Case Study Name (Landowner)

Badoura Jack Pine AFMP (MN DNR)

Stand Information
Badoura JP post-treatment, 2015
State or Province: 
Minnesota
Nearest city or town: 
Nevis, MN
Describe the location: 
Section 11 Twp 139 Rge 32W
Landowner: 
State of Minnesota
Cover-type: 
Pine
MN ECS Native Plant Community System: 
Fire Dependent
Forest Health Threats: 
N/A
Estimated year of stand origin: 
1971
Site Index: 
49
feet
for species: 
jack pine
Silviculture System: 
Other Silviculture System
Seed tree
Brief silvicultural objective: 
Test the hypothesis that retaining a live seed source on a FDc23 jack pine harvest site will result in adequate natural jack pine regeneration.
Soils: 
844B Sanborn loamy sand On site survey: 0-13” loamy sand 13-36” sand 36-60” fine sand 60-72” sand
Overview

AFMP = Adaptive Forest Management Project. The stand was dominated by jack pine with 25-50% cover.  It was appraised at 16 cords/acre.  The species/area plot held 63 plant species, including jack pine, northern red oak, eastern white pine, paper birch, red maple, black spruce, red pine, bur oak, tamarack and white spruce.  We collected jack pine cones and sent them to the U of MN for diplodia examination.  This was one of six sites in an adaptive forest management project testing whether retaining a live seed source would result in adequate natural jack pine regeneration in the Central Floristic Region, where jack pine have a low percentage (0-50%) of serotinous cones. 

Silviculture Objective(s)
  • Achieve adequate natural regeneration (>300 trees/acre) after harvest by retaining a live seed source on the site
  • Maintain a robust Native Plant Community
Pre-treatment stand description and condition
Stand establishment and management history: 

This was an apparently natural jack pine stand, probably from fire origin.  It had been untouched since establishment.

Silviculture Prescription

Clearcut strips or gaps up to 3 chains (198’) wide during frost-free conditions (for ground scarification).  Full tree skid and burn slash or sell biomass.  Operate during dry soil conditions.  Reserve 3-5 snags/acre.  Achieve 300+ jack pines/acre in cut areas via natural seeding from residual jack pines along the edges.  If regeneration does not occur, consider additional seedbed treatments (burn, herbicide, mechanical, and/or establish big bluestem)

What actually happened during the treatment

Timber harvest occurred in June, 2011, with the final inspection taking place on 10/3/2015.  Dick Walsh Forest Products LLP was the operator.  They used a feller buncher and grapple skidder.  Cutting was completed on June 15 and 16.  Skidding and biomass piling occurred during the following week.  Biomass was ground up and removed from the site in September, so very little slash remained.  Rainfall in September resulted in soil compaction and puddling at the log landing.

Post-treatment assessment

Kellie Wolf (contractor) surveyed eight (1/1000 acre) plots on 6/11/2013 and found no jack pine seedlings.  Mike Locke and Harvey Tjader surveyed five (1/1000 acre) plots on 11/4/2014 and found 40% stocking and 400 jack pines/acre.  Harvey Tjader and Kara Johnson (intern) surveyed 13 (1/1000 acre) plots on 7/27/2015 and found 1153 jack pines per acre and 53% stocking.  We saw jack pine seedlings in the vicinity of all unstocked plots.  Stocking was higher on the west side of the harvest strip.

We identified 63 species in a species/area plot prior to treatment in 2010.  We identified 51 species after treatment on the same plot in 2013 and 57 species on the same plot in 2015.  We realized an apparent loss of 24 species from the plot and an apparent gain of 18 species.

Plans for future treatments

The site is free to grow, unless deer browsing becomes an issue, which may warrant bud-capping or other deterrents.  Young jack pines may start producing cones in another year or two and resulting seed will fill in voids.

Costs and economic considerations

Timber appraisal time was 1-2 days.  The timber permit was active for four months (June-Sept 2011), but activity took place during a few days in June and a few in September.  The timber sold for $22.18/cord for a total value of $1,996.20 + biomass.  Site preparation was achieved through logging during the frost-free season and full tree skidding.

Other notes

This is the only site of our six sites that looks successful at this time.  Four of the sites are classified as FDc24 Central Rich Dry Pine Woodland, and vegetative competition on those sites is fierce.  The other FDc23 site has poor stocking, and heavy grass competition.

Summary / lessons learned / additional thoughts

The harvest area is about 400’ wide at one point.  Stocking in the center of that area is likely to be low until seedlings start producing cones and fill in.

Supplemental content ("appendices")
Microsoft Office document icon Download regeneration_plots_07-27-2015.doc (452.5 KB)
Microsoft Office document icon Download species_area_plot_worksheet_07-27-2015.doc (96 KB)
Photographs
The stand prior to treatment - 2010Typical groundcover pre-treatment - 2010Log landing immediately after sale closure - 2011Four years post-treatment, July 2015Post treatment 2012 color infrared aerial
Keywords
jack pine
MNDNR
MN DNR
adaptive forest management
natural regeneration
FDc23
Biography
Name: 
Harvey Tjader
Organization: 
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources - Forestry
MN DNR logo

Harvey Tjader, CF, is the Ecological Classification Specialist in the NW Region for Minnesota DNR Division of Forestry.  He has held this position since 2008.  Prior to that, he was timber program forester in Bemidji Area, and district forester in Cass Lake and Northome.  He started work at DNR in 1978.

Title: 
Ecological Land Classification Program
Phone Number: 
(218) 322-3503
Email: 
harvey.tjader@state.mn.us