MAJOR ASPECTS OF THE FOREST MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

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Many tools are used in the management or manipulation of the forest ecosystem in order to create and maintain desirable wildlife habitats. The basic means in which to have wildlife habitat is by managing the vegetation of the landscape. There are different ways to make a desirable plant community grow on the areas designated primarily for wildlife. Some methods include, planting trees in an old field that has become fallow, thinning a timber stand by removing trees with little or no wildlife value, or clearcutting a stand to completely create a new habitat. Of course before the ground work starts there needs to be a well thought out plan. Through sampling and evaluation of the existing forest managers can learn what is beneficial and what is lacking.

INVENTORY

The usual purpose for forest inventory is to determine the volume of timber present in a given stand. LDWF Forestry Section uses inventories for much more. Along with timber volume, LDWF foresters inventory to determine species composition, age structure, stocking, diameter distribution, cull composition, and many other factors contributing to the dynamics of each stand. Using this information, along with additional habitat assessments wildlife foresters can determine how to enhance its attractiveness to wildlife if some aspect of the targeted habitat is lacking.

Each Wildlife Management Area managed by the LDWF is divided into compartments. Compartments range from 90-2,500 acres and consist of many stands. All WMA compartments are scheduled for inventory on an entry schedule of 10 to 30 years, depending on the number of compartments on a given management area and the vegetative growth rate of the WMA. A management area with 20 compartments on a 20 year cycle would have one compartment entered and inventoried per year. An individual compartment would be entered every 20 years.

The LDWF Forestry Section inventories between 15 to 20,000 acres each year. Approximately 40%, 8,000 acres, are managed through maintenance harvests to enhance wildlife habitat for both long and short-term benefits.

REFORESTATION

The restoration of bottomland hardwood sites is the primary function of the reforestation program. Since 1968 the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has reforested over 20,000 acres of old-fields purchased thru the Department's land acquisition program. These areas are generally adjacent to existing Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) and add to the land base available for public use.

The bulk of the acreage was planted during the last decade. Between 200,000 and 700,000 seedlings (500-2,000 acres) have been planted annually since the early 1990's.

Reforestation is an integral part of habitat restoration which involves watershed management, as well as, re-establishing the natural plant community. Careful attention is given to selecting tree and shrub species which would normally be found on the given site being planted. The flooding regime and soil characteristics are the primary factors which determine which type of trees will be planted.

LDWF is one of several agencies involved in a massive effort to reforest and restore tens of thousands of acres of bottomland hardwood sites in several states throughout the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Public and private lands are being "put back into trees" with a variety of funding sources including federal cost-share programs, and donations from both private industry and non-profit conservation organizations. LDWF only plants trees on its WMAs and uses all aforementioned funding sources as well as self-generated dollars and personnel time.

Due to the large demand for seedlings, long-term planning is necessary to secure enough seedlings to complete annual planting jobs. This is accomplished by keeping a sufficient supply of seed in cold storage to grow the number of seedlings projected to be used over the next two planting seasons.

As many as 10 WMAs may receive some degree of reforestation each year. Though individual fields are planted with 4 to 12 species of trees and shrubs, as many as 30 species are used annually to restore the variety of sites found in the state-wide WMA system.

• Seed production age: on good sites, planted trees can begin seed production at a relatively young age. The following observations have been made on various WMAs. Acorns were produced on water oak and Nuttall oak at age 12; white oak, overcup oak, willow oak, obtusa oak and burr oak at age 14; sweet pecans produced fruit after 15 years; black cherry, crabapple and mayhaw produced fruit at 5 years post planting.
• Planting density: spacing is dictated by the harshness of the site. Where above average mortality is anticipated seedlings are planted 10x10 (435 per ac). If excellent survival is expected only 12'x12' spacing (300 per ac) is used. For enrichment planting (adding a new species to an area with nearly sufficient stocking already) only 200 trees are planted per acre.
• Growth rate: the oldest plantation (planted from 1968-1972) is also on one of the best sites. In 1998 cherrybark oak, water oak, and willow oak were 12-20 inches in diameter with some individuals reaching 26 inches. These trees are over 100 feet tall and have been producing acorns for over 15 years.

The following wildlife management areas have had some degree of tree planting done. Those in bold have had the most acreage restored, with some projects spanning 10 years.

Atchafalaya Delta, Attakapas Island, Bayou Macon, Bayou Pierre, Big Colewa Bayou, Boeuf, Buckhorn, Elbow Slough, Grassy Lake, Hutchinson Creek, Loggy Bayou, Marsh Bayou, Ouachita, Point Au Chein, Pomme de Terre, Red River, Russell Sage, Sandy Hollow, Sherburne, Spring Bayou, Three Rivers, Union, Waddill Refuge, Walnut Hill.

TIMBER HARVESTING

The information gained from the forest inventory allows the forester to make the best decision on how a stand can be managed to benefit wildlife and meet the desired objectives. Cutting and removing trees from a forest is one of the major forest management tools used by foresters and wildlife biologists. A commercial timber harvest is a feasible way to manage for wildlife where there would not be other incentives. This manipulation of the forest makes it possible for desirable wildlife habitat to be created. The primary objective of timber harvests conducted by the LDWF is to create favorable wildlife habitat; a second benefit comes from the revenue generated from the sale of the timber. The money earned from timber sales goes back into wildlife management. Depending on the management objectives and the forest condition of a compartment unit, the wildlife forester will decide if a timber harvest will be needed to create, improve, or maintain desired wildlife habitat.

Depending on the management needs of the compartment LDWF foresters will use one, or a combination of harvesting methods. The main harvesting methods include: single tree select thinning, group select thinning, seed-tree, shelterwood and clearcut. Much of what is removed includes dying, unhealthy or diseased trees that have minimal longterm wildlife or timber value.

Timber sales are awarded to the highest bidder among a list of individual timber companies and logging contractors. The timber company enters into a contract with LDWF detailing how the logging operation will be conducted. LDWF personnel monitor the logging operation and will shut down the logging if any violations are made.