Originally Posted by
Birdhunter2
Clear-cutting may be the most profitable and easiest strategy for managing a forest, but is certainly not the only option and in my view far from the best option for management or restoration of bottomland hardwood forests in many cases. I don’t know if the SCFC has developed long-term plans and established desired forest conditions for this area and if they have any interest or mandate for good land stewardship for multiple resources, or if their lands are simply for fiber and revenue generation. If the SCFC is only concerned about near term revenue to meet budget goals, then continue to pillage the resource at the expense of wildlife, recreation and the long-term health of the system. If the Forestry Commission is concerned about multiple uses and other values beyond maximizing their revenue, such as considering wildlife habitat needs on our lands, then they should adopt ecologically sound forestry practices as other regions of the country have done. They could specifically learn from management in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, where bottomland hardwood desired forest conditions often guide management and restoration on public and private lands. Variable retention thinning can be used to regenerate shade intolerant oaks and other valuable hardwoods while providing critical forest structure and habitat preferred by many migratory birds, bats and game animals. This strategy still produces fiber and long-term revenue generation. Many forests could be managed as perpetual forests through good silviculture, but my experience is that revenue needs dictate SCFC management more than resource needs and it is easier to paint a line around a clearcut than to learn how to properly mark and manage bottomland hardwoods. Sometimes clear-cutting is a valid strategy, but often times it is nothing more than lazy, or uninformed or just greedy forestry.
Good Post!!
Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men. -Gifford Pinchot
The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it. -Thomas Jefferson
The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.
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