Stand Treatment Prescription Definitions

What are stand prescriptions?

A stand prescription is a planned treatment of a forest site designed to change current stand structure or condition to one that meets management goals. Prescriptions are arranged hierarchically within categories. For example, "even-aged regeneration harvest" is a general category, with "clear-cut" being one method within this category. Under clear-cut, different types of clear-cut harvest are further defined. General prescriptions are commonly used at the planning stage. After a stand has been examined, a more specific prescription is usually assigned.

Key to stand prescription definitions

Large bold type	The most general stand prescription categories
Normal-sized bold type	General categories within the most general categories
*Bold italic type*	More specific categories
Normal type	The most specific level of stand prescription

Definitions

No Action-Free to Grow	No management activity is planned or required during current stage of stand development or before the next scheduled site visit.
Reserve, Designated	The stand is reserved for a designated purpose (e.g., the stand is a designated scientific and natural area).
Reserve, Old Growth	The stand is reserved because it is a designated old growth stand.
Reserve, Future Old Growth	The stand is reserved because it is a designated future old growth stand.

Regeneration Harvest	Harvest is designed to prepare a stand for natural (natural seeding/sprouting) or artificial (planting/seeding) regeneration.
Even-Aged Regen Harvest	Harvest is designed to regenerate a stand with a single age class. The result is a stand of trees containing a single age class in which the range of tree ages is usually less than 20 percent of the rotation.
*Clear Cut*	Essentially all trees in the stand are removed or felled in a single cutting.
Clear Cut with Reserves	Trees left in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Clear Cut–Sprouting	Essentially all trees are removed or felled to prepare the site for natural regeneration by root or stump sprouting of harvested trees.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv–Sprouting	Trees left in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Clear Cut–Natural Seeding	Essentially all trees in the stand are removed or felled to prepare the site for natural seeding. Additional site preparation may or may not follow harvest.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv– Natural Seeding	Trees left in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Clear Cut–Artificial Regen	Essentially all trees in the stand are removed or felled to prepare the site for planting or seeding. Additional site preparation may or may not follow harvest.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv– Artificial Regen	Treatment is the same as Clear Cut—Artificial Regen except that trees left in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
*Seed Tree*	The area is Clear Cut except that certain trees, called seed trees, are left standing singly or in groups to furnish seed to restock the cleared area. Seed trees are removed after regeneration.
Seed Tree–with Reserves	Treatment is the same as Seed Tree, except that trees left in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Seed Tree–Interm Cuts	Seed trees are left standing.
Seed Tree–with Rsrv–Interm Cut	Treatment is the same as Seed Tree—Interm Cuts, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than 5 leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Seed Tree-Final Harvest	The standing seed trees are harvested after regeneration is established.
Seed Tree–with Rsrv–Final Harvest	Treatment is the same as Seed Tree—Final Harvest, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
*Shelterwood*	An even-aged stand undergoes a series of partial cuttings resembling thinnings that extend over a small fraction of the rotation and provide protected seedbeds for regeneration. The sequence of treatments can include three distinct
Shelterwood–with Reserves	Treatment is the same as Shelterwood, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Shelterwood–Interim Cuts	Trees are harvested before the final removal of the original overstory.
Shelterwood–with Rsrv–Interm Cut	Treatment is the same as Shelterwood—Interim Cuts, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Shelterwood–Final Harvest	Trees are removed to release established regeneration.
Shelterwood–with Rsrv–Final Harvest	Treatment is the same as Shelterwood—Final Harvest, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five leave trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
*Salvage– Clear Cut*	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand after a windstorm, wildfire, insect and disease damage, or other environmental factors.
Salvage–with Rsrv–Clear Cut	Treatment is the same as Salvage Clear Cut, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Salvage– Clear Cut– Windstorm	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand after a windstorm.
Salvage–with Rsrv–Clear Cut-Windstorm	Treatment is the same as Salvage Clear Cut—Windstorm, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Salvage –Clear Cut–Wildfire	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand after a wildfire.
Salvage–with Rsrv–Clear Cut-Wildfire	Treatment is the sme as Salvage Clear Cut—Wildfire, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Salvage – Clear Cut– I & D	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand because of insect and disease damage.
Salvage–with Rsrv–Clear Cut–I & D	Treatment is the same as Salvage Clear Cut—I & D, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Salvage – Clear Cut– Environmental	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand because of environmental factors such as beaver flooding.
Salvage–with Rsrv–Clear Cut-Environment	Treatment is the same as Salvage Clear Cut—Environmental, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees
*Sanitation–Clear Cut*	Essentially all trees are removed or felled from a stand to stop or reduce actual or anticipated spread of insects and disease.
Sanitation–with Rsrv–Clear Cut	Treatment is the same as Sanitation—Clear Cut, but leave trees in clumps, strips, or islands occupy at least 5 percent of the clear-cut harvest unit, or more than five trees per acre are left scattered throughout the site.
Two-Aged Regen Harvest	Harvest is designed to maintain and regenerate a stand with two age classes. The resulting stand may be two-aged or tend toward an uneven-aged condition as a consequence of both extended period of regeneration establishment and the retention of reserve trees.
*Clear Cut-With Reserves*	Clear cutting (as Clear Cut) occurs, but varying numbers of trees, or groups of trees, are not harvested to attain goals other than regeneration.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv–Sprouting	Clear cutting with reserves (as Clear Cut) is used to regenerate the stand by sprouting of the harvested trees.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv–Nat Seedg	Clear cutting with reserves (as Clear Cut) is used to regenerate a stand by natural seeding.
Clear Cut–with Rsrv–Atfl Regn	Clear cutting with reserves (as Clear Cut) is used to regenerate a stand by planting or artificial seeding.
*Seed Tree-With Reserves*	Some or all of the seed trees are retained after regeneration has been established to attain goals other than regeneration.
Seed Tree–with Rsrv–Intrm Ct	Treatment involves interim harvest(s) of a seed tree with reserves.
Seed Tree–with Rsrv–Final Ct	Treatment involves final harvest of nonreserved trees in a seed tree with reserves system.
*Shelterwood-With Reserves*	Some or all of the shelter trees are retained well beyond the normal period of retention to attain goals other than regeneration.
Shelterwd–with Rsrv–Intrm Ct	Treatment involves final harvest of nonreserved trees in a seed tree with reserves system.
Shelterwd–with Rsrv–Final Ct	Nonreserved trees in a shelterwood with reserves system undergo final harvest.
Uneven–Aged Regen Harvest	A stand is regenerated and an uneven-aged structure maintained by removing some trees in all size classes singly, in small groups, or in strips. The result is a stand of trees of three or more distinct age classes, either intimately mix
*Group Selection*	Uneven-aged stands are regenerated by removing trees and establishing new age classes in small groups. The maximum width of the groups is approximately twice the height of the mature trees.
Group Selection–with Reserve	Some trees within the group are not cut to attain goals other than regeneration within the group. The remaining stand should include a minimum of six cavity trees, potential cavity trees, and/or snags per acre.
Group Selection–Salvage	Treatment involves salvage harvest in a stand where small groups of trees are harvested because of windstorm, wildfire, insects, disease, or animal
*Single Tree Selection*	New age classes are created in uneven-aged stands by removing individual trees of all size classes more or less uniformly throughout the stand to achieve desired stand structure.

Intermediate Harvest	Treatment involves intermediate timber harvest designed to enhance growth, quality, vigor, and composition of the stand prior to final harvest.
Commercial Thinning	Harvest involves timber thinning that will generate revenue from sale of wood products
Row Thinning– Commercial	Selected rows of a plantation are commercially harvested. This treatment is generally done to reduce stand density and increase future tree growth.
Strip Thinning– Commercial	Strips in a natural stand are commercially harvested. This treatment is generally done to reduce stand density and increase future tree growth.
Selective Thinning– Commercial	Selected trees in a stand are commercially harvested. Often the harvest trees are marked. This is generally done to remove less desirable trees (species or form) from a stand and/or decrease stand density and increase future growth of the remaining more desirable trees.
Salvage Cut – Selective Harvest	Harvest selectively removes dead trees or trees being damaged or dying due to injurious agents other than competition to recover value that would otherwise be lost.
Sanitation Cut – Selective Harvest	Harvest selectively removes trees to improve stand health by stopping or reducing actual or anticipated spread of insects and disease.

Non-Timber Harvest	Plant products that do not require removal of live trees (e.g., maple syrup, herbs) are harvested

Manage for Understory	The management prescription is to not harvest the stand but to manage it for the understory species. The stand typically has a very low volume of merchantable timber, but it has adequate desirable regeneration established. The stand is allowed to naturally regenerate to the understory tree species without timber harvest. An inventory alteration is made to update the stand data.

Non-Timber Products	Nontimber products are harvested.
Boughs	Boughs are harvested
Christmas Trees	Christmas or ornamental trees are harvested.

TMP On-site Visit	The timber management planning process (TMP) specifies that the stand needs a site visit to accurately determine stand condition in order to make a management prescription. As an example, a mature birch stand in a birch decline area is inventoried 10 years.

SFRMP On-site Visit	The Subsection Forest Resource Management Plan (SFRMP) identified this stand as one requiring a field visit to determine the detailed management prescription. Stands with this prescription may have been identified as high risk low volume (HRLV) in the SFRMP based on one or more of the following 1) stands coded as high risk in CSA forest inventory, 2) stands with significant insect or disease damage to the main species, 3) stands over rotation age at the time of the survey with total stand volume less than 8 cords per acre (i.e., low volume), or 4) very old stands (e.g., aspen over 80 years old). This is also referred to as a low-density stand pool, which includes stands with very low stocking or volume per acre. The stand is field visited to determine if it will be appraised and sold on a timber sale, managed for the regenerating species, regenerated through the use of forest development practices such as site preparation and planting, or updated through reinventory of the stand. SFRMP plans provide guidance on the management of stands assigned this prescription.

Re-Inventory	Stand attribute data are determined to be so inaccurate that reinventory is required.