Integrating Sustainability into Forest Management Planning
of the University of Vermont’s
Jericho Research Forest,
Jericho, VT.
A Project
By: Katherine Ann Forrer
In partial fulfillment of
a Master’s of Science Degree in Forestry
University of Vermont
Presented April 4, 2005
To
Deane Wang
Cecilia Danks
William Keeton
Joshua Farely
John Shane
Abstract
For over 60 years, the University of Vermont has owned and managed a 365-acre mosaic of exotic coniferous plantations, northern hardwoods, and floodplain forest at the Jericho Research Forest (JRF), in Jericho, Vermont. As the Rubenstein School for the Environment and Natural Resources responds to a growing trend toward sustainable forestry and forest certification, the University lacks both an updated framework and a written plan for long-term management. The first goal of this project was to conduct a baseline forest inventory and a collaborative inventory of current uses and values associated with the forest. Secondly, drawing from management plans from examples of four University-owned and managed forests, the project identified several key elements to the management planning process. Through synthesizing examples of how other institutions integrate a sustainable approach to the challenge of management planning, the project develops a framework through which the University can assimilate the multifaceted concept of sustainability into updating JRFs’ forest-management planning process.
Table of Contents
Prologue iv
Introduction vii
A concept of sustainable forest management viii
Document Framework x
Chapter I: An Inventory and Assessment of Current Vegetation 2
Introduction 2
Location 3
Biophysical Region 3
Landscape Context 4
Physical Features 6
Bedrock Geology 6
Surficial Geology 7
Topography 8
Soils 8
Soil Descriptions 9
An Overview of the Physical Features Layer 13
Cultural Legacy and Land Use History 13
Land Use and Acquisition History 14
University Acquisition and Land Use History 16
An Overview of the Cultural Legacy and Land Use History Layer 17
The Current vegetative communities 18
Inventory Methods 18
Sampling Design 18
Data Collection 19
Data Analysis 22
Compartment Descriptions 23
Compartment 1 23
Compartment 2 34
Compartment 3 40
Compartment 4 47
Compartment 5 55
Compartment 6 60
Compartment 7 70
Compartment 8 78
Compartment 9 86
Compartment 10 98
Compartment 11 112
Compartment 12 123
Compartment 13 133
Forest as a Whole
Composition 145
Structure 148
Density 151
General Management Recommendations 153
Chapter II: Predicting Potential Future Vegetative Communities: An Assessment of Natural Communities 156
Introduction 156
Natural Communities: A Concept 156
Methods 157
Natural Community Descriptions 158
Upland Natural Communities 158
Wetland Natural Communities 160
Management Considerations Based on Potential Vegetative Communities 164
Chapter III: Mapping the Uses and Values of the Jericho Research Forest: An Exercise in RSENR Community Mapping 166
Introduction 166
The concept of community mapping 167
Methods 167
Current USES 168
Educational Uses 168
Research Uses 169
Other Uses 170
Values 170
Ecological Values 170
Other Values 171
General themes 171
Visions for the Future of the Jericho Research Forest 172
Chapter IV: Leading by Example: Implementation of Sustainable Forest Management by Educational Institution 173
Introduction 173
The Evolution of the A Concept 173
Capitalization of Resources 175
Sustained-Yield 175
Multiple-Use Management 176
Multiresource Forest Management 177
Ecosystem Management 178
Environmentally Sensitive, Multiple Use Management 180
Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Resource Management 180
Ecoregional Management 180
Assessing Sustainable Forest Management 180
National Scale 181
Forest Level 181
Becoming an Example: University Owned Forest Management Planning Processes 182
Definition of Management Paradigms 183
Management Structure 184
Definition of Management Goals and Objectives 184
Scoping of the Forest 185
Documentation of Management Plan 185
Strategy for Monitoring and Adaptive Management 186
Lessons for the University of Vermont’s Jericho Research Forest 186
Prologue
From the entrance gate off Tarbox Road, in Jericho Vermont, there appears to be nothing exceptional about the Jericho Research Forest. Yet leave the main entrance road and wander off into the woods, and you will see what separates this forest from any other in Vermont, possibly the northeast. A mosaic of native northern hardwood stands, 1940’s and 50’s exotic coniferous plantations, and streamside wetlands, the forest itself is a living museum of natural and land use history. Where these two histories collide, ponderosa pine intermingles with red maples and paper birch, Japanese larch tower over sugar maple and white ash, and Douglas fir competes with eastern white pine and eastern hemlock for dominance in the canopy. Encompassing ± 365 acres, this forest has been owned and managed by the University of Vermont for over 60 years. The patchwork of plantations and native hardwood pays tribute to the waves of early 1900’s agricultural entrepreneurs, scientific research, and academic interests pursued within its barbwire boundaries, as well as the ecological processes tied to the topography, hydrology, bedrock and soils.
It is the beginning of July, I have come to the research forest faithfully for a month now, conducting a baseline inventory of the forest to understand the story of this complex ecosystem. The data that I am collecting will be used to update the University’s understanding of how to balance human needs for knowledge and products with the ecological processes of the forest ecosystem. Beyond the basic questions of what kinds of trees grow where, how big they are, or how well they are growing, I am gathering information on how each component of the forest interacts, from the bedrock to the canopy, to the wildlife it supports, to the products it produces. Fundamental to the concept of sustainable management is the understanding the local ecology. By slicing through the components of the JRF forest, my inventory seeks to identify the major ecological processes that guide this forest. Addressing questions of what is present and why, the overall goal of my work is to determine in a broad stroke, what processes must be sustained in this forest.
Looking up through the layers of the canopy, estimating percent cover of each stratum, the trees and the herbaceous plants tell the story of this forest. The sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves ricochets off the hemlock slope ahead, as I pace to my next plot. Only the red squirrels seem threatened by my presence, as they scold at me from their perches and scurry up and down the stem of nearby trees. I stop among tall, straight white ash and sugar maple. Measuring the percent canopy cover, the diameters of these trees, the quality of their stems, their presence suggests that this well-drained sandy soil is enriched, either by moisture or by nutrients. Moving down the canopy layers, I come to the herbaceous layer in this plot. Noting the abundance of wild ginger, trillium and jack-in the pulpit, I take the pH of the soil. It is 5.5, relatively high for this nutrient poor fine sandy soil. Pacing to my next plot within this stand, I pass scattered large boulders. Only the glaciers could have moved these tremendous rocks here, thousands of years ago. Originating from the calcareous bedrock of the Champlain Valley to the northwest, these rocks provide important clues to why we see the vegetation that we see here. The theme of enrichment is mirrored a week later, across the forest, in a stand along Mill Brook. Black ash growing along a sedge meadow tells the story of abundant moisture, while blue cohosh growing in its shade suggests that the continual flooding of this meadow brings with it an abundance of nutrients to the soil. By slicing through the layers of this forest, the inventory exposes and informs the University about the ecological processes happening within this forest.
Tied to these processes is a rich history of human use throughout this forest. Pacing east, past the stand of sugar maple and white ash, I pass through a stand of Japanese Larch. The high canopy rises above red maple, sugar maple and ironwood poles. Hardwood saplings compete vigorously under the canopy, as if they are unaware that these overstory species prove little threat of regeneration. In fact, looking around, it seems this forest, so heavily altered by humanity, is reclaiming itself. Continuing east, I climb the ridge through towering white pine and contorted Scots pine. Looking across the steep slope, the pines sway in the late afternoon winds. The presence of this Scots pine plantation tells the story of wind blown sandy soils, erosion and slope restoration. Yet, the white pine, scattered throughout this plantation suggests more to the story. On the far side of the ridge, I stop to do a plot in the shadows of a wolf pine pierced with remnant strands of barbwire. A familiar sight to most New Englanders, this forest was cleared during the early 1900’s for agriculture. Counting seedlings and saplings within the understory plot, an abundance of red oak and white pine suggest these species are reclaiming their native rights in this sandy soil.
The definition of sustainable management for this forest is hidden in the interactions between the vegetation and the soil that nourishes it. Unfolding the clues of the natural and land use history of the JRF offers a profound reminder of what this forest once was, long before it was cleared for agricultural land, and long before it was obtained by the University, and given time, what it has the ecological potential to become. Protecting the forest capacity for self renewal, is a mere sampling of the processes that must be sustained during management of this forest. Understanding the story of how, through natural and land use history, this forest has developed offers insight into how the University can better manage this forest to meet the multitude of uses and values associated with the Jericho Research Forest.
The sun shines through the canopy lighting up the green carpet of herbaceous plants; the late afternoon brings with it a red-tailed hawk screeching as it navigates through the trees of the canopy. It is August, my inventory is complete, but like leaving a good friend, I am not ready to move on. There is so much more this forest has to tell, so much more it has to teach. I stroll along the wood roads one more time, searching for one more chapter to its story. Driving down the dirt road through the gates, past the entrance signs, I realize that the final story of this forest, the final process that must be sustained here, perhaps is not ecological at all, nor is it something that can in and of itself can be inventoried. It is entangled in all the lessons it has taught me this summer, all the stories it has told me. The final process occurring throughout this forest is education itself, by the waves of UVM students and faculty that have come to understand the ecological processes of the forested landscape, through the lens of the Jericho Research Forest.
Introduction
The Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources (RSENR) and the University of Vermont (UVM) are at an important and timely turning point in the process of integrating the concept of sustainability into both their educational curriculum and land stewardship. Responding to a growing trend among land managers towards the implementation of sustainable forestry, RSENR is committed to promoting the concept of sustainability as outlined in the following mission statement:[1]:
The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources seeks to cultivate an appreciation and enhanced understanding of ecological and social processes and values aimed at maintaining the integrity of natural systems and achieving a sustainable human community in harmony with the natural environment.
Although RSENR has made great progress towards assimilating the idea of sustainability into its multi-disciplinary curriculum, the school is in the early stages of expanding its commitment to include management of the University’s, 365-acre, Jericho Research Forest. Owned and managed by the University for over sixty years, through the auspices of the RSENR, the Jericho Research Forest presents an important opportunity for the implementation and demonstration of sustainable forest management. However, as the school considers the incorporation of sustainable forestry into management at the Research Forest it faces several challenges. First, the integration of the concept of sustainability necessitates an assessment of both the human needs and ecological capacity of the Research Forest. Secondly, the integration of sustainable management at the Jericho Research Forest requires both an updated framework for management planning and an updated management plan. In order to address these challenges, this project seeks to facilitate the process of integrating sustainable forestry into management planning process for the Jericho Research Forest.
To promote the School’s progress, this project has four objectives:
· To assess the current vegetative communities of the Research Forest
· To assess potential future vegetative communities through natural community mapping
· To assess RSENR Faculty current uses and values, associated with the Research Forest
· To examine and draw from management planning processes employed by other University-owned research forests that practice sustainable forestry, in order to develop a potential framework for integrating sustainable forest management into future JRF management planning
Through addressing several of the fundamental components of management planning this document seeks to inform the development of a comprehensive management planning process and written plan for the Jericho Research Forest. Furthermore, the document aims to provide a set of tools for advancing the realization of sustainable forest management at the Research Forest. In order to understand what sustainable forest management might look like at JRF, it is useful to first examine the concept of sustainable forest management and second, determine what conceptual models exist for guiding sustainable management.
A concept of sustainable forest management
For the purpose of providing some clarity, sustainable forestry and sustainable forest management, though often used interchangeably, are two different concepts. Although, trying to distinguish between the two terms can be challenging, the National Report on Sustainabilty, (USFS 2003), turns to the Dictionary of Forestry (Helms 1998), which offers this description of sustainable forestry: