Our Vermont Woods

This webinar will continue the silvicultural theme of the first installments, using New England's most iconic and widely studied tree species, eastern white pine. The century-long period of agricultural abandonment that gave us our formerly abundant pine resource has ended, and its legacy – an increasingly mature resource dominated by sawtimber stands – is now the focus. Despite numerous well-known pest and pathogen problems, Bob believes pine silviculture has a bright future. He will cover principles of successful pine regeneration, and review decades of research on growing stock management, featuring an unconventional, low-density, crop-tree approach designed to produce high-value trees. The University of Maine's Demeritt Forest, where Bob has worked since 1987, provides a valuable case study in converting an old-field-origin, even-aged pine-hemlock forest into a more balanced and sustainable condition while culturing pine in mixed-species stands.

Presenter: Dr. Robert (Bob) S. Seymour, Curtis Hutchins Professor of Silviculture, University of Maine School of Forest Resources