Silviculture

As steward of our lands, Sealaska has a responsibility as a Regional Corporation to ensure the cultural and economic survival of our shareholders and future generations of shareholders. Forest management is an integral part of our stewardship, and Sealaska’s silviculture program is essential to our future profitability.

Silviculture is the agriculture of trees—how to grow them, how to maximize growth and return, and how to manipulate tree species compositions to meet landowner objectives.

Since the start of Sealaska harvest activities, total silviculture activities include:

Hand planting of 6,506 acres
Pre-commercial thinning of 23,786 acres
Fertilization of 327 acres
Pruning of 685 acres
Aerial seeding of 290 acres
Timber stand improvement of 44 acres

All of these important practices help to regenerate and maintain healthy forests to protect our timber assets investments for long-term sustainability.

Shareholder Crews Keep our Forests and Communities Healthy
Tree planting and other silvicultural work on Sealaska land are carried out by contractors. This seasonal work offers an employment opportunity to our shareholders, often near their home communities. Currently, Ravens Forest, a shareholder-owned company in Hoonah is taking advantage of this opportunity, and Sealaska has used their services for a number of years. This year a crew of about ten shareholders, shareholder spouses or family members, Ravens Forest planted 160,000 seedlings on approximately 800 acres of Corporation land at East Port Frederick. Recurring seasonal silviculture work is also carried out in other areas of Southeast Alaska, specifically in the Prince of Wales Island area and at Kake.

The purpose of Sealaska’s timber management program is to maximize the productive capacity of its commercial forestlands and to increase the volume and value of the timber assets conveyed to the Corporation under ANCSA.
Intensive management of second-growth stands will:

reduce the period of time (rotation age) required to produce successive crops of timber
reduce any gap between the time when old-growth timber harvest operations are completed and the harvest of second-growth stands commence
will make it possible to increase the sustainable harvest level beyond what would be achievable under longer rotation ages.

Other non-timber-related reasons for the silviculture program are:

to assure compliance with the provisions of the Alaska Forest Practices Act
meet corporate land stewardship responsibilities, and
benefits to non-commodity resources on Sealaska’s forestlands, such as the greater abundance of herbs, shrubs and other vegetation favored by wildlife that result from the increased sunlight reaching the forest floor after our large-scale precommercial thinning.

Public awareness of Sealaska’s commitment to responsible and forward-looking intensive timber management practices will serve to protect its right to develop and utilize their natural resources.

SILVICULTURAL PRACTICES

Forest Regeneration
Hand Planting/Aerial Seeding—In most cases, prolific natural regeneration follows our harvest of old-growth timber and this precludes the need for hand-planting or aerial seeding. We do, however, hand plant on our northern forests near Hoonah, and where rapid re-establishment of the next crop of trees is important for aesthetic or water quality purposes, such as in public watersheds.

Since commencement of harvest operations in 1980, Sealaska has hand-planted approximately 6,431 acres of its forestlands, and has aerially seeded 290 acres.

Timber Stand Improvement
Precommercial Thinning:

Reduces stocking (number of trees per acre) to concentrate the productive capacity of the site on fewer, larger-diameter crop trees at final harvest
Shortens rotation age by 15 to 20 years
Increases the average crop tree diameter at harvest
Alters species composition by favoring one species (e.g. favoring faster growing spruce and more valuable cedar over hemlock)
Improves stand quality by favoring the most vigorous and eliminates lower quality trees
Controls insect and disease problems
Sealaska began precommercial thinning in 1993, and as of the end of calendar year 2005, we have completed 23,506 acres.

Basal Pruning, the removal of branches from the lower portion of the tree’s stem, increases wood which is free of knots on the final crop trees, and this increases the value of the timber at harvest age.

Sealaska began basal pruning in 1996 and as of the end of 2005 we have completed 787 acres.

Fertilization increases yields at harvest age and/or reduces the length of time required to produce successive timber crops, and is applied by helicopter.

Sealaska fertilized in 1995, 1996 and 1999 in the Kina Cove area near Kasaan, and the Big Salt area near Klawock. We have fertilized 327 acres, some of which have been treated twice.

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