Haywood Community College Tours FSC Forest Managed By Columbia Forest Products
- April 19, 2013
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- by lwinkler
Students from Haywood Community College (HCC) toured forestland belonging to former Congressman Charles Taylor on March 21. HCC opened in 1965 in Clyde, NC. HCC owns and manages forestland as a teaching forest for its natural resources program. The tour highlighted FSC forest management on a small, privately held hardwood forest. Columbia Forest Products wrote the management plan for this property and the timberland is managed by Columbia under FSC guidelines.
Students discussed silviculture of upland hardwoods with foresters from Columbia and compared notes with their silviculture professor. The tour provided students with an opportunity to compare what they have studied with on the ground management. Managing hardwood forests requires longer and more detailed planning than quick rotation pine forests.
Students got to see examples of individual tree selection and group selection harvest. The tract was harvested a couple of years ago, so students were able to witness how forests naturally regenerate themselves through stump and see sprouts. The short hike on a sunny day, against a backdrop of western North Carolina’s beautiful mountains was better