Stewarding a beautiful, healthy forest doesn’t have to mean locking the gate and throwing out the key. Careful stewardship can help you to perpetually manage your forest in a way that improves wildlife habitat, sustains forest health, reduces risks associated with climate change, and provides long-term income opportunities through high-quality timber products.
At this free workshop at a Pierce County Parks property near Buckley, WA that is currently being prepared for commercial thinning, professional foresters will introduce forest owners to a set of simple, hands-on strategies for increasing their forests’ resilience in the face of a warmer and drier climate.
Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the ecological risks facing Pierce County and nearby forests due to wildfire, drought, disease, and insect infestation. We will discuss how to evaluate the current health of a forest based on desired future conditions, when commercial or pre-commercial thinning might be appropriate, and how to select trees for thinning. Participants will learn about the equipment used in pre-commercial or commercial thinning, the permitting required for a timber sale, and options for utilizing woody biomass leftover. Instruction will be a combination of lecture, demonstration, and hands-on activities, including:
- Expected Climate Impacts and Risks: Temperature and precipitation changes we can expect and likely impacts on Pierce County forests, including fire risk, pests & disease, and species vulnerabilities.
- Stand Assessment 101: How to “read” and understand what is happening in your forest from an ecological perspective, and how to evaluate how climate-adapted your forest is. Topics include species competition, tree canopy classes, and timber quality.
- Choosing climate-adapted species: Which native species are well-suited for the anticipated future climate of this region. Sourcing native tree species from other regions. Drought and heat-tolerant understory and mid-canopy species.
- Forest Management Goals & Options: Strategies for reducing fire risk, improving timber growth and quality, emulating natural fire disturbance in your forest, and increasing resilience to climate change.
- Pre-Commercial versus Commercial Thinning: When is a “commercial harvest” (one in which the timber is sold off) feasible versus a “pre-commercial harvest” (one in which the timber is too small to be commercially viable)?
- Tree Selection for Thinning: The rhyme and reason for thinning from below, thinning across diameters, tree spacing, and species selection.
- Utilizing Cut Material: Strategies include lop & scatter, habitat piles, creating biochar, making constructed habitat logs, firewood, chipping, etc.
- Funding Forest Stewardship: How to fund your forest health work through cost-share programs.
To register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/thinning-your-forest-for-climate-resilience-tickets-932763038357?aff=oddtdtcreator
