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Experimental tree planting and monitoring

The Kenai Peninsula does not have a long history of forest management. As such, the spruce bark beetle epidemic of the late 1980s and early 1990s has left foresters, researchers and resource managers with many unanswered questions about how to produce and tend our forested areas.

With much of Homer’s forest affected by this epidemic the concept of reforestation studies revealed itself as a natural project for the HDF. Thus, the HSWCD has lead the way in developing experimental tree planting experiments within the Forest. By observing successful natural regeneration these experiments have been developed to mimic nature. Most plantings have been arranged in clumped patterns, others have focused particularly on nurse logs and stumps, and still others have attempted to plant only in areas where bare mineral soil is exposed.

Surveying and monitoring the remaining natural timber stands is also a primary focus of the HDF. The intent of surveying the remaining stands is to determine residual levels of forest regeneration subsequent to the epidemic, as well as make volume determinations of small and large saw-timber. By understanding the cycle of natural re-vegetation in relation to the experimental plantings, it is hoped that land managers will gain perspectives on best management practices for the forests similar to those of the Lower Kenai Peninsula.