Silvicultural Systems

20 Year old Spruce  Shelterwood. Young Spruce trees in the foreground and mature overstory in the background
20 Year old Spruce Shelterwood.
Young Spruce trees in the foreground and mature overstory in the background

Silvicultural Systems are different ways in which forest professionals plan to extract timber from a forest for various objectives.   Most commonly seen by the public eye are clear cuts while in contrast single tree removal systems may not even be noticed.  To name a few others there are:  seed-tree, shelterwoods, group selection or group retention systems.  The Research forest is a great place to actually see what these harvest systems look like and to explore and discuss the opportunities and challenges of using them.

Forestry Students examine the soil in a partial harvest area
Forestry Students examine the soil in a partial harvest area