Sneak Peek: The Forestry Source, March 

February 28, 2019 

The March edition of The Forestry Source highlights agroforestry, along with other articles covering the broad field of forestry. Here's a sneak peek of the action.

Hurricane Michael Fells 58M Tons of Timber
An analysis of the damage to timber in Florida by Hurricane Michael last year shows that a total of 58.1 million tons of timber was blown down or damaged on more than 3.5 million acres, the equivalent of 12 years of business-as-usual harvests. The analysis, by Forest2Market, offers an outlook for wood products companies and landowners in the affected area:

Agroforestry Is a “Big-Tent” Discipline
James Allen writes that “By their very nature, the science and practice of agroforestry are inherently interdisciplinary. Agroforestry has biophysical elements that draw upon disciplines such as silviculture, horticulture, agronomy, and animal science. It also has important social and economic dimensions; for example, agroforestry systems often incorporate culturally significant foods or provide supplemental income for landowners. This interdisciplinary nature, as well as agroforestry’s potential to offer partial solutions to major societal needs such as food security, is attractive to people from a wide variety of backgrounds, including many who are not scientists or natural-resources professionals.”

Characterizing Riparian Buffers Using Horizontal Line Sampling
Steve “Dr. DBH” Fairweather describes a method of conducting a sample-based inventory of riparian zones: “Having to supply the data that would allow a description of the vegetation at any yet-to-be-defined distance from a stream eventually led us to adopt horizontal line sampling. While most foresters are pretty familiar with horizontal point sampling, in which an angle gauge (such as a prism or relascope) is used to decide which trees to tally as they sweep around a central point, most are not familiar with horizontal line sampling. In the latter technique, a forester still uses an angle gauge to determine which trees are tallied, but then instead walks a line and looks to both sides of the line to select the tally trees.”

Environmental Education: A Crucial Tool in Creating a More-Inclusive Profession
As SAF moves forward in creating a more-inclusive Society, environmental education (EE) will play a crucial role, because it is the means by which the next generations of foresters and natural-resources professionals are cultivated. Yet in discussions with their colleagues, the authors of this article note that “we have learned that EE is not fully embraced by our profession. More worrisome, there are communities that are not included in current EE programs.” This article offers a few recommendations on how to either initiate an EE project or increase the diversity of the students you are currently reaching.