Changing the Paradigm: Inventory Review and Scenario Modeling for the Duke Forest

Since it was founded in 1931, the Duke Forest has shown a commitment to sustainable timber management practices and forestry education. However, in recent years, a misalignment between revenue expectations and the timber management paradigm have resulted in an uneven age class distribution favoring younger age classes of pine. The purpose of this project is help the Duke Forest address this management challenge by reassessing its inventory and yield projections from its 2010 inventory to understand how the Forest might be able to improve its estimation of sustainable harvest by more accurately accounting for volume growth. Additional analyses were also conducted to model different harvest rotation lengths using the US Forest Service’s Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS) to understand how more intensive management practices, such as shortening the pine rotation length and planting genetically improved stock, could help balance the Forest’s age class distribution in other divisions while keeping the forest profitable.