| | During the fall and winter of 2007, Russ Richardson, forester and owner of the Cummies Creek Tree Farm, implemented a timber stand improvement harvest that yielded veneer sawlogs, sawlogs, hardwood pulp, oriented stand board (OSB) wood, and firewood. The emphasis of the sale was on harvesting the least valuable and unhealthy trees and on improving the quality, vigor, and commercial desirability of the remaining trees. This has been the case in every sale since Richardson's first harvest in 1994. All of the land that is Crummies Creek Tree Farm was moderately to severely harvested in the 1980s by a previous owner. At the beginning of science-based forest management in 1992, nearly 40% of the sawtimber-sized trees standing on the property were cull or commercially undesirable species. Crummies Creek is a 710-acre Appalachian hardwood forest recognized as a stewardship forest by the West Virginia Division of Forestry and as a Model Forest in the Forest Guild Model Forest program.
The hillside dominating the central portion of the photo was harvested in 2007–2008 in a forest improvement cut. The same area was salvage logged in 2003, cut in an improvement harvest in 1995, and highgraded in the mid-1980s. The shadows and spaces on the hillside immediately to the right of the redbud leaves are the location of individual crop trees.
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The 2007 harvest occurred on portions of Crummies Creek where chestnut oak and white oak are common and dominant species, and on some of the least productive sites on the property. Since 2002 repeated defoliations by a native forest pest, the half-winged geometer (Phigalia titea) have greatly reduced the vigor of white oak at Crummies Creek Tree Farm. Hundreds of sawtimber-sized white oak trees dying as a result of the defoliation. The 2007 harvest included areas that had previously been thinned during cull removal in the early 1990s. Most of the logged area was partially harvested during sales that took place in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004. Because of previous non-commercial activity in the sale site, there was a very small proportion of undesirable trees in the sale area. Approximately 20% of the sale involved removal of the overstory to release regeneration that was established during improvement activities in the 1990s.
A local logging crew from Mill Creek Builders Supply in Mill Creek, West Virginia, harvested the area over the winter months when crop trees were dormant and damage to the residual timber was minimal. All areas used for landing locations were seeded and mulched at the completion of the logging, and logging trails were water barred at the completion of the harvest. All felling was done by chainsaw, skidding was done with a grapple skidder, and all logs were pre-bunched and set out with bulldozers. The Mill Creek Builders Supply company logging crew separated logs at the landing to take advantage of a variety of markets. High-quality veneer logs and butt logs were kept at maximum length (up to 40 feet) to ensure their highest possible value for resale.
The 2007 harvest involved the sale of approximately 500 trees that were tallied for sawtimber, as well as a nearly equal number of trees of poor quality and very low value that were not tallied but were marked and harvested for firewood and pulp. The sale generated about $350 per acre income for the landowner. The sale produced about 50 cords of firewood, including species such as chestnut oak and white oak, hickory, and scarlet oak. Approximately 75 tons of soft hardwood pulp was shipped to a Weyerhaeuser OSB plant in Flatwoods, West Virginia (55 miles), and 50 tons of hard hardwood pulp was shipped to a Mead Westvaco concentration yard (175 miles). Small sawtimber-sized yellow poplar trees were shipped to a laminated truss (structurewood) plant in Buckhannon, WV (90 miles). The value of the wood utilized for pulp averaged less than $2 per ton. Sawlogs were utilized at the Mill Creek Builders Supply sawmill (145 miles). In addition to taking advantage of a market for white oak and chestnut oak, the 2007 harvest at Crummies Creek was also planned to develop new access trails and improve long-term recreational options at the property.
 | | Oak crop trees in the 2007–2008 sale area at Crummies Creek Tree Farm. The foreground is part of a group selection where regeneration that started as a result of the 2003 ice storm was released. The area cut as part of this group selection was approximately ¾ acre. |
The harvest was planned and executed over a several-month period. A major emphasis of the harvest planning was on reducing the potential spread of Japanese stiltgrass, a noxious and destructive invasive plant, into the interior of the harvest area. One step taken to slow the spread treatment of selected landing locations in the fall of 2006 and 2007 to prevent seed set of the stiltgrass. A combination of heavy weed whacking with string trimmers and mowing of skid trails and landing locations with a tractor and brush hog. Additionally, in the areas most likely to contain a seed bank of Japanese stiltgrass in the soil, the least infested areas were treated first to ensure a slower spread by the bulldozers used in the harvest. In the late summer of 2008, all the roads and trails used in the recent harvest will be treated to stop the stiltgrass from going to seed and to prevent the establishment of stiltgrass in the logged land. No herbicides were used in the areas treated prior to the 2007 sale because a large proportion of the area is close to woodland also dedicated to the production of wild simulated American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) and black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa).
As mentioned, the timber harvest conducted at Crummies Creek Tree Farm in 2007 was a forest improvement cut with the lowest quality trees removed. Opportunities to conduct such management work are growing increasingly unlikely as sawmills shut down and the cost of diesel fuel increases beyond $5 per gallon. Although Calhoun County, West Virginia, is nearly 90% forested and almost 100% privately owned, there is not an operating sawmill in the county. The last operating sawmill within 50 miles is rumored to be shutting down very soon. Because so many mills have shut down since 2006, it has become increasingly difficult for any property owners in this region to sell timber if they have private foresters involved as their advocates because it has become such a profound buyer's market. Most mills choose to only purchase timber directly from landowners.
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| | | | 2 | Land Ownership
Private
| | | | 3 | Location
Calhoun County, West Virginia
| | | 4 | Forest Type
Appalachian hardwoods
| | | | Context |  | | | 5 | Is this project a part of a landscape plan?
Yes
| | | | 6 | In a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)?
No
| | | | 7 | Acreage treated
35 ac
| | | | 8 | Type of contract
Timber sale
| | | | 9 | Funding source
Self funded
| | | | 10 | Collaborators and partners
| | | | 11 | Project start date
Fall 2007
| | | 12 | Project completion date
Mar. 2008
| | | | Treatment Goals | | | | 13 | Restoration, watershed or habitat improvement
| | | | 14 |
| | | | 15 |
| | | | 16 |
| | | 17 | Forest Stand Improvement
| | | | Treatment Specifics | | | | 18 | Primary treatment objective
Improve the quality, vigor and commercial desirability of the remaining trees
| | | | 19 | How does biomass removal fit with other objectives?
Well
| | | | 20 | Treatment description
Crown thinning | | | | 21 | Description of contractors
Company logging crew from Mill Creek Builders Supply in Mill Creek, WV
| | | | 22 | Travel distance for contractors
<30 miles
| | | | 23 | Type of equipment used
All felling done by chainsaw, skidding done with a grapple skidder and all logs prebunched and set out with bulldozers.
| | | | 24 | Treatment of residual slash if any
Some small material removed for firewood.
| | | | 25 | Treatment cost per acre
Net profit of $350/ac
| | | 26 | Trucking costs
Fuel costs only for trucking over $100/MBF
| | | | Utilization | | | | 27 | Products from project
Veneer sawlogs, sawtimber, hardwood pulp, OSB wood, firewood.
| | | | 28 | Price for products
$11,000 for 92 MBF Doyle log rule
| | | | 29 | Date of Sale
Nov. 2007 | | | | 30 | Did biomass markets exist previous to project?
Yes | | | | 31 | Type of utilization
Firewood, pulp, OSB | | | | 32 | How well did the woody biomass match the utilization options?
| | | 33 | Distance to utilization
Hardwood pulp 175 miles, sawlogs 145 miles, OSB 55 miles, firewood local
| | | | Treatment guidelines, targets, limitations | | | | 34 | Diameter limit
Not Applicable
| | | | 35 | Basal area reduction
In most harvest area BA was reduced by 30-45%
| | | | 36 | Crown coverage
Crown coverage reduced in areas where understory release was a sale objective
| | | | 37 | Fuel loading
| | | | 38 | Retention guidelines
Highest quality red and white oak, sugar maple, yellow poplar and black oak retained
| | | | 39 | Treatment of snags and downed logs
Some snags specifically retained for wildlife and downed logs left on site for reptiles and amphibians
| | | | 40 | Soil impacts
Most harvesting took place during winter months and dormant season erosion problems were slight | | | 41 | Other ecological impacts monitored
Spread of Japanese stiltgrass in harvest area is being monitored
| | | | Pre Treatment | | | | 42 | Fuel load
Low
| | | | 43 | Stem density (stems/ac)
150 | | | | 44 | Basal area (ft2/ac)
88-125
| | | | 45 | Canopy closure (%)
| | | | 46 | Height to live crown base
| | | | 47 | Snags and downed woody material
| | | | 48 | Size class distribution
Tree sizes range from seedlings and saplings less than 4" DBH and 12 years old to mature chestnut oak trees over 22" DBH
| | | | 49 | Tree species composition
Mixed oak in the stand harvested species include: red, white black, scarlet and chestnut oak, sugar and red maple, yellow poplar, hickory, black cherry and white ash.
| | | | 50 | Presence/absence of invasive species
Invasive species of concern in the sale area include Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) and multifloral rose.
| | | 51 | Soil and other ecological data
Dry sites but highly productive and diverse.
| | | | Post Treatment | | | | 52 | Fuel load
Low
| | | | 53 | Stem density (stems/ac)
100
| | | | 54 | Basal area (ft2/ac)
80
| | | | 55 | Canopy closure (%)
50%
| | | | 56 | Height to live crown base
| | | | 57 | Snags and downed woody material
Residual snags were carefully selected. Limited downed wood material
| | | | 58 | Size class distribution
Same
| | | | 59 | Tree species composition
Red, white and black oak, yellow poplar and sugar maple.
| | | | 60 | Presence/absence of invasive species
Harvest planning and timing to minimize the spread of stiltgrass was a serious concern.
| | | | 61 | Soil and other ecological data
The harvest area has a native rattlesnake population and broad headed skinks, a locally rare species of lizard is in the sale area and rock outcrops in the area are winter hibernation locations for native bats.
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