Haywood Community College tours FSC® managed forest

Students from Haywood Community College in the Forest Management Technology curriculum toured forestland managed by Columbia Forest Products on February 27th.  The tour highlighted forest management using Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) guidelines on a small, privately owned forest near Asheville, NC.

Timber harvesting was completed about a year ago and provided students with a glimpse of how forests regenerate themselves after logging or other disturbances.  Already new trees 3 to 6 feet tall are filling in the gaps left from harvesting mature hardwood trees.  Students discussed forest management and soil and water quality management practices for North Carolina’s mountainous terrain.

Students got to see examples of individual tree selection in upland oak stands and thinning of yellow-poplar stands.  This tract was harvested using a forwarder, which is unusual in the mountains, and allows for smaller and fewer skid roads.  The road crossed a creek utilizing steel bridges that are available from the NC Forest Service.  Students were also able to see techniques used to minimize visual disturbance from logging on the slopes of the Pisgah Mountains.