Is Certification under the Forest Stewardship Council Feasible and Desirable at Pack Forest? Greg Ettl and Duane Emmons

Meeting Goals Review SFI Certification Examine feasibility of FSC –Recommend a course of action* Compare this year’s harvest options –Recommend on harvest* *Action Items

Post-Eatonville Fire 1926

Silviculture Pathway year-old DF TPA, plant 300 DF weeding 2015-Thin 200 TPA 2035-Thin 100 TPA

2001 Management Plan Mean=9.1 MMBF Mean=$3.15 Million/5 years, but 10-20% overestimate by LMS

Oliver’s Classification 2000

Oliver’s Classification Comparison under Existing Plan

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) Certification November 2004 Pack Forest Certified—Dean Bare’s lead Washington State Forest Practices and extensive forest inventory data and management plan  compliance Changes? We now mandate certified loggers, Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plan (RAMP) No change in annual income target Pack Forest as SFI Leaders--State Implementation Committee Initial cost $37,000 Third Party Certification with Annual audit $5500

FSC Certification? Dean Bare requested a feasibility study Can we maintain $500,000/yr revenue under FSC? –5%, 10% more or less harvest? FSC Forest Practice Restrictions –Older stands (those at culmination of MAI) require 10% BA reserve –Stands not at MAI require 30% BA reserve –Largest allowed cut is 60 acres –Adjacency rules—require 7’ height of all adjacent stands Costs: Initial $4500 (Group Certification) –Every 1/5 th year $3000 –Other years $2000 annual

Methods Use existing recalibrated stand data Stands broadly classified into 10 groups Representative from each group selected. 88 treatment alternatives were developed for both FSC and SFI constraints The representative stands were treated under the 88 alternatives in LMS and projected out 50 years The LMS outputs were incorporated into the Toggle spreadsheet Alternatives compared in GIS database so we did not violate FSC policies or state forest practice rules.

Stands separated into 10 groups 1.Younger than 8 years 2.Stands 8 – 20 with low site ground (less than 101) 3.Stands 8 – 20 with high site ground (greater than 101) 4.Stands low site 5.Stands 21 – 50 high site 6.Stands 51 – 85 low site 7.Stands 51 – 85 high site 8.Stands high site mixed conifer 9.Stands 51 – 85 high site mixed hardwoods 10.Stands 86+ old reserves

Costs used by LMS Planting mixed species -$135/acre Weeding -$200/acre PCT from below -$140/acre CTA (100 TPA proportional) Net $300/MBF CTB (40% RD proportional) Net $300/MBF CC (leave 5 TPA >10”, all under 6”, all >45” DBH trees) –Net $400 MBF CCA (FSC required >65 year-old [reached MAI]) –Leave 10% BA proportional, all >45” DBH trees –Net $400 MBF CCB (FSC required for stands yet to reach MAI) –Leave 30% BA proportional, all >45” DBH trees –Net $400 MBF

Retain 30% of basal area Plant 50 shade tolerant tpa Projected 45 years

Projected Income Under FSC Could be Met but…Adjacency Rules

Stand Ages 2005

Less than 5 years-old or adjacent to recently cut stands are in yellow

Stands in green are of harvestable age but are adjacent to young stands (in red).

Stands >50 years-old that do not conflict with adjacency rules

91.51 acres (tan) Stands cut in the next 10 years could satisfy FSC and provide 500K, except…

Stand Ages with 5% under FSC

Age Structures under FSC with 5% and 10% less income FSC with $450,000/yr 2056FSC with $475,000/yr 2056

What if we certified ½ our land under FSC?

SFI/FSC Acreage Comparison SFIFSC GroupAge Site Index SpeciesAcres 1 < low, DF high, DF low, DF high, DF low, DF high, DF mixed conifer mixed hardwood >85 yrs Old-Growth Total

½ FSC can only yield $237,500/yr

2056 Age structure under split SFI and FSC

Percentage of Land Treated in Each Pathway FSC 5%FSC 10%FSC splitSFI Split Do nothing 13.4%21.1%16.0%14.7% Short NoPCT NoCT 0.0% 0.2% Short NoCT 0.0% 1.4% ShortNoPCT 2.3% 2.1%3.9% Standard 72.3%62.3%68.5%70.1% Long2CTCC 5.9%8.2%8.5%4.5% Long2CTNoCC 6.1%5.6%5.2%5.1%

$-15,589 $18,678 $10,467 $14,001 $12,180 $35,826 $17,691 $-7638 $12,320 $16,232 $34,145

Discussion Advantages to FSC Certification –Green Building Standard –Benefits to some wildlife –Public Relations Advantages to Split Certification –CSF-PF Research Base –Possible Funding –Allows greater flexibility

This year’s harvest We need to harvest to meet budget There is money in reserve, but… Goal is to demonstrate Biodiversity Pathways –Variable density thinning to 30 TPA –Multiple entries (every years) 100 TPA  75 TPA  50 TPA  30 TPA Negative is higher costs, more land treated Two stands as possibilities –Lower Murphy (29.1 acres) –Silviculture Demo East (49.5 acres)

Silviculture Demo East 2000

Lower Murphy 2004

Harvest Options 5 TPA Net $ 50 TPA Leave Proportional Net $ 75 TPA Leave Proportional Net $ 100 TPA Leave Proportional Net $ Silviculture Demo (49.5 acres) $672K$403K$274KPrevious thin Lower Murphy (29.1 acres) $373K$282K$199K$134K

Retain 5 TPA (current forest practice rules) interplanted with 100 TPA shade tolerant Retain 5 TPA, Projected 45 years

Lower Murphy 100 TPA Retain 100 tpa (proportionally by dbh) interplanted with 100tpa shade tolerant 100 TPA Projected 45 years

Retain 75 TPA (proportionally by DBH) interplanted with 100tpa shade tolerant Retain 75 TPA Projected 45 years

Retain 50 TPA (proportionally by DBH) interplanted with 100 TPA shade tolerant Retain 50 TPA Projected 45 years

Retain 100 TPA interplanted with 100 TPA shade tolerant Retain 100 TPA

Retain 75 TPA interplanted with 100 TPA shade tolerant Retain 75 TPA Projected 45 years

Retain 50 TPA interplanted with 100 TPA shade tolerant 50 TPA Projected 45 years

Retain 30 TPA interplanted with 50 TPA shade tolerant 30 TPA, Projected 45 years