Selective Timber Harvest

Selective Timber Harvest

Selective timber harvest is a form of forest disturbance that we can control, and that can be used prescriptively to facilitate regeneration of species (such as oaks, hickories, and short-leaf pine) that require full sunlight and / or disturbed mineral soil to effectively germinate and out compete weedy species.

Almost all of our forests & woodlands have been harvested, burned or otherwise disturbed in the relatively recently past.  Indeed, it is a truism that many of the high-value, and large statured forests in our area are transitory in nature:  Species that require intense sunlight that once was available post-disturbance, are longer able to capture a site that is shaded.  Over time, lower value – more ecologically monotonous – shade tolerant species will capture our forests in the absence of disturbances.