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Handley
Forestry Services
Don
and Gary Handley are consulting foresters serving private landowners in
South Carolina. They are well-know for their uneven-aged management
techniques for coastal plain forests, and are always happy to share their
management techniques with other foresters and students. We asked Don to
tell us about his experiences in forest management...
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Don’s Early Years in Forestry
Forestry and the timber industry have been a part of my life for as long as
I
can remember. I guess when sawdust and
woods smoke get in your blood you are never the same again.
I
grew up during the depression years on a hill farm in Drew County, Arkansas.
This is in the loblolly-shortleaf and oak–hickory hill country. My father and I
began hewing red oak cross-ties when I was about 12 years old. When the demand
for ties became very strong during the beginning of World War II, we ran a
portable sawmill for quite a while. Later we closed the mill and continued in
the logging business. Dad and I did horse logging until long after I finished
High School. I continued to work with him during the summer and other times
when I was not in school. It
was during these years of logging that we were introduced to the art of
uneven-age forest management.
Uneven-age
Forest Management
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| An uneven-age pine
stand managed by HFS |
Wilmar, Arkansas was a small mill town in Drew, County about 15
miles from our farm. This is where Less Pomeroy was running Ozark Badger
Lumber Company. Crossett, Arkansas was a mill town of Crossett Lumber
Company in Ashley County, about 45 miles south of us. We did
some selective logging for Ozark Badger and Crossett Lumber Company.
Crossett was a very large operation. They owned hundreds of thousands of
acres throughout south east Arkansas. They were one of the last of the
cut-out and get-out operations. When the virgin forest was gone they began
managing the second growth stands of loblolly and shortleaf pines that
replaced them. They also used uneven-age management, and were one of the
pioneers of forest management in the country.
During this time several large companies in the south were managing their land
for high quality sawtimber, and using the uneven-age system. This system ofAn
uneven-age pine
management needs good inventory data and management plans in order to maximize
production. Less Pomeroy (of Ozark Badger) and another partner, Julian
McGowen,
formed Pomeroy And McGeowen Forest Managers. This was a large consulting firm
engaged primarily in inventory cruising for management plans for lumber
companies in the south.
After
I had been out of high school for a couple of years I had the opportunity to
work for Pomeroy & McGowen. It was through my earlier experience logging and
then cruising for some of these large companies that I saw forest management at
it’s best. This truly inspired me to want to be a forest manager. I got my
degree in forestry from Arkansas A & M College, where we had the opportunity to
visit the Crossett Experiment Station and
interact with Russ Reynolds and his staff.
Recognizing that about 70% of the forest land in the south was owned by small
farm operations and other private landowners Reynolds developed “management
alternatives for private landowners”. Among these were the “Good Farm Forty”
and the “Poor Farm Forty”. These two forty-acre blocks have been harvested on a
regular schedule since back in the thirties. The last I heard they were
yielding well over $100.00 per acre annually. And they have never been
clearcut.
Even-age
Management
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| A field day hosted
by HFS |
Upon graduation from College I came to Florence, South Carolina to work as a
service forester with the SC Forestry Commission. For some reason the true
system of uneven-age management had never caught on here. We couldn’t
advise landowners to use fire, and had no other means to prepare seed beds
to establish pine in the understory. Moreover, we could not recommend
clearcutting. Therefore as the pine stands were thinned they were taken
over by off site hardwoods and other weed species. We were running out of
pine timber.
In the early to mid 1960s several of us in the consulting forestry field and
forest industry joined forces to promote forest management. Several terms were coined at that time: “second forest” and “third forest”
referred to the fact that we were now harvesting the natural forest that
re-established it’s self following the harvest of the original virgin
forest.
A
large effort was made to promote the establishment of America’s third forest.
This was to be a forest grown as a crop like any other crop by planting improved
stock. Our firm participated fully in this effort for a number of years. We
found it difficult to sell to our clients. They would put off harvesting their
timber often too long because they didn’t want to see a clear cut. Also they
didn’t like the idea that once harvested they were out of the timber business
for a long time. For many of the older clients this would mean they wouldn’t
see another income in their life time.
Working for the Landowners
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| The
Johnson's- two of Don & Gary's happy clients. |
We
decided to go back and take another look at my old love, “uneven-age” or to
put it another way, “sustained yield”. This has proven to be an easy
concept to sell. Once a client understands that we are planning timber
sales based on annual growth, and that they can make periodic timber sales
while maintaining the volume of standing timber than they started with, they
love it.
We are now managing several thousand acres under this system. Some of the
stands that we have gotten fully stocked and balanced are now producing
between 500 and 600 board feet per acre annually. At today’s timber prices
you can see that this is affording these clients an annual income in excess
of $150.00 per acre on these stands.
This system has become easy to establish by working in harmony with the
natural system and with the use of dormant season fires. The regeneration of
the next forest is an ongoing process with the seedlings in place and
growing long before the overstory is harvested. To regenerate the forest
this way is much less expensive than the standard clear cut and replant.
The
following is record of a 45 acre tract that we have had under management for the
past several years. The first pulpwood thinning was made in 1988 when the stand
was approximately 20 years old. (We did not make that sale and do not have the
exact records.) However we were able to ascertain a very close estimate of the
income. Total management costs, including sale commissions, pro-rated
administration, and other direct or indirect cost since 1993 have been
$9,000.00, or $20.00 per acre annually.
INCOME:
1988
First
pulpwood thinning -------------------------------- $10,800.00
1993
Timber sale ------------------------------------------ 35,367.11
1997
Timber sale ------------------------------------------ 49,148.24
2003
Timber sale ------------------------------------------ 40,650.00
TOTAL GROSS INCOME $135,965.35
LESS
MGT. COSTS
9,000.00
TOTAL
NET INCOME $126,965.35
This
can be considered to be very typical of the average stand after it has become
well established. Once regeneration is established in the understory, this
income can go on for ever. It is interesting to note that we are now receiving
an income every five years that is four to five times more than was received
approximately 20 years after planting.
You can contact Don and Gary Handley at
Handley Forestry Services in Florence, SC at
843-665-7015
handleyfor@aol.com
