Jan. 22, 2001

CONTACTS: Chris Schnepf, UI-Kootenai County Extension, (208) 667-6426, cschnepf@uidaho.edu; or Bill Loftus, Educational Communications, (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu

Editors note: Review copies of "Logging Selectively" or a photo of Chris Schnepf are available by contacting bloftus@uidaho.edu. Photos are available for downloading at <http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/news>.

UI Forester Offers Practical Guide to Logging Selectively

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — In his new field guide, "Logging Selectively," University of Idaho Extension forester Chris Schnepf helps landowners look beyond the forest to the trees, specifically which trees to leave standing.

"The basic reason for the publication is a lot of people say they want an alternative to a clearcut, so typically they say, ‘I want to log selectively,’ " said Schnepf, who is based at the University of Idaho - Kootenai County Extension office in Coeur d’Alene.

For foresters, the term selective logging can raise red flags, Schnepf said. "Foresters often cringe because it can mean taking the best trees and leaving small inferior trees behind." Selective logging should mean leaving some of the best trees standing after harvest to keep the forest’s best qualities intact and provide a seed source for future generations.

His booklet is described as "a practical field guide to partial timber harvesting in forests of the Inland Northwest and the northern Rocky Mountains." At 96 pages, the slim spiral-bound booklet is conveniently sized to fit into a shirt pocket. It sells for $5 a copy.

Schnepf believes last summer’s fire season will prompt many forest owners to examine their lands. Forests throughout the West are unnaturally overgrown with too many trees, making them more vulnerable to outbreaks of insects and disease. The overcrowding also makes forests vulnerable to drought and promotes fires.

"One of the things being talked about this year after the fires is going out in the forests and doing more thinning. This will give people more of an idea of which trees to choose to leave a healthy, resilient forest," Schnepf said.

The idea that people have an active role to play in today’s forests is gaining ground, Schnepf said, because human influence during the past century has changed the forests.

"When you look out across the landscape in northern Idaho, you are not looking at a natural forest. They are native trees but the structure and composition isn’t what it typically would have been 300 years ago," he said.

"This publication is intended to give people a scientific basis for the art of thinning or harvesting — for whatever their values and objectives are," Schnepf added.

Information from the book is available on the Internet at <http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/logging>.

The booklet is a companion to a video, "I want to log selectively," which is available for $24.95.

Logging Selectively (PNW534) can be purchased for $5 by writing Ag Publications, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2240; by email from e-mail: cking@uidaho.edu; by phone, (208) 885-7982, or by fax, (208) 885-4648. Copies can also be ordered from Oregon State University, (541) 737-2513, and Washington State University, (509) 335-2857. It can also be purchased through local Cooperative Extension System offices.

The companion video "I Want to Log ‘Selectively,’ " can be purchased for $24.95 from the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education, College of Agriculture, 1134 West Sixth Street, Moscow, ID 83844-2040.

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