Thursday, December 1, 1966
Monongahela National Forest
This year, the Marlinton Ranger District plans to sell six million board feet of saw timber and 8,000 cords of pulpwood. This will require cutting on approximately 2,000 acres.
Today your timber stands are managed under the even-aged management concept. It has been found that the best young timber stands today occur where the heaviest cutting occurred in the past. It has always been found that tree size is no indication of age; that many of the smaller trees in a timber stand are as old as the larger ones. They have just grown very slowly in a suppressed condition most of their lives and will not grow rapidly into valuable forest trees even when they are released by cutting the larger tress which are crowding them.
These findings have prompted foresters to practice even-aged management. Under this concept the mature timber stands are harvested in patches usually 5 – 20 acres in size in order to provide the necessary conditions to grow a healthy new crop of trees. These harvested patches are commonly called clear-cuts. All of the merchantable trees will be cut on these areas and the unmerchantable trees will be treated with herbicide so they will not interfere with the establishment of a new even-aged timber stand.
The desirable trees that are best suited for the site will be permitted to grow on the clearcut areas. West of the Greenbrier River, this will usually be valuable hardwoods. East of the Greenbrier River, where precipitation is much less, some of the clear-cut areas will be managed for pine because it grows better than hardwood on the poor dry sites. The more productive clear-cut will be managed for hardwood.
Immature timber stands will be thinned periodically by removing the undesirable trees in order to permit the selected crop trees to grow rapidly into valuable forest trees. These young stands will be permitted to grow until rotation age which is approximately 100 years before they are harvested by clear-cutting.
The clear-cuts will be widely dispersed so that all of the mature timber will not be harvested in any one area. This will result in different aged timber stands scattered over the 120,000 acres on the Marlinton Ranger District. This type of management is also desirable for wildlife because it will provide a variety of habitat in each area. the clear-cuts will provide the type of food and cover that are required by some species of wildlife. The older stands located nearby will provide mast and cover required by other species of wildlife.
This type of management must be continuous in order to be successful. When the forest stands become mature they must be harvested and young stands established in their place in order to maintain the variety of different habitats that is necessary to maintain high populations of the various wildlife species.
Boys and Girls in Service
Tuy Hos. Viet Nam – Army Specialist Fifth Class Alfred C. Kesler, 30, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Kesler, of Clover Lick, arrived in Viet Nam November 1 with his unit, the 14th Engineer Battalion.
Fort Sill, Oklahoma – Private Gary L. Wamsley, 20, son of Mrs. Edna Hefner, of Marlinton, completed eight weeks of advanced artillery training at the Army Artillery and Missile School.
BIRTHS
Born to S-Sgt. and Mrs. Ray Kelley, of Cass, a daughter, named Petra Diana.
Born to Mr. and Mrs. Guy Kellison, of Hawthorne, California, a daughter, named Patty Jane.
DEATHS
William Mack Hudson, 75; born at Green Bank, a son of the late J. L. and Margaret Hudson. Burial in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery.
Mrs. Kate Ayres McMillion, 89, of Friars Hill; burial in the Friars Hill Cemetery.
Mrs. Virginia Hannah, 71, of Valley Head; born at Mingo, a daughter of the late John and Melvina Daft. Burial in Mingo Cemetery.
Grace Kinnison Beard, 87, of Hillsboro; burial in the Oak Grove Cemetery at Hillsboro.