Of Interest to Forest Landowners

Online forestry publications:  Click on the title to access the full publication.

Forest Management Expenses of Mississippi's Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners - 2002
Detailed information about the forest management expenditures incurred by nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowners over time provides a wealth of information about costs associated with forestland ownership, management practices implemented hv NIPF landowners, and changes in management intensity over time. A survey of Mississippi's NIPF landowners owning 20 ac or more of forestland was conducted to determine their annual expenditures on forest management practices for the period 1995-1997. Landowners were asked how much they spent on property taxes, professional services, timber management activities, and other management activities. The resulting expenditures data were summarized in three ways: frequency of occurrence, mean expenditures per-acre-owned for all respondents, and mean expenditures per-acre-owned for those respondents engaged in each activity. With the exception of property taxes, most expenditures occur infrequently. Fewer than 15% of all respondents incurred expenditures for any specific activity during any survey year. Total annual expenditures for all respondents averaged $9.68/ac-owned over the study period. Across all landowners, property taxes represented the largest component of annual expenditures with planting costs and consulting forester fees ranking second and third. Mean expenditures for only those respondents engaged in each activity told a slightly different tale. Planting and consulting forester fees were the two largest expenditures, but site preparation, timber cruising, timber marking, and surveyor fees were all greater than property taxes for those engaged in these activities.

Nonnative invasive plants of southern forests: a field guide for identification and control -2003
Invasions of nonnative plants into forests of the Southern United States continue to go unchecked and unmonitored. Invasive nonnative plants infest under and beside forest canopies and dominate small forest openings, increasingly eroding forest productivity, hindering forest use and management activities, and degrading diversity and wildlife habitat. Often called nonnative, exotic, nonindigenous, alien, or noxious weeds, they occur as trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, and forbs. This book provides information on accurate identification and effective control of the 33 nonnative plants and groups that are currently invading the forests of the 13 Southern States, showing both growing and dormant season traits. It lists other nonnative plants of growing concern, control strategies, and selective herbicide application procedures. Recommendations for preventing and managing invasions on a specific site include maintaining forest vigor with minimal disturbance, constant surveillance and treatment of new unwanted arrivals, and finally rehabilitation following eradication.

Upland oak ecology symposium: history, current conditions, and sustainability - 2004
Fifty-one papers address the ecology, history, current conditions, and sustainability of upland oak forests - with emphasis on the Interior Highlands. Subject categories were selected to provide focused coverage of the state-of-the-art research and understanding of upland oak ecology of the region.
Individual papers from this publication

The Southern Timber Market to 2040 - 
Timber market analysis of the South's predominantly private timberland finds that the 13 southern states produce nearly 60 percent of the nation's timber, an increase from the mid-1900s. Projections with the Subregional Timber Supply model show that, despite a 60 percent increase in the area of pine plantations, the South will experience a 1 percent decline in private timberland area as other forest types shrink. Because of expected productivity gains for plantation forests and conversions of some agricultural lands to natural forests, the South's industrial wood output is projected to increase by more than 50 percent between 1995 and 2040.

A Guide to the Care and Planting of Southern Pine Seedlings - (R8-MB39 Revised 1996)
This booklet is designed to encourage landowners, land managers, county foresters, forestry consultants, and nursery managers to be certain that their seedlings receive proper care. As a reminder, it reviews the elements of seedling care in an idealized reforestation system. For our purposes here, the system begins with lifting and packing in the nursery, includes transportation and storage, and ends when the seedling roots are in proper contact with the soil.
Pristine Version - 20MB
Captured Version  - 12MB (Subject to OCR - Optical Character Recognition)

Romancing the Crop Tree   
Foresters and landowners alike desire alternatives to traditional silvicultural techniques. For example, many landowners are unwilling to clearcut their forest. They want economic return, but not at the expense of removing the entire forest. Yet, in the South, most knowledgeable foresters are reluctant to recommend selection cutting because it too readily drifts into "high grading" if done improperly. In addition, on public lands, society often places a higher value on forest amenities other than commercial timber production.

Guidelines for producing quality longleaf pine seeds
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) seeds are sensitive to damage during collection, processing, treatment, and storage. High-quality seeds are essential for successfully producing nursery crops that meet management goals and perform well in the field. Uniformity in the production of pine seedlings primarily depends on prompt and uniform seed germination, early seedling establishment, and a variety of cultural practices that are applied as the seedlings develop. The best collecting, handling, and processing methods maximize performance attributes and reduce the need for extensive nursery cultural practices to compensate for poor seed quality. Guidelines are presented that will help seed dealers, orchard managers, and nursery personnel produce high-quality longleaf pine seeds and improve the efficiency of nursery production.

Greenery - An Opportunity for Forest Landowners

Forest Landowners' Guide to the Federal Income Tax -- Agriculture Handbook No. 718  

Updates, expands, and supersedes Agric. Handbook 708.  171 pages.

Controlling exotic plants in your forest 
The author discusses the impacts of exotic plants and suggests control and rehabilitation measures. Trees, shrubs, and vines addressed include silk tree or mimosa, Chinese and Japanese privet, kudzu, multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, and Chinese wisteria.

Southern Pulpwood Production: 1998

In 1998, the South’s production of pulpwood declined 2 percent to 74.7 million cords. Roundwood production dropped to 52.7 million cords and accounted for 71 percent of the total pulpwood production. The use of wood residue increased to 21.9 million cords. Alabama leads the South in total production, number of mills, and pulping capacity. Currently, 103 mills are operating and drawing wood from the 13 Southern States. Southern mills’ pulping capacity of 140,610 tons per day accounts for more than two-thirds of the Nation’s total pulping capacity.

Uneven-Aged Silviculture for the Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine Forest Cover Types

The results of a half-century of experience and research with uneven-aged silviculture within the loblolly-shortleaf pine type of the Southern United States are summarized, and silvicultural guidelines for developing and managing uneven-aged stands are provided in this publication.

Loblolly pine:  the ecology and culture of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.)

Loblolly pine ranks as a highly valuable tree for its pulp, paper, and lumber products.  In the South, loblolly is planted more than any other conifer.  Loblolly Pine: The Ecology and Culture of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) adds to the technical foundations laid by Ashe (1915) and Wahlenberg (1960).  Agriculture Handbook 713 encompasses genetics, tree improvement, field inventory and analysis, and international forestry, as well as ecology, direct seeding, and planting.  Loblolly Pine: The Ecology and Culture of Loblolly Pine (Pinus taeda L.) highlights individual tree, stand, and land management alternatives useful to resource managers, students, researchers, and others.

A Forested Tract-Size Profile of Florida's NIPF Landowners

Information gathered from 2,713 permanent Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) sample plots showed that over 1.0 million acres, or 15 percent of the nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) timberland in Florida is in forested tracts £ 10 acres. Forested tracts ranging from 11 to 100 acres accounted for the largest proportion of NIPF timberland. 

Pest and pesticide management in southern forests

Preface

Federal law requires certification for all commercial pesticide applicators.  The law also requires private applicator certification for the purchase or application of "restricted use" pesticides.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set minimum competency standards for certification of pesticide applicators.  These standards include a practical knowledge of pest identification, pest control, label comprehension, pesticide laws, and environmental considerations.  The certification of applicators is the responsibility of each individual State.  To be certified as a commercial forestry applicator, most States require demonstrated competency in the general use of pesticides, with a specialization in forestry pesticides.  This manual is a supplement, not a substitute, to the general-use training material. That material covers in detail the necessary information on pesticide labels, general application, and safety.

Conversion Table between Metric Units and English Units

Useful Links for Landowners

Southern Research Station - Publications -- a database with over 12,642 publications online that you can download and print.

SRS-4801, Forest Inventory and Analysis. This Research Work Unit headquartered in Knoxville, TN, develops, analyzes, and maintains forest resources information for Southern States and conducts research to provide improved inventory and evaluation techniques.
SRS-4801 Website:  http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/

Search the Southern Research Station Site

Electronic Forest Resources Library (Southern Extension Forester)

Forest Health Protection - Southern Region

Forest Taxation Information

Cooperative Forestry -- USDA Forest Service

Virginia Cooperative Extension -- Forestry, Fisheries, Wildlife

Private Forest Landowners Site from The Nature Conservancy