biomass.forestguild.org - 1032 Whole Tree Chipping on Delectable Mountain Forest, VT

Whole Tree Chipping on Delectable Mountain

Barnard, VT
Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd.
Submitted by Jeff Smith, Managing Forester, Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd.

Project ID: 1032

1. Name - Whole Tree Chipping on Delectable Mountain Forest

The Meadowsend Timberlands's goal is to enhance the timber resource in both quantity and quantity while being a responsible steward of the land. The 335-acre harvest on Delectable Mountain Forest in early 2007 is an example of how that goal was implemented in the northern hardwood forests of Vermont. Before the harvest, the stands were dominated by shade-tolerant sugar maple, yellow birch, beech, and red spruce. The stands had a mean diameter of about 11 inches; 145 trees per acre, and about 110 square feet per acre of basal area. The sale generated both high quality sawlogs and chips. The silvicultural prescription was to open areas for regeneration with individual, group and patch cuts. The harvest was a continuation of an uneven-aged management plan with a 20-year cutting cycle. The patches were as large as 3 acres to encourage regeneration of shade intolerant and mid-tolerant species such as black cherry. In addition to opening up the stand for regeneration, the harvest was designed to retain and promote healthy beech trees. Beech trees in the region are threatened by beech bark disease. Beech in poor health was generally left to contribute to the snag and coarse woody material component in the stand.

In general, Meadowsend uses an uneven-aged silviculture to manage northern hardwood stands. The single-tree and group selection cuts mimic single-tree and canopy-gap disturbances and maintain multi-aged stands dominated by mid- and shade-tolerant species. The target diameters in inches DBH are as follows:

White pine
Hemlock
Balsam fir
Red spruce
Sugar maple
Red maple
White ash
Black cherry
White birch
Yellow birch
Beech
Aspen

18–22
14–18
10–14
12–18
16–22
14–18
16–20
16–20
10–14
16–22
16–22
10–14

The target diameter may be exceeded or not reached depending on the site productivity.

Meadowsend Timberlands harvested the site with both a cable skidder and a grapple skidder, Timberjack 608B tracked feller buncher, and a loader/slasher on the landing. Larger trees were hand felled. Tops were piled until about 20 loads accumulated, and then a second contractor came to chip and load the tops. Slash was lopped to a minimum of 3 feet high. In other harvests, Meadowsend Timberlands chooses to leave tops to minimize deer browse on regeneration. The harvest took advantage of existing local logging capacity and infrastructure.

Single tree selection

The price for sawlogs in the region varies by species and over time, but the average price for sawlogs was $350 per thousand board feet (MBF), veneer was $2,000 per MBF, pulpwood was $2.50 per ton, and chips were $.50 per ton. The Delectable Mountain sale was predominantly sugar maple, which is a valuable species, so the price for sawlogs would have averaged a little higher. Veneer and sawlogs were trucked to mills within 75 miles, pulpwood to collection yards within 100 miles (which then trucked pulp to paper mills in Maine), and chips to the Ryegate Power plant, a wood-to-energy plant about 70 miles away.

In general, low-grade pulp wood is difficult to remove from the woods because local logging capacity to efficiently harvest and transport low-grade material is limited, and markets for such material are a considerable distance away. Finding adequate low-grade markets are a challenge to managing properties like Delectable Mountain Forest.

Patch cut

Links

Biomass piles

Blocking up veneer for sale

	2	Land Ownership Private
	3	Location Barnard, Vermont
	4	Forest Type Northern hardwoods
	Context
	5	Is this project a part of a landscape plan? Yes
	6	In a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)? No
	7	Acreage treated 355 ac
	8	Type of contract Timber sale
	9	Funding source Self funded
	10	Collaborators and partners
	11	Project start date Winter 2007
	12	Project completion date Spring 2008
	Treatment Goals
	13
	14
	15
	16
	17	Forest Stand Improvement
	Treatment Specifics
	18	Primary treatment objective Enhance the sustainable timber supply while being responsible stewards.
	19	How does biomass removal fit with other objectives? Well
	20	Treatment description Uneven aged management with a 20 year cutting cycle - individual and group selection.
	21	Description of contractors Company logging crew from Mill Creek Builders Supply in Mill Creek, WV
	22	Travel distance for contractors Local
	23	Type of equipment used Cable skidder, timberjack 608B tracked feller buncher, loader/slasher on the landing, and a whole tree chipper.
	24	Treatment of residual slash if any Lopped to 3 ft.
	25	Treatment cost per acre Generated income
	26	Trucking costs
	Utilization
	27	Products from project Veneer, sawtimber, pulpwood, and chips
	28	Price for products Veneer $2,000/MBF, sawlogs $350/MBF, pulpwood $2.50 per ton, chips $.50 per ton.
	29	Date of Sale 2007
	30	Did biomass markets exist previous to project? Yes
	31	Type of utilization Pulpmills and Ryegate power plant.
	32	How well did the woody biomass match the utilization options? Well
	33	Distance to utilization Sawlogs 70 miles; Pulp wood 100 miles; chips 70 miles
	Treatment guidelines, targets, limitations
	34	Diameter limit
	35	Basal area reduction 66%
	36	Crown coverage
	37	Fuel loading
	38	Retention guidelines Retain and promote healthy beech trees.
	39	Treatment of snags and downed logs Left where possible
	40	Soil impacts Winter harvest helped protect soils.
	41	Other ecological impacts monitored
	Pre Treatment
	42	Fuel load
	43	Stem density (stems/ac) 145
	44	Basal area (ft2/ac) 120
	45	Canopy closure (%)
	46	Height to live crown base
	47	Snags and downed woody material
	48	Size class distribution Mean stand diameter about 11 inches
	49	Tree species composition Sugar maple, yellow birch, beech, red spruce, and other species.
	50	Presence/absence of invasive species Beech bark disease.
	51	Soil and other ecological data Signs of bear noted.
	Post Treatment
	52	Fuel load
	53	Stem density (stems/ac)
	54	Basal area (ft2/ac) 80
	55	Canopy closure (%)
	56	Height to live crown base
	57	Snags and downed woody material
	58	Size class distribution
	59	Tree species composition Harvest reduced the density of birch which was at the end of its life cycle.
	60	Presence/absence of invasive species Beech bark disease.
	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.

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]