Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Thinning benefits forest stands

Thinning is a forest management practice that is generally performed at some point(s) in time during the course of the growth and development of natural and planted pine stands and can be defined as the calculated removal of certain trees from an existing stand that is usually conducted with a specific objective in mind.

Thinning promotes the growth of individual trees within a stand by removing surrounding trees that compete for water, sunlight and soil nutrients. Following a thinning, the available moisture, sunlight and nutrients are stimulating the best trees that have been left on your land to grow more rapidly and therefore reach maturity (increase in value) many years faster than they would have otherwise. The thinning harvest is in most cases the

first source of income to the landowner during a normal timber stand rotation. One (and preferably two) thinning harvest(s) during a stand rotation will increase the return on investment of growing timber over 30 to 35 years significantly.

Thinning can also benefit wildlife enhancing habitat for certain species including deer, turkey, rabbits, dove and quail throughout the, Piedmont area of Georgia. The opening up of the forest canopy allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor, stimulating the growth of vegetation preferred by many wildlife species.

When a stand of trees should be thinned largely depends on their objective(s) for the stand and is usually based on the general welfare and well being of the stand while others may include hunting or quail production as the primary objectives.

When planning or trying to decide when to thin your stand of pines you should incorporate the services of a professional registered forester. A plan will be designed to meet your objectives for your stand. For more information and assistance contact the Georgia Forestry Commission at 770-227-5522 or 770-358-1459. Visit www.gfc.state.ga.us.

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