Solutions to Managing Degraded Stands

Management of degraded stands is hindered by both a lack of markets for low-quality wood products and the costs of silviculture. McGee (1982) suggests that solutions to managing degraded stands must therefore involve improved utilization as well as means of reducing silvicultural costs.

Improved Utilization

Improved utilization and expanded markets for low-quality wood products are essential to realistic management of degraded stands. While traditional markets for sawtimber, crossties, and roundwood will continue to be important, three relatively new utilization concepts have special appeal for degraded stands:

• Shearing and Chipping. On suitable terrain, shearing and on-site chipping make good use of poor-quality trees. Removal of most of the woody vegetation by shearing enhances the opportunity for natural regeneration or for planting trees at reduced costs. Many low-quality stands, however, are characterized by large culls and trees under 4 inches in diameter that present special problems for shearing and chipping (McGee 1982).
• Short-Log Utilization. Some degraded stands contain sound trees that do not contain enough clear length to make traditional logs. As markets for short logs are developed, management of degraded stands will become more practical (McGee 1982).
• Fuelwood. Increasing demand for fuelwood offers attractive opportunities for removal of some degraded stands, particularly those close to urban centers (McGee 1982) .

Reducing Costs of Silviculture

Costs of cultural activities are a serious obstacle to management of degraded stands Costs can be reduced by using more efficient methods, modifying standards, or providing financial incentives (McGee 1982).

Using More Efficient Methods

Thinning degraded stands generally is impractical because the basal areas of marketable trees and acceptable growing stock are low, and the cost of control for the large number of culls is high. In many cases the best solution is to eliminate the entire stand and regenerate. However, stand elimination and regeneration may not be practical or needed over en entire ownership. Intermediate treatment, including thinning or timber stand improvement, should definitely be considered for stands that can benefit. Benefits must outweigh the costs when intermediate cultural treatments are applied. Paradoxically, treatment of degraded stands may require more care than treatment of good stands. Site quality, quality and quantity of growing stock, and opportunities for utilization should be appraised carefully, and treatment should be restricted to stands and sites where a positive cost-benefit ratio can be achieved. For example, removal of scattered culls overtopping a much younger stand of poles may be very worthwhile. Conversely, if the overtopped poles are old and of poor form, the operation may be a waste of effort. If the stand is to be regenerated, site preparation should be incorporated as much as possible into the harvest operation. Deadening undesirable trees can be efficiently accomplished prior to harvest, but it is much better to utilize a tree than to spend money to deaden it (McGee 1982).

Modifiying Standards

Many landowners would prefer not to spend large sums of money for regeneration and rehabilitation. However, reduced costs resulting from carefully modified standards can encourage these owners to initiate management (McGee 1982).

The cost of eliminating a degraded hardwood stand, preparing the site, and converting it to a pure stand of pine is about $200 per acre. The result is a well-stocked stand in neat rows with 400 or more free-to-grow trees per acre. However, site preparation and planting costs could be cut dramatically if 60 free-to-grow pines per acre were acceptable. If costs for the low-standard planting could be held at $50 per acre, then 4 acres could be treated at the cost of one intensively treated acre. Yields from the 4 acres of mixed plantations would probably surpass yields from one intensively treated acre, meaning a better net profit (McGee 1982).

Site preparation for natural regeneration following conventional logging can cost $100 or more per acre to control unmerchantable hardwoods. If most unused trees are lopped or injected, good hardwoods will usually appear. The best procedure is to utilize as many trees as possible; stratify the area by site potential and attend to the better sites (not necessarily the better stands) first (McGee 1982).

If funds are severely limited, attention should be focused on the most damaging competition, usually the large cull trees. For example, if only $1,000 are available for site preparation following commercial clearcutting on a 30-acre area, a complete vegetation control job cannot be done. If half of the area is site 55 and half is 65, the effort could be split with about $45 per acre for the 15 acres of site 65 and $21 per acre for site 55. The $45 per acre would provide control for most of the large culls and some undesirable pole-sized trees, such as red maple. Twenty-one dollars per acre would allow control of only the larger culls on the poorer site. There will be some disadvantage in splitting the funds, but overall productivity will be greater (McGee 1982).

Providing Financial Incentives

Since most degraded stands require cultural activity in addition to harvest, a forestry incentive program designed specifically for improvement of degraded stands would be ideal. Incentive programs should require identification of the cause of low quality, and allow flexibility in intensities of treatment, emphasizing long-range improvement of stands (McGee 1982).