DNR seeking comments on Hardwood Hills Subsection Forest Resource Management

[HD]

DNR seeking comments on Hardwood Hills Subsection Forest Resource Management Plan
(Released February 16, 2012)

A draft of the Hardwood Hills Subsection Forest Resource Management Plan (SFRMP) is now open for public comment until 4:30 p.m. March 17, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The draft Hardwood Hills SFRMP outlines the planning process, forest vegetation management goals and directions, and implementation strategies and stand selection criteria used to identify the forest stands to be field evaluated by DNR staff and possibly treated over the next 10-year period, 2011 through 2020. Appendix D of the plan contains the 10-year stand exam list, which includes 210 stands totaling 3,787 acres that are being considered for site visits and possible treatment over the next 10 years.

“The focus of the public review is to seek comments on the draft plan, including individual forest stands on the 10-year stand exam list,” said Pat Matuseski, forest planner, DNR Forestry Division.

Stands on the list have received a preliminary prescription (i.e., final harvest, thin, site visit to determine management or re-inventory) based on the directions as stated in the draft Hardwood Hills SFRMP. Once the stands are field evaluated, final treatments will be assigned. Based on past experience, not all stands identified on the stand exam list result in a timber sale and harvest.

The draft Hardwood Hills SFRMP is available online.

Individual forest stands on the 10-year stand exam list can be viewed on ForestView.

Paper copies may be requested from the DNR at the address below.

Comments on the draft Hardwood Hills SFRMP or individual forest stands may be submitted to: Pat Matuseski, DNR Forestry Division, 2115 Birchmont Beach Road N.E., Bemidji, MN 56601; phone: 218-308-2381; fax: 218-755-4417; or email pat.matuseski@state.mn.us.

All written comments received will be considered with responses prepared. Comments and responses will be included in the Final Hardwood Hills SFRMP scheduled for adoption by the DNR in April.

The Hardwood Hills is an ecological subsection in central Minnesota that includes approximately 46,000 acres of state forestlands administered by the DNR Division of Forestry and Section of Wildlife. The Hardwood Hills subsection covers approximately 3.5 million acres in an area from near Clearbrook in the northeast to near Mentor in the northwest, and from near Paynesville in the southwest to near Clearwater in the southeast.

The draft Hardwood Hills SFRMP takes into consideration a broad range of factors that affect forest management including: increasing forest health and productivity, managing vegetation for rare species and habitat, balancing timber age classes over time, identifying stands to be managed as older forest to accommodate diverse wildlife and ecological resources, and limiting impacts to cultural, visual and water resources – all balanced to provide sustainable forest resources. Sustainable forest management is the underlying goal of the SFRMP planning process.

The DNR prepares management plans consistent with ecological subsection boundaries to ensure that ecological characteristics are considered as forestry management is implemented. The Hardwood Hills SFRMP is one of nine planning areas in the state for which the DNR has prepared a subsection plan.