Fernow Experimental Forest overstory tree and regeneration data from the "Financial Maturity" study

This data publication contains overstory and sapling tree tallies, woody stem regeneration tallies, and butt-log tree quality data collected from 1970 to 2016 on the Fernow Experimental Forest in West Virginia. These data were collected for the Financial Maturity (FM) study. Three treatments having different financial rate of return goals (3 percent, 4 percent and 6 percent rate of return) were assigned to six study areas. Harvest treatments occurred approximately every 10 years with 4 or 5 treatments completed per study area over the study period.
The Financial Maturity (FM) study was designed to apply the selection marking procedures developed by Trimble, Mendel and Kennell (1974) incorporating economic guidelines into the individual-tree selection silvicultural method commonly used in Appalachian hardwood forests. Tree selection for harvesting would be based on financial rate-of-return goals such that each 10-year harvest would be profitable and also leave a residual stand of sufficient stocking (basal area) and vigor. Trees removed generally were those growing at a rate less than the desired rate of return and included nonmerchantable trees of poor quality. These datasets are used by USDA Forest Service scientists, staff, and cooperators in support of research in silviculture, forest management, forest economics, and forest ecology in the central Appalachian region and inter-regional comparisons.
The Fernow FM study has been documented in numerous unpublished Forest Service study plans, establishment reports, progress reports, and descriptions of treatments. Important information from those documents are provided in detail in these metadata while scanned versions of original documents of particular relevance are included as supplemental information with the full data product download.