Terms

Tally:  a count of trees, logs or other products used to determine harvestable volume and products.

Thinning:  removal of some trees from a stand to encourage growth among the remaining timber.  Commercial thinnings provide the landowner some financial return, but precommercial thinnings do not.  Methods used for thinning timber include row thinning, selection thinning, and a combination of the two.

Timber Inventory:  commonly known as timber cruising, a timber inventory is the systematic sampling of forest information for statistical analysis.

Timber marking:  selecting and indicating, with paint, trees to be cut or left after a harvest.

Timber stand improvement (TSI):  improving the quality of a forest stand by removing cull trees and brush to leave a stand of quality trees.  Cull trees may be removed by chemicals, fire, girdling, or cutting.

Timber Valuation:  current market prices for timber are applied to timber volumes which are derived from the statistical analysis performed during the timber inventory.

Timber Volume:  this typically refers to the volume of standing timber on a tract and is derived from statistical analysis of a timber inventory.

Tract:  an acreage containing one forest type, an acreage enclosed by a boundary, or a segment offorest having undergone some change which makes it distinctly identifiable.

Tree Crown: refers to the totality of the plant's aboveground parts, including trunk, stems, and leaves. 

Tree length:  a tree, minus the unmerchantable top and branches.  Also used to describe a logging system where the entire stem to a minimum top diameter is cut and hauled in to the mill.

U

Undergrowth:  small trees and shrubby plants growing under a forest canopy.

Uneven-aged stand:  a stand in which three or more age classes are present.

Urban: area containing more than 150 persons per square mile. 

W

Wood Pulp: a dry fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating fibers from wood. 

Woody Release: chemical control of woody plants and trees within a stand, used to minimize competition for desirable species.