Oregon Natural Forestry

Conifers are the largest and some of the oldest living things.  Belonging to the family Gymnosperms they share a characteristic that their seeds are not enclosed in a fruit, but instead lay naked at the base of a cone.  The conifers are the only gymnosperms that are considered successful today.  Most are evergreens like the hemlock, cedar, Douglas-fir, redwood, spruce and giant Sequoia but some like the larch and bald cypress lose their needles in winter.  The evergreen foliage works well in a temperate northern climate to catch the sun’s angled rays.  Sometimes covering the entire tree the foliage can produce sugars (tree food) anytime the sun shines and the temperature is right and water available. Conifers are used in the construction of many homes and provide homes for a variety of species, including some currently listed as threatened or endangered.   If you look outside on a winter day when other trees have lost their leaves the green tree yo...

When the basal area of trees starts to add up, so does the monetary value. Defined, basal area is a measure of the cross-sectional area of a tree bole measured 4½ feet above the ground on the uphill side of the tree.  The cross-sectional area is often expressed in square feet. To get a picture of basal area think of a deck of cards and then spread them out.  The coverage on the flat surface is what basal area looks like in a forest.  Now think about putting a one, two, three, maybe four decks of cards on each of the individual cards that you spread out.  A few cards spread out with decks on them, not many cards, a lot of cards spread out in the same area with decks on them, a lot more cards. The same idea applies to trees and the forest.  Using specialized and calibrated forestry tools calculation of basal area (BA) is fast and combined with tree volume equations the relationship, volume/ BA, is a quick way to estimate the volume of a tree or a forest....

How fast a forest grows and how well a forest is managed is to a great part about ability.  For these thoughts, it’s not about what you were born with, tree or person, but rather about potential.  Great athletic champions need coaching and training. This being the Oregon Natural Forests blogspot, sees abundance in Oregon’s native forests.  Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce can grow to well over 200’ tall while western red cedar expands to thirty feet or more in diameter.  Rain, sun and fertile soils all combine to create a rich environment for tree and forest growth.  A tree and forests ability to grow often about opportunity and just finding enough space to do so.  Trees need room to grow big. A forester’s ability is about desire and passion for the work nurtured and grown though coaching and training.  Instead of water, sun and soil it is about how well observe, orient, decide then act (OODA) are applied.  Then from success or failure what was...

Forestry is a lot like being a detective solving a mystery.  Sometimes, more often now, you know how the trees and forests started but there are so many things that happen when you are not watching.  Where do animals like to spend their time, and which ones are visiting?  What does the wind do on a windy day, and does the sun shine the hottest.  Like a detective, the forester needs to rely and evaluate things that have been studied and patterns and inferences that can be made to predict what is going on.  It is still putting those pieces together, the detective work, that can be interesting, challenging and rewarding. Sue Grafton recently passed leaving a legacy of her alphabet series of mystery novels, where detective Kinsey Millhone went forward to solve the puzzle.  In that vein, and working from “a” towards “z”, I plan to start a series of short essays on the subjects of trees, forests and forestry.  To really cover the subject there would need...