1. Fundamentals of Forest Management Planning FOR 272 – Sustainable Forest Management

2. FOREST MANAGEMENT PRESCRIPTIONS Prescription = A schedule of activities for a stand, landscape, watershed, or other management unit Five key elements: 1.Statement of goals 2.Understanding of historical processes 3.Land-type classification 4.Treatment schedule 5.Quantitative projection of conditions and outcomes

3. I. Goals and Objectives 1.Goals Timeless statement of intent Statement of direction, don’t necessarily expect to fully achieve a goal 2.Objectives Specific statement of intended accomplishment Measurable, observable, has a reference to time, an associated cost, and is attainable.

4. Historical Context for Forest Management in New England

5. HRV Historical Range of Variability Figure from Aplet and Keeton (1999)

6. HRV Scale: Small Watershed Scale: Drainage Basin Scale: Region Hurricane Hurricanes Source: Aplet and Keeton (1999)

7. Stand Age/Structural Condition YoungMature Old- growth 19 th century Current Pre-Settlement Proportion of Forest Cover Changes in Age-Class Distributions 1.0 0

8. HRV Historical Range of Variability Figure modified from Aplet and Keeton (1999) using data from Cogbill (2000) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 130013501400145015001550160016501700 Year Proportion of Landscape in Early-Succession

9. Pre-Settlement: 1600

13. Early Homestead: 1740

14. Height of Clearing: 1830

15. Abandonment: 1850

16. Old Field White Pine: 1910

17. Hardwood release and succession: 1915

18. Young hardwoods: 1930

19. Stand Improvement Cutting

20. Commercial Thinning

21. Shelterwood Harvest

22. Forest Cover Trends in New England Since European Settlement

23. Forest Cover in Vermont Data courtesy of Harvard Forest (2003)

24. Wildlife Population Trends in VT and NH Since European Settlement

25. Altered Successional Pathways Resulting from a Complex History of Land-use Figure from Foster (1992)

26. Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH Species: Abundance: Chestnut Elm Beech Sugar Maple Hemlock White Pine Red Spruce White Birch Cottonwood Pin Cherry Red Maple Functionally Extirpated Communities: Abundance: Old-Growth Forest of All Types Floodplain Silver Maple and Sugar Maple Rich Lowland Oak/Basswood/Ash Forested Wetlands Native Grasslands and Shrublands Forest Composition Sources: Cogbill (2000); McLachlan et al. (2000); Fuller et al. 1998; Foster 1992; Siccama (1971)

27. Differences Between Pre-Settlement and Current Forests in VT and NH Landscape Pattern Patch Size Patch Shape Complexity Fragmentation vs. Connectivity Bottomland Openings Ridgeline and Upper-Slope Openings Topographic Distribution of White Pine Topographic Distribution of Red Spruce Sources: Cogbill (2000); Mladenoff and Pastor (1993)