The Management of the Yale School Forests

Transcription

1 The Management of the Yale School Forests

2 Yale School Forests 3 States - 7 Properties 10,880 Acres Urban to Rural YMF: Largest 7,840 acres Crowell Ravine: Smallest 75 acres Conservation Easements: Yale-Toumey Crowell Forest Map by Zander Evans

3 School Forest History

4 Quinebaug-Shetucket Rivers Valley Natural Heritage Corridor: The Last Green Valley

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6 Biophysical Characteristics Mean daily temperature: 8 C (47 F) Precipitation: 110 cm per year Growing Season: ~150 days Elevation: 185 m to 350 m Soils: mostly glacial till with some outwash

7 Forest Dynamics Species Composition: Quite Complex Central Hardwoods Hemlock White Pine (Westveld 1956) Genera Poor Species Rich Species distributed across the landscape in relation to: 1) topography and soil types; and 2). Disturbance - past land use history and natural disturbance events (hurricanes, ices storms, convectional wind storms, floods)

8 Goals & Objectives Education Research Management and Financial Asset To increase the overall health of the forest ecosystem dynamic

9 Extension and Demonstration in Land Stewardship Walks, Talks, Interviews, Radio Media, Print Media, Hikes, BioBlitz, Seminar Series, Website you name it! Last Green Valley Connecticut Forest & Parks Association Southern Connecticut State University National Public Radio Boy Scouts of America Woodstock Historical Society Connecticut Forest Land Owners Association Society of American Foresters Yale Alumni/ae Groups

10 Education in Land Stewardship Classes & Fieldtrips Stand Dynamics Silviculture and forest ecology Forest and land operations Management plans for protected areas Rapid assessments in forest conservation Forest and environmental governance Forest certification Fire science, management and policy Forest health Taxonomy and natural history of trees Aquatic ecology MODS all students from F&ES

11 Current Research in Resource Conservation Original Research in: Aquatic Ecology of Wetlands and Streams Food Web Ecology in Old Fields Regeneration Ecology and Stand Dynamics Yale students & faculty Long term & short term research Manipulative 4-6 masters student research projects / y 8-10 doctoral studies / y By Application and Review End of year reporting Currently 30 on-going investigators with studies 10 investigators currently from other non-yale institutions

12 Management and Financial Asset One of the oldest sustainably managed forests in the nation Using state of the art knowledge and monitoring of complex forests of complex forest systems A story of ecological and social restoration Financially self-sustaining obtaining all income from the land to maintain facilities and infrastructure and to pay taxes Real life partner to local towns and State through payments of town property taxes, allowing public access for passive recreation, providing demonstrations and seminars, and allowing hunting managed by DEP American Tree Farm Certification

13 Implementation of Forest Goals and Objectives Apprentice Foresters (Education) Using state-of-the art knowledge (research) To sustain the forest and surrounding livelihood (income) And to diversify age class structure, habitat and vegetative composition (system resilience ecological and social)

14 Apprentice Forester Program 12 week apprenticeship for 6-12 masters professional students All aspects of field forestry and technical aspects of land stewardship Mentored by faculty, doctoral students, staff and professional resource managers and policy makers Over 50% of graduates now work for land trusts and conservation organizations, remaining graduates have become academics or work for public land management agencies

15 Building system resilience ecological and social

16 Assessing Management Effects on Forest Terrestrial Ecosystem Measurements Conducted every 10 y on 400 plots across the forest Woody debris and standing dead wood Breeding bird census Herbaceous flora Regeneration of woody plants Mycology surveys Aquatic Ecosystem Measurements Conducted on an annual basis Wetland water levels Amphibian surveys DEP fish and invertebrate stream surveys

17 Assessing Management Effects on Forest: Continuous Forest Inventory to Estimate Growth and Yield Started in permanent plots hidden Revisit every 10 y Record growth, volume, proportion trees cut

18 Growth and Yield Yale Myers CFI Standing volumes (production) Harvested Net Change Oak Pine Hemlock Other Hdwd TOTAL In millions of bdft Total Standing Volume reserves and production (in millions of Bf) Oak Pine Hemlock Ash, Beech, Birch, Cherry, Hickory, Maple, Poplar

19 Protected Area Network Protected areas network embedded within production forest stands Functional integrity maintained by protecting riparian and wetland systems Ecological integrity protected by large core reserves, and unique sites of concern Linkage between two values within managed landscape through within stand reserves and strcture Protection of unique cultural land use legacies Dynamic change over time and space maintaining 1/3 forest area in protection stands

20 Stand Type Map

21 Timber Harvesting Fall/Winter Timber processor (feller-buncher) with forwarding -Stumpage Northern Forests -Contract sales Yale-Myers Hull FP

22 Crop tree thinning for red pine Crop tree thinning Seed tree white pine

23 Uniform oak shelterwood

24 The End American Tree Farm Certification

25 What Is Connecticut s Quiet Corner? Approximately 46,700 acres of state and private conservation forestland in the state s northeastern corner Largest forest landowners include: Yale Myers Forest Hull Forest Products Pachaug State Forest Natchaug State Forest Bigelow Hollow State Park Nipmuck State Forest Shenipsit State Forest The Nature Conservancy

26 Why Connecticut s Quiet Corner is Unique Part of a National Heritage Corridor designated by US Congress One of the least developed areas within the highly urbanized, Boston DC corridor Yale Myers Forest is the oldest sustainably managed forest in the region

27 What is the Quiet Corner Program? Community Engagement Research Education An unprecedented living laboratory where research and education meet the challenges of real world situations and where ideas can be tested and refined on the ground with community stakeholders Best Science and Management Land use planning and conservation Adaptive management Economic development Healthy communities

28 QCP: The Value to Yale A laboratory for natural science and social science students and new avenues for faculty research Applied studies to enrich classroom work Designed to demonstrate the linkages between biophysical, social and economic drivers of landscapes A platform for education and information exchange on conservation and management

29 QCP: The Value to Yale The first comprehensive repository of long term, regionwide research data sets on the biophysical, social and economic indicators associated with adaptive management, conservation and the science of place Ability to track performance of specific initiatives across spatial and temporal scales Provide students an avenue to learn by doing while creating a long term research data warehouse Critical for successful, long term adaptive management yet it often remains undone

30 QCP: The Value to Yale Establish Yale as responsible and forward thinking land steward, with a strong commitment to the local community Collaborate with diverse stakeholders in the Quiet Corner who are currently only organized in small pockets or around single issues Create more sustainable communities and better stewardship of landscapes with implications beyond Connecticut Help to improve livelihoods in the region through new avenues for economic development Link rural and urban interests Protect Yale s own forest asset, and its future research and educational opportunities

31 QCP: Value to Yale Promote the visibility, strength and competitiveness of FES programs Attract high quality students with a distinctive program not easily available elsewhere While many school forests are used for research and technical training, the QCP will give students a broader perspective on working landscapes, linking sustainable management with local communities Offer new avenues for cultivating alumni and other financial support

32 Potential Quiet Corner Programs Renewable Energy and Ecosystem Services Sustainable Agriculture Forest Management / Woodlands Conservation Open Space Planning