1.6. Introduction: Prescription Process

Introduction

A stand prescription is a professional plan for controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of a specific stand. A prescription is the method by which silvicultural information is documented by professional foresters and communicated to landowners, loggers, and other stakeholders. A good prescription is temporally and spatially bounded. It usually covers a single stand, and may range in coverage from a few years up to the length of an entire rotation. It meets landowner objectives in an ecologically feasible and realistic manner within given economic constraints. Prescriptions must also be consistent with the professional ethics of the authoring forester. Because each stand is unique, prescriptions cannot follow a cook-book approach. They require on-the-ground observation by a trained forester to assess current stand conditions. This is where the art of silviculture is often applied; a forester’s experiences must be adapted to meet the challenges presented by the unique circumstances of each stand.

A good prescription:

• is a written document,
• includes clear objectives and desired future conditions,
• offers long-term communication of site goals and intentions,
• captures the thoughts of the prescription writer,
• is a site-level management plan,
• provides for long-term management direction,
• is a means of communicating goals and intentions to stakeholders and constituents,
• and is driven by data (site inventory + scientific literature).

Process

The process of writing a prescription for a private landowner usually follows a similar series of steps.

1. Define landowner objectives. These may include:
   • timber management,
   • wildlife management,
   • aesthetic considerations,
   • protection of cultural resources like old homesteads,
   • financial considerations (timber income, expenses, tax implications, intergenerational land transfer),
   • and other concerns specific to the landowner.
2. Obtain maps. Various internet resources contain many useful and free maps for East Texas.
   • Soil maps: Web Soil Survey from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service contains soil maps for most forested areas: http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm
   • Topographic maps including roads & structures: The Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin contains topographic maps with detailed road and structure data for the entire United States: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/
   • Ownership: County level tax assessor or appraisal offices are a useful source for ownership information and maps, including any conservation easements. While some counties have information available online, many continue to maintain only physical copies available at county courthouses or offices. Data for Nacogdoches County are available online: http://www.nacocad.org/
   • Aerial and satellite imagery or remote sensing data: The Texas Natural Resources Information System (TNRIS) contains many useful data layers including digital elevation models, landsat, and lidar layers, and color infrared imagery (CIR) useful in stand delineation among others: https://data.tnris.org/
3. Inventory the tract. Appropriate cruise designs consider:
   • cost constraints,
   • adequate data quality and certainty, and
   • appropriate design for cruiser training, site and species, and stand variability.
4. Assess feasibility of landowner objectives. Objectives must be consistent with a forester’s professional ethics and must be ecologically feasible.
   • Operations should not degrade site quality.
   • The prescription should be within the forester’s area of expertise and training.
   • Objectives should be realistic given stand conditions and site resources.
   • Objectives should be achievable within the desired timeline.
   • Objectives should be within the landowner’s economic constraints.
5. Develop a timeline. Using landowner objectives a timeline ranging from 5-10 years to a whole rotation or longer should be decided upon. Development of a timeline facilitates understanding how operations may interact, and what the potential benefits and pitfalls of each operation are.
6. Create marking instructions. Marking instructions communicate the information in the prescription to the operators on the site given the regeneration method or intermediate treatment proposed and the inventory. Specific marking instructions are included. Remember that marking is a time and money intensive process, and the minimal effort to achieve the desired objectives should be expended.
7. Inventory and mark timber for bid prospectus. A more intensive cruise can provide detailed information for the bid prospectus. The bid prospectus allows timber buyers to make informed decisions on whether they will bid for the job.
8. Contact timber buyers. The prospectus is sent out to local timber buyers giving them permission to access the site to evaluate your inventory data and site conditions.
9. Negotiate the timber contract. A contract is negotiated and recorded in the local courthouse.
10. Administer the sale. The forester meets the logger on site and demonstrates the provisions of the contract. Regular inspections of the site during logging insure continued compliance with contract stipulations.

Prescription Format for FORS 3347

Prescriptions will include main components:

1. A stand description giving information on the current state of the site and stand, including all details relevant to future operations.
2. A tabular timeline summarizing all prescribed data collection activities and all establishment, intermediate, and regeneration treatments.
3. A prescription narrative detailing each operation.

Stand Description

This is a general checklist of items that may be included in a stand description. Not all items will be relevant for each stand. Only include relevant items.

Tabular Timeline

The purpose of the tabular timeline is to summarize your prescription so the reader may quickly identify your major treatments.

Use the age of the dominant cohort if more than one is present. Here is an example.

Prescription Narrative

Describe in detail each operation in narrative format referring to data that supports your decisions. MAKE DECISIONS based on most likely outcomes, DO NOT give lists of options. It is understood that changing conditions may require your prescription to be updated in the future. Do not try to predict every potential outcome. The narrative should be detailed, including such information as marking instructions, deck locations, herbicide composition and rates, fertilizer composition and rates, thinning guides, etc. Make sure to clearly identify the following using correct terminology:

• Silvicultural System
• Method of Regeneration (If necessary. This is often included in the silvicultural system name, but may need further clarification, e.g. cleancut in a clearcut system.)
• Establishment Treatments
• Intermediate Treatments