Forestry at Spannocchia

Transcription

1 Forestry at Spannocchia By Ryan Michie Summer 2010 When you re at Spannocchia you ll have plenty of chances to look at the surrounding landscape. You ll notice that most of the property is forestland. The trees growing in these woodland are mostly oaks (three varieties), ash, walnut, and poplar. Spannocchia is most famous for it s farm products and farm practices, but you may be surprised to know that approximately 35% of the farm income actually comes from cutting wood in these woodlands. How the forests are managed is very different than in the United States. In the Oregon, forests are often clearcut on a year rotations (eg. cut, replanted, and cut again years later). Clearcut in Oregon, USA. In Italy, clear cutting is illegal. Walking around the roads or trails on the Spannocchia property you will notice open areas with trees spaced about 20 feet from each other. The trees left standing are called standard trees. Their purpose is to be a seed source for future trees.

2 Recent cut at Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy with standard trees left about every 20 feet. Cutting notice, Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy

3 Forestry in Italy is heavily regulated. All cuts must be permitted and approved by the authorities. If you re on a hike you might see the permit notices attached to a tree near a recent cut. Typically landowners must develop a twenty-year cutting plan that describes where, how, and on what schedule landowners will cut the forest. The cutting plan must be approved by the authorities. Spannocchia developed its twenty-year plan with agronomist. Coppicing Like clear-cutting in Oregon, the type of woodland forest management in Italy is called coppicing. Coppicing is a type of cutting that allows most of the branches or trunk to be cut without killing the tree. When a tree is cut down to its trunk, new shoots will emerge after a short period. The tree employs this natural defense mechanism to deal with broken branches or damage from grazing animals. People in Italy have utilized this regrowth characteristic for centuries to produce small poles and firewood. Coppicing at Spannocchia occurs about every 20 years in the same lot. The trees can typically handle about five or six coppice cuts before they are no longer able to live through the practice. Example of shoots that grew from a coppice cut. Sovicille, Italy.

4 Recent cut at Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy with standard trees left about every 20 feet. Regrowth after a recent coppice cut at Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy.

5 Unlike the United States, most buildings are built out of stone or masonry so the wood demand for construction projects is small. Most wood in Italy is used for firewood. Historically it was used for charcoal production. About a third of the wood cut on the property is used on the property, mostly for firewood. There is a very small portion (about 2%) that is used for structural elements on buildings or for fence posts. The other two-thirds is sold locally. Spannocchia has a small list of clients to which firewood is sold directly. The rest is sold through third party distributors. Example of tree after multiple coppice cuts, Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy. Spannocchia hires subcontractors to do most of the cutting. Most of these subcontractors are seasonal workers from Eastern Europe. Coppicing is hard, dangerous, and very labor intensive. It is difficult to find Italians interested in doing this job.

6 Firewood and larger poles at Tenuta di Spannocchia, Italy.

7 The forestry operations at Spannocchia are typical for Italy. Some consider coppice cutting to be a more sustainable type of forestry practice because it mimics natural process and provides habitat to certain species adapted to open woodland environments. Since the coppice cuts occur on regular intervals there are always new open habitats forming as the canopy closes in on the older cuts. Unfortunately over the past 60 years homogenous closed canopy forests have been expanding in Italy (Agnoletti 2006). This is putting pressure on species that live in these open woodland interfaces. If this trend continues perhaps forestry operations like the one occurring at Spannocchia will become more important. Acknowledgments and Sources: Without Randal Stratton, owner of Tenuta di Spannocchia, this forestry write-up would not be possible. Mauro Agnoletti, Gil Latz, and David Banis also provided valuable information. All photos by Ryan Michie. Agnoletti, Mauro The development of a historical and cultural evaluation approach in landscape assessment: The dynamic of Tuscan landscape in Mauro Agnoletti (ed.), The Conservation of Cultural Landscapes pp