Ben Linn Natural Jack Pine Regen (MN DNR)

Stand Information

State or Province:

Minnesota

Nearest city or town:

Big Falls

Describe the location:

Big Falls District, Littlefork Forestry Area, Pine Island State Forest

Landowner:

State - Trust

Cover-type:

Pine

MN ECS Native Plant Community System:

Fire Dependent

Plant community or habitat classification and growth stage:

FDn12

Forest Health Threats:

Other forest health threats

Estimated year of stand origin:

2010

Additional information about stand origin:

Harvested in Summer/Fall 2010

Site Index:

feet

for species:

Jack Pine

Silviculture System:

Clearcut

Brief silvicultural objective:

Regenerate an even-aged stand of merchantable timber that is dominated by jack pine.

Soils:

B78B Greycalm-Grettum Complex (1 to 8 percent slopes)

Stand area:

88 acres

Treatment area:

88 acres

Overview

This stand is characteristic of how jack pine is regenerated in the Littlefork DNR Forestry area with summer and fall harvesting for scarification. Limbs and slash are distributed throughout the entire harvest area to take advantage of seed produced on site.

Silviculture Objective(s)

The focus of managing this stand is on maintaining the pre-harvest species composition which was dominated by jack pine. On DNR Forestry lands, jack pine seeding is checked several times for appropriate average trees per acre and stocking. This stand will have standards checked at year 3, 6, and 10 after harvest in 2010. The regeneration is considered adequate if it meets the standard of 600-800 trees/acre with 75% stocking in year 3. By year 10, 500-600 trees per acre with 75% stocking is acceptable.

Pre-treatment stand description and condition

Stand establishment and management history:

Stand was shown to be clearcut in 1940 aerial photo.

Pre-treatment species composition:

Stand was 27.5 cords/acre pine, dominated by jack pine. Remaining species averaged 4 cords/acre. Jack pine averaged 9" DBH and 6 sticks. Norway pine averaged 11" DBH and 6 sticks. White spruce averaged 11" DBH and 6 sticks. Aspen averaged 13" DBH and 5 sticks. Birch, red maple and balsam fir averaged 7" DBH and 3 sticks. The stand was approximately 70 years old at time of harvest.

Pre-treatment forest health issues:

Tip blights (Diplodia spp. and Sirrococcus spp.) are common in this area, as is Armilaria root rot.

Silviculture Prescription

Harvest began August 2010 with a conventional operation. Stand was harvested throughout fall with a focus on scarification and dragging back limbs. Sale was closed in December of 2010.

Harvest regulations included:

Reserve all white pine, oak, and two Norway pine per acre greater than 15” in DBH
Reserve all non-hazardous snags
Tree length skidding required
Conduct all sale operations on dry, snow-free soil conditions
Lop and scatter all slash evenly throughout the sale boundaries (including top piles for slashing)

45 acres of the stand was released with brush saws in September 2015.

Post-treatment assessment

Regeneration check June 2013