Cutting Cycles in Ponderosa Pine

Short cutting cycles have been regarded heretofore as desirable primarily because they afford an opportunity to salvage dying trees. Thirty-year records in the Fort Valley Experimental Forest have demonstrated that the loss attributable to slow growth in dense stands of ponderosa pine may exceed the mortality loss. A decline of gross increment in blackjack groups becomes noticeable 10 to 15 years after cutting, but it does not usually assume large proportions until after 20 years. Prompt acceleration follows cuttings which open up the groups.