Operations
Definitions
- harvesting: removing products from the forest to make room for a new crop
- logging: felling timber to be removed from the forest
- harvest cutting: felling a timber crop in a final, single cutting (as in even-aged management), or a series of regeneration cuttings (as in uneven-aged management)
- extraction: removing timber from place of growth
- skidding: hauling logs by skidding them along the ground
- forwarding: moving logs from stump to landing
- transportation: hauling logs to a mill
Logging
There are 7 basic steps in a logging operation:
- Felling or cutting the trees
- Delimbing the main stem
- Bucking or cutting the stem into logs
- Forwarding trees or logs to a landing (sometimes before bucking)
- Sorting and loading individual logs or pieces onto trucks
- Transporting logs or pieces to a mill
- Unloading at the mill yard
During a logging operation, we want to maintain the productive capacity of the site and
- Insuring continued vegetative cover - "trees after trees"
- Maintaining stable soils, safeguarding the rooting medium and preventing siltation
- Safeguarding the basic landforms to prevent alteration of drainage and massive soil movement
See: Florida's Silviculture Best Management Practices for more information on protecting water quality during forestry operations.
The Logging Plan
The logging plan is the "blueprint" by which a harvesting operation is carried out. The plan usually shows truck roads, both existing and to be constructed; the landings to which logs will be yarded for loading onto trucks; and the boundaries of areas from which timber will be skidded to each landing. The plan also specifies which units or areas will be logged and the logging method planned for each.
A very helpful component of the logging plan is the map, which shows the location of the tract, the existing and proposed roads, the areas to be cut, the cutting system, and the regeneration methods proposed.
Logging Planning Data
The first step in planning a harvest operation is to collect all available data relating to the tract. These may include some or all of the following:
- Maps:
- topographic maps showing the topographic contour of the land
- timber type maps showing boundaries of species, species composition, size class, and stocking of each type - this map is usually made in connection with the timber cruise
- geological maps show the geological structure, parent rock and land forms, and the nature of the soil materials - these may be available from the state geology department
- soil survey maps and reports are made by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and other state agencies
- Aerial Photographs: Soil Conservation Service and the Florida Forest Service have, or have access to, aerial photographs.
- Route Survey Notes: the plans and profiles of adjacent areas are helpful in road system planning. Route surveys that may be available include highways, county roads, forest roads, power lines, and pipelines.
- Timber Stand Data: may include forest inventory data. Where single tree or group selection is practiced, marking and enumeration of marked trees should be done before the road system is planned.
- Cost Data: all available logging cost data that are applicable to the tract should be assembled.
