Contract harvest operations have become the preferred approach to reducing the largest cost component of timber production through free market competition amongst logging contractors bidding or negotiating for work. The goal of this research was to investigate economic components of harvesting operations not previously studied for steep slope thinning harvests...
The development of bioenergy from biomass has dominated the minds of forest engineering researchers over the last decade. One of the main themes that has been generated from that research is that bioenergy from biomass has major operational hurdles to overcome before becoming economically feasible. More directly, the impact of...
Recent catastrophic wildfires have forced the forest management community to develop new strategies for reducing forest fuels. Tightly spaced understory trees often create a fire ladder allowing surface fires to encroach into the crowns of overstory trees. This situation can lead to intensive, catastrophic, stand-replacement forest fires. Mechanical removal or...
In many areas of the developing world, the continued overexploiting forest resources has the potential to have significant detrimental impacts be placed on sustainable forest management (SFM) can help communities and organizations responsibly manage and utilize the remaining forests over the long term. Ethiopia’s forest lands provide tangible benefits from...
Western hemlock-Sitka spruce forests, where prior precommercial thinning has occurred, constitute one of the most productive
young-growth management types along the Pacific Coast from Oregon to southeast Alaska. These stands are ready for a first commercial thinning entry, however, the costs and benefits of such entries and resulting impacts at...
Commercial thinning young growth forests is an increasingly
important silvicultural technique for improving second growth
management of Douglas-fir stands. Research aimed at advancing the
efficiency of skyline logging operations in small wood timber stands
is essential in order to make thinning these young stands economical.
The purpose of this study...
Forest managers in the Blue Mountains, of northeastern Oregon are currently faced with
vast areas of forests with health problems and high fuel loadings. These conditions
resulted from a combination of insect infestations, past management practices and the
elimination of fire from the local ecosystems. These forests are now overstocked,...
Alternative silvicultural systems, such as group
selections, have recently come into vogue in the U.S.
Pacific Northwest in response to political and public
pressure against traditional, even-aged silviculture. There
is also interest in silvicultural systems for multiple
resources. Little is known about planning logistics,
operational requirements, and harvest costs for...
Land managers in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon are currently faced with large areas of forest with health problems and extreme levels of fuel loading in the stand and on the forest floor. These conditions resulted from a combination of insect infestations, past management practices and the elimination of...
With increasing environmental concerns, short harvesting seasons, salvage logging needs, and limited road access, helicopter yarding is becoming attractive to many land managers. Most helicopter yarding has occurred on clearcut or evenaged management areas containing large, valuable timber. Very little helicopter yarding has occurred in stands of smaller, less valuable...
