Tab F Forestry and Urban Forestry.pdf

45 SW INRMP

Tab F, Forestry/Urban Forestry

Commercial Forestry

Out of the four 45 SW installations covered in this plan, CCAFS and MTA have been studied for potential commercial forestry operations. On CCAFS, there are approximately 9,500 acres of forested land capable of producing forest products for commercial use. These forests are comprised of oak scrub, maritime hammock, or hydric hammocks. The oak trees, which dominate these forests, are not large enough, both in height and basal diameter, to be profitably logged for saw timber. The larger oaks and pine trees on the installation, which typically would be used for saw timber, are located in the hydric hammocks that parallel the Banana River shoreline where numerous archaeological sites are located.

The amount of salable timber in these areas is relatively sparse. Further, the potential environmental impacts resulting from logging operations in these hammock communities would far exceed any benefits that may be derived from conducting a commercial timber sale. Similarly, clear cutting native vegetation and implementing a silviculture program specifically for the development of a commercial forest would significantly impact a number of threatened, endangered and/or protected animal species as well as cultural resources. Prior migratory bird surveys (1998) identified the importance of maintaining maritime hammock for migrating birds. Recent (2007) migratory bird surveys also identified oak-palmetto >7 meters as a viable, significant habitat type (maritime hammock occurs within this habitat) that supports large numbers of spring migrating birds (warblers, redstarts, nighthawks, etc.), and residents such as woodpeckers. Therefore, no formal forest management program has been established on CCAFS.

Attempts have been made to contract preliminary site clearing for large construction projects with commercial firewood companies. It was proposed that a firewood company could remove all salable (as firewood) trees prior to site clearing; however, no potential contractors were identified. In a further effort to utilize this resource, logging for firewood was added to a land-clearing contract conducted for scrub habitat rehabilitation. Scrub oak trees were cut into four-foot sections and palletized for sale through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO). A number of pallets were sold to individuals; however, when sales declined, DRMO sold the remaining pallets to a single firewood contractor at a significant monetary loss. When considering the additional funds required to task the land clearing contractor to cut, palletize and deliver (to DRMO) the firewood, as opposed to the cost to simply clear and grub a site, establishing a commercial firewood harvesting program it is not cost effective.

For these same basic reasons, economics, cost to benefit ratio, environmental impacts, and product marketability, no other types of forest product harvesting are planned for CCAFS.

45 SW INRMP

Tab F, Forestry/Urban Forestry

Likewise, at MTA a study was conducted in 1988 to determine if timber harvest was economical. The Florida Division of Forestry had thought that approximately 290 acres out of the 640 acres may be suitable for pine plantation for production of pulpwood and sawtimber. The volume, ages and growth rates of the timber would need to be calculated to determine harvesting which of course would allow approximation of the market value. The Division of Forestry recommended establishing controlled burn compartments and firebreaks, and prioritizing the compartments with rotation to eliminate competition, reduce the fuel load build-up, and maintain the pine plantation. Annual burning was highly recommended with an established emergency plan for wildfire occurrence and smoke management due to the surrounding residential communities. Additionally, allowing natural regeneration of the pine was not considered a good method because the existing pines were not of genetic high quality and mechanical planting would allow an even spacing of trees allowing approximately 726 pines per acre. It was determined that it would take about 10 years of active management to provide an adequate stocking of trees.

It was decided that the cost of maintaining a pine plantation with contracting services for site preparation, maintenance, controlled burn support, planting, harvesting, and commercial sale would provide limited profit. In addition, harvesting of live oak stands wouldn’t result in an economic profit and should be maintained for wildlife habitat.

Urban Forestry

The 45 SW developed Urban Forestry Management Plans (October 1997) for CCAFS and PAFB and they are incorporated by reference in the INRMP. For specific details on Urban Forestry, refer to Tab K, Lands and Grounds. In general the 1997 Plans were an inventory of trees for CCAFS and PAFB that should be updated to assess the current health of the urban forests and landscaping to improve tree health and maintenance efficiencies. The base landscape contractors should be performing these assessments, but more than likely with smaller budgets it would be a low priority. Base Environmental will assess future plantings of trees and native species for habitat restoration and urban forest enhancement.