For those who don't know, I am an FIA (Forest Inventory and Analysis) Forester for the South Carolina Forestry Commission. I've been working in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina since August 2007. FIA is a USFS (U.S. Forest Service) program. There are over 3000 permanent research plots throughout the state. Each year we measure 20% of the plots. My co-worker Ryan and I take different measurements on the trees that are on these plots. Each plot is divided into four subplots. Plot center, or subplot 1, is in the middle. Subplots 2,3, and 4 are 120 feet apart from plot center and are at 0, 120, and 240 degrees, respectively. Some tree measurements we take are DBH (diameter at breast height or 4.5 feet), height, live compacted crown ratio, crown position, tree class (ex: tree class 2 is growing stock, tree class 3 is rough cull), presence of disease/insect damage, lumber grade, board foot cull, and percent rotten in the bole. From the center of each plot a tree can be no farther than 24.0 feet from the center, or it is not counted. It also has to be greater than 5.0 inches @ DBH. There is also a microplot on each subplot that is offset at 90 degrees and 12 feet from plot center. We measure any tree that is within 6.8 feet of the microplot center and greater than 1.o inches at DBH. We also count the number of seedlings (anything less than 1.0 in @ DBH) within the subplot. On the subplot we also look for the presence of invasive species and code for them. Some examples would be Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese privet, lespedeza, exotic roses, and eleagnus. We also have to identify the predominant forest type for the entire plot. All of this information is then sent to the Southern Research Station in Knoxville, TN where they have analysts look at growth trends from previous cycles to see how well the forest is doing.
Interesting, right? To most, probably not. Some days I would agree. I don't particularly think loblolly pine plantations are interesting but they are easy to work in. The best part about the job is the countryside that I get to see and the detachment that working deep in the woods provides. It's great to be far enough away from a city or road and be able to hear only the wind or birds chirping. No noises of our busy lives. No boss looking over my shoulder. Just myself, Ryan, and our trusty 2004 Chevy Silverado.
Jan. 8-9 - Chainsaw training, Columbia, SC
As part of my career development I had to learn how to wield a chainsaw in case we get called out for damage assessment after a hurricane or something. I actually got to cut down two trees using a bore cut and back cut. While I was attempting to fell the first tree I caught the chainsaw on my chaps. Had I not been wearing them I would have suffered a serious injury to my right leg. Anyway, felling trees is quite exhilarating (no worries, they were both quite dead before I touched them with the saw).
Jan. 13-15 - MIDAS training, Columbia, SC
The Forest Service decided to make one national program to collect data instead of having each region dictate their own data collection, As a result, we went to this training for a crash course in MIDAS (Mobile Integrated Data Acquisition Systems). It's very similar to our old program.
Jan. 20 - Collected ownership for Darlington and Georgetown Cos.
Another part of our job is finding out who owns the land that each of our plots land on. We first went to the Dillon County Courthouse but they were closed for the inauguration (at first I thought it was due to the snow). We then drove to the Darlington courthouse and later acquired Georgetown's information via the internet.
Jan. 21-22 - Our first plots in Georgetown County
It was pretty cold the first week. Our first plot was on a broad floodplain of the Santee River in southern Georgetown County. It consisted mostly of pole-sized (5.0 in DBH - 9.0 in. for softwoods, 11.0 in. for hardwoods) sweetgums and maples with a few cypresses and tupelos. Our starting point was a large cherrybark oak (Quercus pagoda). If you turn the cherrybark oak leaf upside down it looks like a Japanese pagoda. On the way to our second plot we were almost run off the road by an empty log truck who refused to slow down. He was given the finger for his actions.
The second plot was a thinned loblolly pine stand. If a stand is thinned usually every fifth row will be removed. Some landowners prefer every third row. This gives a release to the remaining trees, stimulating growth. It was pretty nice.
The next day was a younger pine stand which I think had herbicide applied to it. The herbicide deters hardwood growth. This stand had virtually no understory so walking was easy.
Jan. 26 - Plot on Black Mingo Creek
Sometimes plots can only be accessed by a boat and this was one of them. These plots are usually nastier since they're close to a river or in a swamp. This one was no exception. At least the distance we had to travel from the river to the plot was only fifty feet and two of the subplots fell in the creek so there was no tally on them. The plot was going well until I stepped in a deep channel and water filled up my right wader. It was about 40 degrees outside so the water was quite frigid. Towards the end of the plot my foot was getting really cold.
The first plot was a sawsized (9.0 in. softwoods/11.0 in. hardwoods and larger) loblolly pine plantation with a strip of hardwoods. Nothing special about it other than I got the truck stuck in a ditch. I was coming around a muddy woods road too fast and slid right into a ditch. Luckily we were able to wench it out. It's fun driving on muddy roads in 4-wheel drive until you get stuck and that sinking feeling of being stranded suddenly sets in.
The second plot was a bay-like hardwood stand. Bays are ellipitical physiographic regions that are always oriented northwest to southeast. They are usually very dense and sometimes wet. No one knows for sure how they were formed. This plot wasn't in a true bay but the flora was similar to that found in a bay. Again, nothing too exciting about this plot other than seeing the largest loblolly bays (Gordonia lasianthus) I've seen to date.
Jan. 28 - Two plots in middle Georgetown County
Our first plot fell on the Black River. The understory had been cleared and the land had been sectioned off for a future subdivision. The river was pretty neat. Trees found here were big laurel and live oaks with some sweetgums and loblolly pines.
The second plot was on old International Paper land. Most of this land is still under lock-and-key, but we found a gate that was open. Thinking it had been open for sometime, we decided to drive back to the plot. The plot fell in a loblolly pine plantation with poor growing pines due to it being on a wet site. When we got back to the gate it was locked! We'd have just driven around it if there were not ditches on either side of the woods road. Ryan decided to take matters into his own hands so he hacked at one of the chain links with his hatchet until it broke. We quickly exited and put the broken chain back so it wouldn't appear that anything was wrong. You can almost count on everyday bringing something exciting to the job!
Jan. 29 - Plot in the Yauhannah community of Georgetown County
This plot was next to a cemetery and had been partially harvested a few years ago and middle-sized hardwoods were left. Nothing special except for a guy walking up on us sneakily and scared us shitless! Some people are suspicious, especially when you're not really supposed to be on their land without permission. Once you tell them what you're doing they usually don't care. This was the case.
That catches us up. Hopefully February is as interesting as January!
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