Red Pine Management Guide A handbook to red pine management in the North Central Region This guide is also available online at: http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/fmg/nfgm/rp A cooperative project of: North Central Research Station Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Contributors The North Central Region Red Pine Management Guide is produced in corporation between the USDA Forest Service and the University of Minnesota. The following individuals have contributed to the conduct and development of the guide (in alphabetical order): Project Leaders Alan R. Ek - Professor and Head, University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources Steve A. Katovich - Entomologist with with USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry Michael A. Kilgore - Assistant Professor with the University of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources Brian J. Palik - Project Leader and Research Ecologist with the USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station Project Participants Andrew David - North Central Research & Outreach Center, University of Minnesota Grant Domke - Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Sarah Finley - Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Denys A. Goychuck - Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota Mike Ostry - USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station Eric K. Zenner - Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota i Contributors Table of Contents Introduction to Red Pine Management Guide . .1 Ecology . .5 Silviculture . .11 Forest Health . .51 Economics . .67 Management Examples . .71 ii Table of Contents Introduction to the Red Pine Management Guide 1 Introduction Introduction to the Red Pine Management Guide This Red Pine Management Guide provides essential and optional information for managing stands that are predominately red pine and also stands that may contain a mix of other species as well. This section further provides diagnostics to help in describing the actual conditions of your stand and in choosing the appropriate management examples for the subject stand given your management objectives. This site also contains numerous links to basic information about forest management, options in management, habitat benefits, treatment costs, and economic returns. Why the interest in red pine? Extent across the region: Nearly 1.9 million acres of this covertype exist in the Lake States, much of it in pole and sawtimber size classes. The existing acreage is 44% private and 56% public. Stands are typically 5-20 acres in size, larger stands are found on public and industry lands. Recreation and wildlife habitat: Accessibility (via roads and seasonally) is generally very good. This tree species and covertype is highly valued from an aesthetic standpoint. Value as wildlife habitat varies considerably with stand age, density, and mix of other tree species provides thermal cover, protection and nesting habitat for wildlife though dense stands provide low food values. older and more open stands allow for understory development, increased biodiversity, and increased overall habitat value. Pole-size red pine stand, Central Red pine dominated forests can be managed for WI (2005, A. Ek University of increased habitat value and species biodiversity Minnesota) through greater use of ecological management techniques such as legacy retention, mixed- species and multi-age management, variable density thinning, and long rotations. Economics: Most of the red pine covertype volume is from the dominant species. There is considerable red pine volume in other covertypes as well. Volumes per acre are high compared to other cover types. Harvesting is facilitated by regular spacings typical of plantations. Many existing stands in the pole and larger size classes have already been thinned. Most stands and trees have very few defects. Few stands have been pruned (although pruning can lead to improved sawlog quality which can increase financial returns by 15-20%). 2 Introduction Management: It is the most commonly planted species...people know how to grow it and it has relatively few problems in terms of insects, diseases, wind, snow, ice. Tree improvement research has led to numerous improved red pine seed orchards across the region and considerable knowledge of species genetics. Maximum fiber yields per acre per year are obtained over rotations of 90-110 years with 2-3+ thinnings (roughly). More agressive thinning strategies are possible and would begin at early ages. Economic rotations are 60-90 years (roughly). Long life and ability to thin repeatedly reduces public concerns about harvesting and provides options to manage red pine forests for increased habitat and biodiversity values. History of the red pine management guides Red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.), also known as Norway pine, is the most widely planted tree species in the Lake States Region of North America. During the past 70 years the red pine cover type in the Lake States has increased more than five-fold to an area of 1.875 million acres. This increase is due in a large part to planting programs. In 1914, Theodore S. Woolsey Jr., and Herman H. Chapman published a 42-page U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin management guide entitled, Norway Pine in the Lake States. This early guide was based on the careful observations and measurements of field foresters and served as the primary guide for managing red pine stands for more than 30 years. During the latter two thirds of the 20th century long-term studies on red pine management were installed and repeatedly measured by the USDA Forest Service, state governments, universities, the Canadian government, and Red pine stand planted in 1939 others. As results from these studies became available, red near Moose Lake, Carlton Co., pine guides were revised and updated. The primary emphasis MN. (2005, R. Klevorn, MN DNR) of the many guides produced during the twentieth century was on establishing and managing red pine stands to improve timber growth. During the latter part of the 1900s the objectives of management broadened beyond timber output, especially on public lands. Land managers are now being challenged to address questions that are not well covered by existing guides, while continuing to produce timber. Despite their widespread use, the red pine management guides produced to date have several increasingly apparent deficiencies. These include: 1. Attention is focused on managing the stand as an isolated unit, without considering Two-cohort stand. (B. Palik) landscape concerns; 2. Timber production is almost the sole consideration of most guides, with little attention given to how management recommendations should be modified to allow for recreation, aesthetics, wildlife, water, or other objectives; 3 Introduction 3. Guides tend to focus on the management of pure even-aged stands, and provide little information on the maintenance of mixed-species and uneven-aged stands. 4. Existing guides are poorly linked to landscape level ecological interests, to vegetation and soil types, and they base the productivity of red pine stands almost entirely on site index. In order to provide a guide for managing red pine with multiple objectives in mind, this new guide was developed by a multidisciplinary team of public and private forestry professionals, researchers, and practitioners. It attempts to address some of the above deficiencies by bringing up-to-date information from many disciplines to address a wider range of management issues. 4 Introduction Ecology 5 Ecology Ecology Historically, red pine was abundant in the North Central region, making up about a third of the 22 million acres of pine forest in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The amount of red pine in the contemporary landscape of these three states has been greatly reduced from this total and today covers around 1.9 million acres. Opportunities exist to restore red pine to appropriate sites and to manage red pine stands in ways that enhance wildlife habitat, native species richness, and ecological characteristics. This section outlines the concepts and information you need to understand red pine ecology and to establish and manage this species with ecological objectives in mind. We also refer you to the Silvics of North America manual; specifically, the Red Pine section. Map of red pine range in Northern United States. The source for this map and more information can be found at the Silvics Manuals of the Forest Service. 6 Ecology Site characteristics Red pine typically occurs on well-drained, acidic, dry sandy soils. These sites include outwash plains, ice contact features, rock outcrops, and dunes. The species grows best on well-drained sandy to loamy sand soils, but does not compete well with hardwoods on better sites. Red pine is intolerant of high water tables and poor aeration. Site indices of natural red pine sites range from 45 to 75 feet in height at 50 years of age. Though red pine does prefer sandy soils it does not grow well on excessively drained, very nutrient poor sites. These sites would more likely be classified as jack pine sites. Red pine growing on these sites are very prone to pest problems such as Diplodia. If you are unsure whether red pine is an appropriate species for your site, you can consult regionally appropriate guides for determining habitat type, native ecosystems, or native plant communities Wisconsin Forest Habitat Type Classification System (PDF, 146K) and Minnesota Native PIRE good growth. (B. Palik) Plant Communities can be useful for determining your site potential from the standpoint of native plant communities, successional development, and natural disturbances. Young red pine can be very prone to frost injury and pest problems in frost pockets. Saratoga spittlebug damage and scleroderris canker are two pests often encountered in frost pockets. In many areas, frost pockets can simply be large or small landscape depressions where cold air pools. The botanical range of red pine is centered on the northern Lake States. Trying to grow red pine outside of its range is likely to result in pest and weather related problems.