Prescription Fire to Manage Southern Pine Plantations-Damed If You Do, Damned if You Don't

摘要

This paper discusses soem ramifications of using herbicides in place of prescription fire on southern pine plantations. The historic role of fire in the south and its use by industrial foresters is briefly recounted. Reasons are given ofr the shift by industry, from leadders in advocating and using prescription fire to its almost total replacement by herbicides in plantation management during the past several decades. The 1998 Florida wildfires are used to examine the dependence of the timber loss on stand-tending treatments and on the elapsed time since application. We suggest industry reconsider its decision to exclude prescribed fire in planatatioin management. Not because it is a neccessary silvicultural treatment, but as insurrance against plantation loss and because it will make nearby residents feel more secure about the safety of their property during future wildfires.