Management practices eelated to the Restoration of old dorest characteristics in coast redwood forests
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
A standardized, interactive, interview process was used with practicing Registered Professional Foresters asking a suite of questions to ascertain their management approaches to coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens [D. Don] Endl.) stands that could best be transferred to other projects and lands interested in recruiting older forest characteristics. The assimilated results provided management insights that provide comparisons of similarities and vagrancies between properties, management styles and approaches. The survey included the properties and practitioners along the north-south geographic axis of coast redwoods to account for the diversity and range of physical and edaphic heterogeneity that is expressed within the forest type.
Forest managers generally agreed that uneven-age management provided the basis from which to begin the discussion further recognizing that a fully stocked stand was equally important and may require a "transitional" period depending on the initial condition of the stand in question. Furthermore, it was generally recognized that a positive financial return for the forestland owner was vital in order to secure their support throughout the period of restoration while advancing the stands to incorporate and retain larger size class cohorts and other structural elements associated with older forests.
In all cases the desire to increase the distribution of tree sizes classes (the inverse "J" curve) while simultaneously retaining existing conditions peculiar to older forests (i.e. tree trunk hollows, broken tops, reiterative branches, and others), affords the forest manager the ability to set the stand on a particular management pathway while affording the flexibility to adjust management decisions over time and capture market opportunities. Existing, archived datasets of unaltered old growth stands are used for comparisons in order to assist those interested in recreating old forest conditions.