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A Total Forest Management Plan and Wildland Management Decision Support System
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Clearcuts - FSC Appendix B
Limits on the Use and Size of Clearcuts

The Southeast Working Group was strongly encouraged by the US Office of the Forest Stewardship Council to place maximum limits on clearcut sizes for forest operations in the Southeast. The Working Group had a diversity of opinions on the issue of clearcutting (ranging from allowing no clearcutting to placing no limits on the use of clearcuts) and on appropriate maximum size limits. During the 2001 SE Draft--US Standards harmonization meeting, the working group discussed at length whether to retain the existing SE language on the use and size of clearcuts or to adopt the language of the national standards. The final decision was, for the time being, to go with the national language and to closely monitor its interpretation by certifiers and forest manager. Nevertheless, the following appendix has been retained in the Harmonized Draft in order to provide certifiers and other stakeholders in forest certification with the spirit of the original, SE Regional Standards position on the use and size of clearcuts. The guidelines describe below are not binding to the certification of forest management in the Southeastern United States.

First, the Working Group decided that forest type should both determine if clearcutting is allowed and influence the limits on size of clearcuts. They came up with the following guidelines for each of the different forest types:

a. Primary and natural forests: clearcutting is not allowed. Harvesting is not allowed at all in primary forests. For natural forests, the majority of the Working Group believes uneven-aged management techniques are more appropriate.

b. Semi-natural forests: stands with frees greater than 100 years old: clearcutting is not allowed even-aged stands of hardwood and cypress: clearcutting is allowed; the size of openings should be conservative

c. Even-aged stands of pine and pine/hardwood. clearcutting is allowed; the size of openings should not be higher than the limit for plantations and should be justified by natural regeneration requirements

d. Plantations: clearcutting is allowed; the limit for the size of openings is 40 acres. The Working Group chose 40 acres because, based on scientific literature and the personal experiences of the foresters and landowners in the Group, this was determined to be a size that would normally be economically operable.

The Working Group then identified a series of reasons for exceptions to these rules. Justification must be provided for any deviation from the rules. Exceptions are as follows:

1. Clearcuts up to 80 acres are allowed in cases where a 40-acre stand would not provide enough timber volume to secure an economically operable timber sale, meaning that the sale would not attract a buyer and/or the landowner would not make a profit from the sale. Examples of such cases include stands that have been high graded and the most valuable species and trees have already been removed, or where a site has been planted with inappropriate, poorly growing species and the landowner/manager wants to clear and restore the site. This exception cannot be used when a 40-acre clearcut would be economically operable and a landowner wants to cut 80 acres simply to make a greater profit.

2. Clearcuts up to 80 acres are allowed in cases where harvesting a stand in 40 acre blocks would cause unnecessary environmental disturbance to the area surrounding the stand. This applies to plantations that are surrounded by ecologically sensitive areas (e.g., seasonally wet areas)1 which must be passed through or otherwise impacted in order to harvest the plantation. In such cases, harvesting up to 80 acres is allowed if it would result in less of an impact on ecologically sensitive areas (e.g., harvesting the stand once instead of dividing it and revisiting the stand for the rest of the timber at a later date).

3. An exception to all of the limits on the use and size of clearcuts was made in cases of ecologic necessity. Some may question the legitimacy of this exception, but it was advocated by the more environmentally active segment of the Working Group. They wanted this exception so that clearcutting could be used in natural forest stands- where appropriate and necessary-as a tool for maintaining ecosystems that are dependent on large, contiguous openings. The primary motivation was the sand pine scrub ecosystem, which supports the ecologically significant Florida scrub jay and is currently being managed with large, contiguous clearcuts. Ecologists urge the use of large clearcuts in the sand pine scrub ecosystem to mimic the stand-replacing, catastrophic fires that historically maintained the ecosystem. The Working Group made it clear that this exception could only be used when supported by scientific literature.

Some issues could not be resolved through exceptions. For example, there was great deal of discussion regarding fragmentation. The Working Group recognized that smaller clearcuts contribute to fragmentation, as do requirements for large age differences between adjoining stands. In addition, if a stand happens to be 45 acres but does not meet any of the exceptions that would allow an 80-acre clearcut, the landowner/manager is at a disadvantage. Such cases and additional exceptions to the Standards will need to be discussed and resolved with the certifier.

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Last revision July 20, 2001.