Forest Management
The Menominee Forest is managed using sustained-yield techniques across a wide range of different forest cover types, habitat niches, and age classes. The objectives of management include both timber and non-timber resources. The variety of forest communities, species, and habitats on the forest directly impact the types of treatments that are performed to improve, maintain, and in some cases, change the structure and composition of the forest. Consequently, MTE utilizes different management techniques in the pursuit of these goals and strategies.
The goal of forest management is to provide for maximum diversity in the forest (species composition, age class distribution, structural diversity both within and between stands), habitat diversity, and to optimize growth and sawlog quality of the forest timber resource.
The strategies that achieve these goals include:
- Developing and refining sustained-yield silviculture prescriptions that achieve the stand objectives that meet these goals
- Following the guidlines established by the Kotar Habitat Typing system to match tree species to the site-specific plant association habitat types
- Managing the forest to achieve the long-term forest cover type targets (links to a table showing targets?)
- Managing the forest to accomplish landscape-scale objectives that maximize diversity across larger scales
- Managing the forest within the constraints of the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC)
- Establishment and maintenace short- and long-term inventory systems to ensure that forest growth, yield, and coverage reflect the intended results of sustained-yield forestry
- Continue working with the researchers and other agencies to continue developing and refining prescriptions to achieve management goals
Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet the goals and strategies of the Menominee people. A silvicultural prescription is a written document that describes the objectives of the harvest treatment and the manner in which it will be carried out. All prescriptions follow the standards and guidelines presented in the Forest Management Plan and supporting documents. A silvicultural system is the specific technique used to modify the stand to meet the objectives of the prescription. In most cases, silviculture strives to mimic the natural conditions that occur in forests.
Some of the key considerations in the selection of a silvicultural system include Shade Tolerance, Age Distribution, Stand Structure, and Stand Condition. The two primary types of silviculture performed on Menomine are even-aged and uneven-aged management. Even-aged management promotes the development of tree species that are intolerant of shade. These species naturally rely on disturbance (wind or fire) to become established on a site. In the absence of natural disturbance, foresters can mimic these conditions with different harvesting and site treatment techniques (e.g. group openings, clearcuts, and shelterwood harvests). Uneven-aged management promotes the development of shade tolerant species through single-tree selection cuts. Small gaps, approximately 40-feet wide, are periodically included in this type of management to ensure the establishment of quality, unsuppressed seedlings.
Shade-tolerant |
||
|---|---|---|
| Able to reporoduce and grow under a dense canopy | ||
| Sugar maple | Hemlock | White spruce |
| Beech | Balsam fir | White cedar |
| Basswood | Ironwood | Boxelder |
| Red maple | Black spruce | |
| Mid-tolerant or Intermediate | ||
| Reproduce best under a partial canopy which admits limited sunlight, require moderate sunlight to remain established | ||
| Red oak | Hickory | Black Ash |
| White oak | Yellow birch | White Ash |
| Swamp white oak | White pine | |
| Bur oak | Elm | |
| Shade-intolerant | ||
| Light demanding species that reproduces best in full sunlight, require full sunlight to remain established | ||
| Aspen | White birch | Tamarack |
| Jack pine | Butternut | Balsam poplar |
| Red pine | Northern pin oak | Black cherry |
| Forest Cover Type | Structure | Regeneration Method |
| Red Pine | Even-age | Plant or Shelterwood |
| White Pine | Even-age | Shelterwood |
| Jack Pine | Even-age | Clearcut with fire or plant |
| Swamp Conifer | Even-age or Uneven-age | Not currently regenerated on Menominee (requires some form of clearcut or shelterwood) |
| Hemlock | Even-age or Uneven-age | Group openings or shelterwood |
| Hemlock-Sugar Maple | Uneven-age | Single-tree Selection with canopy gaps |
| Hemlock-Yellow Birch | Uneven-age | Single-tree Selection with group openings |
| Sugar Maple (Northern Hardwoods) | Uneven-age | Single-tree Selection with canopy gaps |
| Mid-tolerant Hardwoods | Even-age or Uneven-age | Shelterwood or large group openings |
| Red Oak | Even-age | Shelterwood |
| Swamp Hardwoods | Even-age | Not currently regenerated on Menominee (requires some form of clearcut or shelterwood) |
| Aspen | Even-age | Clearcut coppice |
| Pin Oak | Even-age | Clearcut |
| Cover Type | Current Acreage | Planning Goals (acres) |
| Red Pine | 5,074 | 6,000 |
| White Pine | 35,032 | 36,500 |
| Jack Pine | 702 | 1,000 |
| Swamp Conifer | 23,307 | 23,400 |
| Hemlock | 6,139 | 5,500 |
| Hemlock - Sugar Maple | 13,881 | 13,500 |
| Hemlock - Yellow Birch | 474 | 2,000 |
| Sugar Maple | 68,644 | 61,00 |
| Mid-tolerant Hardwoods | 15,618 | 20,000 |
| Red Oak | 13,461 | 15,000 |
| Swamp Hardwoods | 3,830 | 3,700 |
| Aspen | 20,626 | 21,000 |
| Pin Oak | 3,892 | 2,500 |
| Temp. Non-productive | 1,108 | 1,000 |
| Perm. Non-productive | 11,225 | 12,500 |