Green Horizons

Back in July, the Missouri Forest Products Association (MFPA) in cooperation with the USFS Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri Department of Conservation and MU Extension held a forest biomass field day west of Poplar Bluff. It was the culmination of a study by Auburn University forest engineers that focused on the development and testing of a cost-effective woody biomass harvesting and transporting system for use in Midwest mixed oak-hickory forests. The two-month study was conducted in selected stands on the Poplar Bluff Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest.

The economic efficiency of woody biomass removal is a topic of great interest that has both market and future forest management implications. This project is a collaborative effort involving academia, government and industry that will provide valuable information to help resource managers understand the potential costs and returns from understory biomass harvesting while maintaining sustainable forest management. The final report will be compiled by the end of the year and reported in the winter issue of GH.

A hydraulic shear head capable of accumulating several small-diameter trees is mounted to a small track-ho for maneuverability.	First-generation, small-scale skidder for transporting small-diameter trees to the landing.
Once to the landing, the biomass is chipped and blown into 25-ton chip vans for transport.	A typical, thinned forest stand resulting from this study.