DNR ERF Overview

DNR ERF Overview

By: ERF Policy Review Team

To: Stakeholders

April 18, 2012

Work with citizens to conserve/manage state’s natural resources

Provide outdoor recreation opportunities

Provide for commercial uses of natural resources to create sustainable quality of life

DNR Mission

Forest Sustainability: Managing for Diversity

A Diversity of Sustainable Benefits (“timber; water; fish and wildlife habitat; biodiversity;

recreation; soil; climate; rare and distinctive flora and fauna…” defined in MS 89A)

A Diversity of Forest Types and Ages (e.g., pine, aspen, oak and others; young, mature, and

old…..)

A Diversity of Silviculture Practices (e.g., even-aged management with short and long rotations;

all-aged management with selective harvest; natural and artificial regeneration……..etc.)

Integrated Resource Management Fulfilling a Mutual Responsibility

While each division has different mandates and functions, they have mutual responsibility for sustainable forest management.

1995 SFRA Policy (M.S. 89A.02)It is the policy of the state to pursue the sustainable management, use, and protection of the state's forest resources to achieve the state's economic, environmental, and social goals;

What is ERF?

AKA Older Forest The amount of certain forest types that are beyond

their “normal rotation age” at a specific point in time Forest types with ERF goals include Aspen, Birch, Jack

Pine, Red Pine, Balsam Fir, Lowland Black Spruce, Tamarack.

These “even-aged” types require substantial disturbance (i.e., opening up the canopy) to regenerate.

Normal rotation age is generally the age where growth peaks and is generally the point when harvest would occur IF maximizing timber volumes were your primary objective.

ERF ≠ Old Growth

DNR Old Growth is not harvested DNR Old Growth is more than just old

trees ERF is harvested, but the final

regeneration harvest is delayed until an older age.

ERF is applied to forest types that generally aren’t regarded as “old growth.”

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

ERF ApplicationExample of Current Application

Age Class

Acr

es (0

00's

)

DFFC NRA = 40DFFC MRA = 75

DFFC Avg. ERA = 60

Brief History of ERF 1988 – DNR begins develop of Old-Growth Forests

Guidelines. Staff identifies the need to maintain older forest conditions on

forest types not identified as old-growth types 1990 – OG & ERF Guidelines required by out-of-court

settlement 1992 – DNR Draft ERF Guidelines reviewed by

stakeholders at the first of a series of Stakeholder Roundtables.

1994 — DNR Commissioner approves ERF Guideline 1994 — GEIS modeling assumes a certain level of

application of ERF on state and federal lands. 1996-97 – Additional stakeholder roundtables on NE

application of ERF. 1999— DNR clarifies direction for ERF implementation. 2000 – DNR begins SFRMP and SFRMP becomes the

vehicle for ERF implementation.

Why the concern for Older Forest?

When the ERF Guideline was developed:• Industry was expanding• Timber harvests were rising & projected

to continue increasing.• Concern that older forests would

disappear from DNR and other lands.• Mechanism needed to help assure some

amount of older forest would be sustained on DNR lands.

What has changed? Statewide harvest levels from all

ownerships have declined substantially. Harvest levels on DNR lands have

remained stable/slightly increased. Across all ownerships, MN forest lands in

general have continued to grow older. On DNR lands, the amount of older forest

in some forest types has been reduced towards long-term goals.

Greater need to consider revenue implications in managing for older forests (e.g., Trust Fund).

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-10

0

101-1

10

111-1

20

121-1

30

131-1

40

141-1

5015

0+0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

DNR Timberlands 2012All Commercial Forest Types

198919992012

Age Class

Acr

es (0

00's

)

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-10

0

101-1

2012

0+0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

DNR Aspen-BG TimberlandsStatewide 1989-1999-2012 & DFFC

198919992012DFFC

Age Class

Acr

es (0

00's

)

DFFC Avg NRA = 45 DFFC Avg MRA = 75

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-10

0

101-1

10

111-1

20

121-1

30

131-1

40

141-1

5015

1+0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

DNR Lowland Black Spruce TimberlandsStatewide 1989-1999-2012 & DFFC

198919992012DFFC

Age Class

Acr

es (0

00's

)

1-10

11-20

21-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-70

71-80

81-90

91-10

0

101-1

10

111-1

20

121-1

30

131-1

40

141-1

50

151-1

60

161-1

70

171-1

80

181-1

900

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

DNR Red Pine TimberlandsStatewide 1989-1999-2012 & DFFC

198919992012DFFC

Age Class

Acr

es (0

00's

)

DFFC Avg NRA = 112 DFFC Avg MRA = 187

Hunting Economics on State Forestry and Wildlife Lands

White-tailed Deer ~56,000 hunters

annually $3.1 million in license

revenue and from P-R grant reimbursement

Nearly $27 million in direct expenditures by deer hunters

Ruffed Grouse & Squirrels ~33,000 & 13,000

hunters annually >$2 million in license

revenue and P-R $17.5 million in direct

expenditures by these small game hunters

Older Forest Habitat ElementsCompositional Diversity Additional tree

species Hard and soft mast

production Multiple layers Advanced

regeneration Well-developed shrub

layer

Structural Complexity Large old trees Hard and soft snags Tree cavities Less canopy closure,

canopy gaps Coarse woody debris Large down logs, tip-

ups Winter and security

cover

Effects of Stand Age on Forest Bird Communities in Aspen-dominated Forests (Central Saskatchewan)Young - 15-25 years Mature - 50-60 years Old – 80-100 years

•Number of breeding bird species increases with forest age:• @ point count level: O & M > Y• @ site level: O & M > Y *NS

• @ landscape level: O > M & Y•Increase in conifers in older stands: presence of conifer associated species:

Bay-breasted Warbler

Magnolia Warbler Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Conversion to Longer Lived Species

Fisher - Case Study

Natal and maternal dens in tree cavities of mostly aspen & some oak >21” dbh.

Mature, dense, and structurally diverse forests that include large downed woody debris support an adequate prey base and provide good winter cover for fisher. (overstory tree avg dbh 15+” optimal)

Given the continuing pressure to maximize fiber production from forests (i.e., short forest rotation, biomass harvesting), the forest structural attributes critical to fisher and marten could become limiting in the future, if not already. (Erb et al. 2010)

Locating ERF to Meet Specific Needs

Cavity-nesting Waterfowl Cavity use distance from wetland/water edge: Wood duck ≤ 1.25

mile, Common goldeneye ≤ 1.0 mile, Hooded merganser ≤ 0.3 mile.

MN aspen needs to be >50 years old to develop suitable cavities. Minimum tree size for nesting cavity (11” dbh). Aspen >20” dbh produce cavities at 5 times the rate as aspen 11-

20” dbh.

0

20

40

60

80 Mead WA

Total trees (n = 1,326)

Cavity-trees (n = 22)

Diameter at breast height (in)

% o

f tre

es

11.0-11.7 11.8-15.7 15.8-19.6 19.7-23.6 23.6-27.5 27.6-31.4 >31.5

ScaleSpatial and Temporal

Spatial Landscape (ECS Subsections) (age classes) Site (selected for each SFRMP) (successional stages)

Stand Groups of Stands

ERF – Natural Resource Sustainability

Temporal Long Term Short Term

Ecosystem Functions


The interactions between biotic and abiotic components in an ecosystem results in complex exchanges of energy, nutrients and waste.Ecosystem Services

The wide array of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems.

Ecosystem Functions

Gas exchange (photosynthesis)

Nutrient cycling

Species interactions

Ecosystem structure and composition

Ecosystem services

Atmospheric oxygen, carbon sequestration and storage

Contaminant sequestration, nitrogen fixation

Pollination

Hydrologic modification, soil retention

Water quality and quantity


The more complex a system is the more functions it will support. The more functions the more ecosystem services provided.

Ecosystem ServicesProvided by Older Forests


Habitat--Niche Carbon Storage Hydrologic processes


Resiliency

DiseaseInsectsClimate Change

Invasive Species

Harvesting WindFire

Refers to the ability of anecosystem to adjust to disturbance or changewithout greatly altering itsfunctioning.

ERF – Natural Resource Sustainability Resiliency

Ecosystems are not static but cycle through multiple stages depending on the form and magnitude of disturbance.The biological diversity of

the ecosystem provides a level of resilience to the system.

General Observations:

Overall, Minnesota forestlands are older than they were in 1994.

Our ERF policy has been very successful!

Harvesting is significantly reduced on all ownerships.

Harvesting on DNR managed lands has been stable, or increased.

General Observations:

We need young forest. We need older forest too.

Ecosystem functions and certain habitats benefit from older forests.

Trust lands are different! They need to be considered in a different context from other DNR managed lands.

Identified DNR ERF Policy Questions How should we account for all older

forest on state land? How do we better locate ERF on the

landscape? Should Site Index be considered? How will School Trust lands be treated

differently? Should we focus on plant community

growth stage? Should uneven aged covertypes count

towards ERF goals?

Identified DNR ERF Policy Questions (continued)

Should planted stands be treated differently?

Is consistency among SFRMP’s important?

Are there Forest Certification implications?

What should ERF harvest prescriptions look like?

Should ERF stand “tags” be permanent?

Team members contact information:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 218-766-0734 [email protected] 218-723-4763 x225

For data and modeling information:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 218-322-2518

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DNR ERF Overview

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