

FROM THE FARM: The dynamics of high-grading timber

6:40 PM, Mar. 29, 2013  |  Comments
Rusty Evans
Rusty Evans
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Wayne Clatterbuck, University of Tennessee forestry professor, shares some interesting information on the practice of high grading:

Concern exists among forest practitioners, owners, industry and the public that high-grading - the practice of harvesting those trees that will give the highest intermediate economic return - may lead to a widespread decline in the forest resource.

Recent statewide forest inventory statistics (from USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory Analysis) for Tennessee indicate that the grade of hardwood trees is diminishing. Less than 5 percent of existing hardwood sawtimber trees are considered grade 1, the trees that yield the most highly-valued lumber. In addition, three out of every 10 hardwood sawtimber trees are considered culls with minimal value or usable volume.

Two cutting practices have perpetuated high-grading: Diameter-limit cutting and selective cutting. Both practices are essentially the same in harvesting the most saleable, and the largest, most valuable trees and leaving the poor quality, defective and low value trees, the unacceptable growing stock to populate the next forest. Neither practice gives thought to the species composition or regeneration of the future forest.

For most forests in Tennessee, smaller-diameter trees are not necessarily younger trees. Most of these smaller trees are:

? Slower growing trees of the same age, but different species, that are not capable of growing into the overstory when larger trees are removed (many midstory species such as dogwood, blackgum, sourwood),

? Trees capable of release but of an inferior species (red maple), or

? Trees of the same species and age as the larger trees, which did not grow as quickly as their larger-diameter counterparts due to greater competition between trees. These trees have low-vigor and sparse crowns at an advanced age with low probability of responding to overstory release.

High-grading is considered a dysgenic function in stand growth and development by promoting survival of or reproduction by less well-adapted trees especially at the expense of well-adapted trees. Because slower-growing and poor-quality trees are retained, high-grading diminishes the diversity, tree grade, and economic value of the future stand. Landowners may agree to high-grading given a lack of knowledge about the practice and its undesirable consequences. High-grading can also be driven by short-term economic considerations. Immediate cash flow may be greater with high-grading, but potential environmental degradation and decreased future timber values will more than cancel the immediate cash advantage.

Stewardship requires that landowners consider the future consequences of high-grading when making a decision whether or not to accept the use of high-grading practices on their land. Resource professionals and harvesters also have an obligation to look beyond the present when recommending forest management practices to landowners. Cutting the best-growing trees prematurely reduces the rate of return and can impact the future value of the forest. Recent hardwood market reports indicate that prices for grade 1 sawlogs (depending on species) are 3 to 6 times greater than the poorer grade 3 logs.

High quality (better grade) timber is more in demand, less in supply, and yields greater prices. Growing high quality trees gives a much greater financial return during a rotation (even with the time value of the investment) than short-term high-grading.

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