Timber Harvest Planning

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Timber Harvest Planning

• Timber harvest planning should result in
• Desired future forest
• Desired timber volume, income, or return on
  investment
• Planning process
• Can be simple or complex
• Requires some prediction of future events
• Decision based on weighing objectives or
  priorities

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Timber Harvest Planning (1)

• Surroundings are important
• Streams/wetlands/lakes
• Previous and future harvests of nearby stands
• Public acceptance
• Ecosystem health/sustainability
• Endangered species
• Safety
• Water Quality
• Aesthetics
• Multiple Uses

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Timber Harvest Planning (2)

• Silviculture
• Long term productivity
• Treatment cost and treatment effectiveness
• Regeneration options
• Financial
• Constraint and objective

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Stages of a Landowner Timber Harvest Plan

• Landowner thinks timber harvest is a good idea
• Landowner does something to start the process
• Finds a consultant, contacts a buyer, or has an
  auction.
• Sale of timber based on negotiated or specified
  conditions.
• Harvest operations planned according to contract
  conditions, discussions, and best judgment of the
  logging contractor.

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Prioritize or Balance Objectives

• Through the stages the players add detail to the
  plan
• Main objectives
• Must be done (Contract, product standards)
• Other objectives
• Should be done (ex. Minimize rutting)
• Lesser objectives
• Could be done if they dont interfere (ex.
  Leaving snags)
• Reasons to Plan
• Financial, legal, environmental/silvicultural,
  safety

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Reasons to Plan (1)

• Financial
• Reduce harvesting costs
• Reduce site preparation costs
• Reduce risk
• Good roads and layout, scheduling, timber volume
  information, estimate harvest production,

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Reasons to Plan (2)

• Legal
• BMPs Clean Water Act
• Endanger Species Act
• Coastal Zone Management Act
• Wetlands Protection Regs.
• Local Harvesting Ordinances
• Dept. of Transportation

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Reasons to Plan (3)

• Environmental/ Silvicultural
• Minimize stand damage
• Minimize soil compaction and rutting
• Minimize area and productivity lost in roads and
  landings
• Enhance natural regeneration opportunities
• Minimize site prep
• Minimize visual impact

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Visual Impact (1)

• How will area look from road or adjoining parcel
• Keep debris scattered
• if piled keep piles below tops of hills and out
  of sight

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Visual Impact (2)

• Meandering lines appear more natural than
  straight ones
• Roadside buffers should be wide enough to be
  effective
• Keep trash collected

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Visual Impact (3)

• How and whether a plan might be adjusted for
  aesthetics depends on
• Who can see it
• How well they can see it

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Reasons to Plan (4)

• Safety
• Location of Hwy entrances
• Stable, well-drained roads
• Slopes, gullies, rock outcrops
• Dead trees from insects, etc.

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Operational Planning

• What will the weather be like?
• Where can the landings be located?
• Where is the public road access?
• How long at this site/landing?
• What happens today?

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Tactical and Strategic Planning

• What equipment and labor are available?
• How are the harvests scheduled?
• What is needed to do the best possible job?
• Labor
• Equipment
• Time
• Information
• How far in advance can landings and roads be
  built?

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Planning Understanding

• Consider the potential tradeoffs and problems and
  find the best possible solution.

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Planning Information

• Organize information available so it can be
  shared with others.

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Planning Control

• Establish the control of the planner even in
  his/her absence.

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Step 1 (from Loggers Guide to Harvest Planning)

• Collect and study information to determine the
  presence of important features.

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Information Needed

• Type of cut (CC, thinning, etc.)
• Terms of timber sale contract
• Topography
• Soils
• Hydrology
• Laws regs.

• Tract boundaries, easements, right-of-way
• Timber volumes, species, distribution
• Logging systems equipment

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Tools Available

• USGS Quad maps
• NRCS Soil survey
• ASCS Aerial photos
• Company info.
• Maps
• Photos
• Mgmt. records
• GIS data

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Soils Surveys

• General information
• Soils
• Topography
• Descriptions of
• Erosion risk
• Operability
• Road building limits
• Changes in timber type/volume

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Ground truth (Steps 2-6)

• Walk harvest site to identify important features.
  Verify what is on the map or photos.

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Step 2. SMZs

• Perennial, Wetland sloughs, Lakes
• 50 canopy cover and minimal disturbance at least
  35 feet of bank
• Intermittent
• Minimal disturbance at least 35 feet from bank
• Ephemeral
• None required

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Step 3. Log Decks

• Minimize number
• Gently sloping
• Out of SMZs
• Target skid distances
• Away from natural drains

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Step 4. Stream Crossings

• Soils
• Approach (angle and length)
• Bank height and stream width
• Stream bottom
• Flood plain

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Step 5. Logging Road Entrance

• Stable well-drained soils
• Permits to access public road
• Direction of loaded travel
• Truck turning radius
• Visibility
• Mud on public road

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Step 6. Logging Road Control Points

• Must hit
• Access point
• Log decks
• Stream crossings
• Should avoid
• Seeps
• Rock outcrops
• Poor soils for road building

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Step 7

• Locate road and landings on map and in the field.

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Planning Objectives for Access and Logging Roads

• Minimize length
• Minimize slope
• Good drainage
• Out of SMZ (except for crossing)
• Access control

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Roads

• Wide R-O-Ws to encourage drying
• Dont build on ridge tops or directly up down
  hills
• Water bars seed upon completion

• If not in proper location, get landowners
  approval to move the road. If they refuse inform
  them of the possible problems in the future.

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Step 8

• Locate skid trails in the field.

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9. Specify Road Construction Standards

• Primary
• All weather, 20 ft subgrade, ditched, surfaced
• Secondary
• Narrower, ditched, surfaced in trouble spots,
  possibly all weather
• Branch or Spur
• Bladed trail, 10-12 foot wide, turnouts and water
  bars

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10. Stream Crossing Standards

• Choosing among options
• Stream type and size
• Use traffic and timing
• Environmental sensitivity
• Sizing culverts

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Stream Crossings

• Temporary Bridges are usually better than
  culverts
• Culverts must be properly sized to handle
  watershed size, cover, and potential rainfall.

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Stream Crossings

• Remove culverts after logging unless LO plans to
  maintain road and keep culverts open.
• Use of logs, slash, or other debris are not
  recommended

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Stream Crossing Ford
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Stream Crossing Temporary Skidder Bridge
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11. Scheduling

• Roads
• When were they or when will they be built?
• Quality Primary, secondary, or branch
• Markets
• Markets for products harvested, quota from
  specific mill, planned shut downs
• Production goals given tract characteristics
• Soil characteristics and topography
• Weather

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Production Management The 5 Bs

• Bottlenecks
• Balance
• Buffer
• Breakdowns
• Blunders

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Other Considerations

• The people next door.
• They must endure the noise, dust and disturbance
  while the timber is harvested.
• Cemeteries and historic sites
• Fences try to find out if they exist

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Planning Results

• Physically possible
• Economically feasible
• Socially acceptable