Type of event: Field trip
Organization: Hopkins Demonstration Forest
Location: Oregon City, Oregon
Hosts: Peter Matzca/ Hopkins Forest Educator
International Fellows: Sarita Lama (Nepal), Miguel Sanchez (Bolivia), Robert Mijol (Malaysia), Stuty Maskey (Nepal), Qingxin Liu (China)
WFI Staff: Shadia Duery / International Fellowship Manager, Dona Ye / Intern from China
This day we went on a tour of a demonstration forest located in the outskirts of Portland. This 140 acres of forest tries to mimic the decisions that small forest land owners have to make to have a financially sustainable operation.
We observed different management practices side to side: even age, uneven age, thinning.
We learned that:
- Thinning can expose forests to abiotic damage.
- Abiotic factors can be the most damaging to a forest, i.a. snow can snap tops, freeze can kill trees, and wind.
- Stand Density Index (SDI) is the relationship of the sizes of the trees and the amount of trees per area, this relationship helps identify when is the optimal time for thinning to reduce density, and tree competition.
- Alder and Pine like wet places and are good for root rot replacement species.
- Ponderosa Pine has a more fire resistant bark than other species.
