Forest Management Challenges & Opportunities

1. Forest ManagementChallenges & Opportunities Green Counties: Green Lands Madison, VA 18 September 2007 Mike Santucci Region 3 Forest Conservation Specialist

2. Topics of Discussion • The forest by the numbers • Demographic impact • Threats and issues • Points to ponder

3. Forest Cover – Madison County

4. Timberland – All Landowners

5. Timberland – NIPFOs

6. Forest Cover Types

7. Forestland Ownership

8. Economic Impact • $156.3 MM • DIRECT, INDIRECT, INDUCED impacts • #1 agricultural industry in the state • 1180 residents employed • 10% of population • Difficult to quantify other values

9. Demographics • Northern Piedmont is fastest growing region in VA • Added 15,000+ people in 5 years • Lost 5000+/- acres of forestland

10. Conservation Continuum Exploitation Preservation “Come–heres” New residents Neo-conservationists Regulation Societal benefits “Been–heres” Generational families Traditionalists Economic incentives Private property rights

11. Ecological Footprint • A single human being: • Annually consumes the amount of wood in a 16-inch diameter tree that is 100 feet tall • Uses 750 pounds of paper per year • Home construction • 20,000 board feet of lumber • 14,000 board feet of panel products • 24 acres of forestland per person

12. Ecological FootprintAcres of Forestland per Person

13. Local Threats to Forestland • Loss of open space • Through parcelization, fragmentation and conversion • Improper forest management • Past and present • Water quantity and quality • Invasive species

14. Forest Parcelization • Division of large, contiguous forest tracts into smaller properties • Promotes forest fragmentation and land-use conversion.

17. Fragmentation • Often leads to conversion • Usually development • Tends to isolate and separate forested tracts from each other. • 75 acres • Healthy & manageable forest systems • Madison County • Average tract size is 20 acres • 85% of tracts are smaller

19. Conversion • VA losing 26,000 acres of forestland per year • 71+ acres per day • 2.9 acres per hour • 1 million acres by 2040 • Majority is concentrated in northern piedmont and mountains • 75% due to development

20. Proximity Pressure • Culmination of fragmentation and development • Madison County Population Density = 42 people per square mile

25. Some Points to Ponder • History is the future • Succession happens • Forest management is an act of trade-offs • Where do the opportunities lie?

26. History is the Future • Past events impact today’s decisions • Today’s decisions will impact tomorrow’s choices • “By understanding our past, we can shape our future.” • Forest History Society

27. Succession Happens • Forests: • Are not static • Age at a different rate than us • Can and do change • Take the long view • The shorter the planning horizon, the less possibility for sustainability • “Forest time” is out of sync with “human time”

28. Trade-offs • Very few panaceas or silver bullets • Very little is black & white • Get comfortable in the “gray” • Objectives can be contradictory • Cause and effect

29. Opportunities • Public participation • Comprehensive Plan revisions • Ad hoc committees • Forest Stewardship Management Plans • Cost Share Programs • Tax Incentives • Land Use taxation • Forestal districts • Conservation Easements

30. THANK YOU! • Questions?