projecting growth/acre in hardwoods

[SwampDonkey]

I once heard come from the dean of Forestry that the area we were about to go on Forestry Fall Camp had spruce-fir stands of 380 m³/ha. I had not the experience behind me, but did some local cruising during summer and I was thinking to myself: Was he talking about northern New Brunswick? Anyway we were going to be in that camp for a week and likely would be visiting this mysterious 380 m³/ha (60 cord/acre). Well one day we went in the van with DBH tapes, borers, Suuntos and shovels and tally boards. What we found were stands of over mature fir mixed in with very old black spruce. The spacing was 650 stems/ha (260 st/acre), never been treated in any way, but large tracts of 100 acres were cut in patches on the total landscape in the area. Turned out the soil was nothing exceptional with glacial till and volume was actually 125 m³/ha (20 cords/acre).  I strongly believe it was a test.

[JimMartin9999]

I had a timbersale 28 years ago.  My consulting forester told me we could have another sale in about  8 to 10 years.  After that first sale I got a new forester. We have not had a sale since the first one.   He tells me that we can have the next sale in about  8 to 10 years.

[tonich]

SwampDonkey,

I can show you spruce-fir stands of about 550 m³/ha, standing volume.
Those are the most productive ones in the area I work.
All you have to do is take the plane, come and see me. 

[SwampDonkey]

Oh well, I've seen 2000 m3/ha Sitka spruce as well in the Pacific Northwest. Nothing smaller than 2 meter DBH.

350 m3/ha of spruce would be exceptionally rare here in NB, and surprisingly not in southern NB, but more likely in Madawask, Restigouche, Carleton or Victoria counties in the northwestern part of the province. Yeah 36 m2/ha may be on old planting and thinnings, but that isn't 350 m3/ha. Those are 45 foot trees, you need 75-80 foot ones. Cedar is a different story, they grow in denser stands and very old trees.