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A better way - uneven-aged management of southern yellow pine

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Uneven-aged management of southern yellow pine offers family forest owners in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of the Southeast an attractive economic alternative to the two most common forestry scenarios. First, the great majority of owners practice no management. Too often they call in a timber buyer or procurement forester who high grades the forest. Second are the owners who follow the widely promoted industrial model of even-aged plantations. In either scenario, the owner can expect one major income event in a lifetime, followed, if he chooses, by a significant investment in site preparation and replanting. The return from either of these once-in-a-lifetime events is generally significantly less than what could be earned over time under uneven-aged management. With the help of a trained forester, owners have historically earned over $100 per acre per year while maintaining full stocking of their forest.

Parent Publication

Citation

Handley, Don M.; Dickinson, Joshua C. 2013. A better way - uneven-aged management of southern yellow pine. In: Guldin, James M., ed. 2013. Proceedings of the 15th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-GTR-175. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 39-43.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/43474