Growth, Mortality, and Cutting Cycles in New Mexico Ponderosa Pine

Thirty-five years ago Timber Management in the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service set about laying the groundwork for research which was expected eventually to furnish reliable information on how to manage ponderosa pine. Silvical Research was at that time a unit of Timber Management, or the Office of Silviculture as it was then called. One of the first undertakings was the creation of so-called sample plots to provide long-time records on growth, mortality, and reproduction. Results from the largest and most elaborate plots, which were near the Fort Valley Forest Experimental Station in Arizona, have been reported in the JOURNAL OF FORESTRY from time to time. A comprehensive account of the New Mexico plots is here published for the first time. The findings are specific and agree in all essential particulars with those reported from Arizona.