Forest Work Objectives : ForeverRedwood.Com

Restore Old-Growth Species Variety and Canopy Structure: Restoration forestry works with the land’s biological relationships. Before removing a tree, its relationship with the canopy, soil, slope of the land, erosion, fire hazard, age and species distribution of neighboring trees are all considered. OGA performs a series of “low-grade” thinnings at intervals of ten years to help the forest slowly recreate a canopy and species structure similar to what existed prior to logging. These “low-grade” thinnings do the opposiwhat the logging did by removing mostly deformed and crowded immature trees. Each decade, the thinning removes 10% of the forest’s total standing timber volume. Because a young stand adds over 30% new volume of wood per decade, thinning 10% per decade translates into less than 33% of the 1year growth rate. As the forest matures, the growth rate slowly declines to 10% per decade after the forest is over 200 years old to match the thinning a Over the coming decades, the forest will again have a tall coniferous canopy of about 150 trees of all ages with several large snags and deformed (wolf) trees per acre. The species composition volume will slowly return to being approximately 90% conifers from the present day 50%. And, the landslides can slowlstabilized and overall erosion reduced so that the forest can naturally rebuild its soil. Once the large erosion sources like landslides, gullies, poorly designed roads and skid trails are corrected, some of thstream’s spawning gravel beds and rearing pools can be rebuilt. This
ealing allowing salmon and trout populations to grow in less time. Demonstrate Financial and Ecological Sustainability: To help recreate a canopy dominated by old-growth and large mature trees, OGA always thins to improve the stand. This allows a high percentage of the best trees to eventually become mature and old-growth. For example, OGA seaside an average of five of the largest and healthiest trees per acre to live out their lives o
500 years or more. Redwoods are favored because of their longevity, but all species are represented. These old-growth trees will grow alongside younger trees that are thinned selectivelyevery ten years. The stand will eventually have a distribution of trees in declining amounts in the under 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200 and over 200-year age groups. By maintainingdiverse stand of old-growth, mature and young trees, the forest will approximate its pre-logging structure. A mature forest with trees of all ages offers ideal habitat for many different life foand offers the richest biological influence for the surrounding area’s atmosphere, water and wildlife. As the forest matures, it will become of growing importance as a wildlife corridor for “mature forest dependent” animals. In contrast to sustainable forestry, restoration forestry makes long-term permanent contributions to global cooling by absorbing and holding a large amount of carbon. Sustainable forestry requires only marginal increases in standing timber volume. The rateof cut allowed under certified sustainably management plans lead to only a smal
carbon over many decades while restoration forestry contribution is enormous. The Restored Forest Becomes an Educational Model: The forest’s living example of maturing to old-growth while contributing economically will demonstrate the viability of restoration forestryand encourage others to adopt its principles. Once the streams, the soils, the landslides and the road problems are stabilized, a careful and conservative thinning program performed once a decadebecomes the long-term restoration tool. Eventually, as the stand matures to over 200 years, it will approach full stocking and growth and will then match the thinning rate of 10% per decade. At this point, with an average of 150 trees of all ages per acre, each decade’s harvest removes one to three mature trees each acre. This is a small portion of the total mature tree volume (up to 30 mature and old-growth trees per acre). The forest with trees of all ages and a canopy dominated by mature and old-growth conifers can be maintained in this state in perpetuity as long as the 10% per decade thinning rate is not increased. These standards are “restorative” in nature because they mforest towards its ancient form. Restoration forestry standards7
requirements to certify a forest as “sustainably-harvested”. Conifers begin making quality wood after age 70. By providing rare mature \wood, OGA can harvest consistent income from a fraction of forest growth. In this way, the ecosystem flourishe and contributes economically. Ecologically, the key is to consistently harvest very lightly and carefully. Economically, the key is to manage land with little or no debt.