HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976 Forestry Curriculum GuideForestry
Curriculum
Guide
DAVID A. ANDERSON
Order from
THE INTERSTATE
PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS, INC.
Danville, Illinois 61832
FORESTRY CURRICULUM GUIDE. Copyright
1976 by The Interstate Printers & Publishers, Inc. All
rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 75 -35415
Reorder No. 1780
° GN
SA`
�,U f
---
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction v
Unit
I. Introduction to Forestry ................................. ............................... 1
2. Forests and Ecology .................................... ............................... 5
3. Tree Study —How Trees Grow and Reproduce and How to Identify Them ................ 8
4. Land and Forest Products Measurements ................ ............................... 13
5. The Forest and Its Environment ......................... ............................... 18
6. Silvicultural Practices ................................... ............................... 22
7. Artificial Reforestation .................................. ............................... 26
8. The Economics of Forest Resource Management ......... ............................... 31
9. Management of Forest Range ........................... ............................... 35
10. Wood Characteristics, Identification, and Uses ........... ............................... 38
11. Harvesting and Manufacturing Forest Products ........... ............................... 42
12. Wood Preservation ..................................... ............................... 45
13. Fire in the Forests ...................................... ............................... 48
14. Protecting Forests from Other Destructive Agents ........ ............................... 52
Sources of Instructional Material ........................ ............................... 57
[ iii
INTRODUCTION
Prepared as an aid to teaching the elements of forestry, the Forestry Curriculum Guide is in-
tended to be used solely as a guide since the facilities available for instructional purposes and the
forestry problems at the local and state levels will dictate on which units the greatest emphasis should
be placed.
Used in conjunction with the text, Forests and Forestry, this curriculum guide contains 14 units;
each unit makes reference to the corresponding chapter in Forests and Forestry.
Problem solving, which is the approach used, provides for maximum student participation. Insofar
as possible, the guide has been restricted to problems which are encountered by small woodland
owners.
The author is indebted to Foye Page, Coordinator, and to Calvin Walker, Subject Matter
Specialist, Vocational Instructional Services, Agricultural Education Department, Texas A & M Uni-
versity, for their review of and comments on the manuscript.
The author also extends appreciation to J. A. Marshall, Director of Vocational Agricultural Educa-
tion, Texas Education Agency, Austin, Texas, for his encouragement in the development of the guide.
Lastly, the author expresses his gratitude to Walter E. Jeske Chief, Education and Publications
Branch, Soil Conservation, Washington D.C.; Hal Harris, photographer, Texas Forest Service, College
Station, Texas; Ira A. Bray, Chief, Information and Education, U.S. Forest Service, Atlanta, Georgia;
Frank J. Adinolfi, Jr., Production Administrator, Film Communicators, North Hollywood, California;
and Phyllis Rock, American Forest Institute, Washington, D.C., for providing information about forest-
ry films suitable for the various units.
David A. Anderson
[v ]
UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO FORESTRY
Materials Needed
I. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter I.
3. Charts and publications. Write to your state forester (Appendix III, Forests and Forestry) for
charts and publications on the following subjects: forestry as a career, history of forestry in the
state, forest influences, economic value of forests, forest types, forest land ownership, forest
tree improvement, and technical and financial assistance to forest landowners. Similar informa-
tion may be available from other forestry agencies and local forest industries.
4. Opaque projector. Use to project charts and other material.
5. Films. See references at the end of the unit. Other local available films could be used.
6. Overhead projector, to show transparencies.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students understand the meaning and purpose of forestry.
2. To help students develop an appreciation for the contributions which forests have played in
the history of the United States and the importance of forests to our state and nation.
3. To acquaint students with agencies engaged in forestry activities.
4. To help students develop an understanding of the interrelationships and interdependence of
trees and other woody vegetation, to soil, water, wildlife, and climate.
5. To acquaint students with the beneficial influences of forests.
6. To show students how the practice of forestry helps to increase forest land income and to raise
the economic level of the community.
7. To acquaint students with sources of technical and financial assistance in a forest management
program.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. How do you think this state looked when the first settlers came here to live?
2. Besides fighting Indians, what did the settlers have to do to survive? Do you think they were
interested in protecting our forest resources?
[1]
3. Was there a market for the trees cut in clearing land?
4. Why are forests of great importance to our state? Do you know the major forest types in this
region? In our state?
5. How many of you have woodlands on your land holdings?
6. What use do you make of the trees?
7. What would happen if the forests in our area became devoid of trees?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Is there any evidence in our community that trees that should have been left standing were cut
from the land?
2. To what extent has mismanagement of forest land contributed to erosion in our area? In what
other way has mismanagement affected our area?
3. How much more income could be added to our community if unproductive forests were prop-
erly managed?
4. What have the national and state governments done to protect the forests and to help the
farmers, ranchers, and small woodland owners get the greatest financial returns from their
woodlands?
5. Why do you think this was necessary?
6. Who owns most of the private forest lands in our state?
7. What interrelationships exist between trees and water, soil, wildlife, and climate?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What is being done by farmers, ranchers, and small woodland owners in this community to
overcome the damage done by mismanagement? How can they get the maximum financial
return from the timber that is left?
2. What else could be done?
3. What technical and financial help is available to a woodland owner?
4. What is our state forestry agency, other forestry agencies, or the forest industry accomplishing
in tree improvement that will benefit small woodland owners?
5. What is a tree farm?
6. Can you name any products in woodlands, not directly related to wood production, that would
provide a financial return for a small woodland owner? (The sale of pine cones is but one
example.)
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. When the first colonists came to New England, the forests provided fuel and material for stock-
ades, homes, and other buildings. The forests were also the natural habitat of many kinds of
game animals which were an important source of food.
[2]
2. The cutting of timber for fuel and building materials by early colonists did not clear as much
land as was needed for food and feed crops. During the first years of colonization there were no
sawmills. Much timber was burned because there was no market for it.
3. Before the introduction of sawmills (the first reported sawmill in the United States was in
Jamestown, Virginia in 1625), the principal forest products which were exported to Europe
included ship masts, naval stores, staves, and shingles. The first interest in forest conservation was
the result of the growing scarcity of ship timbers. In 1799 Congress appropriated $200,000 to buy
reserves of live oak along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia to provide for the growing
needs of our country.
4. The American Forestry Association, the oldest conservation organization in the United States,
was organized in 1875. About 10 years later state forestry programs were started in Colorado,
California, New York, and Ohio. Most state forestry programs were developed after 1908, the
year in which President Theodore Roosevelt called the first White House Conference of Gov-
ernors for the Conservation of Natural Resources.
5. Relate the history of your state forestry agency based on information provided by it. Inform
students as to its headquarters, its divisions or departments, and its many activities. A planned
visit to a local district headquarters would be desirable.
6. Other agencies engaged in forestry activities in our state include the U.S. Forest Service, State
Forestry Association, Soil Conservation Service, Agricultural Extension Service, Bureau of
Land ManagemOnt, and forest industries. (Delete or add to this listing.)
7. Provide information as to the major tree regions of the state. Relate to students a comparison
between the total land area and commercial forest area.
8. Relate to students information as to the number of people employed in forest industries of the
state and the value of manufactured products.
9. Provide information on forest land ownership.
10. The principal forest products in our state are: lumber, pulpwood (including chips), plywood,
railroad ties, poles and piling, veneer, fence posts, and miscellaneous products such as cooper-
age.
11. In addition to their great commercial value, forests help to control soil erosion, reduce the
severity of floods, protect homes and farmsteads against wind, and provide food and a natural
habitat for many species of wildlife. Forest areas also serve as places for recreation.
12. On January 1, 1974, there were approximately 31,491 tree farms, with a total area of 75,975,529
acres in the United States. The Tree Farms Program is sponsored nationally by the American
Forest Institute. See Chapter I, Forests and Forestry, for information pertaining to your state.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Make field trips to observe eroded land that should have been left in trees and properly man-
aged.
2. Compare the income from an acre of well- managed forest and the income from an acre of badly
eroded cropland.
3. Observe a forest in your community. Is there evidence of fire damage, overcutting, cull stands,
or lack of natural reproduction? List some forestry practices which would help to make the
forest more productive.
4. Visit a tree farm and ask the owner to explain the forestry practices employed in establishing
and maintaining a plantation and in managing natural stands of timber.
[3)
5. Ask a forester to talk to your class about forestry practices which are recommended for your
community.
6. On an outline map of your state, locate the approximate boundaries of the main tree regions.
7. Have a forester speak to your class regarding forestry as a career.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Arteries of Life. 10 minutes. Explains the water cycle and the water table and nature's way of dis-
tributing life - giving water. Points out the importance of forests in storing and regulating the flow
of water. Source: Audio - visual centers of most states.
Ballad of the Trees. 25 minutes. Emphasizes the recreational and aesthetic values provided by forests.
Source: Boise Cascade Corp., Box 200, Boise, Idaho 83701.
Man in Green. 22 minutes. Dramatizes the role of a forest ranger and the many services available
through the federal and state forestry agencies. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superin-
tendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
The Mighty Western Forest. 27 minutes. Presents a tour of the western forests and a flow of benefits
provided by this region. Explains the management of the western forests. Source: Western Wood
Products Association, 1500 Yeon Building, Portland, Oregon 97204.
The Paper Forest. 28 minutes. Explains the role of the pulp and paper industry in the South. Traces
the conversion of trees into paper. Source: Southern Forest Institute, 1 Corporate Square, N.E.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
Potlatch Country. 27 minutes. Describes the wildlife that find their habitat in the Potlatch country of
north central Idaho. Source: Potlatch Forests, Inc., Box 1016, Lewiston, Idaho 83501.
The Significance of You. 30 minutes. Describes the Boise Cascade Corporation as a free enterprise
company. Source: Modern Talking Pictures, Inc., 2323 New Hyde Park Road, New Hyde Park,
New York 11040.
Tree Improvement and Genetics. 25 minutes. Deals with tree improvement through the application of the
principles of genetics. Shows many practices including the use of radiation and radioactive tracers.
Source: State University of New York, College of Forestry, Syracuse, New York 13210, and
Washington State University, Audio - Visual Center, Pullman, Washington 99165.
Trees for Tomorrow. 14 minutes. Documents the Texas Forest Service Tree Improvement Program.
Shows actual field operations of the methods and techniques used to produce quality trees.
Source: Texas Forest Service, College Station, Texas 77840.
[4]
UNIT 2
FORESTS AND ECOLOGY
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter H.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forester and other forestry agents solicit charts and
publications on the foljowing subjects: forest types, forest ecology, and the history of the origi-
nal forest areas of the state.
4. Hand lens.
5. Microscope.
6. Films.
7. Opaque projector.
8. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students understand that forests, as green plants, are part of the biological community.
2. To introduce students to an elementary understanding of forest ecology.
3. To help students develop an understanding of the concepts which make up an ecosystem.
4. To help students develop an appreciation of the role of trees and other green plants as produc-
ers of oxygen and food needed by man and other animal life in the total environment.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. Could man survive on earth without trees and other green plants?
2. Is the original climax forest that was once characteristic of our region still preponderant? What
factors have been involved in the changes that have taken place?
3. What are the elements of an ecosystem without which life could not exist or renew itself?
4. An ecosystem can be simple or complex. Give an example of each. What are the advantages
and disadvantages of both?
5. Show appropriate films.
[5]
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. In what way has man's mismanagement of forests affected our area and the state?
2. In what way can man help correct the imbalances which have occurred?
3. To what extent is man dependent upon "producers," represented by trees and other green
plants?
4. Show appropriate films to give students a better insight into the interrelationship of organisms
in and to the complete environment.
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. Following a lumber operation the leftover debris is decomposed slowly or rapidly. What factors
are involved in determining the rapidity of decay of this material?
2. Man is a consumer of forest trees. What other consumers can you name?
3. Why would a complex ecosystem be more resistant to change? Relate in detail.
4. In a mature ecosystem, why is it desirable to remove large trees?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. Trees are found on about one -third of the earth's land surface. This ratio holds for the land
surface of the continental United States.
2. Trees and other green plants of the earth's surface contribute about 30 to 35 percent of the
oxygen needs of animal life, including man. The balance of the oxygen needs is produced by
green ocean plants.
3. When man first appeared on the American continent, climatic factors determined the location
and distribution of tree species. Thus were developed ecosystems that evolved over a period of
time until they became stable.
4. Some ecosystems were simple, made up principally of one major species, such as the fire -
climax forests of the South. Others became more complex, such as the mixed hardwood stands
of the Lake States.
5. An ecosystem is made up of four elements which are essential for life on our planet. They are:
abiotic materials (physical environment made up of nonliving things such as carbon dioxide,
oxygen and water), producers (green plants), consumers (man and other animal life), and de-
composers (animal life that makes it possible for organic matter to be returned to the environ-
ment).
6. Man is a major consumer of plants through the harvesting of forest products. His standard of
living would be adversely affected without the many products made from wood.
7. The more complex an ecosystem, the more resistant it is to change. If one species of tree in a
complex ecosystem is affected by insects, diseases or other agencies, other species take its
place in the forest stand.
8. It is not harmful to remove large or mature trees from a forest. Mortality and decay among these
trees usually offset growth, and they consume more oxygen than they give off. Timber produc-
tivity is increased by maintaining a healthy growing stand.
[6l
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Visit a nearby forest area. Discuss the four parts of an ecosystem. If pine is present, remove the
small trees and observe the mycorrhiza on the roots (pine has no root hairs) and discuss their
role in providing minerals and other substances to the tree.
2. Either in the field or in the classroom observe the various decomposers in forest humus under
a microscope.
3. In the field observe consumers that can be seen with the naked eye or by the use of a hand lens.
Have students record the various consumers found on leaves (leaf miners, leaf eaters, and other
insects). Observe and identify bark insects.
4. Have students identify the various tree species and their role in the forest community. Some trees
are large and can be utilized for forest products. Others are intermediate or small in size, while
some species may be classed as shrubs.
5. Ask a forester from the state forestry agency or ask an industrial forester to visit your classroom to
discuss the role of trees in a forest ecosystem.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
The Boreal Forest. 19 minutes. Shows the North American coniferous biome as an ecological commun-
ity with interrelated food chains. Shows insects, birds, and mammals and gives special attention to
their eating habits. Source: University of California, Extension Media Center, 2223 Fulton Street,
Berkeley, California 94720 and the University of Utah, Educational Media Center, 207 Bennion
Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110.
The Changing Forest. 19 minutes. Presents the forest as a balanced community of living things. Shows
how a forest evolves through a series of changes and the competition and cooperation in life
forms. Source: Audio - visual centers of many states. Also available from Macwhyte Wire Rope
Company, Kgnosha, Wisconsin 53140.
The Forest Grows. 11 minutes. Describes the various elements that contribute to a mature forest.
Explains forest zones in relation to temperature and rainfall. Defines a climax forest. Source:
Audio - visual centers of most states and Encyclopaedia Britannica Film Libraries at 4420 Oakton
Street, Skokie, Illinois 60076 and 2494 Teagarden Street, San Leandro, California 94577.
Life in the Forest. 11 minutes. Shows how forests are constantly changing. Reveals how a dead tree
trunk teems with life. Source: Same as indicated for The Forest Grows.
Plant Succession. 15 minutes. Shows the succession from bare rock to a hardwood climax forest and
how each step paves the way for its own self - destruction. Source: Kent State University, Audio -
Visual Center, Kent, Ohio 44240.
The Strands Grow. 15 minutes. Uses fossil remains and other prehistoric relics to show that com-
munities of plants and animals have existed on earth only to be replaced by others. Presents the
growth and development of a climax forest. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Film Libraries,
4420 Oakton Street, Skokie, Illinois 60076 and 2494 Teagarden Street, San Leandro, California
94577.
[7l
UNIT 3
TREE STUDY -HOW TREES GROW AND
REPRODUCE AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter III.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency request charts and publications on the
following subjects: tree identification, reproduction of trees, and the manner of tree growth.
4: Cross sections of tree stems.
5. Small tree roots with root hairs and mycorrhiza.
6. Green leaves.
7. Microscope for studying root hairs and leaves.
8. Increment borer (may be obtained on loan from a forester).
9. Chart of the growth of a tree.
10. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To acquaint students with the major tree species found in the local area.
2. To help students understand that trees need favorable conditions in which to live and grow.
3. To help students develop an understanding of the functions of roots, bole or stem, and crown.
4. To help students interpret the processes by which a tree secures nutrients, manufactures food,
and assimilates food in growth.
5. To help students understand that trees are part of the plant kingdom.
6. To develop an understanding of how trees reproduce themselves.
7. To apply knowledge about tree growth to such problems as the killing of undesirable trees,
determining the age of a tree, and interpreting factors affecting rate of growth.
[8]
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. An acre of healthy growing forest trees will produce oxygen for how many people? (Answer:
18)
2. How are moisture and minerals transported from the soil to the crown for the manufacture of
food? How is food transported from the crown to the growing portions of the tree? What pur-
pose does the heartwood of a tree serve?
3. What function does the bark of a tree perform?
4. What are windfall trees? On what sites do you usually see windfalls?
5. Does a pine tree have root hairs? What purpose do mycorrhiza on pine roots serve?
6. Have any of you ever used a small tree as a fence post by nailing fence wire to it? As the tree
grew taller, was the wire raised as the tree grew? Why or why not?
7. Why are so many species of plants (seedlings) generally found along fence rows?
8. Have any of you ever killed a large -sized tree on your woodland? Why did you cut around the
trunk, or girdle it, to kill it?
9. Why is it important that trees and other plants be given scientific names? Common names?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. We have studied how trees grow both in height and in diameter. We know that the larger a
tree, the more volume it produces annually. Why should a forest landowner be interested in
growing larger trees?
2. How can you tell whether a tree has had a good growing season or a poor one? (Answer:
Annual rings)
3. To what extent would knowledge as to the sex of a tree be, for example, useful in shade tree
planting?
4. Of what value is the heartwood of a tree when it is used for fence posts and lumber?
5. In what ways did the "fruit" of trees serve the Indians and early settlers in this area? Name
some of these trees. In what way do they provide food for wildlife?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What can we do to get increased growth from trees? List opinions on the chalkboard.
2. How do trees reproduce themselves? Name some species that can be reproduced from cut-
tings.
3. How long does it take for a pine cone to mature? White oak acorn? Red oak acorn?
4. How are tree seeds dispersed?
5. What characteristics are used in species determination?
6. What types of fruit are produced by forest trees?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. The three main parts of a tree are roots, bole (main stem or trunk), and crown.
[9]
2. The roots of a tree anchor the tree and take moisture and nutrients from the soil. The root hairs
(mycorrhiza, in the case of pine) absorb moisture and nutrients in solution.
3. Some trees have shallow root systems and are easily uprooted by high winds. Most of the
commercial trees of the United States are well anchored by taproots.
4. The two main divisions of a cross section of a tree bole are the heartwood and the sapwood. A
tree increases in diameter each year as a ring of new wood is deposited by the cambium layer.
The approximate age of a tree can be determined by counting the annual rings.
5. The approximate age of a living tree can be determined by using an increment borer to remove
a core of wood, the length of which, from the center ring, is equivalent to the radius of the tree.
This assumes the core is in the middle of the stem.
6. Wide annual rings indicate rapid growth under favorable conditions. Narrow rings indicate
slow growth under less favorable conditions.
7. A tree increases in height as new growth is added to the terminal ends of stem and branches.
Each year the new growth in height begins at the terminal bud.
8. The crown is the food factory of the tree. Chlorophyll in the leaves uses the energy from
sunlight to convert nutrients from soil, air, and water into starches and sugars. This process is
known as photosynthesis. Fats and proteins are then made from the carbohydrates and certain
minerals from the soil. Through the action of enzymes, oils, latex, resin, and other products are
produced.
9. Tolerance is the capacity of a tree to grow in the shade of and in competition with other trees.
A knowledge of the differences in tolerance of a species is helpful in controlling the composi-
tion of a stand of timber.
10. Trees reproduce by seeds, sprouts, and suckers. Most reproduce themselves from seed.
Shortleaf pine and bald cypress are two conifers that can reproduce from sprouts. Broadleaf
trees sprout profusely.
11. The fruit of most hardwood trees mature in one year. Pine cones take two years to mature.
12. Other than the type of seed itself, wind, birds, animals, and streams are factors that affect
distribution of seed.
13. Trees are divided into two classes, namely, Gymnospermae and Angiospermae. These are
further divided into orders, families, genera, and species.
14. Scientific names usually are in Latin or Greek and are universally used.
15. Major characteristics used in identifying trees are leaves, fruit, twigs, and bark. Smell is some-
times important.
16. Hardwood trees have many types of fruit. Some fruits produced by hardwood trees are ber-
ries, drupes, pomes, legumes, capsules, achenes, samaras, and nuts.
17. By the use of an opaque projector, or on a chalkboard, show how a tree grows.
18. Introduce the students to the tree guide available from your state forestry agency or from
another agency.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Examine the annual rings on a cross section of a tree or stump. Note the differences in the
width of different rings. What do these differences indicate? How old was the tree when it was
cut?
[10]
2. Use an increment borer to determine the age of a tree. In what years did the tree make slow
growth? Use weather station records or interview local residents to determine whether poor
growth was the result of dry seasons or of other factors.
3. Compare soil samples from a forest, a good pasture, and a field which has been heavily -
cropped for several years. How do trees, grasses, and legumes affect soil?
4. Compare soil and air temperature under forest conditions with that of an adjacent open area.
5. Compare the roots of seedlings of different tree species. How do they differ? How are the roots
and root hairs adapted to perform their special functions? Seek out mycorrhiza on pine roots.
How do they differ from root hairs?
6. Observe a tree which has been killed by girdling. How deep is the notch? Which layer of the
stem was cut?
7. Girdle an undesirable tree which should be removed from a stand. Observe the outer bark,
inner bark, and cambium layer. Watch the tree for several weeks. What happens to the leaves
when their supply of moisture and nutrients is cut off?
8. Observe the trees on a hill where there is little moisture and observe the trees in a moist
bottomland. Do the species differ in the two areas? Why?
9. Observe seedlings along the edge of a road and in open areas in a forest. Why do the seedlings
grow best in an open environment?
10. Visit several forest stands and make observations as to the tolerance of various tree species.
11. Examine several branches and stems of young trees. Find terminal buds. What are their func-
tion? Find a terminal bud scar which marks the beginning of the previous year's growth in
length of a stem. Observe the amount of growth that occurred in one season.
12. If a forest produces new growth at the rate of 250 board feet per acre per year, what is the
value of this growth at $25.00 per thousand board feet? If the farmer increases the growth rate
to 375 board feet per acre per year by forestry practices, how much does he increase the
income from each acre?
13. By use of a microscope examine the stomata on the underside of various species of tree leaves.
14. Take a tree study field trip using the tree identification guide available from your state forestry
agency.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
ABC's of Forestry. 10 minutes. Depicts the fundamentals of tree growth and structure. Stresses the
utilization of the forest to produce wood products, recreation, and economic stability. Source: Boise
Junior College, 1907 Campus Drive, Boise, Idaho 83707.
Gift of Green. 20 minutes. Presents a story of the green plant and what it means to man. Shows by
animation the actual workings of the plant and its leaves. Explains photosynthesis through micro-
photography and time -lapse photography. Source: Available from many state media centers or
from Michigan State University, Instructional Media Center, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.
How Pine Trees Reproduce —Pine Cone Biology. 11 minutes. Examines the processes involved in the
reproduction of pine trees. Source: Southern Colorado State College, Educational Media Center,
Pueblo, Colorado 81005 and other media centers.
How Trees Live. 17 minutes. Examines the raw materials and the energy required for growth from a
seed to a mature tree. Shows the rate of growth and the effects of the presence or absence of
[11]
water. Source: University of Oklahoma, Extension Division, Audio - Visual Education, Norman,
Oklahoma 73069.
Paper: The Messenger of Mankind. 29 minutes. Shows how trees are grown, cultivated, and protected.
Describes the paper- making process. Source: Hammermill Paper Company, East Lake Road, Erie,
Pennsylvania 16512. '
Photosynthesis. 14 minutes. Shows how carbon dioxide enters the structure of a leaf and how it is
converted from chloroplasts to oxygen. Source: Boise Junior College, 1907 Campus Drive, Boise,
Idaho 83707.
Plant Motions, Roots, Stems, Leaves. 11 minutes. Reveals by time -lapse photography the phenomenon
of circummutation, the tendency of growing roots, stems and leaves to describe irregular circles or
ellipses. Source: University of Southern California, Extension Media Center, 2223 Fulton Street,
Berkeley, California 94720.
Seasonal Changes in Trees. 11 minutes. Shows changes that take place in buds, flowers, fruits, leaves,
and seeds of white oak, elm, soft maple, cherry, and white pine in different seasons. Source:
Audio - visual centers in many states and Coronet Instructional Films, 65 Water Street, E.S.,
Chicago, Illinois 60607.
[12]
UNIT 4
LAND AND FOREST PRODUCTS MEASUREMENTS
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter IV.
3. Charts and publications. Solicit from your state forestry agency charts and publications on the
following subjects: measurement of trees and other products, timber cruising, land surveying,
listing of equipment used in forestry, and volume tables.
4. Steel or cloth tape.
5. Scale stick.
6. Wedge prism (may be borrowed from a forester).
7. Increment borer.
8. Compass.
9. Opaque projector.
10. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To acquaint students with the purposes of land surveying and forest measurement.
2. To familiarize students with the kinds of forest surveys and the purposes of each.
3. To give students a working knowledge of the equipment used in forest measurement.
4. To provide students with practical experience that will help develop skills in measuring forest
land, standing timber, and harvested timber.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. If a man offered you $325.00 for the sawtimber on 20 acres of your woods, would you take it?
Give reasons for your answer.
2. How can you estimate the volume of sawlogs in your woods?
3. How can you determine the number of board feet in a log?
4. Some timber is sold by lump sum. What other methods are used to sell timber?
[13]
5. If you select one of these methods, is there any need to know how to estimate the board feet in
a tree? Why?
6. How can you tell how much more your forest is worth now than it was 10 years ago?
7. What factors determine the intensity of a survey to specify the volume and value of timber to
be sold?
8. Invite a forester to present a program to the class on timber measurements.
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Why does a store operator make an inventory of the stock at least once or twice a year? How do
inventories affect the customers of a store?
2. In what way is forest measurement similar to the inventory of a store or the audit of a bank?
3. If someone offered to sell you a pile of corn for $50.00, what would you need to know before
accepting or rejecting the offer?
4. If you were selling the pulpwood and sawtimber on 100 acres of land, what would you want to
know before selling?
5. What are some of the possible results of selling timber on an area without determining the
volume of the timber?
6. How are business conditions of a community affected when timberland owners sell the timber
for less than it is worth?
7. Why are the operators of permanent forest industries interested in forest measurement on their
own land? On other timberland?
8. Discuss several ways in which your study of forest measurement may be profitable.
9. Which of your school courses are helpful in forest measurement?
10. Discuss the reasons why forest measurement is important to timberland owners, timber
buyers, professional foresters, and people in a forested community.
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. Have you seen a forester or a timber buyer measuring timber? If so, tell the class how the work
was done.
2. What are the principal uses of a forest survey?
3. What are some of the factors that determine the method of forest measurement that is most
practical in a given situation?
4. How are the tape, compass, Abney level, chain, caliper, diameter tape, prism, scale stick,
transit, and increment borer used in forest measurement?
5. How is a tape used to construct angles?
6. That is the length of yaus pace? If you da not know, how could you determine the length of
your pace?
7. Describe the "lump" estimate, "average tree" method, partial cruise, total or 100 percent
method of forest measurement.
[14]
8. Which of these methods would you use to measure your timber?
9. How are sawtimber volume tables used?
10. What can you learn about a tree by using an increment borer?
11. What is the difference between tree volume and log volume?
12. Explain how diameter measurements are recorded in 2 -inch classes.
13. Have you ever measured timber or assisted in this work? If so, describe the instruments and
methods used.
14. What is a board foot? About how many board feet are in a cubic foot? (Answer: 6) What is a
cord?
15. What is basal area?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
I. A forester or a landowner must know the area of the forest property before management plans
can be prepared. Measurements are necessary to determine the volume of trees, stands, and
logs. It is as essential for a person selling timber to know the volume of the wood he has for
sale as it is for a farmer selling cotton to know the amount of cotton he has produced.
2. Distance may be measured by a surveyor's chain or by cloth or metal tapes. Pacing, if carefully
done, is a satisfactory method of measuring distance whenever rough measurements are ac-
ceptable. Area may be figured from aerial photographs with a known scale.
3. The diameter of a standing tree is measured 4.5 feet above the ground. This is considered
breast height and is abbreviated dbh.
4. Tree diameters are usually recorded to the nearest even - numbered inch, (6, 8, 10, 12, etc.). A
tree 10.8 inches in diameter would be placed in the 10 -inch class; a tree 11.7 inches in diame-
ter would be recorded as 12 inches.
5. The diameter of a standing tree may be obtained with a diameter tape, tree caliper, or a
Biltmore stick. The diameter may also be computed by measuring the circumference and divid-
ing the circumference by 3 1 /7, which is the approximate value of pi (3.1416).
6. Height is measured in feet or log length to the nearest foot or the nearest 16 -foot log. The
height of a tree may be expressed in the number of 16 -foot logs that can be cut from the tree.
Although a log less than 8 inches in diameter at the small end may not be usable as a sawlog,
the rest of the trunk from 8 to 4 inches in diameter may be cut into 4 -foot or 5 -foot lengths,
depending on the buyer's specifications, for pulpwood.
7. The height of a tree may be estimated by using a stick about 4 feet long on which an arm's
length is marked off. Grasp the stick at this point and hold it upright and forward an arm's
length. Back away from the tree until the line of sight through this point intersects the base of
the tree, and the line of sight over the top end of the stick intersects the point of height to be
measured. The distance from the point of observation to the tree is equal to its height.
8. The merchantable height of a standing tree may be obtained by using a tree scale stick, such as
the Biltmore stick.
9. Volume tables are a convenient source of information about the merchantable contents of trees
of various sizes. Refer to tables in Chapter IV, Forests and Forestry.
10. Log rules are used to determine the value of harvested timber. Refer to Chapter IV.
[15]
11. The "average tree" method of estimating timber volume consists of choosing the tree having
the average volume of trees in the stand, after carefully inspecting all of the trees and multiply-
ing the volume of the tree by the total number of trees on the area.
12. The total or 100 percent method involves the measurement of every tree on the area. TUis is
the most accurate of all methods, but its cost limits its use to small stands of valuable timber or
to scientific studies.
13. Measurement of 50 percent of the stand may be satisfactory for areas of 6 to 25 acres; 20
percent for areas of 26 to 100 acres; and 10 percent for areas of 100 acres or more.
14. A wedge prism may be used to determine basal area.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Classify the following logs according to diameter class (nearest even - numbered inches):
9.8 ft. dbh 15.7 ft. dbh
13.9 ft. dbh 16.3 ft. dbh
Solution: 10; 14; 16; 16
2. What is the diameter of a tree with a circumference of 43 inches at breast height?
Solution:
C= 3 1 /7 =D
43 _ 3 1 /7 = 43 = 22/7 = 43 x 7 /22 = 301 /22 = 13.68 = diameter of tree
in inches
3. An increment borer removes a core which is 6 inches long from the center of the tree. What is
the diameter and circumference of the tree?
Solution:
diameter = 2 x radius
The 6 -inch core is the radius of the tree.
2 x 6 = 12 inches = diameter
circumference = diameter x 3 1 /7
12 x 3 1 /7 = 12 x 22 /7 = 37.7 inches = circumference
4. Estimate the length and diameter of several logs. Measure the logs carefully to check the accu-
racy of your estimates.
5. Estimate the volume of several logs at a nearby sawmill. Measure the length and diameter of
each log and determine the volume by using the volume table for the different log rules.
6. Make a stick for estimating the height of a tree or use a commercial scale stick and estimate the
merchantable height of several trees.
7. Mark off a plot 10 rods by 8 rods (one -half acre) in a woods. Select the "average tree" and
compute its volume to the height at which the diameter is less than 8 inches. Multiply this
volume by the number of trees on the plot to determine the total volume of all trees on the
half -acre plot.
8. As a class project, visit a local A.S.C.S. office and have a student determine the land area of a
known piece of forest land by use of a polar planimeter. Have him relate how aerial photo-
graphs can be used in determining land features of importance in forest management.
[16]
9. Using a hand compass and pacing, survey the boundary of a small timber tract and determine
the acreage. Use cross section paper.
10. Using an increment borer and a diameter tape, estimate the percent of average annual recent
growth of a single tree. ,
11. As a practical exercise, use a wedge prism to determine the square feet of the basal area in a
given forest stand.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Farming the Woodlands. 28 minutes. Shows how a woodland owner can benefit through forest man-
agement. Source: Wisconsin Conservation Department, Visual Aid Library, Box 450, Madison,
Wisconsin 53701.
Forestry Summer Camp. 15 minutes. Illustrates the professional training and experience a forester
needs to harvest a timber crop. Source: University of Missouri, Education Extension Service,
Visual Education Department, Columbia, Missouri 65201.
How Lumber Is Measured. 3 minutes. Explains how to measure lumber. Source: Princeton Television
Center, Box 431, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.
Measuring and Marketing (Slide set). Includes units of measurement, log rules, and measuring and
tallying logs and standing trees. Source: Virginia Department of Education, Film Production Ser-
vice, 523 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
Saw Timber. 21 minutes. Documents all phases of logging operations on a well- managed tree farm in
central Idaho. Source: Boise Junior College, 1907 Campus Drive, Boise, Idaho 83707.
[17]
UNIT 5
THE FOREST AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter V.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: forest types of the state, factors affecting the growth of trees, practices used
in cutting forest areas, site index, and the natural reproduction of trees.
4. Increment borer.
5. Opaque projector.
6. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students understand that a tree environment is the result of a complex interaction of
biological and physical factors.
2. To acquaint students with terminology applied to stands of even -aged trees and to trees of
varying height; to acquaint students with the tree crown classification.
3. To familiarize students with forest types, definitions of forest stand density, and site index of
forest land.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. If you were to plant a particular species of tree on a piece of ground, what factors would have
an influence on its growth and survival?
2. What advantages are there to the establishment of windbreaks in treeless areas?
3. On a warm day, a large tree would transpire about how many gallons of water? (Answer: 100)
In what way is this significant?
4. Southern pine is said to be a fire - climax species. Just what does this mean?
5. How must an intolerant tree species be managed in order to maintain its existence? Relate this
to views held by some misinformed persons.
[18]
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation .
I. An advertisement in a newspaper offered a selection of 10 different species of seedlings at a
bargain price. The tree seedlings were raised in a nursery in the northern area of the United
States. An individual ordered such trees to be planted in the deep South. What are the changes
of success of this planting? Relate the problems involved.
2. Why is some form of clear cutting, involving the radical opening of a forest, desirable for the
management of certain species? What part does tree tolerance play in this decision?
3. In what ways do trees beneficially contribute to helping control environmental pollution?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What factors do you feel contribute to the growth of a tree, that is, its survival, its growth rate,
etc? In what ways are they influential?
2. You hear much about the influence of day length on tree growth. What is day length? Is there
more in the South than in the North? How would day length affect growth?
3. What is tolerance as related to trees? Name some tree species that are intolerant. As a general
rule, are hardwoods more tolerant than conifers?
4. In what way is a knowledge of tree tolerance important in the management of forests?
5. What is the difference between an even -aged and an uneven -aged stand of trees? Describe the
difference between them.
6. What is a tree seedling? How is it technically described?
7. What part does tree dominance place in the management of small woodlands?
8. What is the difference between a pure and a mixed stand?
9. What is the basis of classifying forest types?
10. What is site index? How is it derived? Of what value is it?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. The art of growing and reproducing a forest is called silviculture.
2. Principal physical factors affecting tree growth are temperature, light, air, moisture, and soil.
3. Each individual tree has a set of temperature ranges which control its survival, growth, and
development. This explains why a tree, common to a high mountain elevation, will not grow in
a more temperate area.
4. Sunlight is important in regulating tree growth. For example, the rate of photosynthesis of
loblolly pine is increased by increasing light intensity to full sunlight. In contrast, however, for
some hardwood species, such as oaks and dogwood, the photosynthetic rate does not increase
at light intensities of more than 30 percent of full sunlight.
5. Day length is an important factor affecting tree growth of trees. It affects the time of flushing in
the spring and the onset of dormancy and defoliation in the fall.
6. A young vigorous forest grows about 4 tons of wood per acre per year. In this process about 1
ton of oxygen is released, sufficient to meet the needs of 18 people.
[19]
7. The most important use of water in terms of tree growth is in the process of photosynthesis or
food manufacture.
8. Trees planted in windbreaks reduce the effects of wind. They protect farmsteads and feed lots,
reduce wind erosion of soil, and serve as snow barriers.
9. "Good seed years" vary by species and are dependent upon the amount of reserve carbo-
hydrates and nitrogenous materials in the tree. Climatological factors also play a role in deter-
mining "good seed years."
10. Shortleaf pine is a species which will produce merchantable trees by sprouting. Many
hardwood trees, on the other hand, are sprouters.
11. Tree tolerance is affected by light competition and by root competition for moisture and soil
nutrients. Suppression of intolerant species in mixed forest conditions will mean their gradual
disappearance from the stand. Longleaf pine, for example, cannot grow in a heavy stand of
hardwood. It is a very intolerant species.
12. As a general rule, a difference of 15 years in the age of the individual trees in plantations and
second growth stands and 25 years or more in virgin stands would qualify them to be even
aged. Uneven -aged stands may be those of greater variation than that described for even -aged
stands, with individual trees varying from 1 to 50 years of age or more.
13. A tree up to 3 feet of height is technically classified as a seedling. Generally, seedling refers to
a young tree when it comes from a nursery.
14. Trees forming a stand which consists principally of a single species are considered a "pure"
stand. If two or more species are present, the stand is "mixed."
15. The forests of the world are classified by forest types, based on cover or forest composition.
16. Crown density in a stand is considered "closed" when three - fourths or more of the ground is
shaded, "thin" when from one -half to three - fourths of the ground is shaded, and "open" when
less than half of the ground is shaded.
17. "Site index" is a term used to express the productive capacity of a specific area of forest land
for a single species or group of species as classified by forest types.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Visit a forest area. Note the shade tolerance of various species. Relate it to forest management
practices.
2. Examine an even -aged timber stand and identify the dominant, co- dominate, intermediate, and
overtopped trees.
3. Have a forester visit your class to discuss site index. Visit a forest area with him and determine
the site index of a given area.
4. Determine the site index for a particular forest stand. Use an increment borer to determine the
age of trees.
5. As a field practicum, differentiate between an even -aged and an uneven -aged stand and a pure
and a mixed stand.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
The Changing Forest. 19 minutes. Presents a study of forest as a balanced community of living things;
[20]
how a forest evolves through a series of stages; competition and cooperation in life form. Source:
University of Georgia, Center for Continuing Education, Athens, Georgia 30601.
The Forest Grows. 11 minutes. Presents the story of how our forests grow. Describes the various
elements that contribute to the mature forest emphasizing the unique contribution of each ele-
ment. Explains forest zones in relation to temperature and rainfall. Defines the phrase, "the
climax forest." Source: University of Tennessee, Teaching Materials and Film Center, University
Station, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916.
The Forest World. 28 minutes. Presents the story of a forest's environment: its soil, water, plants, and
wildlife. Takes the viewer into the forest for an intimate look at each element and describes the
interrelationship that exists between them and how each contributes to man's benefit. Em-
phasizes scenes of recreation, wildlife, cattle grazing, and timber harvesting through multiple -use
benefits of our southern forests. Source: Texas Forest Service, College Station, Texas 77843.
How Trees Live. 17 minutes. Shows the effects of the presence or absence of water, carbon dioxide,
and sunlight on rate of growth. Source: Indiana University, Audio - Visual Center, Bloomington,
Indiana 47401.
The Living Forest. 10 minutes. Covers the many phases of forest management and ecology. Source:
Arkansas State Teachers College, Conway, Arkansas 72032.
[21]
UNIT 6
SILVICULTURAL PRACTICES
Materials Needed
I. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter VI.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: prescripted burning, methods used to cut timber, pruning, and the use of
chemical sprays in hardwood control.
4. From your county A.S.C.S. officer obtain informational publications on financial assistance
available to the small woodland owner for instituting management practices.
5. Saw and ax for woods demonstration.
6. Paint or colored cloth for practice in marking trees to be removed in intermediate cuttings.
7. Opaque projector.
8. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students understand the concept that cutting is beneficial to a forest.
2. To help students plan cutting operations for the maximum use of trees which should be cut.
3. To provide firsthand experience to help students develop and execute a plan for improvement
cutting in a local forest.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. When you look at the rings on a stump, you may find some very narrow rings. What are some of
the causes of such close rings?
2. Some individuals do not think it pays to cut trees which are not marketable. Do you agree with
this viewpoint?
3. Have you seen any timber stands that need thinning? How can thinnings in such stands be
accomplished without wasting wood?
4. If you had 100 acres of a 50- year -old mixed stand of pine - heardwood timber and a 2 -acre 12-
year -old plantation, where would you spend the time that you could spare for pruning? What
are your opinions on the economics of pruning?
[22]
5. Some large forest landowners practice clear cutting and planting as a management tool. What
are their ecological reasons for doing such? Why would such a practice not be applicable to a
small woodland owner?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Experiments have proved that liberating pine reproduction from a hardwood overstory pays for
itself in three years by increasing the volume growth of the pine. How would the proper prac-
tice of liberation cutting affect a farmer's income over a period of nine years?
2. Some forests are damaged by fire, insects, ice storms, or wind. What can timberland owners do
to reduce the financial loss from such damage?
3. Intermediate cuttings increase the volume of timber growth on a given unit of land. How does
this affect a whole community?
4. Some woodland owners have spare time during the winter months. How could some of this
time be used profitably in the woods?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. Explain the meaning of cleanings, liberation cutting, improvement cuttings, and harvest cuttings.
2. Describe the cutting practices on your woodland or on one which you have visited.
3. How can wood from salvage cuttings be utilized?
4. How can you determine when a plantation needs pruning?
5. What are the advantages of thinning pine stands at regular intervals?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. Intermediate cuttings are those cuttings made in a stand of timber from the time of the stand's
formation to its major harvesting and reproduction. Harvest cuttings are the last ones in a
timber rotation and logically follow intermediate cuttings.
2. An intermediate cutting may be beneficial in the following ways:
a. The quality of the stand is improved with the removal of poor quality trees.
b. Diameter growth is increased.
c. Trees that probably would die are utilized.
3. Intermediate cuttings include: thinnings, cleanings, liberation cuttings, and improvement cut-
tings.
4. Cleaning is the removal or felling of trees of similar age but of undesired species that overtop
or are likely to overtop the desired species.
5. A liberation cutting is made in a young stand in the sapling stage for the purpose of freeing
young desirable trees that are overtopped by older undesirable trees.
6. A thinning is defined as a cut made in an immature stand to remove trees of poor form and
quality so the remaining trees may make a good rate of growth.
[23]
7. An improvement cutting is made in a stand past the sapling stage to improve the stand's com-
position and character by removing trees of less desirable species, form, and condition.
8. A salvage cutting is made to remove trees killed or injured by fire, insects, fungi, wind, ice,
and other harmful agencies so merchantable wood may be utilized before it becomes worth-
less.
9. Pruning is limited to small woodlands which are managed intensively. Pruning is needed
primarily in old field stands of pine and in pine plantations and only on trees which will make
poles or high quality sawlogs.
10. Pruning improves the quality of lumber by preventing knots from attaining large size. The
removal of the lower limbs also prevents the accumulation of dead needles which would ena-
ble a wildfire to reach higher into the living crown.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Visit a forest to plan improvement cuttings. Decide which trees of undesired species should be
removed in cleaning operations and liberation cuttings.
2. Find an area which needs thinning. Plan a thinning operation which will yield pulpwood.
Estimate the amount of pulpwood that could be harvested in the thinning operation. Use cur-
rent local prices of pulpwood to compute the value of the timber which should be removed.
3. Thin a plantation in a school demonstration area or on the home farm of a member of the class.
4. Observe a plantation which would benefit from pruning. If possible conduct a pruning demon-
stration.
5. Visit a forest which has been damaged by ice, wind, or fire. Select trees which should be
harvested for pulpwood. Estimate the amount and value of pulpwood that should be salvaged.
6. A farmer has 75 acres of timber that needs improvement cutting. Cleaning and liberation cut-
ting produce 10 cords of fuelwood. Thinning and salvage cuttings yield 15 cords of pulpwood.
At $3.75 per cord for fuelwood and $9.50 per cord for pulpwood, what would the farmer receive
for this timber?
Solution:
10 x $3.75 = $ 37.50 —value of fuelwood
15 x $9.50 = $142.50 —value of pulpwood
$37.50 + $142.50 = $180.00 —total market value of wood
cut in improvement and
salvage operations
7. Determine from the local A.S.C.S. office financial assistance that is available to a forest land-
owner for liberation operations and other management practices. Discuss this information in
class.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Conserving Our Forests Today. 11 minutes. Relates in part to insecticides and chemicals for the con-
trol of disease and how forests are being renewed for the future. Source: Audio - visual centers in
many states; Central Washington State College, Audio - Visual Library, Ellensburg, Washington
98926.
Control of Low Grade Hardwoods. 11 minutes. Shows conditions under which hardwood control work
should be done and the methods that have proved successful. Source: Clemson University,
Cooperative Extension Service, Clemson, South Carolina 29631.
[24]
Forests Are for People. 29 minutes. Tells the story of modern forest management. Surveys specific
forest management methods. Source: American Forest Institute, 1619 Massachusetts Avenue
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
Lumbering. 10 minutes. Tells the story of cruising, cutting, hauling and floating logs, mill cutting,
planing, and shipping. Source: Film Classic Exchange, 8163 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood,
3
California 95060.
Not to Conquer, But to Continue. (Slide set). 30 minutes. Describes multiple -use concept of forest
management. Explains harvesting and clear cutting. Source: American Plywood Association, 1119
A. Street, Tacoma, Washington 98401.
Prescribed Burning in the South. 25 minutes. Presents information about prescribed burning. Source:
U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
A Tree's Best Friend. 20 minutes. Outlines the forest management methods a small landowner can use
to make his woodlands more productive. Source: Collins Building, Tallahassee, Florida 32304.
Trees to Lumber. 10 minutes. Shows how modern wood using industries grow and harvest trees and
process them into forest products. Source: University of Tennessee, Division of University Exten-
sion, University Station, Knoxville, Tennessee 37916.
[25]
UNIT 7
ARTIFICIAL REFORESTATION
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter VII.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: reforestation, tree planting machines, insects and diseases affecting trees in
a plantation, prescription burning for site preparation, and genetic tree seedlings. If a district
office is nearby, the state forestry agency may be able to provide you with some nursery and
containerized seedlings.
4. Dibble or planting bar and mattock.
5. Tree planting machine. Contact a local forestry agency.
6. Opaque projector.
7. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
I. To show students the need for artificial reforestation where satisfactory forest stands cannot be
established by natural reproduction.
2. To acquaint students with recommended reforestation methods and techniques.
3. To help students develop skills in planting trees by hand or with planting machines.
4. As a means of encouraging skills in planting trees, urge students to plant trees on their farms or i
ranches or on a school demonstration plot for timber production purpose, for Christmas trees,
or as windbreaks.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. As an introduction to artificial reforestation take the class to a field that has been abandoned
because of gullies or eroded topsoil or to a forest with a poor stand of trees.
2. What would you recommend be done to get the greatest return per acre from this land?
3. What do you think the owner should do to get a stand of trees in the shortest possible period?
Should he:
[26]
a. Direct seed by air?
b. Plant seed with a cyclone seeder?
c. Plant wild seedlings?
d. Plant seedlings from a nursery?
e. Plant containerized seedlings?
4. What factors affect the success or failure of direct seeding by hand and from an airplane?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages to the planting of wild seedlings?
6. What are the advantages of planting nursery grown seedlings over the other methods?
7. Should a small woodland owner limit his planting only to a conifer, such as pine? How about
hardwood?
8. Visit an area where the establishment of a windbreak would be advantageous to the owner.
What would you recommend as to the location of windbreak, species to use, and other details.
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Buying the seedlings from a nursery is the most economical and quickest way of reforesting
small areas. Where can a farmer or rancher obtain seedlings, and what will they cost him?
2. What will it cost to plant an acre in seedlings? How long does it take for a farmer or rancher to
get his investment back?
3. Assign the following problems to committees and ask that each committee make an oral report
to the class on its findings:
a. The kind of land that should be replanted and why.
b. The kind of trees that should be planted and on what kind of land.
c. When and how trees are to be planted.
d. Care of the trees after they have been planted.
4. Discuss each committee report in class.
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. On what kinds of land is artificial reforestation recommended?
2. Should reforestation be limited to only conifers? What hardwood species might be used?
3. Describe the way seedlings should be handled when they are received from the nursery.
Where is the state forest tree nursery located?
4. Tree improvement research has resulted in the production of genetic strains of seedlings. What
are the advantages of such seedlings?
5. How should a site be prepared for planting?
6. When is the tree planting season in our state?
7. Have you ever seen a mechanical tree planter in operation? If so, tell the class how the tree
planter is used.
[27]
8. What tree species are used most extensively for artificial reforestation in our state? Why
these species preferred?
9. Describe the care of a plantation after it has been established.
10. What species of trees are recommended for planting in windbreaks?
11. Have you ever helped plant trees? If so, tell the class about the methods you used and the kind
of seedlings you planted.
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
Direct seeding by air, though less costly than planting by hand, is limited, by economics, to
large areas. While it has some disadvantages, it is utilized in all areas of the United States with
much success.
2. Some factors affecting the success or failure of direct seeding are: vegetative cover, soil mois-
ture, climatic conditions, and bird and rodent populations.
3. Some trees can be reproduced from cuttings, such as willow and cottonwood.
4. Over 95 percent of the seedling production in southern nurseries is pine. Relate to the class
information about your state's seedling production.
5. Most state forestry agencies produce both pine and hardwood seedlings.
6. The planting of nursery stock is the method of artificial reforestation recommended for small
areas which cannot be stocked by natural reproduction.
7. Relate to students where the seedling nurseries in your state are located, the annual production
of seedlings, the species produced, the price of seedlings, the method by which they can be
ordered, and the season of planting.
8. Seedlings should be planted as soon as they are received from the nursery. If immediate plant-
ing is not possible, the seedlings should be "heeled in" until they can be planted. To do this,
place the opened bunches of seedlings in a small trench which is deep enough for the roots to
lie straight down the slope without being bent back. The trench is filled three - fourths full of
soil, and the soil is packed tightly around the roots. The trench is then thoroughly watered.
After the water soaks into the soil, the trench is filled with soil to the root collars of the seed-
lings.
9. Artificial reforestation is recommended for nonrestocking forest lands, partially stocked forest
lands, areas where immediate full stocking is desired, openings in forest stands, abandoned
farm lands, for watershed protection, and for controlling wind erosion in windbreaks.
10. Relate to students what species are recommended for windbreak plantings in your state. If
containerized seedlings are used in your area, discuss their advantages and disadvantages.
11. Seedlings should not be planted in thick turf or brush. Prescription burning is sometimes
employed to prepare such sites for planting. A forester should be contacted for advice before
such burning is done.
12. The use of mechanical tree planters reduces the labor cost of planting. Two men with planting
bars or maddock can plant about 1,000 to 1,500 seedlings per 8 -hour day. Two men with a
tractor -drawn planting machine can plant 7,000 to 10,000 seedlings per 8 -hour day.
13. After a plantation has been established, it should be inspected regularly to determine survival
and to identify symptoms of damage by insects, rodents, or disease. Dead seedlings on one -
fourth acre or more should be replaced during the following planting season. Firebreaks
[28]
plowed around a plantation help to prevent fire damage. Plantations should also be protected
from livestock. This is of special importance in hardwood plantations.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Have a student determine how many seedlings would be required per acre for certain given
spacings, such as 6 feet by 8 feet, 8 feet by 8 feet, 8 feet by 10 feet, and 6 feet by 10 feet. An
acre contains 43,560 square feet. (See Appendix XI, Forests and Forestry).
6 ft. x 8 ft. = 48 sq. ft. - into 43,560 = 908 seedlings
8 ft. x 8 ft. = 64 sq. ft. - into 43,560 = 680 seedlings
8 ft. x 10 ft. = 80 sq. ft. - into 43,560 = 544 seedlings
6 ft. x 10 ft. = 60 sq. ft. - into 43,560 = 725 seedlings
2. At a price of $6.00 per thousand for seedlings, what would be the cost of seedlings to plant an
abandoned field that is 800 feet by 2,000 feet, at a spacing of 6 feet by 8 feet?
Solution:
800 ft. x 2,000 ft. = 1,600,000 sq. ft.
1,600,000 - 48 (which is 6 ft. x 8 ft.) = 33,333
33,333 = 34,000* seedlings from a practical consideration
34,000 = 34 M @ $6.00 = $204.00 (cost of seedlings)
(Not included is a nominal shipping cost from the nursery.)
*This figure could be 34,500 seedlings.
3. An individual is interested in establishing a windbreak of three rows of tree seedlings extend-
ing for a distance of 900 feet on two sides of his homestead area. Spacing of trees in the center
row is at a distance of 9 feet by 9 feet (distance between trees planted in a row). The two
outside rows are to be planted with a spacing of 6 feet by 6 feet. What would be the F.O.B.
nursery cost for seedlings if they sold for $2.50 per 100?
Solution:
900 ft. - 9 ft. = 100 seedlings needed for center row
900 ft. - 6 ft. = 150 seedlings for one outside row and
300 seedlings for two rows
400 (total seedlings needed) @$2.50 per hundred = $10.00
4. Assuming two men can plant 1,000 seedlings in an 8 -hour day, what will be the labor cost to
plant a 4 -acre area with a spacing of 6 feet by 8 feet? Assume labor cost at $2.00 per hour.
Solution:
As shown earlier, a spacing of 6 feet by 8 feet represents 908 trees or about 1,000 per acre.
Thus, two men can plant an acre in a day.
Total hours for 2 men for 4 days = 4 days = 32 hours per man
4 days = 64 hours per two men
64 hours x $2.00 per hour = $ 128.00 (labor cost)
5. Select an area that should be artificially reforested. Measure the area, compute the number of
pine seedlings needed, and calculate the cost of the seedlings at $6.00 per 1,000. Include
express shipping charges to the cost of seedlings.
6. Follow the procedure as recommended but include as part of the exercise the planting of
certain acreages of the tract to tree improvement strains of trees at varying charges.
[29]
7. Plan a class demonstration of hand planting of pine seedlings. Seedlings may be purchased
from the state forestry agency, or wild seedlings may be transplanted. If available, con-
tainerized seedlings could be planted.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Land of the Tall Timber. 27 minutes. Describes the nursery operations of the Kimberly -Clark Corpora-
tion. Also relates their activities in pollinating, grafting, planting superior trees, and plantations
and woods operations. Source: Kimberly -Clark Corporation, North Lake Street, Neenah, Wiscon-
sin 54956.
Pines from Seedlings. 23 minutes. Deals with reforestation problems and developments. Shows the
various land belts suited for forest crops. Illustrates methods of seeding. Source: Virginia Depart-
ment of Education, Film Production Service, 523 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
Planting Pine Seedlings. 10 minutes. Explains the proper methods of planting pine seedlings by hand.
Shows scenes of Texas Forest Service Indian Mound Nursery and various pine plantations.
Source: Texas Forest Service, College Station, Texas 77843.
Tree Planting. 20 minutes. Describes the mechanics of hand planting. Source: Department of Forest-
ry, Salem, Oregon 97310.
Trees for Tomorrow. 14 minutes. Describes the Texas Forest Service Tree Improvement Program,
showing actual field operations of the methods and techniques used to produce better trees. Cov-
ers tree selection for breeding, vegetative propagation, and grafting and follows the complete
cycle of seed reproduction from pollination to maturity. Source: Texas Forest Service, College
Station, Texas 77843.
[30]
UNIT 8
THE ECONOMICS OF FOREST
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
J
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter VIII.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: timber sale contracts, economics of growing trees as a crop, management
plans for small woodland owners, and ad valorem taxes on woodlands.
4. Aerial map of local area. Secure on loan from your local S.C.S. or A.S.C.S. office.
5. Opaque projector.
6. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students understand the concept that trees are a crop which can be managed to in-
crease farm income.
2. To help students understand the economic importance of the forest resource.
3. To help students understand the importance of a management plan in order to obtain the
maximum in timber production and financial returns.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. Do you consider trees a crop? Why?
2. How would you decide what crops to grow on your land? How is this related to timber produc-
tion?
3. How does the growing of trees differ from the growing of grain or cotton?
4. If you had 50 cords of pulpwood to sell, would you prefer to sell the standing timber at $8.00 a
cord or cut the trees and sell the pulpwood, piled in the woods or at a roadside, for about
$32.00 a cord?
5. What economic factors affect the cost of growing timber?
[31]
6. Why are excessive ad valorem taxes a threat to the profitable growing of trees as a crop? Illus-
trate on the chalkboard.
7. What factors determine the price that a farmer receives from the sale of his forest products?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Explain the statement, "A properly managed forest will give the owner maximum financial
returns in the shortest possible time."
2. Unlike row crops or cattle, planted trees require 15 to 20 years to reach merchantable size.
How can the timberland owner derive some income from his woods during this period?
3. A timberland owner may sell standing timber to a buyer, or the owner may cut the timber
before selling it. What factors must be considered in making this decision?
4. How does a management plan help a timberland owner obtain the maximum income from his
woods?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. In what way would an aerial map be advantageous to a landowner in developing a manage-
ment plan?
2. What preparation should a timberland owner make before selling timber?
3. How does the management of a tree crop differ from the management of a row crop?
4. Why should sawtimber not be cut to an 8 -inch diameter limit?
5. Compare the "lump sum" sale method and the individual tree, tree scale, and weight methods
of marketing timber. Which would you choose? Why?
6. What are the characteristics of a good management plan? Why is a plan essential?
7. How does the productive capacity of forests affect business conditions and employment in our
community? In our state?
8. What should a good forest products sale agreement or contract include?
9. From whom is technical forest management assistance available?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. Sound forest management requires careful inventory, planning, and a continual review of prac-
tices that will maintain forest productivity and yield the highest possible returns.
2. Guiding principles:
a. Trees are a crop; therefore, forest management is directed toward the profitable production
of successive crops of trees.
b. Utilize the productive capacity of the soil and keep the forest fully stocked. Under good
management a well- stocked stand of timber will contain between 8,000 and 10,000 board
feet of timber per acre and produce from 520 to 650 board feet annually on each acre.
c. Avoid cutting sawtimber to an 8 -inch diameter limit. Trees 8 to 10 inches in diameter are
reaching the size where they can put on proportionately greater volumes of wood annually.
[32]
As long as large trees are putting on good growth and remain healthy, they should be left to
grow. Trees that are overripe, slowing down in growth, and whose crowns are starting to
crowd each other should be harvested as soon as market conditions permit.
d. Before the timber is sold, all trees that are to be cut should be marked. The selection of trees
to be harvested will depend upon the objectives of the cutting. Whether the timber is sold
standing or cut by the owner and delivered to the buyer, there should be a written sale
agreement signed by the buyer and the seller.
3. Economic factors which affect the cost of producing timber are the cost of forest land, timber
growing practices, taxes, forest credit, logging costs, timber supply and demand, and return on
investments.
4. Value received for stumpage depends on many factors. Some are: the tree size, timber quality
per acre or per total land basis, nearness to mill, ease of logging, and condition of haul roads.
5. A forest management work plan includes:
a. Mapping the woodland.
b. Dividing the forest into stands of timber that are fairly uniform as to species, age density,
and volume so the same management practices can be applied to each individual stand.
c. Describing the treatment that should be given the stand within the next five years, including
intermediate and reproductive cuttings.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. A well- stocked stand should contain at least 8,000 board feet of timber per acre. A stand of
5,700 board feet per acre contains what percent of the desired volume?
Solution: 5,700 _ 8,000 = 0.7125 = 71.3%
2. A well- stocked and a well- managed forest should produce at least 520 board feet per acre per
year. If an owner has a woodland which produces 275 board feet per acre per year, this produc-
tion is what percent of the desired production?
Solution: 275 _ 520 = 0.5288 = 52.9%
3. Prepare a work plan, as a class project, for some woodland in your community. Compare the
estimated present volume and production with the volume and production which you would
like to attain in five years. List the management practices which you recommend for the wood-
land.
4. The average annual growth of timber on small ownerships is less than half of the production
that could be attained if all woodlands were fully stocked and well managed. What does this
mean to: Timberland owners? Forest industries? Employees in forest industries? Bankers?
Merchants? Schools? Churches?
5. What is the comparative value of a tall, straight, high quality tree, 14 inches in diameter with
four 16 -foot logs, for a pole, sawtimber, or pulpwood? Using local values and making computa-
tions for volume, compare the prices that would be received.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Farm Forests Pay Off. 10 minutes. Explains how private landowners handle their woodlands to make
them yield regular crops either in increased evaluation or actual income. Source: Oregon State
System of Higher Education, Department of Visual Instruction, Corvallis, Oregon 97331.
[33]
The New Forest. 14 minutes. Illustrates contributions the forest products industry makes to the
economy of the states of Washington and Oregon. Presents some tax problems of tree farming that
other business operations do not have to face. Source: Virginia Department of Education, Film
Service, 523 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
The South's Third Forest. 14 minutes. Relates the need to double the productivity of wood in the
South by the year 2000. Source: Southern Forest Institute, 1 Corporate Square, N.E., Atlanta,
Georgia 30329.
Trees to Trade. 31 minutes. Covers phases of lumbering from the growing and harvesting of trees to
the manufacture and use of the product. Source: University of Washington, Audio - Visual Service,
Seattle, Washington 98195.
[34]
UNIT 9
MANAGEMENT OF FOREST RANGE
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter IX.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: prescription burning for grazing, forest grazing, livestock damage to trees,
and forest ranges of the state. (Your agricultural extension service might also be helpful.)
4. Grass: The 1948 Yearbook of Agriculture.
5. Representative sampling of woods grasses.
6. Map of the principal forest range types of your state.
7. Opaque projector.
8. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To stimulate student interest in the management of forest ranges.
2. To help students develop skill in the identification of forest range types.
3. To familiarize students with the forage value of forest ranges and with the problems and bene-
fits of grazing them.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. Some farmers or ranchers use woodland as pasture. Does anyone in this class have cattle or
other livestock in the woods? Do the woods pasture afford year -round grazing? Why or why
not?
2. Can a farmer or a rancher practice intensive forest management and intensive range manage-
ment on the same land at the same time? Why or why not?
3. How many cattle will 100 acres of local woods carry during a normal year without overgrazing
the best grasses and damaging the woods?
4. Do you know anyone who believes that woods should be burned every two to three years to
improve grazing? Do you agree with this practice? Why or why not?
[35]
5. Perhaps you have noticed that some farmers or ranchers are improving part of their land for
pasture. During the next few days learn all you can about this practice.
6. If you will bring some grasses you find in the woods, perhaps we can find out whether they are
good forage plants.
f
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Sometimes a farmer must choose between growing timber or growing livestock. What would
you consider if you were making this choice? Is this choice made on economics?
2. Why is the burning of woods to "freshen" the grass a community problem rather than just an
individual problem?
3. Why is year -round grazing in woods a poor management practice?
4. Where can you get help in pasture improvement work?
5. How would a community-wide pasture improvement program benefit the people in this area?
6. What can you do to provide better forage for your livestock without interfering with the pro-
duction of timber?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. How does the density of a timber stand and the kind of trees in the stand affect the quantity
and quality of forage plants?
2. Observe some local woodlands very carefully. Are they used mainly for timber production or
for grazing? Do they show an abundance of good grasses of good vigor? What conditions
suggest poor grass management and damage to timber values?
3. Read pages 144 to 149 in Grass: The 1948 Yearbook of Agriculture and summarize the impor-
tant points in a class report.
4. On a map of the state locate the approximate boundaries of the main forest range types. De-
scribe the forest range type of your community.
5. Is most of the woodland in your community owned by farmers and ranchers or by forest indus-
tries? How do ownership and size of holdings affect the management of forest range?
6. How can research in forest range management help the people of our state to use forest ranges
and pastures more effectively?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. Range management is the planning and directing of range use to obtain maximum livestock
production consistent with the wise use of range resources.
2. Forest range types. Relate to students the various forest range types common to their state.
Inform them of the average carrying capacity of each.
3. Forage management on forest range should be considered as the best use of forage species to
attain the most practical management of forest resources.
4. In much of the cutover longleaf pine type in the South, forest grazing in the past has operated
at the expense of forest values. Unrestricted annual burning to "freshen" the grass generally
has prevented natural pine regeneration.
[36]
5. Reforestation of cutover lands reduces the acreage of forest range available for grazing. Forage
production in pine plantations decreases after about the tenth year due to tree crown closure
and the smothering effect of heavy pine needle litter.
6.. Native grasses in the South provide fair to good grazing during the spring and summer. Desira-
ble forage is often produced during September if late summer rains are sufficient. Relate condi-
tions in your state.
7. Fertilized and seeded firebreaks in southern forests provide supplementary forage when prop-
erly managed. The application of phosphate encourages grazing, thus reducing the height of
the forage and making a more effective firebreak.
8. There has been a growing interest in the intensive development of pastures to attain a high
carrying capacity. Such pastures should greatly reduce the grazing pressure on commercial
woodlands.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Examine the vegetation on a woods area that has been burned in the past year or two. Are there
more forage or nonforage species of plants?
2. Describe the forest range type that is characteristic of your community.
3. Describe why woods grasses in the South are adequate in nutrition only in the spring and
summer.
4. Observe the kinds of livestock on a forest range in the community. Are the animals in good
condition? Does the available forage seem to be adequate for the number of livestock. on the
range?
5. Prepare a grazing plan for a farm in your community. Indicate woods areas to be grazed and
months when the woods should be grazed, areas which should be developed for improved
pasture, and the approximate number of livestock that the farm can support.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Blessings of Grass. 19 minutes. Depicts the grazing of cattle on national forest land. Source: Univer-
sity of Arizona, Visual Aid Bureau, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
Grass and Cattle. 15 minutes. Tells the story of the range resources of the national forests and how
they are being developed. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
National Grasslands. 27 minutes. Traces the history of U.S. grasslands from their depletion in the
1930's to their present restoration, the result of careful management by the national forest system.
Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Ranchers and Rangers. 19 minutes. Shows how the U.S. Forest Service and the Colorado Cattlemen's
Association worked together to develop a successful range management program. Source: U.S.
Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
[37]
UNIT 10
WOOD CHARACTERISTICS, IDENTIFICATION
AND USES
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter X.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: wood identification and wood as a resource.
4. Various wood samples. Obtain at a local sawmill operation.
5. Wood samples showing ring - porous, diffuse - porous, and nonporous structure.
6. Wood samples showing edge grain, quarter sawn grain, and plain sawn wood.
7. Opaque projector.
8. Overhead projector.
Step I. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students realize that the properties of a piece of wood determine its marketable use.
2. To stimulate the students' interest in identifying the principal species of wood common to their
area through its various physical characteristics.
3. To help students understand that a general knowledge of wood properties is necessary for a
forest landowner in his management program.
4. To acquaint students with the major commercial species of trees common to their area, the
state and the nation.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. What is the most valuable wood in our area? Why?
2. Why should a forest landowner know about the wood characteristics and the uses of wood?
3. What uses are made of the different species of trees here in our community?
4. What are our tables made of? Why was that kind of wood used? Why is a certain wood used in
[38]
making model airplanes? Handles? Furniture? Veneer? What woods are used in gunstocks?
Why?
5. What is so- called bend wood? What use are such woods put to? What species are common to
our area?
6. Why are pine and spruce generally preferred for pulpwood?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Of what value is it to us to be able to identify trees and to know what the wood is used for?
2. What wood products do we use every day? Write a list on the chalkboard.
3. If no wood products were available, how would this affect our way of living?
4. What farming and ranching operations require the use of wood?
5. What wood products are made in your community?
6. How does forest products research benefit people who own forest land? People who do not
own forest land?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What is the difference between a hardwood and a softwood? By what other name are the
softwoods known? Why are the terms "hardwoods" and "softwoods" misleading?
2. Describe the principal identifying characteristics of 10 commercial tree species in our state.
3. What are the principal identifying characteristics of wood that would help you to identify it?
What other features would be helpful in identification?
4. Why is it trees in the white oak group can be used to make "tight" cooperage to hold liquids,
while trees in the red oak group cannot be used for this purpose?
5. What species of hardwoods are more easily bent than others?
6. Which wood in our area has a distinctive color? Lustre? Taste? Hardness? Odor? Texture?
7. Why is some lumber cut as edge grain, quarter sawn, and plain sawn? Describe its usage.
8. What effect do wide annual rings have on strength? Why are uniform growth rings more desir-
able?
9. What wood is generally used for tool handles? Flooring? Butcher blocks? Model airplanes?
Why?
10. What are the major hardwood species of the state? For what are they principally used follow-
ing manufacture?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. The properties of a wood determine its marketable use. Certain woods, such as persimmon, are
used for golf heads because they can withstand impact. White pine, because it is easy to work,
is used for cabinet wood.
2. Wood is made up of about 50 percent cellulose and 28 percent lignin. Cellulose forms the
[39]
framework of the cell walls and is the product used in making paper. Lignin is the cement
material that binds the cells together.
3. Woods are classified as porous or nonporous. The porous are further divided into ring - porous
and diffuse - porous.
4. Weight of wood is expressed in terms of specific gravity and is one characteristic sometimes
used in aiding in species determination. Balsa is extremely light. Teak has a high specific
gravity. Specific gravity of wood is influenced to a large extent by the amount of gum, resins,
other extractives, size of cell cavities, and thickness of walls. Specific gravity of pine is about
46 percent. Such varies by species and whether green or air - dried.
5. Some woods bend more easily than others (elms, ashes, and hickories have good bending
characteristics). Southern pine cannot be bent easily.
6. Factors such as color (cypress), lustre (black locust), taste (sassafras), hardness (ironwood), odor
(cedar), and texture (southern pine) are important considerations in wood identification.
7. Softwood fibres range from 1 /8 to 1 /3 of an inch in length.
8. Southern pine wood decreases in strength with an increase in growth rate. Trees with wide
annual rings are weaker, and for this reason, a forest landowner should strive for uniform
growth of trees to produce the best lumber.
9. Trees are divided into two classes, "softwoods" and "hardwoods." The softwoods have needle -
like leaves or scale leaves. Hardwoods have broad leaves. These classes have nothing to do
with hardness of wood.
10. Wood can be readily identified as "hardwood" or "softwood" by the presence or absence of
vessels (commonly called pores) when viewed through a transverse section. If pores are not
present, the wood is a softwood.
11. Hardwoods may be cut in a sawmill in three planes to produce lumber known as edge grain,
quarter sawn, and plain sawn.
12. In some hardwoods (white oak as an example) the sapwood and heartwood pores are filled
with tyloses. As such, cooperage can be made from white oak to hold liquids without leaking.
This could not be done with red oak.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Visit a sawmill where several types of hardwood are being sawn. Collect discarded samples of
the woods. Identify them as to species and determine the specific gravity of each.
2. Examine the wood products which you see in the classroom and determine the kinds of wood
used. Which woods are used for furniture? Doors and door frames? Gymnasium floors? Ball
bats? Pencils? Tennis rackets?
3. Make individual and class collections of wood samples. Cross sections 3 or 4 inches in diame-
ter and 1 inch thick are convenient samples. A piece of wood about 4 inches long and 2 or 3
inches in diameter is a convenient size for cutting to show both longitudinal and cross sections.
4. Secure several kinds of dry wood. Compare the samples on the basis of the effort required to
saw, carve, or smooth the wood.
5. Identify the commercial tree species in your community. What products are made from these
trees by local industries?
6. Scarify a piece of wood into a pulp mass. Place it in a water solution and put the water solution
[40]
under a microscope to observe the wood cells. Observe tyloses in a piece of white oak wood by
the use of a hand lens.
7. Dissolve a piece of newsprint in a water solution. Use a microscope to observe the wood cells
that go to make up the paper.
8. Determine the specific gravity of various species of wood.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
At Home with Wood. 12 minutes. Shows research work at the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison,
Wisconsin. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Knowing Woods and Their Uses. 15 minutes. Designed to help the craftsman learn the classifications
and characteristics of woods. Explains how wood may be plain sawn, quarter sawn, or prepared
for plywood. Emphasizes the importance of knowing the properties of different varieties of woods.
Source: Cornell University, New York State College of Agriculture Film Library, Ithaca, New
York 14850.
Magic of Lumber. 22 minutes. Shows work done in wood- testing laboratories. Explores the formation
of characteristics in the tree and the properties of wood. Source: Kent State University, Audio -
Visual Center, Kent, Ohio 44240.
Mechanism of Moisture Movement in Wood. 30 minutes. Shows how moisture moves through the
complex structure of wood during drying through animation and time -lapse photography. Also shows
some physical characteristics of wood. Source: University of California, Extension Media Center
Distribution, 2223 Fulton Street, Berkeley, California 94720.
Patterns of Time —the Hardwood Story. 14 minutes. Describes how the wood patterns are selected
and matched to create authenticity and the deep glowing beauty of the world's cabinet woods.
Source: Find Hardwoods Associations, 66 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60611.
[41 ]
UNIT 11
HARVESTING AND MANUFACTURING
FOREST PRODUCTS
Materials Needed
I. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter XI.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: timber sale contracts, average woods product prices, and marketing specifi-
cations.
4. A sample timber sale contract.
5. Opaque projector.
6. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To familiarize students with the market specifications for the principal forest products.
2. To acquaint students with harvesting and marketing practices.
3. To acquaint students with some of the manufacturing processes used by forest industries.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. If one buyer offers you a certain price for all of your timber and another buyer offers to buy
your sawtimber by board measure and your pulpwood by the cord at current local prices,
which method of marketing would you choose? Why?
2. If you had the opportunity to sell your timber for lumber, poles, pulpwood, or veneer, what
would your choice be? Why?
3. If you were planning to sell some of your timber, what steps would you follow?
4_. mill i0I bar_vt-sted_T2_i J4wood_ fox three ox four times as much rler cord as you could get
for the standing timber, would you cut the timber or let the buyer cut it? Why?
5. Invite an industrial forester to speak to the class regarding the problems of harvesting and
manufacturing forest products.
[42]
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. Since there are many experienced timber buyers in our state, why should farmers and ranchers
be concerned about methods of harvesting and marketing timber?
2. Some of the members of this class may grow and sell timber for a number of years; others may
work for forest industries; still other members of the class may operate business enterprises of
different kinds. How could you use your knowledge of forestry in these different pursuits?
3. The practice of selling all merchantable timber in years past has greatly reduced the timber
volume and productive capacity of many small woodlands. Over a long period of time, how will
this affect the occupations and average income of the people in the community? In the state?
4. How is the supply of merchantable timber related to the permanency of forest industries?
5. Some of the woodlands in our state will yield about one -half cord of pulpwood per acre per
year in thinning and harvesting operations. At current local prices, how much would the owner
of 175 acres. of timber receive for pulpwood each year?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What steps should a timberland owner take in marketing timber?
2. As a class project, secure information about market specifications for forest products which are
harvested in your community. Discuss.
3. Share with other members of your class any newspaper clippings, magazine articles, radio or
television reports, or information pertinent to the topic of harvesting, marketing, and manufac-
turing wood products.
4. Ask a long -time resident of your community to explain how methods of timber harvesting and
marketing have changed in the past 40 years.
5. Describe any firsthand experiences that you or your parents have had in harvesting and mar-
keting timber.
6. Trace the harvesting, marketing, and manufacturing operations involved in converting trees to
paper.
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. The growers of forest crops should know the fundamentals of harvesting, manufacturing, and
marketing forest products.
2. A grower must also be aware of the overall market for products he may sell. If he has high
quality hardwood, he should seek out those that will pay premium prices. If, for example, he
has quality sweetgum, its use as peeler logs for veneer would bring a higher price than for
lumber.
3. Naturally, a woodland owner should know what he has in species and volume before he seeks
a market. The quality of the material is also important since this relates to his financial returns.
4. The sale of forest products is always governed by a definite set of specifications. This is espe-
cially true for poles, piling, and ties purchased by railroads and wood preservation plants.
Since specifications do exist, it is vitally important that every producer clearly understand
them. The production of forest products, without taking into account specifications, is a costly
[43]
error and poor forest conservation. A volume of products, not conforming to specifications, will
rot simply because the producer does not clearly understand what is wanted. It is important
that any individual who plans to produce a forest product contact buyers in order to procure the
written specifications for the commodity produced.
5. While specifications for products shipped to treating plants are changed from time to time,
those in use usually cover the whole industry. Sawlog specifications, however, may vary from
mill to mill. Some sawmills may want trees of certain diameters cut into definite log lengths,
while other mills may demand a different length; before cutting timber, obtain specifications
from the mill that is to buy the logs.
6. After the specifications have been thoroughly studied, they should be applied in woods opera-
tions. Trees should be marked before cutting for the products for which they will be used.
Every tree must be considered as an individual and marked for cutting only after careful
examination.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Observe a timber harvesting operation. What was done before cutting began? What products
are being harvested? What equipment is being used? Where is the harvested timber marketed?
2. Prepare a set of recommendations for the harvesting and marketing of timber on a local farm
during the next five years.
3. Ask several local timberland owners how they harvest and market their timber. What changes,
if any, in local harvesting and marketing practices seem desirable?
4. Visit a local wood -using plant and observe the steps in the production of the product.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Kirby Pine Plywood Sandwiches. 20 minutes. Explains the step -by -step process used in making pine
plywood. Source: Kirby Lumber Corporation, Box 1514, Houston, Texas 77001.
Lumbering. 10 minutes. Presents the complete story of cruising, cutting, hauling, mill cutting, planing,
and shipping. Source: University of Missouri, Visual Education Department, Columbia, Missouri
65201.
Marketing. 20 minutes. Explains the world -wide marketing activities of a large forest products com-
pany. Shows market research facilities. Source: MacMillion Bloedel Products, Inc., Film Depart-
ment, Pine Hill, Alabama 36769.
Number One Bush. 22 minutes. Explains world -wide forest and paper operations. Involves multiple -
use, timber harvesting, reforestation, resource utilization, and paper- making processes. Source:
Crown Zellerbach, One Bush Street, San Francisco, California 94119.
Packaging. 14 minutes. Explains the art, skills, science, and means needed to produce packaging.
Source: Owens - Illinois, Inc., Forest Products Division, Box 1035, Toledo, Ohio 43601.
The Paper Forest. 30 minutes. Describes the manufacturing of pulp and paper products. Source:
Southern Forest Institute, 1 Corporate Square, Atlanta, Georgia 30329.
[44]
UNIT 12
WOOD PRESERVATION
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter XII.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: wood preservation and wood preservatives.
4. Samples of preservatives.
5. Metal can 8 to 12 inches in diameter and 12 to 20 inches high for use as a classroom wood -
treating demonstration. An empty oil drum for an outside demonstration would be preferable.
6. Small pieces of wood or posts for treatment with preservatives.
7. Opaque projector.
8. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To stimulate students' interest in wood preservation as a means of increasing the value of
timber.
2. To acquaint students with the materials used in the preservation of wood and the sources from
which these materials can be obtained.
3. To help students develop skills in the preparation of wood for treatment and the actual applica-
tion of methods of wood preservation.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. What kinds of wood are used for fence posts in this community? Why do some posts, without
treatment, last longer than others?
2. Have you seen any timber products which have been treated with preservatives? From your
observations, what wood products are usually treated? Why?
3. If you were fencing a field or a pasture, would you use treated or untreated posts? How would
you decide this question?
4. If you were treating posts and poles, how would you prepare the wood for treatment?
[45]
5. What is the best preservative for treating nondurable wood?
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. How does the art of wood preservation benefit timberland owners?
2. What nondurable tree species in your community could be made durable by treatment with
preservatives? How would this benefit your community?
3. What nonforest industries benefit from wood preservation?
4. How does wood preservation contribute to your safety?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What are the qualities of a good wood preservative?
2. What is the difference between the pressure and the nonpressure processes of wood preserva-
tion? What are the nonpressure treating processes?
3. What are the various types of wood preservatives?
4. Describe three common methods of wood preservation.
5. Why is it necessary that all bark be removed from a post before treatment by a nonpressure oil
preservative process?
6. What are the steps involved in preparing timber for preservative treatment?
7. If you have visited a wood- treating plant, tell the class about the methods observed.
8. Compare the preparation of wood for treatment with oil preservatives and water -borne pre-
servatives.
9. How can the durability of a post, pole, or crosstie be increased without using chemical pre-
servatives?
10. Do you believe that wood preservation will become more important or less important during
the next 25 years? Give reasons for your answer.
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. A good wood preservative must be toxic, must penetrate wood to form an exterior shell of
poisonous wood to fungi and insects, must keep toxic effect many years, must be reasonable in
cost, must not be poisonous to livestock and animals, must not corrode metal, must be non-
inflammable, and must be able to be safely handled, among other things.
2. The purpose of wood preservation is to protect wood from deterioration by destructive agents.
These include decay, insects, sap stain, marine borers, and fire.
3. Wood may be either durable or nondurable. The heartwood of some species is naturally dura-
ble and does not require treatment.
4. Heartwood is difficult to treat with preservatives while the sapwood is more easily treated.
5. Nondurable woods may be either pressure or nonpressure treated. In the pressure process the
wood is placed in a closed cylinder and impregnated with preservatives under air pressure.
[46]
6. Nonpressure applications by hot -cold soak, cold soak, dip, brush, and spray methods are rela-
tively inexpensive and increase the durability of the wood.
7. The treatment of fence posts, railroad ties, poles and piling, and construction timbers increases
the useful period of the products, thus reducing replacement costs.
8. The treatment of certain nondurable woods that normally have little commercial value make
them usable for marketable products. This helps to increase the income from woodlands.
9. Standard preservatives used in nonpressure processes include pentachlorophenol, coal -tar
creosote, chromated zinc chloride, and zinc chloride.
10. When oil preservatives are used, the timber should be clean peeled and seasoned.
11. For certain diffusion methods using water -borne salt preservatives, the bark may be left intact
and the sound timber treated while green.
12. All cutting, framing, boring holes, etc., should be done before treating, since cutting into wood
after treatment may expose untreated portions of the wood to fungi and insects. If it is neces-
sary to cut into the wood after treatment, two or three coatings of the preservative should be
applied to the cut surfaces with a brush.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Make a list of the forest trees in your community, the wood of which you consider naturally
durable and those which you consider nondurable. Members of the class should compare their
lists and discuss the reasons for their classifications.
2. Observe and make a listing of the treated wood products which are used in your community.
3. Saw through a discarded piece of treated wood. Observe the condition of the wood and the
depth to which the chemicals penetrated it.
4. If possible visit a commercial wood - treating plant. Find out what methods and preservatives
are used and the source of supply of untreated wood.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Longer Life for Wood. 17 minutes. Shows the economic advantages of using treated wood in places
where decay is likely to occur. Portrays wood treatment in commercial treatment plants as well as
portraying home treatment. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Treating Wood. 14 minutes. Emphasizes the need for treating wood. Includes a tour of a wood - treating
plant to see how treatments are applied. Source: Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Exten-
sion Service, Gainesville, Florida 32611.
Treat Wood Right. 20 minutes. Describes the importance of wood preservation. Shows industrial
methods of treating wood and shows, by animation, what takes place in wood cells under pressure
and during hot and cold submersion treatments. Source: Dow Chemical Co., Audio - Visual Center,
Abbott Road Building, Midland, Michigan 48640.
The Wonder Wood. 28 minutes. Deals with the pressure treatment of lumber and timber. Teaches
students the theory of pressure treating wood materials. Source: Osmose Wood Preserving Co.,
980 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, New York 14209.
Wood Preservation. 15 minutes. Points out the need for preservatives whenever moisture can get to
wood. Source: University of Missouri, Adult Education and Extension Service, Visual Education
Department, Columbia, Missouri 65201.
[47]
UNIT 13
FIRE IN THE FORESTS
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter XIII.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: forest fire statistics, fire - fighting techniques, damage from forest fires, fire
control organization, fire behavior, and seasonal occurrence of fires.
4. Fire - fighting tools. Obtain on loan from the local forestry agency.
5. Protractor and ruler. To show how fires are located by triangulation.
6. Opaque projector.
7. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To help students develop an understanding of the effects of forest fires.
2. To acquaint students with the principal causes of forest fires.
3. To create a desire in students to prevent forest fires.
4. To show students how they can prevent forest fire damage to improved property.
5. To help students acquire knowledge and skills for the suppression of forest fires.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
I. For the average year, what is your estimate of the cost of forest fire control efforts on the part of
state and federal forestry agencies alone? (Information for 1973 was over $200 million.)
2. In a severe fire season in the United States, as much as 32,500,000 board feet of timber may be
destroyed. Allowing an average of 11,000 board feet for a five -room house, how many houses
would that amount of timber build? (Answer: 2,954)
3. Figuring five people to a family, how many people could be housed in 2,954 homes? (Answer:
14,700) Which cities in our state have populations of that size?
4. What is your estimate of the number of fires occurring annually in the United States? (Answer:
120,000)
[48]
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. How many of you have had fires on your land in recent years? Have you observed one in our
community? What is your estimate of the damage to the timber, soil, and improved property?
2. What can you do to prevent damage to improved property? To prevent the spread of fire from
adjacent property which may be burned?
3. How can fires attributed to incendiarists be prevented?
4. At an average of 120,000 forest fires per year for the United States, what is the average number
for each of the states? (Give information to your students as to state statistics on fires.)
5. What forest fire damage cannot be estimated in terms of money?
6. Do forest fires control pests such as snakes, mosquitoes, and ticks?
7. How do forest fires affect hunting and fishing?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. How do fires damage a forest?
2. How can field burning and trash burning fires be prevented?
3. How can a landowner protect his property against fires?
4. How do you think most of the forest fires in our state are started?
5. What are the fallacies of the reasons given for the burning of forest land for grazing purposes?
6. What causes some fires to spread faster than others?
7. You have seen lookout towers throughout our state. What is their function and who operates
them?
8. What are the methods most commonly used to fight forest fires?
9. What do you think our group might do to help prevent forest fires?
10. How are fires located by triangulation?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. In forest fire protection work, a forest fire may be defined as any fire, large or small, of illegal
origin occurring on forest land. In essence, any uncontrolled forest fire is a wildfire.
2. Forest fires (commonly called wildfires) are one of the principal hazards to growing timber as a
crop. Ninety-eight percent of the forest fires are man - caused.
3. Most forest fires in the South occur between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
4. Forest fires destroy seedlings, retard the growth of young trees, and reduce the value of mer-
chantable trees. Fire damage to natural reproduction and plantings lowers the productive
capacity of a forest for many years. Repeated burning may necessitate artificial reforestation.
5. Forest fires destroy the organic matter in topsoil and affect soil structure unfavorably. The
destruction of organic matter reduces the capacity of the soil to absorb and hold water.
6. Forest fires reduce the quantity and quality of the food and cover for wildlife. The populations
[49]
of tree squirrel, bobwhite, quail, and deer, among others, are directly affected by wild forest
fires.
7. Forest fires destroy forage and lower the carrying capacity of forest ranges. Some forest fires in
the South are the result of the common belief that burning improves grazing.
8. Fires can be the indirect cause of damage to trees by insects and diseases.
9. The main causes of forest fires are smokers, incendiarism, debris burning, campers, lightning,
equipment use, railroads, children, and miscellaneous. An incendiary fire is one intentionally
started on land belonging to another individual by a person without authority to do such burn-
ing. Incendiary burning is one of the most difficult problems in fire control.
10. There are three classes of forest fires: namely, ground fires, surface fires, and crown fires.
Surface fires are the predominant fires in the South. High winds may carry fire into the crowns
of reproduction and dense pole stands recently logged. These are crown fires and occur occa-
sionally in the South. Ground fires seldom occur in this area due to the rapid decay of the litter
as it falls to the ground from trees. Relate pertinent information about fires in your state.
11. The factors which affect the spread and severity of forest fires are: character and quantity of
inflammable material, air movements, humidity, precipitation, and topography (slope and sur-
face conditions).
12. At this point provide students with information pertinent to the fire control division of their
state forestry agency, information which includes its organization, towers, crews, aircraft, and
activities.
13. Fire is both a physical and a chemical process. It quickly breaks up plant substances into their
chemical parts. This breaking up is accompanied by the release of energy in the form of heat.
The fire process is as follows: fuel + oxygen + heat (to reach kindling temperature) = fire.
14. Direct attack on a forest fire includes swatting, watering, and smothering at the burning edge.
15. In an indirect attack on a forest fire, natural firebreaks such as roads, cultivated fields, and
streams are used as much as possible to supplement plow equipment and to stop the spread of
fire.
16. Back -fires are often started inside a plowed firebreak to destroy the fuel supply of the main
fire.
17. Mopping up is the process of extinguishing all spots of fire on the outer perimeter after the
head -fire is under control to insure permanent safety.
18. Law enforcement is an essential part of fire prevention.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
1. Visit a woods that has recently been burned. What damage can you observe to the forest? To
improved property?
2. Ask several owners what caused fires that occurred on their land.
3. Ask a forester from the state forestry agency or a forest industry representative to tell your class
how a fire crew suppresses a forest fire.
4. If possible, observe a fire crew at work on a fire.
5. Visit a district headquarters of the state forestry agency to observe the handling of a district fire
control organization.
6. Compare the forage plants in a burned woodland with those in a good pasture.
[50]
7. Find out what landowners, your state forestry agency, and forest industries are doing to pre-
vent and control forest fires in your community.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Building the Fire Line. 27 minutes. Relates tactics required by fire bosses and crews in locating fire
lines and in suppression measures. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of
Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
The Burning Issue. 14 minutes. Tells the effect of forest fires on the present economy and on future
forest crops. Source: U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Govern-
ment Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Crimes of Carelessness. 11 minutes. Depicts the appalling loss of life and property from preventable
fires. Source: University of Nebraska, University Extension Division, Instructional Media Center,
Lincoln, Nebraska 48742.
Fire on the Land. 27 minutes; sound/color. Shows how wildfires destroy reproduction, plantations,
and standing timber. Shows how fire affects the protective cover of the soil. Source: Texas Forest
Service, College Station, Texas 77843.
Fire Weather. 20 minutes. Explains how the U.S. Weather Bureau gathers forest fire weather data and
distributes warnings of fire hazards. Source: Audio - visual centers in many states; Louisiana State
University, Agricultural Extension Service, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803.
[51]
UNIT 14
PROTECTING FORESTS FROM OTHER
DESTRUCTIVE AGENTS
Materials Needed
1. Chalkboard.
2. Text: Forests and Forestry, Chapter XIV.
3. Charts and publications. From your state forestry agency solicit charts and publications on the
following subjects: forest insects, forest diseases, insect and disease control methods, and tree
damage by animals.
4. Small screw -cap bottle for collecting insects.
5. Samples of wood damaged by insects.
6. Opaque projector.
7. Overhead projector.
Step 1. Teaching Objectives
1. To stimulate student interest in the identification of destructive forest insects.
2. To acquaint students with some of the practices which are used to control forest insects.
3. To help students acquire a basic understanding of forest tree diseases and practices for the
control of these diseases.
4. To provide students with practical experience in identifying damage caused by insects, ro-
dents, diseases, domestic animals, and inorganic agencies.
Step 2. Get the Interest of the Student
1. If a landowner said, "Some of my trees are dying. What makes them die ?," how do you think a
forester would answer this question?
2. Have you seen any dead trees in this community? What are some of the possible causes of the
death of the trees?
3. Insects cause considerable damage to timber. Much of this damage could be prevented by
destroying all forest insects. Do you agree with this conclusion? Why or why not?
[52]
4. Since we cannot prevent ice storms, why should we consider them in forestry?
5. Do forest fires cause insects and diseases to invade forests? Explain.
6. Invite a forester who has been engaged in forest pest control work to relate to the class his
experience in control efforts.
Step 3. Get the Student to Recognize the Problem as It Affects Him, His Family, the Community, the
Nation
1. If you see evidence of forest insect or disease damage on an adjacent forest tract, should you be
concerned about such damage? Why?
2. What are the more common forest insects and diseases found in this area?
3. How do ice and insect damage affect forest fire control work?
4. In what ways are forest insects and diseases community problems? State and national prob-
lems?
5. Why should forest industries be concerned about the control of forest insects and diseases?
6. In what way does excessive grazing damage the forest?
7. Ice damage may result in trees with compression wood, making them unsuitable for lumber.
What is compression wood? Why would such trees by unsuitable for lumber?
Step 4. Get the Student to Contribute All He Knows, Has Heard, Observed, or Read About the Prob-
lem
1. What are some of the symptoms of insect infestation?
2. Describe several types of infested areas.
3. What natural forces help to control forest insects?
4. Explain how cleaning and salvage cuttings are related to the control of forest enemies.
5. How is forest range management related to forest protection?
6. Describe salvage operations or other remedial practices for insect and disease control which
you have observed.
7. What can woodland owners do to prevent the spread of forest insects and diseases?
Step 5. Present Needed Authoritative Information
1. The study of forest insects is known as forest entomology. This science is concerned primarily
with insects which damage trees and forest products. Forest entomology includes the biology
of an insect, the nature and extent of insect injury, and the prevention and control of insect
damage under natural forest conditions.
2. The most destructive forest insects in our state are:
a. Bark beetles— insects that work directly between the bark and the wood, causing the death
of trees by girdling the cambium and by introducing wood - destroying fungi. It is very impor-
tant to be able to recognize bark beetles, to become acquainted with control techniques, and
to be able to do a prompt salvage job.
b. Wood borers — insects that bore into the heartwood and sapwood of branches, roots, or
stems, rendering them useless or damaging them.
[53]
c. Leaf eaters — insects that injure or destroy the foliage of trees by sucking juices from leaves
or eating the foliage.
d. Gall formers— insects that cause areas of abnormally enlarged growths on leaves, twigs,
limbs, or trunks of trees.
e. Cone and seed feeders — insects that feed on the fruit or seed of forest trees.
f. Tip feeders — insects that eat the terminal growth of trees or whose larvae destroy or cause
other damage to terminal buds.
3. Not all insects found in a forest are harmful. Many are beneficial.
4. Normal or below normal insect infestations usually can be attributed to temperature, rainfall,
disease, rodents, parasites, insect predators, and birds.
5. Direct control of pine bark insects includes felling and peeling the bark from brood trees,
spraying and dusting with insecticides, fumigating, baiting, trapping, and burning infested
trees.
6. Indirect control is directed toward the prevention of insect epidemics rather than to their re-
duction. It is a form of biological control. Practices are applied to maintain conditions unfavor-
able to insect pests.
7. Tree diseases affect forest production and usefulness by killing trees, retarding tree growth,
destroying or reducing the utility of wood products, and by reducing the value of forest areas
for recreation, watershed protection, and wildlife management.
8. Physical damage caused by man, animals, fire, storms, wind, and ice weakens trees and en-
courages attack by disease - producing organisms.
9. Give students information on diseases common to their local area.
10. The individual woodland owner can best control forest tree diseases by removing infected
trees as soon as they are observed.
11. Rodents are harmful to young trees. Rabbits and mice eat seedlings. Gophers eat seedling
roots.
12. Considerable damage is done to forests by cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and hogs. Cattle
damage is most common in grazed woodland or other heavily grazed timberlands. Hogs de-
stroy pine seedlings, particularly longleaf, by rooting.
13. Grazing damage may be controlled by the complete exclusion of domestic animals or by the
regulation of grazing so that the number of livestock does not exceed the carrying capacity of
the range and damage tree seedlings.
Step 6. Get the Student to Make Decisions or Acquire Needed Abilities
I. Look for trees that appear to have been killed by insects. Dead crowns may be conspicuous
among green foliage. Examine the leaves, bark, cambium, buds, and fruit to determine the
nature of insect damage. Try to find and identify some of the insects which caused the damage.
2. Look for insect larvae under the bark of trees and logs and in the leaf litter of the forest floor.
Keep several kinds of larvae in the classroom until they hatch. Identify the adult insects. Are
they injurious to trees?
3. Study the life history of the pine beetle. Collect specimens of the insect. Learn control
techniques for this insect and how to do a prompt salvage job.
[54]
4. Examine the foliage of trees and other plants in a woods and observe evidence of leaf- eating
insects. Are there enough insects to seriously affect the vegetation?
5. Keep a list of the different kinds of birds which you see in local woods during the period of one
week. What insects do these birds eat?
6. Look for gall injury of trees. Which tree species are attacked by these enemies? For what
purposes could the gall- injured trees be used?
7. Examine seedlings, saplings, and larger trees in a woodland which is grazed by livestock. Look
for seedlings which have been trampled or uprooted. Is there a "browse line" indicating the
height to which livestock have removed foliage?
8. Make a class collection of forest insects, both destructive and nondestructive, and leaves and
pieces of wood showing different kinds of insect damage.
9. Cut a bentover tree that obviously has compression wood. Cut a section of the bole near the
base and from it cut a 2 -inch by 4 -inch board in a woodworking shop. Observe how it twists
and bends upon drying.
FILMS SUITABLE FOR THIS UNIT
Gypsy Moth. 28 minutes. Shows how this foreign insect threatens the forested regions of North
America. Tells how federal -state activity has limited this foliage- feeding pest. Source: U.S. Forest
Service, U.S.D.A., Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington,
D.C. 20402.
Silent Killer. 12 minutes. Shows spruce and fir forests attacked by the spruce budworm, a silent killer
that can wreck a forest. Shows how the spruce budworm is brought under control by carefully laid
plans of foresters, entomologists, and other scientists. U.S. Forest Service, U.S.D.A., Superintend-
ent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Southern Pine Beetle. 13 /z minutes. Shows the damage to a forest caused by a southern pine beetle
epidemic. Gives recommendations for the control of this destructive pest that infests southern
forests. Source: Texas Forest Service, College Station, Texas 77843.
World of Insects. 22 minutes. Offers a rare and intimate glimpse of insect life through the medium of
microphotography which captures insects feeding. Source: Modern Talking Picture Service, 2323
New Hyde Park Road, New Hyde Park, New York 11040.
[55]
SOURCES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
References to specific publications, charts, and other materials have purposely been omitted from
this curriculum guide, primarily since forestry techniques in the various forest regions of the United
States differ somewhat. Instead, the teacher is directed to solicit these references from his state forest-
ry agency (the address is given in Appendix III of Forests and Forestry). Thus, with available state
information, instruction will be more meaningful to the students.
Other agencies can also provide some forestry information. These include the Agricultural Exten-
sion Service, the State Forestry Association, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Soil Conservation Serv-
ice, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service. In addition, most land grant colleges and universities also maintain film li-
braries.
Various forest products industries located in each state are important as sources of publications,
films, and other services. Many forestry industry groups also provide excellent source materials for
teachers. A partial listing of these includes:
American Forest Institute
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
American Hardboard Association
20 North Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60606
American Paper Institute
260 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10016
American Plywood Association
1119 A Street
Tacoma, Washington 98401
American Wood Council
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W
Washington, D.C. 20036
National Forest Products Association
1619 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Red Cedar Shingle and Handsplit Shake Bureau
5510 White Building
Seattle, Washington 98101
Southern Forest Institute
1 Corporate Square, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30329
Southern Forest Products Association
P.O. Box 52468
New Orleans, Louisiana 70152
Western Wood Products Association
1500 Yeon Building
Portland, Oregon 97204
For those teachers interested in overhead visuals adapted specifically for forestry, a comprehen-
sive set, applicable to the majority of the units, is available at a nominal cost from Vocational Agricul-
ture Education, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas 77843.
[57]
Reorder No. 1780