Tree Pruning

June 8, 2009

By Thembi Borras

Pruning involves removing the lower branches from live trees.

Why prune?
Pruning is an important practice to reduce fire hazard, but must be done properly so tree health is not compromised. Pruning may also improve safety, aesthetics, timber quality and tree vigor. Trees along roads are excellent candidates for pruning to create a fuel break or to facilitate quicker road surface drying.

How to prune? Following are guidelines for pruning:

• Make pruning cuts where two limbs intersect or where limbs intersect the main tree trunk.


• Make the final pruning cut just outside the branch collar. Avoid "flush cuts" which remove the branch collar or "stub cuts" which leave branch stubs protruding beyond the branch collar. The branch collar is the swollen area at the base of a branch where it connects to the trunk and contains special tissue that prevents decay from moving downward from the branch into the trunk.


• For large limbs, make an undercut so that when the branch separates it doesn't strip off bark from the bole of the tree. The following figure (copied from USFS publication NA-FR-01-95 entitled, How to Prune Trees by Peter J. Bedker et al and illustrations by Julie Martinez of Afton, MN) displays a cutting sequence to minimize pruning damage:


• If there is reason to remove a large number of live limbs, it may be prudent to prune the tree in stages increasing the distance from the ground to the lowest limb slowly, pruning a portion of limbs each year.

• Consider staggering the distance between the ground and the height of the lowest limbs to avoid the “lollipop look”.


• Hand saws can be used if the branch can be reached. Otherwise, use a telescoping pole saw or shear. Visit http://ext.nrs.wsu.edu/handtools/tools/pruning/index.htm to view power and hand tools for pruning.


• Be careful not to scar the bole as the scar may invite the introduction of stem rot fungi into the tree.


• There is no need to apply any kind of “wound dressing” to the prune scars.


• Use recommended safety equipment, such as eye protection, hard hat, gloves and sturdy footwear. Use common sense and be safe.
  

When to prune?
Pruning can be done anytime during the year. However, consider pruning during the dormant season when the sap is flowing less. Try to avoid pruning during the spring and early summer when the tree is actively growing and is easily damaged. Another reason to avoid pruning during the growing season is that beetles are most active and are attracted to the sap from the pruning wound.

The area out to 200 feet from a home is referred to as defensible space. Trees in the defensible space and along emergency vehicle access routes should be pruned first.

Which trees should be pruned?
Pruning takes time and energy so to optimize these precious resources pick the best trees to prune and thin out the worst. There is an excellent article containing characteristics of “leave” trees and characteristics of “cut” trees in the winter 2008 edition of SW Oregon Woodland News entitled Thin for Quality, Not Spacing and can be accessed at http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/sites/default/files/documents/WoodlandNewsJan08newsletter2.pdf.

The following is excerpted from it:
GUIDELINES: So what makes a high quality tree?
Following are some guidelines for “leave” and “cut” trees that relate to tree quality. These are all characteristics you can “eyeball” out in the woods.

Characteristics of “leave” trees
• Good live crown ratio (30% or greater)
• Good height growth for species and age
• Symmetrical crown with “pointy top”
• Abundant foliage with good color
• Good form (straight, without sweeps, crooks, forks, etc.)
• Species is well suited to the site over the long term

Characteristics of “cut trees”
• Poor crown ratio (<30%)
• Poor height growth and crown form (flat or rounded top, lopsided)
• Foliage is sparse or off-color
• Poor form
• Species not well suited to the site

Additional considerations include exposure to sun or wind. Sunscald is a tree bole injury that can result from pruning. This injury is more likely to occur on trees on the southwest side of a low density stand. To avoid sunscald a buffer of unpruned trees can be left on the south and west side of the stand. Similarly, to avoid wind damage unpruned trees and trees that would otherwise be “cut” trees can be left on the side of the stand from which prevailing winds blow to serve as a buffer.

How much to prune? Live crown ratio is an important concept to understand in determining how much of the crown to prune. Live crown ratio is the percentage of the total height of the tree that is occupied by the live green crown. For example, if the crown length, measured from the leader tip to the base of the live crown, is 55 ft and the total tree height is 100 ft, then the live crown ratio is 55%. Post pruning, the live crown ratio should be no less than 40% and preferably 50%. Therefore in this example, you can safely prune the lower 5 feet of live crown and no more than 15 feet. Dead limbs below the live crown do not factor into this calculation and should be pruned.

Another important consideration, especially within the defensible space is reducing ladder fuels which is vegetation that connects ground vegetation to tree crowns facilitating a ground fire becoming a crown fire, which moves much more rapidly. Reducing ladder fuels may be accomplished by, in part, removing “cut trees” and pruning “leave” trees. The minimum distance between the shrub layer and the canopy should be, at least, 4 times the height of the shrub layer. For example, if the shrub layer is 3 feet tall then the lowest limbs of the overstory trees should be 15 feet above the ground.

A portion of this article was gleaned from Conifer Pruning Basics for Family Forest Landowners available at http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1984/EB1984.pdf, the chapter on pruning in the Oregon-Washington Master Gardener Handbook entitled Sustainable Gardening and the article entitled Thin for Quality, Not Spacing in the winter 2008 edition of the SW Oregon WOODLAND NEWS.

Tree Judging

prepared for Washington Farm Forestry Association field day exercise

By Thembi Borras, Forester (thembi@mcn.org)

Judging trees is required of field foresters, it informs which trees are retained and how the forest will behave and look after treatment. Tree judging is a skill forest landowners may wish to develop. There are numerous contexts, including improving forest health, in which tree judging is valuable. The criterion on which a tree may be judged within the context of improving forest health may include crown quality, diameter, height, ring count and basal area.

Indicators of crown quality include live crown ratio, crown class and crown vigor. Live crown ratio is the ratio of crown length to total tree height. For example, if the crown length, measured from the leader tip to the base of the crown, is 40 ft and the total tree height is 80 ft, then the live crown ratio is 50%. There are four commonly recognized crown classes dominant (trees with well-developed crowns that extend above the general level of the crown cover and receive full light from above and partly from the side), codominant (trees with medium-sized crowns that form the general level of the crown cover and receive full light from above but comparatively little from the sides), intermediate (trees with small crowns that extend into the crown cover formed by codominant and dominant trees, but receive little direct light from above and none from the sides) and suppressed (trees with very small crowns that are entirely below the general level of the crown cover and receive no direct light either from above or from the sides). Crown vigor indicators include branch mortality, twig dieback, thin foliage, foliage discoloration and missing crown area. Trees with a live crown ratio of less than 30%, which are suppressed or intermediate and have poor crown vigor are candidates for removal when thinning. Remember to evaluate the crown quality; the observer must get far enough away from the base of the tree to see the crown.

Diameter is usually measured with a diameter tape or a Biltmore stick, but in the absence of these tools a flexible measuring tape can be used to measure the diameter. The diameter of a tree is measured at breast height, which is defined as 4.5 feet above the ground on the uphill side of the tree. The circumference of the tree is what is measured by wrapping the tape around it, making sure there are no kinks in the tape and the tape does not sag. To convert the circumference to the diameter, divide by 3.14. For example if the circumference is 82", dividing by 3.14 will yield a result of 26"; therefore the diameter at breast height (dbh) of the tree is 26". Height is usually measured with a clinometer, but basic tools including a measuring tape and two sticks of equal length can be used to measure the height of a tree. Find the center point on one of the sticks; hold the other stick perpendicular to it, effectively making the letter "T". Step away from the tree until the top and bottom of it are in view. Put the base of the "T" between your eyes, and then walk away or toward the tree until the top and bottom of the stick line up with the top and bottom of the tree. Make a mark on the ground, the distance between your mark and the tree is the total height of the tree, if you are on flat ground. If you are on sloped ground, the slope distance will need to be converted to horizontal distance. Tree height in relation to tree age is a measure of site quality. Site quality expresses the average productivity of an area for growing trees. The higher the site the more healthy trees it can support.

Tree rings represent the annual growth of a tree and can be measured with an increment borer. The tree rings are easily counted, measured and visually inspected on the core extracted from the increment borer. The higher the number of rings per given length of core, the slower the growth. Trees that are growing slowly as compared to their similarly aged neighbors may be candidates for removal when thinning.

Basal area is a measure of stand density and is often measured with a prism, but tree diameter can be converted to basal area. Basal area is the cross-sectional area in square feet taken up by an individual tree trunk at dbh; basal area per acre is the sum of these individual values for all the trees growing in 1 acre. Basal area of a given tree is calculated by squaring the dbh and multiplying the result by .005454. For example, a tree with a dbh of 13.54” represents 1 sq ft. Trees may be thinned to reduce basal area, so limited resources are allocated on fewer trees, to improve forest health.

A portion of this information was gleaned from Log Scaling and Timber Cruising by Bell and Dilworth, 1988 and Tree Judging: A Quantifiable, Hands-On Tool To Teach Forest Genetics And Applied Silviculture by Christopher C. Schnepf.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

from presentation, given to the community, which was sponsored by the Ellensburg Library and EcoBuilding Guild

By Thembi Borras

My Involvement with FSC
I have been involved in forestry for more than two decades. I received my forestry degree from Humboldt State University. Soon after graduating, I went to work for the Institute for Sustainable Forestry, where I began working with FSC. And less than a year later I met my mentor, a consulting forester and FSC certified Natural Resource Manager. For the next decade I worked for him servicing non industrial private forestland owners in Northern California writing long term management plans, marking trees, administering logging, inventorying roads, creating erosion control plans and conducting plant, owl and archaeological surveys. During the last three years I have continued the same line of work in my own business and relocated to Ellensburg, Washington and last year began auditing companies against the FSC Chain of Custody standard.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
The FSC formed out of concern for the loss of the world’s forests and the failure of intergovernmental organizations to address rapid deforestation. 130 representatives of environmental groups, forestry operations, human rights groups, and commercial interests came together in the first General Assembly to form the FSC in 1993. The FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not for profit organization.

The mission of it is to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.

The Forest Stewardship Council is an international association of members consisting of a diverse group of representatives from environmental and social groups, the timber trade and the forestry profession, indigenous people's organizations, responsible corporations, community forestry groups and forest product certification organizations from around the world. The General Assembly of FSC Members is the highest decision-making body in FSC, and meets at least once every three years. The FSC General Assembly is made up of three membership chambers: Environmental, Social and Economic. The purpose of the chamber structure is to maintain the balance of voting power between different interests without having to limit the number of members. Each chamber has 1/3 of the voting power in the general assembly and motions require an affirmative vote of 2/3 of the total vote to be adopted.

What does the FSC do?
It sets standards, provides FSC trademark assurance and it accredits certification bodies to conduct certifications to the FSC standards.

There are 5 certification bodies that operate in North America. Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) and SmartWood are two with whom I have worked and are two of the three original certification bodies.

How does FSC certification work?
There are two types of certification, Forest Management and Chain of Custody. Forest Management (FM) certification applies to the actual forestland or the source. Chain of Custody (COC) certification applies to the manufacturing and distribution chain that certified wood travels before being purchased.

Forest Management (FM) Certification
To achieve Forest Management certification, forest management practices must meet the FSC’s Principles and Criteria and any FSC regional standards that may be present in the area. They must then be certified by an FSC accredited, third party auditor. Following is a summary of FSC Principles and Criteria:
-Conversion of forests or any other natural habitat is prohibited.
-International workers rights must be respected.
-Use of hazardous chemicals is prohibited.
-Human rights with particular attention to indigenous peoples must be respected.
-All applicable laws must be followed and areas that need special protection, such as sacred sites and endangered species habitat, must be identified and managed appropriately.
Although, many of these points appear almost basic, in many places even these basic requirements are not fulfilled and are where FSC can have the biggest positive impact.

Within the US, there are 9 approved regional standards covering the forested portions of the entire continental US that are applied “above and beyond” the Principles and Criteria.

FSC is different from other certification systems, which include the American Tree Farm System, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Canadian Standards Association, the International Organization for Standardization and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes. FSC is the only forest certification endorsed by the nation’s leading environmental organizations.

In 2008 Yale conducted a study to evaluate competing forestry certification schemes against the US Green Building Council goals and objectives, key points of controversy are compared at http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/ForCert_ControversyMatrix070808.xls. FSC is found to be a more comprehensive and prescriptive standard on issues such as chemicals, clearcutting, maintenance of old growth structure and riparian management. Around the world, only FSC prohibits conversion of natural forests, the use of highly hazardous pesticides, the cultivation of genetically modified trees (GMOs) and respects the rights of indigenous peoples. It makes sense then that FSC certified products are the only certified forest products that are accepted by all residential and commercial green building programs in North America. To the credit of the FSC, strongly entrenched differences separate FSC from other systems, at a time when other certification systems are harmonizing. Other sources that compare certification systems include:
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/USGBCFinal.htm (YPFPG Final Report to USGBC)
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/AppA_YPFPGCompMatrix022508.xls (Yale comprehensive comparison of standards)
http://www.certifiedwoodsearch.org/matrix/matrix.aspx (Comparison of Forest Certification Systems)
Yale FAQ about certification: http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/faq.html

To date, 279 million acres of forests are FSC certified and over 13,000 Chain of Custody certificates have been issued in 81 countries.

FSC certified forests in Washington State include the City of Seattle Cedar River Municipal Watershed, Fort Lewis Military Installation, the Washington Department of Natural Resources South Puget Habitat Conservation Plan Planning Unit (http://www.dnr.wa.gov/BusinessPermits/Topics/TimberSaleAuction/Pages/lm_forest_certification.aspx) and the Northwest Natural Resource Group, which recently certified around 600 acres on the east side that belong to The Nature Conservancy. Recently, Peter Goldmark, Public Lands Commissioner in Washington State, suggested moving all state land management practices in a direction that would meet FSC standards.

Chain of Custody (COC) Certification
Chain of Custody or COC refers to the succession of ownership of wood products. A cornerstone of consumer confidence is the ability to track wood from the time it leaves the forest through the manufacturing and distribution channels, in order to ensure that what is labeled as a certified product can be traced back to a certified source.

Each company in the chain must hold a valid certificate, which ensures that they have a system of accountability in place, are in fact buying certified inputs, are accountable for tracking material through their systems and are making accurate and verifiable claims to their customers. The chain-of-custody certification process is basically a verification of a company’s ability to separately track all FSC materials throughout their business, from purchasing and inventory control to manufacture and sale. For most companies in North America this is a very simple, non-invasive process that verifies existing good business practices.

Chain of Custody certification is important because without it there would be no mechanism for rooting out fraud. It provides companies with a license to use the registered FSC names and trademarks in trade and it gives specifiers, commercial buyers and the public assurance that their purchasing decision is tied to environmental performance.

Who needs a COC certificate?
You need a COC certificate if you take legal ownership of FSC certified product, and wish to pass on a commercial claim that the product is certified, whether that claim is on-product, on an invoice, or in other communication. There is some confusion as to whether lumber retailers need a certificate. They do in order to pass on the FSC claim to their client, particularly if the client is a manufacturer, such as a cabinetmaker, architectural millworks company or truss manufacturer who needs to make a FSC claim themselves or if the client is a contractor who needs proof of FSC certification to fulfill LEED requirements. On the other hand, the homeowner may have a lower threshold of proof and choose to buy FSC certified material from an entity that is not a certificate holder. The bottom line is anyone can sell FSC certified wood, but the chain of custody is broken with the last certificate holder and only a certificate holder has a certificate number, can label a product, modify a claim or make a claim.

The number of COC certificates issued to US companies has been rising. The factors contributing to this growth are the green building program, LEED and the print industry.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
There are dozens of Green Building Programs in the US, LEED is a national green building standard developed by the US Green Building Council which formed in 1993 to promote energy efficient green buildings. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), measures how well a building or community performs across all the metrics that include: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

LEED has four certification levels that encourage higher levels of achievement. Under the new rating system, version 3, 40-49 points are required to be certified, 50-59 to meet silver, 60-79 to meet gold and 80+ points to achieve platinum out of 100 possible points and 10 bonus points. For more information, go to: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1447
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1988
http://www.fsccanada.org/leed.htm

Registered projects can gain one point in the materials and resources category if 50% (by cost) of all wood based materials are FSC certified. Another point may be gained in the innovation in operations category if a much higher percent is used. Usually only wood permanently installed in the building counts.

The percentage of FSC content is multiplied by the cost, the resultant value is counted toward the credit and the balance counts against it.

According to the March 2008 edition of Architectural Products, “LEED-certified projects now account for roughly 10%-15% of the total US construction market.” Prominent LEED projects include the 7 World Trade Center in New York, CityCenter Casino in Las Vegas, Nationals Park in Washington D.C., the Indianapolis International Airport and Traugott Terrace, an urban infill project in Downtown Seattle.

Print Industry
The other factor contributing to the growth in Chain of Custody is the Print Industry, which represents 25- 30% of FSC Chain of Custody. The number of certificate holders that are printers increased significantly between 2005 and 2009.

Consumers of printed matter are asking that their posters, brochures, calendars, newsletters, books, envelopes and inaugural invitations be printed on FSC stock. It is critical for there to be numerous active players at the source, in manufacturing, in distribution and in the marketplace for the whole thing to work.

Benefits of FSC Certification
Benefits to FSC certification may include entrance into new markets, a positive public image, increased credibility to environmental claims, real and perceived risk reduction for Boards of Directors and shareholders, a price premium and may lead to continuous improvement in decision making and profitability through external examination.

FSC Label
FSC certified wood and pulp can originate from well-managed forests, post consumer recycled content or be a combination of FSC certified wood fiber, recycled content and other controlled sources. There are three types of FSC labels that can be found on FSC certified products, FSC Pure, FSC Recycled and FSC Mixed Sources. Only products from verified FSC certified sources may carry the FSC’s “checkmark-and-tree” label.

Labels include the FSC “checkmark-and-tree” logo, the recycled content if applicable, the origin of the material and the certificate number of the manufacturer or printer. You can use the certificate number to look up more information about the certificate holder at http://www.fsc-info.org/.

Specifying FSC Wood Products in Building Projects
First, the question must be asked of your homebuilder, remodeler, architect, or building material supply store, “Can we do this project with FSC certified wood products?” Then ensure that the information discovered during the design phase related to grade, delivery times, and species are included in the specifications, so contractors are aware if special steps need to be taken to secure products. To make it easier for the contractor, you can develop a FSC qualified vendor list. When it comes to ordering material, request “FSC certified” material for each appropriate line-item as opposed to a blanket specification for all wood products and order in advance because FSC products are not always stocked at local material suppliers. When you receive the material verify the claim on the invoice and validity of the supplier’s certificate at http://www.fsc-info.org/. For more information you can download the Designing & Building with FSC Guide from www.fscus.org/dandbwithfsc.org.

Common Misconceptions
Common misconceptions about FSC certified forest products are that they are too expensive, but in fact not all FSC certified products are more expensive, it depends. In March of 2008, I bought FSC certified two by fours for 0.47/LF, at that time two by fours from conventional sources were only a few cents less. In March of this year I bought two by fours for 0.45/LF, which although lower than the year before was twice the price of two by fours from conventional sources, but this year the market has dropped to historic lows. Regarding availability, more products are becoming available in local markets. At a minimum, you can find FSC certified framing lumber, plywood, millworks, flooring and cabinet stock. Poor quality, such as cupped or twisted lumber, should not be more prevalent in FSC certified stock than in stock that is not certified.

Where do you locate FSC certified wood product in Washington?
Following is a list of resources that will help you locate FSC certified wood products in Washington:
• http://www.findfsc.org/ (user friendly)
• http://www.nnrg.org/files/fsc_cocs_wa.xls list of Chain of Custody certificate holders in Washington State
• http://fsccanada.org/FSCpaper.htm#ccc to find FSC certified papers
• www.greenspec.com contains a detailed listings of more than 2,000 environmentally preferable building products
• Locally, Matheus Lumber Company is a COC certificate holder (SGS-COC-006017), Yakima Home Depot has stocked some FSC certified plywood and Knudsons can special order FSC certified wood.

Ideas
Following are ideas that may increase the supply and demand for FSC certified wood products:
• The City and/or County could develop a green checklist and if the homebuilder builds homes according to this green checklist they would have a faster permitting time.
• Requests can be made to suppliers of wood products to source FSC certified material and toward this effort develop a card that people can take to stores with the FSC logo, resources and benefits of sourcing FSC certified material.
• Encourage any mill, chip facility or biomass utilization plant to buy FSC certified material.
• Increase the supply of FSC certified logs and chips by encouraging more landowners to join “the program”. The Northwest Natural Resource Group has a program and you can learn more about it at (http://www.nnrg.org/nw-certified-forestry).

On the Ground Impact
Will my home remodeling project or new home purchase really make a difference in the forest? In response to this question, the Rainforest Alliance has researched 129 companies in 21 countries that manage FSC certified forests to determine the effectiveness of FSC certification. As a result of FSC certification over 60% improved their worker safety and worker training programs, over 60% improved the forested areas around rivers, wetlands and other waterways, over 60% increased the monitoring of sensitive High Conservation Values Forests, over 60% have better identified threatened and endangered species habitat, over 50% have improved reforestation programs and 50% have reduced the use of chemicals. And even though many of these companies were practicing forestry according to their local, regional or national forestry laws, there was still significant room for improvement.

Conclusion
I recognize the benefits of buying or specifying FSC certified wood products is less tangible than conserving energy by installing insulation or generating solar heated water and electricity from the sun because you can’t calculate how quickly the thing will pay for itself based on the electricity or gas saved. However, keep in mind it means something in the forest. FSC incentivizes better forestry, beyond the business as usual model. According to a recent study by the Global Canopy Programme (GCP) deforestation contributes 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. As globalization takes hold, more and more wood comes from outside the US. Your choices in wood products drive not only the protection of biodiversity but also the fate of indigenous communities, the protection of water resources, and the ongoing removal of carbon gasses from our atmosphere.

Sources
Following is the list of sources I used in the development of this presentation:
• Forest Stewardship Council http://www.fsc.org/
• Emily Jaklitsch, FSC http://www.fscus.org/
• Aaron Maizlish, SCS http://www.scscertified.com/
• Building & Remodeling with FSC and the 2008 FSC Manufacturing and Sales Guide developed by Terry Campbell of Forest Products Solutions
• 2006 Forest Certification in North America by E. Hansen et al.
• Design and Building with FSC http://fscus.org/green_building/designing_building.php
• Northwest Natural Resource Group: http://www.nnrg.org/nw-certified-forestrycertified-forestry

Resources
Following is a list of resources:
For more information about FSC
• Forest Stewardship Council http://www.fsc.org/
• Forest Stewardship Council US http://www.fscus.org/
Search for FSC certified wood products
• http://www.findfsc.org/ (user friendly)
• FSC certified wood product suppliers in WA www.nnrg.org/files/fsc_cocs_wa.xls
• Find FSC-certified Papers fsccanada.org/FSCpaper.htm#ccc
• www.greenspec.com listing of > 2,000 environmentally preferable building products
• FSC Canada www.fsccanada.org/FindWoodProducts.htm#distributors
• FSC registered Certificates http://www.fsc-info.org/
To become FSC certified
• Scientific Certification Systems http://www.scscertified.com/
• Rainforest Alliance SmartWood www.rainforest-alliance.org/forestry
For more information about LEED
• USGBC http://www.usgbc.org/
• FSC US www.fscus.org/green_building/
• SCS www.scscertified.com/ecoproducts/
Certification systems comparisons
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/ForCert_ControversyMatrix070808.xls
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/USGBCFinal.htm (YPFPG Final Report to USGBC)
http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/AppA_YPFPGCompMatrix022508.xls (Yale comprehensive comparison of standards)
http://www.certifiedwoodsearch.org/matrix/matrix.aspx (Comparison of Forest Certification Systems)
Yale FAQ about certification: http://www.yale.edu/forestcertification/faq.html

Utilizing Woody Biomass

printed in the Kittitas County Conservation District April 2009 newsletter

By Thembi Borras

What is Biomass?
In the context of forests, a definition of biomass is woody material that accumulates to an amount that becomes a hazard or a management or disposal problem. Biomass is generated during fire hazard reduction, forest health improvement and from logging, it includes:
· Branches from pruning
· Small diameter trees from thinning
· Slash (tree tops, branches, broken stems) from operations

The Development of Biomass
Biomass is, in part, stored carbon and nutrients, the products of unique processes of plants.

Photosynthesis changes inorganic carbon (carbon dioxide) into organic carbon (carbohydrate). Organic carbon is translocated in vascular tissue from a source, such as a mature needle, to a sink such as roots, the tree bole, and developing cones. Organic carbon is used by the tree to increase biomass and provides the energy to build and maintain that biomass.

Transpiration transports minerals from the soil throughout the plant. In the above ground part of the tree, the needles, leaves, twigs and branches contain a significant portion these nutrients.

The following is excerpted from Keeping Our Forest Soils Healthy and Productive, a publication of WSU Extension. “Removing tree trunks may have little effect on site productivity, but “cleaning up” branch­es and foliage (i.e., slash) appears to have greater potential for nutrient removal than leaving them onsite.”

Biomass Treatment Today
Usually biomass is seen as a nuisance to be disposed of quickly to reduce fire hazard, improve aesthetics and minimize habitat for undesirable insects. The least expensive way to get rid of biomass has been to pile and burn it, but in doing so carbon dioxide is released and the heat and energy created by combustion is not utilized. Also, the nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur, stored in the biomass are volatilized and lost to the atmosphere while other nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and potassium become available in the short term, but are easily leached.

Biomass Utilization
Biomass is a resource and higher and better uses for it include:
· Biomass may be left on-site, which will likely require that it be modified to reduce fire hazard, improve aesthetics and minimize habitat for undesirable insects. Modification methods include lopping and scattering and chipping. Slash may also be crushed into road surfaces no longer in use to augment existing drainage and reduce surface erosion. In this scenario, the release of carbon and nutrients stored in the biomass is metered. Note: Wood chips are one of the best mulch choices for trees and shrubs. They perform well in terms of moisture retention, temperature moderation and weed control. For more information, go to http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Wood%20chips%202007.pdf
· Biomass, in the form of logs as short as 12’ and with a small end diameter of 2”, may be sold into the chip market. For example, a local landowner may be able to cover operational and hauling expenses if they are within 10 miles of the chipping facility in Cle Elum. Biomass may also be chipped before it is hauled; more biomass can be hauled in chip form than as logs. The advantage of this scenario is that it may help offset the cost of fire hazard reduction or forest health improvement projects. Note: Chips may be used in the pulp industry for paper, rayon or lyocell or the engineered wood products industry. Try to schedule fuel reduction projects to begin after Sept 1 when trees are beginning to go into dormancy when beetles are not as attracted to fresh cuts and slash. Also, in most circumstances, if the project yields less than 5,000 board feet of timber per 12 month period and will be used by the landowner, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification is not needed. Otherwise, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification must be approved by the Washington Department of Natural Resources before operations begin.
· Biomass can be burned in controlled systems to produce heat and/or energy. At the smallest scale, firewood for home heating systems can be gleaned from slash piles that would otherwise be burnt. The following are the approximate number of British Thermal Units (BTUs) produced per air dried cord burned of local species that may be found in a slash pile. Douglas-fir generates 21 million BTUs, white fir 20 million BTUs and ponderosa pine 17 million BTUs. A BTU is the amount of heat necessary to raise one pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit (F). A million BTUs equal 293 kilowatt hours. Therefore, one cord of Douglas-fir represents 6,153 kilowatt hours, a number of interest if you heat with electricity. For more information about this opportunity contact the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Southeast Headquarters of which can be contacted at 509-925-8510 or the United States Forest Service, which can be contacted at 509-962-9813; usually permits are available by the beginning of June. At a larger scale, biomass may be burned to create heat and/or energy for community facilities such as schools and hospitals. The Enterprise School replaced its oil boilers with an automated wood chip boiler. Due to rising heating oil costs, the school is projected to save over $110,000 annually on energy costs with the new system. To watch a video about this project, go to http://www.sustainablenorthwest.org/quick-links/resources/biomass/the-enterprise-school-project. The following is excerpted from the 2008 publication Where Wood Works Strategies for Heating with Woody Biomass prepared by the Flexible Energy Communities Initiative, “Chip systems are well-suited for large buildings and campuses. Successful projects get their chips locally, usually within 30 miles or so. Chip-handling systems are complex and expensive to build and operate. This is offset by the low cost of the fuel.”
· Biomass may be sold into the compost market.Biomass in the form of small diameter logs may be peeled into round wood products such as poles and posts or sawn into dimensional lumber.

Challenges
Challenges to biomass utilization include hauling distance to markets, processing cost, quality of product and storage. Overcoming these challenges, by in part, developing local markets may be advantageous in job creation, fire hazard reduction, forest health improvement and community self sufficiency.

Thembi Borras is a forester living and working in Kittitas County, WA and can be contacted by email at thembi@mcn.org.

Valley View Fire-Defensible Space

printed in the Kittitas County Conservation District January 2009 newletter

By Thembi Borras

In July of 2008, 11 homes and more than 1,000 acres burned. This loss happened to occur in the Park Hill community in Spokane, WA as a result of the Valley View Fire, but this loss could have occurred in any number of communities in the wildland/urban interface closer to home. The wildland/urban interface is the term used when nature and homes intersect. People are drawn to the solitude, views, privacy and beauty that living in nature brings, but when we build a home that is surrounded by forest or brush, eventually the dangers of living in nature become apparent. Fire can burn the shelter we create. Ironically, people are drawn to nature only to have to modify it to protect life and property.

A fire needs fuel, heat and oxygen to burn and an ignition source to get it started. Fuels, at least, can be manipulated to minimize the risk of loss. In fact, several homes in the path of the fire in the Park Hill community survived because their owners had created a defensible space. Seeing a house that survived next to a home that did not in a severely burned landscape is sobering.

To create a defensible space, it is important to first identify the “hot side”, which is the direction from which fires will most likely approach and is based, in part, on the prevailing wind direction in the summer, percent slope and aspect. For example, the northwest side is the “hot side” for many homes in Sky Meadows, a community located in Upper Kittitas County, because the prevailing wind direction in the summer is from the northwest and many homes sit at the break in slope to take advantage of the view of Mount Stuart. Identifying the “hot side” will help to prioritize the areas to focus on first. Sadly, the homeowners in the Park Hill community had just initiated a fire hazard reduction program but not much work had been done before the fire swept through the area. One landowner had a machine masticate the brush along his driveway beneath an overstory of ponderosa pine, but had not yet had a chance to get to the steep area below his house choked with hundreds of tiny seedlings and brush. The ponderosa pine survived, but his home did not.

In general, the area out to 200 feet is referred to as defensible space. It should incorporate both the landscape and construction Firewise principles (http://www.firewise.org/) as well as provide access for a fire truck and a safe spot for fire fighters to defend a home. The area surrounding a home can be separated into three commonly recognized zones each warranting an increasing level of attention the closer the zone is to the home. They are:

Zero to Thirty Feet (Zone 1): This is the most critical zone. Create a five foot fire-free area on all sides of all structures using non flammable landscaping materials or annuals or perennials with a high moisture content. In the balance of the zone, remove all flammable vegetation or other combustible growth and water plants and trees well or consider xeriscaping. When landscaping, consider the use of fuel breaks such as gravel, or stone paths, well-watered lawn areas, fire resistant and native plants and water features. These act as non-flammable breaks between fuel sources that can help keep a ground fire from spreading. Maintain single specimen trees, ornamental shrubbery or similar plants such that they do not form a means of transmitting a fire from them to the home or outbuildings. Prune specimen trees, so that the lowest limbs are 6 feet above the ground to as high as a pole saw can reach, but remove no more than 50% of the live crown. Go to http://www.dnr.wa.gov/htdocs/rp/stewardship/bfs/WESTERN/pruning.html, for information on how to prune and illustrations of a proper pruning cut. Also, consider staggering the distance between the ground and the height of the lowest limbs to avoid the lollipop look. Space conifer trees such that the crowns are 30 feet distant from each other. Space shrubs 10 feet apart. Remove portions of trees that extend within 10' of the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe. Remove dead or dying wood from any tree adjacent to or overhanging any building. The roof is the most vulnerable part of a house so clear the roof and gutters of leaves, needles or other dead vegetative growth. Stack firewood and locate propane tanks 30 feet from any structure and clear flammable vegetation that is within 10 feet of them.

Thirty to One Hundred Feet (Zone 2): In this area, plants should be low growing and irrigated and trees well spaced and pruned. Native understory vegetation may be retained. The minimum distance between the shrub layer and the canopy should be, at least, 4 times the height of the shrub layer. For example, if the shrub layer is 2 feet tall then the lowest limbs of the overstory trees should be 10 feet above the ground. Maintain space between shrubs at least 2 times as wide as their diameter. Clusters of two to three trees should be spaced 30 feet apart and individual trees should be spaced 20 feet apart. Prune trees as in the highest priority area.

Develop adequate access for emergency vehicles. The diameter of a turnaround should be at least 3 times the length of the vehicle. It is very important to reduce the fire hazard around access routes, especially the roads over which emergency vehicles will travel. The driveway should be at least 12 feet wide with a vertical clearance of 15 feet and preferably a slope of less than 5%.

One Hundred to Two Hundred Feet (Zone 3): The goal in this area is to thin overcrowded native plants, eliminate ladder fuels and remove any debris that will fuel a fire. Reduce the density of overstory trees so that their canopies do not touch. Ladder fuels are vegetation that connects ground vegetation to tree crowns facilitating a ground fire becoming a crown fire; a crown fire moves much more quickly. Reducing ladder fuels may be accomplished by, in part, removing suppressed and intermediate trees and pruning trees as described in the highest priority area. Treat heavy accumulations of woody debris by, for example, chipping slash piles.

Signage is important, so emergency vehicles can find the home. Accessible water is also important; check with the fire district to make sure the design of the fire hydrant is compatible with the fittings a responder would use to connect to the hydrant. The Park Hill community had hydrants, but the fittings were not compatible with that of the response team’s equipment. In addition, the hydrants were made of PVC some of which burned. Bottom line, the hydrants were useless to the firefighters.

Try to schedule fuel reduction projects to begin after Sept 1 when trees are beginning to go into dormancy when beetles are not as attracted to fresh cuts and slash.

Fire hazard reduction activities will generate slash and may generate logs. Within 100’ of the structure, slash may be end hauled, chipped or piled and burned. Slash located 100’ or more from the structure may be lopped and scattered. In most circumstances, if the fire hazard reduction activity yields less than 5,000 board feet of timber per 12 month period that will be used by the landowner, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification is not needed. Otherwise, a Forest Practice Application/ Notification must be approved by the Washington Department of Natural Resources before operations begin.

In conclusion, the Upper County, in particular, is a high risk area because, in part, there is a history of nearby wildfires, the climate is dry with a dry season lasting more than 3 months, the terrain can be steep and fuel can be abundant. To minimize the risk of losing a home in the wildland/urban interface consider implementing Firewise guidelines.

Resources include the Kittitas County Conservation District, which can be contacted at 509-925-8585, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Southeast Headquarters of which can be contacted at 509-925-8510 and local fire districts. For additional guidance about how to make a home and immediate area more fire safe, go to http://www.firewise.org/ and click on resources. If time permits, consider joining the local fire district, there will be no better way to learn about the emergency response infrastructure and how to protect a property from wildfire.