Is Certification under the Forest Stewardship Council Feasible and Desirable at Pack Forest

1
Is Certification under the Forest Stewardship
Council Feasible and Desirable at Pack Forest?

• Greg Ettl and
• Duane Emmons

2
Meeting Goals

• Review SFI Certification
• Examine feasibility of FSC
• Recommend a course of action
• Compare this years harvest options
• Recommend on harvest
• Action Items

3
Post-Eatonville Fire 1926
4
2000- 5 TPA, plant 300 DF
Silviculture Pathway60-81 year-old DF
2005-weeding
2015-Thin 200 TPA
2035-Thin 100 TPA
5
2001 Management Plan
Mean3.15 Million/5 years, but 10-20
overestimate by LMS
Mean9.1 MMBF
http//www.packforest.org/plan/Expected_files/Pack
ExpectedOutcomes_files/SummaryCharts2.htm
6
Olivers Classification 2000
7
Olivers Classification Comparison under Existing
Plan

•                   2025                         200
  0            

8
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
Certification

• November 2004 Pack Forest CertifiedDean Bares
  lead
• Washington State Forest Practices and extensive
  forest inventory data and management plan ?
  compliance
• Changes? We now mandate certified loggers, Road
  Maintenance and Abandonment Plan (RAMP)
• No change in annual income target
• Pack Forest as SFI Leaders--State Implementation
  Committee
• Initial cost 37,000
• Third Party Certification with Annual audit 5500

9
FSC Certification?

• Dean Bare requested a feasibility study
• Can we maintain 500,000/yr revenue under FSC?
• 5, 10 more or less harvest?
• FSC Forest Practice Restrictions
• Older stands (those at culmination of MAI)
  require 10 BA reserve
• Stands not at MAI require 30 BA reserve
• Largest allowed cut is 60 acres
• Adjacency rulesrequire 7 height of all adjacent
  stands
• Costs Initial 4500 (Group Certification)
• Every 1/5th year 3000
• Other years 2000 annual

10
Methods

• Use existing recalibrated stand data
• Stands broadly classified into 10 groups
• Representative from each group selected.
• 88 treatment alternatives were developed for both
  FSC and SFI constraints
• The representative stands were treated under the
  88 alternatives in LMS and projected out 50 years
• The LMS outputs were incorporated into the Toggle
  spreadsheet
• Alternatives compared in GIS database so we did
  not violate FSC policies or state forest practice
  rules.

11
Stands separated into 10 groups

• Younger than 8 years
• Stands 8 20 with low site ground (less than
  101)
• Stands 8 20 with high site ground (greater than
  101)
• Stands 21 - 50 low site
• Stands 21 50 high site
• Stands 51 85 low site
• Stands 51 85 high site
• Stands 51-85 high site mixed conifer
• Stands 51 85 high site mixed hardwoods
• Stands 86 old reserves

12
Costs used by LMS

• Planting mixed species -135/acre
• Weeding -200/acre
• PCT from below -140/acre
• CTA (100 TPA proportional) Net 300/MBF
• CTB (40 RD proportional) Net 300/MBF
• CC (leave 5 TPA gt10, all under 6, all gt45 DBH
  trees)
• Net 400 MBF
• CCA (FSC required gt65 year-old reached MAI)
• Leave 10 BA proportional, all gt45 DBH trees
• Net 400 MBF
• CCB (FSC required for stands yet to reach MAI)
• Leave 30 BA proportional, all gt45 DBH trees
• Net 400 MBF

13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
Retain 30 of basal area Plant 50 shade tolerant
tpa
16
(No Transcript)
17
Projected Income Under FSC Could be Met
butAdjacency Rules
18
Stand Ages 2005
19
Less than 5 years-old or adjacent to recently cut
stands are in yellow
20
Stands in green are of harvestable age but are
adjacent to young stands (in red).
21
Stands gt50 years-old that do not conflict with
adjacency rules
22
Stands cut in the next 10 years could satisfy FSC
and provide 500K, except
91.51 acres (tan)
23
(No Transcript)
24
Stand Ages with 5 under FSC
2056
2006
25
(No Transcript)
26
Age Structures under FSC with 5 and 10 less
income
FSC with 450,000/yr 2056
FSC with 475,000/yr 2056
27
What if we certified ½ our land under FSC?
28
SFI/FSC Acreage Comparison
29
½ FSC can only yield 237,500/yr
30
Age structure under split SFI and FSC
2056
31
Percentage of Land Treated in Each Pathway
32
16,232
18,678
10,467
14,001
12,180
35,826
17,691
-7638
12,320
-15,589
34,145
33
Discussion

• Advantages to FSC Certification
• Green Building Standard
• Benefits to some wildlife
• Public Relations
• Advantages to Split Certification
• CSF-PF Research Base
• Possible Funding
• Allows greater flexibility

34
This years harvest

• We need to harvest to meet budget
• There is money in reserve, but
• Goal is to demonstrate Biodiversity Pathways
• Variable density thinning to 30 TPA
• Multiple entries (every 10-20 years)
• 100 TPA?75 TPA?50 TPA?30 TPA
• Negative is higher costs, more land treated
• Two stands as possibilities
• Lower Murphy (29.1 acres)
• Silviculture Demo East (49.5 acres)

35
Silviculture Demo East 2000
36
Lower Murphy 2004
37
Harvest Options
38
(No Transcript)
39
Lower Murphy 100 TPA
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)