Forest Management Areas
Little Creek Forest
There are approximately 316 acres in this management unit. The first cutting was done between 1907 and 1911 by clear-cut and burn railroad logging. Approximately 40 acres of second growth redwood were harvested in the 1960's, leaving very little merchantable timber. With the exception of this site, the logging has generated an even-aged stand approximately 80 years old consisting of Douglas-fir and redwood trees. Tanoak is the primary understory tree with occasional mixtures of madrone.
A Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) conducted in 1989 by Piper, Kelly and Anderson established an inventory of 26,163 bf/ac for redwood and 17,318 bf/ac for Douglas-fir using 100 CFI plots of 1/5th acre. The CFI plots were re-established in 1997 by Larry Bonner and those measurements indicated an inventory of 28,612 bf/ac for redwood and 8,923 bf/ac for Douglas-fir. The current species distribution is approximately 76% redwood and 24% Douglas-fir (Bonner, 1998). The preferred management of this unit would be an uneven-aged stand with a 70% redwood and 30% Douglas-fir mix. Present management practices are converting this to an uneven-aged stand (which meets the Santa Cruz timber regulations of selective harvesting).
Cutting cycles are planned for ten to fifteen-year periods with an evaluation done after five years. Continuous forest inventory plots were established for the unit by establishing permanent markers on a 500 x 500 ft grid. Stands are divided according to forest inventory, topography and access. There are currently a total of 8 stands in the North and South Fork units with additional ones planned for the future. It is intended that each stand will have an ongoing evaluation data sheet describing the operational and environmental factors of that stand, including such effects on the trees as disease, mass land movements and fire. There will also be a schedule of work established for each stand that will include the stands at Valencia Creek.
To bring the forest to a regulated state, the increment analysis used for the annual cut calculations is 200,000 BF per year or 500 BF per acre (Big Creek Lumber, 1991). The stand will eventually contain a maximum diameter of 30 inches, a desired q-factor of 1.2 and a basal area of 180 square feet per acre (Piirto et al, 1996).
Scotts Creek Forest
This unit contains a mixture of species including both natural and planted stands of Monterey pines and a variety of hardwood trees including riparian forest. It includes the world's largest nutmeg tree. Much of this site is very steep and difficult to manage. A few other areas, some in grassland, appear to be suitable for small experimental plantations. Road access across Scotts Creek has been considered to provide a hauling road and permanent access for the railroad and foot traffic. The Scotts Creek riparian zone may preclude railroad and vehicular access along the lower part of Scotts Creek stand. Recent zoning interpretation changes by Santa Cruz County have blocked the THP submitted for this unit. A zoning change request of the parcels involved was submitted to Santa Cruz County in 2001.
A Continuous Forestry Inventory (CFI) for the Scotts Creek Management Unit was conducted by Steve Auten in January 2000 following a Baseline and Grid System report in November 1999. The study estimated volume, site class, regeneration and disease based on the Little Creek CFI Bonner method modified with the FNR 1997 protocol to address special measurement situations and data additions. The study estimated a mixture of 54.9 acres of Monterey pine, and 207.1 acres of redwood/Douglas-fir mix based on a sampling of 9.2 of the 262 acres using the volume equation method. There is less than 95% confidence in these results due to stand variability. The researchers noticed low regeneration of conifers except for redwood basal sprouts. Brush is heavy throughout most of the stand and impacts seedling growth.
The study determined that only 10% of the Monterey pines are not infected with pitch canker and that the high-grade logging in 1955 has negatively affected subsequent growth. The data also suggest that Monterey pine seedlings experience a lower infection rate than those over 1î in diameter. Due to stand variability the report cautioned against blanket treatments and recommended that the first harvest be for cleansing rather than making money. It suggested a controlled burn on the upper slopes to remove competing brush.
The Pitch Canker Study has undertaken research on Monterey pine plots varying from 1/8th of an acre to 1/2 acre established in the Monterey pine portion of Scotts Creek Unite in 2001 to determine resistance to the disease. The sites were replanted early in 2002 with resistant, screened stock that is being monitored for health and development.
Satellite Units
This unit comprises seven smaller and less marketable stands consisting primarily of Douglas-fir with Monterey pine interspersed and small pockets of redwood in more protected and moister sites. An estimated 15,340,000 bf are contained in the Satellite and Scotts Creek stands, of which only a maximum of 20% or approximately 3,000 mbf was considered harvestable in the Big Creek Lumber report (1991). Of that only 1,000 to 1,500 mbf would be harvestable in the next 20 years. What is harvestable is widely scattered. The value of these stands is considered to be primarily educational since there is much remedial work to be done such as sanitation/salvage, timber stand improvement, site preparation and planting operations. Some of the roads used in these units for earlier harvesting should not be used again for environmental reasons. There is also potential to manage some of the stands for wildlife habitat and for custom milling.
Valencia Creek Forest
The Valencia Creek stand is dominated by redwoods with scattered stands of Douglas-fir. Some hardwoods consisting of tan oak, madrone and Shreve oak are interspersed throughout the timbered area. The site as a whole was clear cut at the turn of the century with two selective harvest entries in the 60's and 70's leading to a gap in the 1 - 6" size trees. In general, the stand is about 100 years old with a few contorted old- growth trees still standing. The selective harvest entries present some unique opportunities to study and evaluate uneven-aged forest management in the coast redwood forest type.
A Non-Industrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP) was approved for Valencia Creek in June 2001 (Culver et al, 2001). Thirty-seven acres of the NTMP lies within the Corralitos Creek Watershed that qualified for a Modified THP. Investigations are to be made about changing the zoning of the Special Use (SU) parcel to Timber Production (TP) within the next two years. The property is divided into three units, with Unit 1 having 213 acres, Unit 2 having 254 acres and Unit 3 having 37 acres.
For Management Unit 1, the NTMP identified an annual growth rate of 636 board feet (bf) per acre for the commercial conifer stand plots which consists of 87% redwoods and 13% Douglas-fir. With a fifteen-year cutting cycle, the stand would support a harvest of 2,030,750 bf for the unit. However, these figures were based on incomplete data from a small sampling base and more recent CFI calculations by Harlan Trammer identified a volume summary of 7,413,893 (Trammer, 2002) Only 2,006,520 bf were harvested however, since it is a Cal Poly objective to increase the overall growth on the property to a stocking level of at least 24,000 bf to an acre.
For Management Unit 2, the annual growth rate was estimated at 391 bf per acre for a commercial conifer mix of 95% redwoods and 5% Douglas-fir. Based on a fifteen-year cutting cycle for this stand there were 6,722,387 bf (Trammer, 2002) that could have been harvested. However, to increase overall growth until the stand reaches a pre-harvest stocking level of at least 21,000 bf per acre, there were 2,279,540 bf harvested. An evaluation for the need to re-measure the CFI plots will be undertaken in the next two years and a schedule established for re-measurement. The actual volume that is cut will be based on the growth of the stand during the fifteen-year period.