All About Forestry
Full-Cycle Life of a Forest
Forest management and growing forest crops is a long-term program, often spanning
40 to 100 years in the life of an Oregon forest, having four basic steps in a life-cycle
that repeats: 1) site preparation, 2) reforestation, 3) intermediate treatments,
and 4) harvesting.
“Logging”- Stages of a Harvest
Harvesting timber and other forest management activities in Oregon forests are commonly
referred to as “logging.” Logging is the profession of cutting trees, moving them
from stump to the road, in-forest manufacturing trees into logs & chip products,
and then transporting the log products to timber mills far from the forestland.
There are 16 different stages of a logging harvest operation.
Logging Harvest Systems
Cutting trees, moving trees to a roadside landing, manufacturing logs, and loading
logs for trucking to a timber mill are part of a timber harvest system. There are
six general types of timber harvest systems utilized in Oregon forests. Each one
has a different system to move trees to a roadside landing for processing into logs.
Six logging harvest systems, and their advantages, are described in this chapter.
Forestry Methods
This page describes the different scientifically-proven methods applicable for cutting
to manage Oregon forests. These are time-proven “silvicultural methods” accepted
by the professional Society of American Foresters—and these are the range of methods
suited for the many different forest types across Oregon’s geographic regions.