Project Listing

• Research
• Silviculture
• Growth and Yield Modeling
• Protecting Wildlife Habitat
• Preserving Water Quality
• Biodiversity

CFRU Bulletins

See our latest program updates, news releases, and Science Spotlights

New

From the Lab to the Land: Maine Landowners Partner for Sustainable Forestry Research

Current Projects

Growth and Yield Modeling

Northern Hardwood Growth and Yield Model

The CFRU and researchers from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources are working on the Hardwood Growth and Yield Model, a state dependent simulation model, based on over 300 permanent sample plots on 50 study sites, that uses site index, stocking, species, treatment type, intensity, and timing as driving variables. Precommercial thinning, commercial thinning, and unthinned stand conditions can be simulated. The beta version of HWGNY was completed in November 2004 and is currently in the testing and re-calibration phase. Read more

The Stand Product Optimization Tool (SPOT)

For forest managers and researchers alike, the capability to accurately merchandize and appraise the financial value of standing trees is vital. For forest managers this information is critical to making decisions such as whether or when to treat or harvest a stand. For researchers comparing the merits of silviculture strategies, accurate financial values are essential for determining the best strategy.

The Stand Product Optimization Tool (SPOT), developed by the CFRU, calculates the most profitable way to merchandize stands based on user input cost, value, and merchantability specifications, and generates a report detailing financial values and quantities of products by product classes. In addition to enabling one to financially appraise the value of standing trees SPOT provides data necessary to optimally merchandize stems by determining the best bucking specifications and the mills to which products should be sent. Read more

Assessing Silviculture Research Priorities Using a Wood Supply Analysis

A major limitation to understanding Maine's future wood supply is knowing how forestry practices influence future stand development. Forest managers in Maine are being encouraged to intensify their forest management practices to improve future growth and yield of the forest. Practices such as tree planting, herbicide application, precommercial thinning, and commercial thinning are being used to improve the condition of the North Woods. CFRU researchers completed a 2003 report describing how Maine's sustainable harvest levels might be influenced by various levels of forestry practice over the next century.