In 1934, the Crossett Experimental Forest was established about 7 miles south of the town of Crossett in Ashley County, Arkansas, from a donation of 1,680 acres of land by the Crossett Lumber Company (now Georgia-Pacific Corporation) to the Southern Forest Experiment Station (now the Southern Research Station). The Crossett Research Center was the first USDA Forest Service branch research station in the South. Previously, all field research had been conducted from station headquarters in New Orleans, LA. Research on forest management in second-growth loblolly and shortleaf pine stands was to be conducted and demonstrated to forest managers and landowners throughout the South. During the following six decades, Forest Service researchers associated with Crossett have published more than 1,000 articles on forest management and silviculture. More than 45,000 foresters, students, landowners, and university staff have visited the Experimental Forest and benefited from its research.
The present day Research Work Unit (RWU), now located on the University of Arkansas campus at Monticello [formerly Arkansas A&M], continues the tradition of research on practical, low-cost silviculture in natural stands. This information is needed by private nonindustrial forest landowners, forest industry, and National Forests throughout the South. With personnel located throughout Arkansas, the RWU has extended its research to include silviculture and management of pine-hardwood and upland hardwood stands. A major achievement for the RWU has been the publication of a management guide to uneven-aged silviculture of loblolly and shortleaf pines. [Uneven-Aged Silviculture for the Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine Forest Cover Types] That capstone publication incorporates 60 years of research begun by the first researchers at Crossett and continued by their successors to this day. The Forest serves as a training center and outdoor classroom for various user groups. Activities include field days [usually in April or May], workshops, and tours that demonstrate proven forest management techniques.
Crossett Experimental Forest website
Publications from the Research Station (Adobe PDF Documents)
Uneven-Aged Silviculture for the Loblolly and Shortleaf Pine Forest Cover Types
Harvesting Production in Uneven-Aged Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine Stands: The Crossett Farm Forestry Forties
Uneven-aged silviculture, southern style
Regenerating uneven-aged stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines: the current state of knowledge (2000)
Managing Uneven-aged Stands
The Plantation Conversion Demonstration at the Crossett Experimental Forest--Implications For Converting Stands From Even-Aged to Uneven-Aged Structure
Effects of Pine and Hardwood Basal Areas After Uneven-Aged Silvicultural Treatments on Wildlife Habitat
Contact the Southern Research Station to get printed copies: pubrequest@srs.fs.usda.gov
If they are out of copies, try the Arkansas office at
870-367-3464