Forestry FYI's
How local zoning regulations affect forestry
Local government regulation of timber harvesting is usually attempted
through zoning ordinances. Although the State of Pennsylvania has a ‘right
to practice forestry’ statute included in the Municipalities Planning
Code, townships and boroughs often pass ordinances that unreasonably regulate
the practice of forestry, especially timber harvesting. These ordinances
can be expensive and time consuming to challenge legally, even though
forestry can be practiced ‘ by right ‘ in any zoning district.
State Regulations that can impact the practice of Forestry
State regulations that impact forestry activities are environmental in
nature and are designed to protect water quality and prevent erosion and
sedimentation from earth disturbance activities such as constructing roads
and landings necessary to transport wood products. Stream crossings and
wetland encroachments are activities that must be permitted.
Timber Marking and Selection
Trees are selected and marked for sale using criteria such as age, form
size and species. Before the trees are selected and marked woodland objectives
are determined and the proper harvesting system is chosen. Tree marking
is normally completing by painting slashes and spots at eye level and
on the stump. This assures that the right trees are cut and removed by
the timber buyer. The stumps are painted with a spot to check that only
the trees marked for harvest are taken.
Harvesting Systems
Optimizing growth in a hardwood forest can require different treatments
or harvesting methods depending on a number of variables and characteristics
of the timber stand. In addition to forest characteristics, ownership
objectives and multiple use considerations will affect the harvesting
method chosen.
Sustainable Forestry
Sustainable Forestry is a term or phrase that has been used for many years
in the forestry industry. It is easily understood that if all of the trees
are harvested in an area in a short period of time that there will be
no trees to left to harvest for many years to come and the industry will
not be viable on a continuing basis. The sustainable forestry term has
been adopted by preservationists and even used by industry to make it
seem environmentally responsible if trees are harvested a few at a time
so that perhaps no one will notice.
This adaptation of the term is very misleading since trees grow back in
spite of what we do in the forest. How the trees grow back and whether
or not optimal regeneration and growth rates are realized depends on harvesting
methods and timing. Trees are our nations renewable resource, although
a hardwood forest takes approximately 70 years to produce economically
mature trees.
Choosing an even-aged management system where all trees are harvested
at the same time produces high quality timber, although this harvesting
method will result in a dramatically altered ‘ cut over ‘
look for an extended period of time. Many people find this appearance
objectionable, even though seedlings are beginning to grow a new forest,
as would happen after a forest fire or hurricane. Although this ‘
clear cut ‘ mimics a natural occurrence and grows a beautiful new
forest, the misunderstanding and the ‘look ‘ has pretty much
taken this method out of a foresters toolbox.
Uneven-aged management of forests is generally the chosen method of harvesting
in the southeastern and central part of Pennsylvania. This method attempts
to harvest trees in a manner that leaves a distribution of diameter classes
behind so that harvests can be planned periodically to remove economically
mature trees at pre determined times according to a management plan. This
is often referred to as sustainable forestry since the appearance of having
a forest remains.
Endangered species
Federal and State regulation require the protection of certain species
that are found in our forested landscapes. Foresters are required to ascertain
whether or not any endangered or threatened species will be impacted by
timber harvesting activities. Modifications to harvesting activities must
be taken and approved by the permitting agency before timber harvesting
may proceed.
Streams and water quality
Federal and State water quality and protection statutes must be adhered
to before any timber harvesting activities can be undertaken. Stream crossings
and wetland encroachments are permitted activities and must be reviewed
and approved before timber harvesting can begin. A Forester will fill
out all necessary forms and acquire approvals as part of the harvest planning
process.
Forest Regeneration
Appalachian Hardwoods regenerate from a seed source or stump sprouts after
a timber sale. The method of harvesting will affect the regeneration of
the forest. Some species require adequate sunlight and will not be successful
if the proper amount of crown canopy was not removed. Valuable timber
species such as Oak, Tulip Poplar and White Ash are shade intolerant and
seedling will not survive without adequate sunlight penetrating to the
forest floor. Basal area calculations, the proper prescription and an
adequate seed source or advance regeneration will result in successful
regeneration.
PA Bureau of Forestry
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry is available to assist landowners
who own timberland. Certain activities, such as advice and consultation
are available without cost to the landowner. Check with your local Bureau
office to find out what services might be available to you.
Loggers and Foresters
Although loggers and foresters have different and separate responsibilities
in the wood product industry, each group benefits from the other specific
tasks. Cooperation between foresters and loggers is essential on most
timber harvesting projects and trust and respect for each other is an
important part of a successful timber harvest. Since it is the forester’s
job to design harvesting specifications and the loggers job to implement
those specifications, communication between the two is important if a
project is going to proceed smoothly. Foresters and loggers depend on
each other and neither could operate successfully without the other.
Forest Management Plans
Successful forest management requires planning. Since optimizing forest
growth is dependant on implementing treatments over a long period of time,
it is not unusual to find that ownership of property has changed. In this
all too often case, a written forest management plan becomes an asset
that makes possible a course of actions that can be followed by the new
owners. This insures that the forest resource will be optimized over time,
benefiting the owner of the land and also the community since maintaining
valuable forest assets will help to preserve jobs and bring additional
monetary gains to the region.
We write Forest Management Plans that identify important forest attributes,
timber value, important site characteristics, potential future threats
to forest health and projections for the future. The plan includes a timeline
of actions to be taken to insure future growth.
Stewardship Plans
Stewardship Plans are a specific type of forest management plan that conforms
to a PA State form that is authorized and reviewed by the PA Bureau of
Forestry. Funds are available on a cost share basis for certain approved
activities. Contact us for more information regarding Forest Stewardship
Plans.