on privacy issues—spying on
private lands, giving advice that is not
asked for
• Encouraging a land ethic whereby
landowners only do the right thing if
the govt pays them to do it
As a result, there is some debate within
the Longleaf Partnership Council about
how aggressively to run down this trail.
Thoughts?
Clarification?
4. Anything else on your mind about
longleaf?
If so:
[email protected]
870-723-1623