assessment of sustainability of our forests

Southern Forest Resource Assessment

 Below is the original wording of one of the preliminary questions and public suggestions or concerns submitted about it--for details see our Public Input or Methods pages
 
 

"What is the history, status, and likely future of the structure of forests in the South (age, species composition, stand size, stand origin, fragmentation)?"
  1. Age Class and Distribution - Preliminary data from the North Carolina chip mill study shows a dramatic loss of late successional forest communities.
  2. What forestry practices cause the most dramatic changes in age structure?
  3. Are younger forests more susceptible to disease outbreaks?
  4. What is the current average size of pine plantations? What is the current average age of pine plantations? What, from a biological standpoint is lost when a natural forest is converted to a pine plantation - species diversity, structural diversity and genetic diversity?
  5. Thorough analysis of the impacts that conversion of hardwood forests to predominantly pine plantation ecosystems will have on southeastern forests and streams.
  6. What ecosystems are threatened under current management schemes (e.g. shortleaf pine)?
  7. Converted to Loblolly Pine only and the hardwoods are being killed or set back to earlier successional stages so they will never reach the canopy. There used to be dense hardwood understory and a multi-layered canopy and not the forest is being opened up to more sunlight which raises the temperature and reduces moisture.
  8. I believe current measurements of forest removal versus growth are skewed. It is easy to figure what has been taken, but I think it unfair to consider what may never be taken. I think land that owners never intend to cut should be removed from the equation. Is public land included in the "growth" factor? It might be more fair to remove all naturally-regenerated forests from the equation, and simply look at growth versus removal on pine plantations. In this scenario, I think we would get a startling account of what is happening in the South -- too much being taken too quickly. It can not last. Not at this rate. No matter how you figure it, it can't go on like this.
  9. An analysis of the change in forest composition within the region, for example, the degree of decline of native forest ecosystems and the increase in pine plantations within different parts of the SE.
  10. I hope that by "likely future" of forests, the intent is to pose various scenarios for future management and protection and predict the many possible futures, from the most optimistic to the most pessimistic. I would like to see the description of the forest expanded to include not just tree "stand" size, age, and species composition, but all forest biota, community structure, and ecosystem processes.
  11. Examine short-rotation silviculture by clear-cut regeneration methods on a long-term, landscape basis, with emphasis on potential age-class distribution, fragmentation, site degradation, and aquatic impacts.
  12. Institute harvesting practices that emulate the longer natural cycle of events, rather than the short rotation period that emphasizes the early successional stages. This will reverse the trend towards younger forests and increase the proportion of an ecoregion in mature to late successional stages while increasing the carbon storage in trees and forests. Manage in ways that mirror the heterogeneous conditions in natural forests, with many species, age classes, and sizes, thereby reversing the trend towards forest simplification.
  13. What are the history, status, and potential future conditions in the structure, of forest ecosystems (in terms of age classes, species composition, habitat dimensions, forest origin, fragmentation, and edge effects)?
  14. What the history, status and likely future of losing longleaf pine ecosystem to loblolly pine because of the higher commercial value in growing loblolly pine?
  15. What is the history, status and likely future of bottomland hardwood lost to artificial lakes built in the south?
  16. These chip mill operations convert natural, mixed forests into scrub lands or at best, land suitable only for forests under intensive management. This latter should be discouraged throughout the Southeast because of the heavy use of fertilization, pesticides and herbicides, and the impacts on our wildlife and water quality.
  17. What are the effects of dogwood anthracnose?
  18. The replanting of trees should be mandatory with good, hardwood trees, not with pine or other softwood trees.
  19. Please address the function of the Dogwood tree in it's role as a first successional calcium provider for pursuant forest growth and health. With the loss of a species, like the Dogwood, how might we expect the remaining forest to function or to fill the gap of this loss? How soon might we see the return of Dogwoods in healthy condition, to pre-acid rain levels of understory development?
  20. Address the USFS study of yellow pine growth in the Southeast showing a 50% decline in growth rates from acidification and nutrient consumption. What are the implications of this acidification, on soil ecosystems, beneficial fungi, plant communities, projected growth rates of plantations, plantation sustainability, native forest health and resiliency, and forest buffering capacity to protect aquatic ecosystems from acidification.
  21. We are going to face a major increase in demand for forests, intensive agricultural land use of Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWCs) and other intensive land management schemes develop as biomass energy is promoted by the TVA. There are some serious concerns that need to be addressed on Biomass Energy (BE) in the context of all the other pressures on lands and forests for limited resources.
  22. The likely future is complete ecological collapse if issues like global warming, acid rain, urban sprawl, and mindless extraction are not addressed IMMEDIATE
  23. How do new silvicultural practices impact productivity of southern forests?
  24. What is overall impact of modern forestry practices – assessment done by subregions & ownership?
  25. How much land is being harvested in the region, by practice?
  26. Rate of conversion of natural hardwood or pines stands to pine plantations.
  27. Overlap of plant and animal species that occur in natural and planted forests.
  28. Document conversion to other non-forest uses (urban, etc.)
  29. Biodiversity differences between NIPE and other large landownership.
  30. Compare soil erosion by timber volume across all forest types (plantation, natural, mixed etc….) and by silvicultural practices.
  31. Compare siltation/nutrients among [aquatic] forest practices, with agriculture, other land uses.
  32. Effectiveness of [aquatics] BMP’s in various regions of the south and various site conditions.
  33. Should address trend toward monoculture in some areas/ownerships.
  34. Should examine trends in rotation age and implications for forest age distributions.
  35. Should address differences of objectives of ownerships and their implications for age, type, diversity and other forest conditions.
  36. Address how forest management (including health treatments) influences insect and disease occurrence and severity. How does land ownership affect these interactions?
  37. Should recognize positive effects of forest management on forest health.
  38. Evaluate the hazards of expanding monocultures (or declining gene pool) in terms of insect and disease epidemics. As in host-pathogen relationships related to monoculture. Can BMPs address this concern?
  39. All questions should be addressed in light of productivity, diversity, and sustainability.
  40. Should address the implications of intensive management/investment across the landscape (substitution).
  41. Land ownerships are getting smaller, fragmenting the forest, but how is this affecting diversity on the landscape level?
  42. Public lands will be kept or returned to native forest types rather than converted or maintained in plantations.
  43. Rotations decreasing continually in pine management as mills use smaller stems, products (OSB vs. plywood) genetics, etc.
  44. Incentives for landowner for maintaining natural vs. plantation management.
  45. Use tools available from original surveyors to evaluate and document historical forest conditions. (Pre-European)
  46. Draw the line at European settlement, or as far back as can be documented.
  47. Old farms reverting to nature. Is there a need for management?
  48. What is role of forests in urban forests?
  49. Age will decrease, species will diminish, stand size will be smaller, stand origin using genetically improved seedlings, and fragmentation will be increased due to more over-sized haul roads.
  50. There have been proposals by the Dogwood Alliance to consider the impact of wood product production as a threat to forest fragmentation. For example, chip mills and OSB plants are driving economic forces, which create the need for more and more wood products, thus creating the need for more and more timber harvesting. As a NCFA member, I would like the assessment team to strongly consider the overwhelming impact of population growth in the southern region as a factor in this fragmentation. This will not be possible to assess with the current FIA information. Hopefully, a smaller area study could be done, particularly in the NW and Piedmont regions of North Carolina.
  51. How has urbanization and preservation of forests affected the health and growth of various forest land? No management = no growth, no regeneration, no economic return, no sustainability.
  52. How has intensive forest management impacted forest structure?
  53. What is the basis of saying what the future is? Who is making the determination?
  54. Are the effects of genetic altered plant stands going to be considered? How have the stands added to the availability of disease, insects, etc.?
  55. Will there be any on-the-ground study on how forests are going to be managed?
  56. How many rotations of trees can be grown on a parcel of land before land is worn out? How long is the rotation? How is it managed?
  57. How much of the South’s land can support extension forestry?
  58. Distinguished between a pine plantation and a forest?
  59. What intent and intensity of management can aid in a pine plantation conversion to a forest?
  60. How are past practices accounted for in how a stand is regenerated?

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Question as revised in response to these comments

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  modified: 1-MAR-2000
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