Commercial Plantation Thinning
Definition
Thinning of dense softwood plantations to improve tree quality, growth, species composition, species diversity, and extend life of stand. Designed to promote growth of best quality trees for veneer and sawlog products.
Eligibility Criteria
Softwood crop tree species: Red spruce, white spruce, black spruce, Norway spruce, eastern hemlock, white pine, red pine, balsam fir, Japanese larch, eastern larch.
Hardwood crop tree species: White birch, yellow birch, sugar maple, red maple, white ash, black ash, red oak.
Stand must have health and vigour to grow for minimum 20 years. Must contain minimum 500 uniformly distributed crop trees/ha.
Guidelines and Assessment Procedures
- Maximum basal area removal: 40%
- Minimum 500 quality uniformly distributed crop trees/ha, minimum 12 cm diameter DBH
- Crop trees: dominant/codominant, minimum 30% live crown, potential to grow 20 years
- Minimum 15 wildlife trees/ha must be left/created
- Legacy trees retained and not damaged
- Minimize damage; maximum 5% damaged crop trees