UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) As millions of acres of
Pennsylvania’s oaks and hicko
ries last harvested at the turn
of the century near maturity,
timber harvests are accelerat
ing.
But to ensure a continued
harvest, we need to use sustain
able methods, said an expert in
Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences.
“From 1976 until the most
recent inventory in 1989, timber
removal jumped from 800 mil
lion to nearly 1.2 billion board
feet per year,” said James
Finley, associate professor of for
est resources. “Now, a decade
later, removal probably is even
higher. But to sustain the
resource base, it’s urgent that
we take care of the residual for
est and plan for forest regenera
tion with every harvest.”
Pennsylvania produces more
hardwood lumber than any
other state in the nation. The
state also produces the highest
volume of select species, includ
ing cherry, red oak, white oak,
sugar maple, and yellow poplar.
“With increased harvesting,
we’re seeing shifts in species
composition,” Finley said. “Red
oak has been replaced by red
maple - a less valuable tree -
and white-tailed deer often
make it difficult to establish a
new forest with desired species.
At the turn of the century, when
today’s forest started to grow,
less than 500 deer roamed the
state. Now we have 1.2 to 1.4
million deer, and each of those
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deer is eating a lot of little
trees.”
Deer browsing often removed
desired forest plants, allowing
ferns, grasses and other wood
land plants to cover the forest
floor, competing for light, mois
ture, and nutrients.
To determine how current
timber harvesting practices are
affecting the state’s timber sup
ply, Finley and a team of natur
al resource professionals exam
ined data from 97 recently har
vested tracts. Looking at such
factors as number of tree
seedlings, deer browsing, dam
age to residual trees and
amount of fern or grass cover,
they found that practices used
at about half of the sites were
not sustainable.
“The project presented oppor
tunities to improve harvesting
practices,” said Finley. “For the
first time, we had a diverse
group of professionals from
industry personnel to environ
mentalists working to attain
consensus about what factors
constitute a sustainable har
vest.”
The team identified six sets
of variables associated with sus
tainable forest harvesting,
including species composition,
tree diameter distribution,
crown closure (related to shad
ing), regeneration, site distur
bance and tree damage. “We
now have the tools to go out to a
site and say, ‘lf you treat a stand
a certain way, you will get a cer
tain outcome,’” said Finley.
The team also learned that
using the Best Management
Practices (BMPs) for
Pennsylvania forests, published
by Penn State, will promote
regeneration and the retention
of quality forests for future
Pennsylvanians. The BMPs
Were developed in 1996 by a
group of professional natural
resource managers, forest
landowners, scientists, environ-
SYRACUSE, N.Y. For the
second consecutive year, Agri-
Services Agency (ASA) has de
clared a substantial dividend for
fanners enrolled in its workers’
compensation safety group in
Pennsylvania.
Participants in the ASA Safety
Group have seen woikers’ com
pensation costs drop by more than
50 percent since the beginning of
the program only five years ago,
announced ASA President Craig
Buckhout.
“Fanning remains a dangerous
occupation, and the Agri-Services
Agency Safety Group has taken
important steps to monitor and
help reduce the incidence of occu
pational injuries and illnesses.”
said BuckhouL “Many of the safe
ty group’s participants are receiv
ing as much as 25 percent divi
dends on their discounted pre
miums, which is a direct result of
the diligent safety awareness and
cost control efforts of the pro-
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mental organizations, and other
citizens concerned about the
state’s forests.
“The American Forest and
Paper Association’s Sustainable
Forestry Initiative of
Pennsylvania now uses the
BMPs in their logger education
program,” said Finley.
For more information on
BMPs, see the Penn State
gram.”
At the recent Pennsylvania
Farm Show in Harrisburg, ASA
presented Pennsylvania Agricul
ture Secretary Samuel E. Hayes,
Jr. with a symbolic check for
$265,195, representing the divi
dends returned to agricultural
employers in Pennsylvania.
“Efforts by Agri-Services
Agency were helpful in creating
safety groups under the State
Workers’ Insurance Fund. These
efforts have been successful in
educating Pennsylvania farmers
about the need for safety, and in
turn, are saving them money
through discounted rates on their
workers’ compensation coverage.
This is in excellent effort on the
part of Agri-Services Agency, and
has resulted in a big cost savings
College of Agricultural {Sciences
publication, “Forest Stewardship
Best Management Practices for
Pennsylvania Forests.” Single
copies are available free of
charge from your county Penn
State Cooperative Extension
office, or by calling to College o
Agricultural Sciences Publica
tions Distribution Center at (814)
865-6713.
for Pennsylvania farmers,” said
Hayes.
Buckhout reported that the
Agri-Services Agency Safety
Group continues to grow rapidly
as a result of the value that it is
bringing to agricultural
employees.
Workers’ compensation cover
age is among the many competi
tively priced insurance programs
offered through ASA, which has
been providing insurance pro
grams to the agricultural com
munities of the Northeast for more
than 30 years. As an agricultural
insurance specialist, ASA also
provides health, dental, life, dis
ability and long-term care insur
ance. For more information on the
wide array of coverages available
from ASA. call (800) 654-8840,
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