"The forest is not merely an
expression or representation of sacredness, nor a place to invoke the sacred; the forest is sacredness itself.
Nature is not merely created by God, nature is God. Whoever moves within
the forest can partake directly of sacredness, experience sacredness with "I frequently tramped eight or ten
miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree,
or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines." "When you enter a grove peopled with
ancient trees, higher than
the ordinary, and shutting out the sky with their thickly inter-twined
branches, do not the stately shadows of the wood, the stillness of
the place, and the awful gloom of this doomed cavern then strike
you with the presence of a deity?" "A grove of giant redwoods
or sequoias should be kept
just as we keep a great or beautiful cathedral." "Then I was standing on
the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood
there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for
I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit,
and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.
An I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops
that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy."
"A few minutes ago every tree was excited,
bowing to the roaring
storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious
enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees
are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is
throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings,
while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No
wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more
they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the
farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself." "I believe in the
cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at the sun: If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my
god. To me, nature is sacred; trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals."
"I have always found thick woods a little
intimidating, for they are so secret and enclosed. You may seem alone but you are not, for there are always eyes watching you. All the wildlife of the woods, the insects, birds, and animals, are well aware of your presence no matter how softly you may tread, and they follow your every move although you cannot see them." "When walking through a warm and lush forest
setting one's thoughts can easily take flights of fancy. It is not difficult to shed the layers of modern life and find
one's more subtle or primitive beginnings. Somewhere from deep within the
spiritand majesty of each single tree steps forth and at once one can find themselves transported to a world of shadow and shade." "The forest is a peculiar organism of
unlimited kindness and benevolence
that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the
products of its life and activity; it affords protection to all beings. "We are the books in your hands, "I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant
breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung
upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.
It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of
our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful. Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my
brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the
yellow dawn, my cares fall from me - I am happy." "Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise." "Man has been endowed with reason,
with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, and the climate's ruined and the land
grows poorer and uglier every day." "The forests are dying, the rivers are
dying, and we are called to act. To return Earth to harmony is to restore the harmonious principles within ourselves and to act as responsible caretakers - to save the forests and the waters for future generations."
"
In earth and water will you grow.
"In towering splendor once I stood "We must protect the forests for our
children, grandchildren and
children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who
can't speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees." "Someone's sitting in the shade today
because someone planted a tree a long time ago." "What does he plant who plants a tree? "Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper, "Have
you ever noticed a tree standing naked against the sky,
Forestry is the management of the forest or lands to be converted to forest
to most efficiently produce the maximum benefits to the human community from
the forest. These benefits are usually defined to include aesthetics and
recreation, wildlife, protection of soils and watersheds, wood products, and,
in some cases, forage for livestock. They can also include minor forest
products such as nuts and berries, greenery, medicinal herbs, etc.
Forestry is usually practiced by planning how to most efficiently utilize
existing resources which include soils, climate, topography, and existing
vegetation. Forest practices then include seeding, planting, or otherwise
reproducing stands; practices to improve forest stands such as release
cuttings, pruning, cleanings, thinnings, and sanitation cuts; and harvests
which may also be of several types. How these are done will determine species
composition and structure of the forest. The resulting forest may be all
aged, even aged, or multiple aged. It may be very productive of desirable
forest products or not very productive.
The forest products to be emphasized in a forest management plan will
vary depending on the objectives of the owner. Depending on whether the
forest lands are publicly or privately owned, owned by an absentee or local
owner and depending on the economic needs and ownership philosophy of the
owner, short term economic benefits may override aesthetic, community, social,
or long term benefits.
It should be noted that the overall long term results of various forest
management plans will have both environmental and economic consequences.
Practices which would result in damage to the environment such as significant
pollution of streams and soil quality degradation should never be included in
any responsible plan by a professional forester. However, short term economic
needs of landowners may sometimes override long term benefits or may cause
frequent harvests of wood products to be given precedence over aesthetic and
other intangible values or over infrequent harvests of higher value wood
products. This means that often the objectives of individual landowners
may not be those which will result in the maximum long term benefits to the
community as a whole.
Usually public opinion does not make a distinction between environmental
and economic consequences of forest management. For instance, heavy cutting is
associated with environmental degradation although, if stream pollution and
soil erosion is minor, no environmental degradation may, in fact, take place.
On the other hand clear cutting is usually not distinguished from "high
grading". Clear cutting is an accepted harvest method used in stands in which
the objective is to maintain pre-climax stands of usually shade intolerant
species or in which the objective is even aged management. Much more common
is "High grading", the practice of harvesting the best and most valuable
timber leaving cull and low quality timber in the woods. Although fewer trees
are cut than in a clear cut, the timber stand is left in far worse condition.
Ideally Appalachian hardwoods would be all aged stands growing on high
quality sites and owned by enlightened landowners whose objective is to
produce high quality hardwoods in the long term while at the same time
protecting the environment and providing productive wildlife habitat. They
would be harvested by selective cuts about every 30 to 40 years with a timber
rotation age of 60 to 100 years. In practice, due to the topography and to
past management including overcutting, erosion and repeated forest fires much
of the land is not high quality sites for forest production. Landowner's
objectives are more likely to be short term economic gain and the quality of
the forest environment is often given little consideration. Low quality,
"high graded" stands of young small trees are the rule rather than the
exception and they are usually harvested too small too soon.
Existing forest industries as well as forest ownership patterns usually
determine the local forest management. There are very few professionally
trained foresters available, so little actual forest management takes
place. In managing forests it is necessary to have good markets for small
wood products (such as pallet mills) so that there will be a market for the
trees removed during improvement cuts or intermediate cuts such as cleanings,
thinnings, etc. However, in the absence of forest management the presence of
these markets usually leads to overcutting and short term rotations. For
harvests of larger higher quality wood products, such as furniture quality
oak, markets such as grade sawmills and veneer mills are necessary. However,
these markets alone in the absence of forest management often lead to "high
grading" of the forest. For maximum economic benefit to the community
secondary wood products industries such as furniture factories, etc. are also
necessary. These not only provide added value to the wood resource but also
are an additional labor market for the community and a great stimulant to the
local economy.
Site Preparation - one specialized type of forest operation is site
preparation which involves removing from an area all stems of woody brush and
trees and, in some cases, weeds and grasses which will compete with
regeneration to be established by either artificial or natural means. Site
preparation methods may be chemical or mechanical or may sometimes be done by
use of controlled burns.
Intermediate cuts may include:
Types of timber harvests can include:
by Duane Bristow
Plot Data
The best way to identify unknown trees and shrubs is to use a dichotomous key
for either leaves or twigs. Just type "dendrology dichotomous key" into an
internet search engine and you can find these online.
You may also need to know whether you are identifying an angiosperm or a
gymnosperm. Angiosperms are generally broad leaved trees and shrubs, often
deciduous while gymnosperms usually have needles or scales and are often
evergreens.
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount (biomass), number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems.
Ecosystems are hierarchical systems that are organized into a graded
series of regularly interacting and semi-independent parts (e.g., species) that aggregate into higher orders of complex integrated wholes (e.g., communities). Ecosystems are sustained by the biodiversity
within them. Biodiversity is the full-scale of life and its processes,
including genes, species and ecosystems forming lineages that integrate
into a complex and regenerative spatial arrangement of types, forms, and interactions. Ecosystems create biophysical feedback mechanisms between living (biotic) and nonliving (abiotic) components of the planet. These feedback loops regulate and sustain local communities, continental climate systems, and global biogeochemical cycles. Ecology is a sub-discipline of biology, the
study of life.
The word "ecology" was coined in 1866 by the German scientist Ernst
Haeckel (1834 - 1919). Ancient philosophers of Greece, including Hippocrates and Aristotle,
were among the earliest to record notes and observations on the natural history of plants and animals. Modern ecology branched
out of natural history and matured into a more rigorous science in the late 19th century. Charles Darwin's evolutionary treatise including the concept of
adaptation, as it was introduced in 1859, is a pivotal cornerstone in modern
ecological theory. Ecology is not synonymous
with environment, environmentalism, natural history or environmental science. It is closely related to physiology, evolutionary biology, genetics and
ethology.
An understanding of how biodiversity affects ecological function is an
important focus area in ecological studies. Ecologists seek to explain:
A letter to the Courier-Journal newspaper of Louisville,
Kentucky, January 28, 1998.
As a consulting forester, I read with interest your recent (Jan.
25-27, 1998) series of articles about Kentucky's forest resource
by Andrew Melnykovych and others as well as the editorial in the
Sunday Forum section. I found the series very informative and a
good introduction to the issues involved.
I did, however, find that, in a few areas, my experiences of
eleven years with the Kentucky Division of Forestry as a Service
Forester and Assistant District Forester and subsequent nineteen
years as a consulting forester in southeastern and south central
Kentucky conflict with the prevailing conventional wisdom.
Perhaps this experience plus the fact that I come from a family
with 200 years history as Kentucky landowners and managing our
family farm including 450 acres of forest for the last quarter
century gives me a unique perspective.
There is some environmental damage from logging operations. In
some cases it is very significant. I certainly support logger
training, the Master Logger program, required use of BMPs, and
notification of the Division of Forestry when logging occurs.
However, I also think that, in the mind of the general public,
the aesthetic damage in terms of looks caused by a logging
operation is often equated with environmental damage. Cutting a
tree does not damage the environment. Dragging it through a
stream does. The method of selecting trees to cut may also
damage the environment in terms of changing the forest
composition. My point is that timber harvest as such is not
synonymous with environmental degradation.
A completely separate issue is the economic issue of the need
for much better forest management on privately owned woodlands
if the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky are to receive
maximum benefits in terms of jobs and forest industries from our
vast forest resource. A major misconception is that the
solution to this problem lies in public education efforts. It
makes a good story and people like to believe that more
information and education efforts will solve this problem, but
it just ain't so. Certainly such efforts are useful and they
are needed but they are not the solution. The problem is an
economic one and it requires an economic solution.
One of your articles said that Kentucky's landowners have shown
little interest in forest management in the past because our
forests haven't been recognized as having value. It continued,
"well informed landowners will be less likely to sell their
timber for quick profits and more likely to manage the woodlands
to produce a steady stream of trees and income." This probably
does apply with some landowners and increased timber values do
make timber management more cost effective. However, ninety
percent of the landowners I have known, if told timber values
are high, will say, "Then now would be a good time to sell."
They do not say, "Now would be a good time to manage my timber."
At present the overwhelming tendency to cut trees before
economic maturity is the one thing most counter productive to
maximizing forest production of wood products and also to a
lesser extent of wildlife, recreation, and watershed protection.
This situation is due to ownership patterns, economic needs of
land owners and an inability of the financial infrastructure to
deal adequately with the long term needs of forest production.
Small areas of forests owned by a great number of landowners
changing ownership every few years tend to give forest
management a very low priority. On a typical farm with less than
100 acres of forest, timber is seen as a resource to be
harvested whenever cash is needed. There is usually no plan for
long term forest management, even on ownerships up to several
thousands of acres. Many times land is purchased with the idea
and the necessity of a timber sale to help pay for the land.
Many farmers have to sell timber to offset losses from other
farming operations or to cover unexpected expenses. Financial
institutions, attorneys, and real estate agents usually have no
knowledge of and no way to evaluate long term timber production
value and potential so financing is available only for value of
present liquidation, not for future production.
Although public education efforts about long term forest
management are necessary, the key to encouraging long term
production must lie in economic efforts. Public forestry
agencies argue that the most returns come from delaying harvest.
Although that may be true, it is academic to an investor who can
afford to purchase land only if he liquidates the timber or to a
farmer who due to a poor crop year or low markets must raise
cash to make the mortgage payment. In neither case is the
banker likely to listen to pleas about the future value of
growing timber.
There are a number of forest industries in Kentucky owned by
wise men who have been in business for the better part of a
century and have made their living by production of a very
scarce commodity, high quality hardwoods. These men have seen a
constant decrease in the supply of their raw materials due to
this cutting pattern. As a result more wood industries which
utilize small wood products are moving into the state. This
leads to better markets for smaller timber and increased
overcutting of these size classes. Proper timber management
requires markets for small wood products to encourage thinning
and removal of inferior trees as the stand matures. If the
economic situation results in removal of all trees or crop trees
in addition to inferior trees then the supply of large high
quality sawtimber and veneer logs will continue to decline.
It would seem to me that the traditional Kentucky wood industry,
environmental organizations and state government would all have
a vested interest in proper forest management. I would also
argue that the present strategy of approaching this problem by
programs of public education are mostly whistling into the wind.
The problem is largely economic.
I therefore propose that if these entities really want to
approach this problem realistically they consider financing a
non profit forest management organization with the goal of
employing professional foresters to purchase timber from these
landowners under a contract which would turn management of the
timber over to the organization with timber sales determined by
the organization and any excess returns over forest management
and overhead expenses going back to the landowner.
This is the concept of a non-profit non-government organization
underwritten and supported by a combination of government,
forest industry, and conservation groups which would buy
standing timber which is on the market on a contract which would
leave the timber standing until foresters employed by the
organization decided it had reached maturity and then sell with
the organization recovering its investment plus a small profit
and any additional revenues recovered being returned to the
landowner.
A third issue concerning timber sales was not specifically
stated but implied in your editorial, "Profit from timber" in
the Sunday Forum section. You stated that landowners are
getting ripped off by the timber industry because they accept
payments that are much too low and then their land is damaged by
unsound logging practices. I have no quarrel with that
statement. You then go on to say that the Governor's bill
should ask for "enough money to hire all the foresters who are
needed to educate landowners on the value of their timber and
the best way to harvest it." I agree with that statement except
for the phrase, "the value of their timber".
A timber sale is an economic transaction between two (or more)
citizens of the Commonwealth, one a buyer and the other a
seller. I would argue that it is none of the state's business
who is the winner and who the loser on this transaction any more
than it is the state's business how much you charge for your
newspaper. The government definitely has a legitimate interest
in seeing that the environment is not damaged due to this
transaction. The government probably has a legitimate interest
in encouraging, not requiring, forest management for the overall
economic benefit of the citizens of the commonwealth, but
foresters employed by the state have no business trying to set
sale values on standing timber. Although it is true that
landowners often get ripped off, it is also true that landowners
can hire consulting foresters to assist in timber sales to
prevent this. Some do not know of this option but, in most
cases, landowners resent the idea of paying a consultant his 10%
fee or whatever and feel they can make a better deal for
themselves. As a result I estimate that they get, on average,
40 to 60 percent of the value of their timber although I know of
several cases where they got as low as 15 or 20 percent. In any
case, if the buyer makes a higher profit, that's simply more
income taxes he has to pay to the state and the state is not
hurt at all.
It should be noted that if there is actually any serious effort
to improve forest conditions in the state, many more professional
foresters, both private consultants and employees of the state
and the forest industries, will be needed. Perhaps a program of
professional licensing of foresters similar to those in place in
other states (like Georgia, for example) should be considered by
someone.
Thank you for your extensive and excellent efforts to make more
information on the issues available to Kentucky's citizens in
what could be a pivotal moment in the history of forestry in
Kentucky.
Duane Bristow Note: Although the Courier Journal did not publish the above
letter, they did mention the URL of this website on their letters page.
Contrary to my expectations that did not result in any increased traffic to
these forestry pages or any comments to me from anyone in Kentucky about
logging. I guess that shows that either:
A bill to regulate commercial logging in Kentucky completed a
difficult journey through the General Assembly March 31, 1998
Complaints from property-rights activists diluted support for
the proposal, which supporters called Kentucky's first effort to
regulate logging.
Property-rights advocates feared that the bill would let state
inspectors enter private property to regulate timber cutting.
The bill was rewritten so it would not apply to anyone cutting
timber on their own property.
The bill also would not give the state any additional authority
to enter private property to inspect timber-cutting practices.
State inspectors could only go onto private property if there
was evidence of violations that caused water pollution.
The bill's regulatory powers would be limited to commercial
logging. It would require loggers to have a trained master
logger on all cutting sites and to correct any damage they do to
land or water.
Commercial loggers would have to follow "best management
practices" to avoid erosion and other damage that could foul
water sources.
In addition, the bill would create statewide inventories of
forested land conducted by the Division of Forestry, and it
would provide education and advice for private owners of
forested land.
What family is this and what is the common name of this plant?
Accounting for the Small Business
I have been developing accounting systems and training
bookkeepers for small businesses in towns of rural Kentucky
since about 1980. This is an overview of both principles of
such accounting and use of my computer system, PGAS, to do such
bookkeeping. It should be useful to anyone who owns a small
business or is responsible for accounting for a small business.
Although the examples given use my computer accounting system,
the principles apply to any business using any valid accounting
system from manual books to generalized off the shelf accounting
packages. The main differences between these and the PGAS
system is that the PGAS system is completely customizable to
handle special needs of particular businesses. For instance it
is set up to account for quantities and numbers as well as
dollars, to handle multiple profit centers, and to handle
sales of products made from raw materials or with specialized
taxing requirements. Examples are bulk fertilizer sales and
gasoline sales. The profit center accounting and quantity and
number accounting are especially useful for farmers.
The purpose of accounting is to keep track of items of value
including goods, cash, and financial obligations in their
current state and in their flow or change over time so that
reports useful in making management decisions are available to
the managers of a business or other accounting entity.
Accounting is based on the concept of a financial transaction. A
financial transaction occurs whenever the status or ownership of
a thing of value changes.
Here are a few examples of financial transactions:
The first step in accounting is to know a business well enough
to understand the types of financial transactions well enough to
design an accounting system (chart of accounts) that will be
most useful for that particular business.
Since accounting consists of keeping track of financial
transactions, this is done by categorizing these transactions.
For example some involve cash or bank accounts. Some involve
inventory or other asset values. Some involve payroll to
employees. Some involve receivables from customers or payables
to suppliers.
A chart of accounts is a list of the categories of financial
transactions for a particular business. These categories are
grouped as:
Proper accounting practice requires a double entry accounting
system. This means that each value input into the system is a
credit (-) to one general ledger account and a debit (+) to
another. Since each entry affects two accounts by the same
amount, debiting one and crediting another, the accounts are
always in balance. Another way to look at accounting is to view
the chart of accounts as a row of jars lined up along a wall
with a label on each jar. The first jar might be labeled "Bank
Account". One further down the line might be labeled "Phone
Expenses". If a phone bill is paid the accounting system takes
an amount of money out of the "Bank Account" jar and puts it
into the "Phone Expenses" jar. Thus it can be seen that the sum
of the credits will always be equal to the sum of the debits
meaning the books will be in balance or the sum of the debits
and credits together will be zero.
One might wonder where the money comes from to be transferred
between jars. The point is that the jars (or accounts) start
out empty and they stay empty to the extent that the sum of the
money in the jars is always zero. A credit to one account is
offset by a debit to another so that we have +1-1=0.
In general
The general ledger is a report showing for each GL account in
order for a specified period of time, such as a month or a year,
the change in the balance in that account and listing all the
transactions which contributed to and made that change.
The two primary reports produced by an accounting system are the
Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss or Earnings report.
The types of accounts in a chart of accounts are actually of two
general kinds:
I like to refer to those accounts of type 1, Balance Sheet, as
"above the line" accounts and those of type 2, Profit and Loss,
as "below the line" accounts.
Any transaction that does not affect below the line accounts
does not affect earnings. For example purchase of goods to be
sold affects the two asset accounts: Bank Account, and
Inventory, both above the line, and has no effect on earnings.
If you purchase goods to be sold you have simply converted one
type of asset, cash in the bank, to another type of assets,
goods in inventory. No profit or loss can be made until those
goods are actually sold or otherwise disposed.
The Balance Sheet is a report that shows for a specific point in
time such as the end of a month or a year or some other date the
financial position or status of the business. Looking at the
Balance Sheet another way, it is a statement of the situation if
the business were to immediately go out of business. If that
were to happen all assets would be sold (hopefully at book
value) and converted to a pile of cash. Immediately the size of
that pile of cash would be reduced by paying off all creditors
eliminating all liabilities. Any cash left in the pile after
this would belong to the owners and would represent their equity
or profit in the business. If, however, the cash pile produced
by sale of the assets was not large enough to pay off all
liabilities and the owners were then required to come up with
money out of their pockets to finish satisfying the creditors
the business would have a loss rather than a profit.
The P&L report is a report showing total revenues and
expenses by account over a specified period of time such as a
week, month, or year. Revenues are credits (-) and expenses are
debits (+) so that if the business makes a profit (revenues
exceed expenses) the total earnings is a credit (-). This total
shows on the balance sheet as an earnings amount in an owners'
equity account meaning that the business owes that amount to the
owners. A P&L report can be thought of as a statement for a
specific period of time showing how a profit or loss occurred.
Besides the primary reports described above an accounting system
produces many other reports necessary for management of a
business. One of the ledgers subsidiary to the General Ledger is
the Accounts Receivable Ledger or subsystem. The purpose of
accounts receivable is to keep data on amounts owed to the
business by its customers for goods sold on credit.
A cash sale results in a debit (+) or deposit to the bank
account and a credit (-) to the proper sales revenue account. A
credit sale is posted as a debit (+) or increase in the asset
Accounts Receivable account and a credit (-) to the sales
revenue account. Since the profit or loss which is the sum of
revenues and expenses is carried into the balance sheet as
current earnings, such a sale becomes a credit (-) to current
earnings because it is an amount owed by the business to its
owners or a part of owners equity.
The accounting system, in the case of accounts receivable, will
require the identification of a customer or vendor for the
transaction. This allows the system to keep a separate ledger
for transactions involving each customer with credits or payments
made by the customer and debits or charges incurred together
with a running receivable balance.
The Accounts Receivable system then allows three primary
reports:
The accounting system also allows for carrying charges to a
customer or vendors account for amounts not paid on a timely
basis.
The Accounts Payable ledger or subsystem is the mirror image of
the Accounts Receivable ledger. It keeps data on amounts owed
by the business to its suppliers of goods and services. While
AR generally carries a debit (+) balance, AP carries a credit
(-) balance or a liability balance. AR is an asset account and
AP is a liability account. While the AR system produces bills
to customers, the AP system produces checks to pay to suppliers.
It also includes a detailed ledger for each supplier and an aged
accounts report showing amounts owed by number of months elapsed
since unpaid purchases.
The payroll system exists to pay employees, to keep a ledger of
payments to each employee, to withhold taxes and other amounts
properly from employees pay and to post withheld amounts to the
general ledger as liabilities to be paid to government entities
and others on behalf of the employee. Gross pay is made up of
the net amount paid to each employee plus all withheld amounts.
Gross payroll is posted to an expense payroll account while net
pay is a credit (-) to the bank payroll account and withholdings
are liabilities of the business. Besides payroll ledgers for
each employee, the payroll system usually also produces various
payroll reports useful in satisfying liabilities for
withholdings.
Accounts receivable and inventory are the two items most likely
to cause financial problems for small businesses. If accounts
receivable age without being collected or if inventory grows
with large quantities sitting on shelves unsold the business
will soon see profits dwindle or disappear.
The purpose of accounting inventory control subsystems is to
account for each item or type of item in inventory by enabling
the manager to know how much is selling and at what times of the
year, how great is the sales margin, how much is in stock, as
well as when and how much should be reordered. Maximum profits
occur when the proper amounts are ordered at the proper times
and prices are set properly to maximize profits. Either not
having the item to sell or stocking too many unsold items will
decrease profits.
Inventory control is essential for businesses that sell large
quantities of retail goods. Inventory control accounting is
more difficult and takes more attention to detail than other
accounting subsystems. It is also essential that a system of
reconciling accounting system inventory figures to real-world
information through a periodic physical inventory be in place.
Last revised January 2012.
URL: http://www.kyphilom.com/www/sm/sm7.htm
Please send comments.
his entire body, breath sacredness and contain it within himself, drink the sacred water as a living communion, bury his feet in sacredness, open his eyes and witness the burning beauty of sacredness."
- Richard Nelson
- Henry David Thoreau, 1817 - 1862
- Seneca
- Theodore Roosevelt
- Black Elk Speaks, The
Great Vision, 1932, p. 36
- John Muir
- Mikhail
Gorbachev, 1990
- Thalassa Cruso
- Morgan La Fey, Sacred Trees
- Buddhist Sutra
the sturdy chairs on your floors,
the upright walls of your houses,
the strong slanted roofs protecting your heads,
the holders of food during your meals,
the coffins for your rotting flesh,
the doors to your worlds,
the tissues cleaning the crap off your arses,
the boats for your fishers of men,
the forests on your Mother Earth,
the heat in your hearth,
the Sacred Rattles of the Winds,
the cooling shade for your summers,
the handles of your tools of life and death.
We are the Ancient Green Ones,
Yggdrasil, Ashvattha, Etz Chaim,
Arbotvitae, Axis Mundi of Many Names;
Ten Thousand Forms yet One of Kind,
the oldest living beings,
the largest and tallest living beings.
Yes, the Givers of the fruits and nuts in your hands.
Yes, the Givers of the air that you breathe.
Yes, the Trees, the Trees, the Trees!"
- Mike Garofalo,
Above the Fog
- Hamlin Garland, McClure's,
February 1899
- George Washington Carver
- Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
- Dhyani Ywahoo
In the air will your leaves speak as you reach towards the fire of the
sun.
We respect and honour and admire you, O tree, and all trees, for you represent both
Peace and Power - though you are mighty you hurt no creature.
Though you sustain us with your breath, you will give up your life to house
and warm and teach us.
We give thanks for your blessing upon our lives
and upon our lands.
May you fare well in this chosen place.
Awen."
- Druid
Ceremony for Planting a Tree
A regal monarch of the wood,
My branches once reached to the sky
See me now but do not cry.
The Creator's work has yet to cease
I've become a shelter for bird and beast,
And when at last I fall to the Earth
The life I leave will inspire new birth;
A seedling springs forth from the ground
Nature's cycle goes round and round."
- S. Edward Palmer, Spirit Tree
- Chief Edward Moody, Qwatsinas, Nuxalk Nation
- Warren Buffett
He plants the friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard -
The treble of heaven's harmony
These things he plants who plants a tree."
- Henry Cuyler Bunner, The Heart of the Tree
That we may record our emptiness."
- Kahlil Gibran
How beautiful it is?
All its branches are outlined, and in its nakedness
There is a poem, there is a song.
Every leaf is gone and it is waiting for the spring.
When the spring comes, it again fills the tree with
The music of many leaves,
Which in due season fall and are blown away.
And this is the way of life."
- Krishnamurti Not Happy Campers
The U. S. Forest Service received these actual comments from backpackers after
wilderness camping trips.
quoted by Tom Fitzgerald in San Francisco Chronicle
Forest Management
The Practice of Forestry
in the mountains of Kentucky
To "make sense" of Forestry it is necessary to define the terms used in the
discussion and to determine the objectives of forest management.
Reproduction
Reproduction of forests may be:
Intermediate Cuts
Intermediate cuts are practices in a forest done before final harvest, the
purpose of which is to improve the stand. They usually are considered to
result in a net expense either because no wood products are sold or because
the value of wood products sold is less than the cost of the practice. If
value of products sold exceeds the cost of the practice then it can be argued
that the cut was actually a harvest rather than an intermediate cut.
Selective harvests usually include, at least, some elements of an intermediate
cut due to removal of cull or otherwise low value trees during the harvest.
This is basically the difference between a selective harvest and a high
grading.
Harvests
Timber harvests are usually the most important factor determining the future
of the forest. Whether they are planned and done at the proper time
and in the proper way to cause desired regeneration and to improve the
structure of the subsequent stand determines whether future harvests will
produce optimum wood products and other benefits from the forest.
In each of these harvest scenarios the amount of environmental degradation
which occurs is dependent on the extent to which the logger follows Best Management Practices and is not a function of the
type of harvest.
Forest Mensuration (Measurements)
An Introduction to Forest Measurements
from a field forester's perspective
as applied in the appalachian hardwoods of Eastern
Kentucky
We should have an average tree 16 inches in diameter 2, 16' logs
in merchantable height with a butt log grade 2. With 46 of these
per acre our average volume per acre would be increased to 6,000 - 8,000
board feet and our average value of timber per acre would go from
about $150 to between $900 and $1,600 on the stump.
Instructions for Data Collection
FORMULAS
BAF = Basal Area Factor
A 1:33 angle gauge is BAF 10 meaning that each tree sampled represents a basal area of 10 sq. ft. per acre.
The Plot radius factor is 33 times the tree diameter or the PRF in feet is 2.75 times the tree diameter in inches.
Therefore the PRF for a 20 inch tree is 55 feet (2.75 X 20).
The area of a circle 55 feet in radius is pi or 3.14 X 55 X 55 or 9,498.50 square feet.
43,560 sq. feet per acre divided by 9,498.5 equals 4.586 which is the Ft (tree factor) for a BAF 10 sampled tree 20 inches dbh.
This means that each 20 inch tree sampled represents 4.586 trees per acre.
Expansion Factors
dbh Ft dbh*Ft
------ ------- -------
5 73.34 367
6 50.93 306
7 37.42 262
8 28.65 229
9 22.64 204
10 18.34 183
11 15.15 167
12 12.74 153
13 10.85 141
14 9.35 131
15 8.15 122
16 7.16 115
17 6.34 108
18 5.66 102
19 5.08 97
20 4.59 92
21 4.16 87
22 3.79 83
23 3.47 80
24 3.18 76
25 2.93 73
26 2.71 70
27 2.52 68
28 2.34 66
29 2.18 63
30 2.04 61
31 1.91 59
32 1.79 57
33 1.68 55
34 1.586 54
35 1.496 52
36 1.414 51
37 1.339 50
38 1.269 48
39 1.205 47
40 1.145 46
Fv FC 78 doyle scale
dbh 1/2 1 1 1/2 2 2 1/2 3 3 1/2
---------------------------------------------------------------
10 128 257 312 367 385 403
11 167 333 409 485 530 576
12 185 369 459 548 612 675 688
13 206 412 521 640 716 792 825
14 224 449 580 701 785 870 916
15 244 489 636 782 880 986 1043
16 258 516 673 831 945 1067 1146
17 273 545 716 888 1021 1154 1243
18 283 566 747 928 1075 1217 1313
19 300 599 792 986 1143 1300 1402
20 309 618 824 1030 1195 1360 1475
21 320 641 861 1082 1256 1431 1556
22 330 659 887 1118 1304 1486 1618
23 338 677 916 1152 1346 1541 1676
24 343 687 932 1177 1377 1577 1714
25 353 706 961 1213 1424 1635 1784
26 360 721 981 1244 1461 1677 1837
27 368 736 1003 1273 1497 1724 1887
28 371 742 1016 1289 1521 1755 1919
29 377 754 1036 1317 1557 1796 1966
30 384 767 1055 1342 1587 1832 2007
Woodland Preliminary Examination Field Data
Name ________________________________ Address _______________________
County _________________ Forester ______________________ Acres ______
Agent __________________ Location ___________________________________
Accessibility _______________________________________________________
Owner's Interest ____________________________________________________
Location ______________________________________________________________
Soil Description ______________________________________________________
Reproduction amount _______________ Species __________________________
D or CD tree of selected species nearest PC Tree no. ______ Age ______
........... Total ht. _________ Growth dbh - last 5 yrs. ___________
Stand Condition and recommendations:
Tree Data:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tree Species dbh Merc. Ht. Grade Vigor CC LHC Trees/ Vol/
No. (logs) Acre Acre
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
2. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
3. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
4. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
5. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
6. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
7. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
8. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
9. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
10. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
11. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
12. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
13. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
14. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
15. ________ ____ ________ ___ ___ ____ ___ ________ ________
Totals ________ ________
Dendrology
Dendrology is the science and study of wooded plants (trees, shrubs, and
lianas). There is no sharp boundary between plant taxonomy and dendrology.
However, woody plants not only belong to many different plant families, but
these families may be made up of both woody and non-woody members. Some
families include only a few woody species. This severely limits the usefulness
of a strictly dendrological approach. Dendrology tends to focus on
economically useful woody plants, their identification and horticultural or
silvicultural properties.
Ecology and Environmental Awareness
A Sample Timber Sale
Click here for Bid Information
Click here for Timber Sale
Contract
Click here for a photo of
the
Timber Sale area
Click here for the results of the timber sale
A Letter to the Courier-Journal Newspaper
concerning forestry in Kentucky on the occasion of the legislature considering
regulating logging.
Albany, Kentucky 42602
Logging Regulation Bill
War of the Minds - Forestry Questions
and What has been its economic effect on the forests of North America?
It is a decidious tree common in the Eastern United States and one of the most
valuable timber species.
It is a decidious tree common in the Eastern United States and one of the most
valuable timber species.
It is an aromatic tree common in the Eastern United States with three types of leaves on the same tree.
It is a decidious tree common in the Eastern United States.
see Answer
It is a deciduous tree common in the Eastern United States with bark that is
broken into long shaggy plates. It is considered an important mast producer
for wildlife.
It is a deciduous tree common in moist soils in the Eastern United States.
According to Mesavage and Girard a Form Class 78, two log tree with a dbh
of 22 inches contains 368 board feet International 1/4 inch log rule.
It is a deciduous tree common in moist soils in the Eastern United States.
It is a deciduous tree from Asia common as an ornamental in the United States.
An alidade is used for triangulation. How and for what purpose?
What are a pulaski, a mcleod, and a council rake used to construct?
and
Why are we told to "Never undercut with the line"?
All the above questions must be answered completely, specifically and in
terms relevant to the subject.
It is a deciduous tree common in the Eastern United States.
The leaves are palmately compound.
Carrying the fruit of this tree is said to bring good luck and/or prevent arthritis.
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One day Joe suggested to Sally that they return to the woodland and find
"their" beech tree. They went there one beautiful autumn afternoon and
searched the sun dappled woodland walking through piles of brightly colored
autumn leaves. After a while they found the old beech tree still standing.
Joe and Sally had been gone for 35 years. That plus the four years of high
school means that 39 years had elasped since the initials were carved. If the
beech tree grew in height 5% of its height for the first ten years, then 3%
for the next ten years and then 2% for the last nine years, how high up the
tree would Joe and Sally have to look to see their carved heart? Assume that
the heart was originally carved at eye level or about five feet above the
ground.
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Due West 110 paces
Due South 33 paces
Due East 154 paces
in a Northwesterly direction 55 paces to the beginning.
Approximately how many acres are in the tract?
see Answer
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"Pick 'um up and put 'um in your pocket."
"the largest tree fruit native to the United States."
Scientific name please?
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My dinner companion orders a "gin and tonic". What genus of trees or shrubs
is involved in the production of the liquor in this drink? How?
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(The answer may include more than one species. It is expected to include all such species.)
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Which of the following would probably not be at home growing in a moist north
facing appalachian cove forest which included in the overstory hemlock, beech,
sugar maple and yellow poplar? (Hint: 2 out of 8.)
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Joe's Data
Acres - 10
Plots - 40
Basal Area - 80 square feet
Trees/acre - 55
Bd. ft./acre - 5000
Coefficient of Variation of volume - .60
Steve's Data
Acres - 5000
Plots - 40
Basal Area - 55 square feet
Trees/acre - 32
Bd. ft./acre - 1500
Coefficient of Variation of volume - .50
The boss said, "We need to be 95% confident that we are accurate within plus
or minus 15% of actual volume on each cruise. You will both have to take
additional plots to obtain this accuracy." On approximately how many
additional plots should each forester collect data?
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Please give the scientific name and family.
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Tricholoma magnivelare
Cantharellus formosus
Boletus edulis
Tuber gibbosum
Leucangium carthusiana
Hydnum repandum
In what two ways are these significant in the forest?
see Answer
The products from woody plants have been circled and lettered, A-G. Please
give the latin name of the genus of, at least, five of these seven items.
see Answer
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According to Mesavage and Girard a Form Class 78, two log tree with a dbh
of 22 inches contains 368 board feet International 1/4 inch log rule.
see Answer
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Which produces the most short term monetary profits?
In which type are more trees cut?
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What is Annosus?
If I have a southern pine plantation which of these two would be of concern to
me?
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He may be involved in a timber cruise and he may say that he will stratify his
data. Would the purpose of this be to:
Explain.
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For what do we use a spud and a timbershave?
How is a peavey different than a canthook?
What do we call a canthook with a wooden or steel rocker installed at the
lower end of the handle opposite the lip and what is the purpose of this?
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sugar maple red oak black walnut
beech white oak black cherry
basswood black oak chestnut oak
dogwood white pine scarlet oak
hornbeam ash yellow poplar
red spruce hickory sweetgum
rhododendron red maple Virginia pine
sweet birch pitch pine
sycamore Table mountain pine
sourwood red cedar
blackgum black locust
Fraser fir sassafras
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TREES ANNUALS AND PERENNIALS
Serviceberry Red clover
Red Bud Vetch
Apple Strawberry
Honey Locust Rose
Black Cherry Soy bean
They are grouped based on form of the plant (tree/non tree). Please
put these plants in two groups of five on a different basis and explain
your reasoning.
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Beginning at a white oak beside a spring thence 203 degrees
azimuth 10 chains to a stake, thence North 67 degrees West 20
rods to a cedar, thence turning a clockwise 270 degree angle and
proceeding 80 poles to a rock, thence 113 degrees azimuth 330
feet to a fence post near where the brown cow stood, thence to
the beginning.
It will be noted that the distance and direction of the last
deed call are not given. What is this distance and direction
and how many acres in area is this tract of land?
see Answer
I added a piece of it to my load of firewood and when burned on the fire the
flames turned a strange color.
What caused this?
see Answer
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Leaves broad - not needle-like or scale-like
Leaves simple - not compound with several leaflets
Leaves opposite on the branch not alternately placed
Leaves entire - not lobed
Leaves oval shaped - not heart shaped
Fruit - a shiny oval red drupe.
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Leaves broad - not needle-like or scale-like
Leaves compound with several leaflets - not simple
Leaves opposite on the branch not alternately placed
Leaves palmately compound not pinnately compound
see Answer
It may be helpful for you to know that:
one inch = 2.54 centimeters.
one hectare is one hectometer squared.
a section is 80 gunther's chains squared.
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Imported from: Eastern Asia, 1907.
Distribution: Eastern United States and Western Australia.
Description: Deciduous.
3 to 14m high (can reach 20m)
Freely suckers, deep taproot. Disturbance of roots encourages massive regeneration of new suckers.
Leaves consist of up to 20 pairs of leaflets (opposite each other).
Flowers are green-white, fruit red/yellow/green colour.
Leaf extracts contain allelopathic substances which restrict the growth of other plants. For this reason, the trees are often found in thick stands with no discernible competition.
Contact with plant at flowering time (late Summer to Autumn) causes dermatits.
Leaves and flowers have an unpleasant odor.
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Actually, I've seen it listed as G. dioica and G. dioicus -- which makes
a sort of twisted sense, since the tree is "dioecious" (meaning it has male
and female individuals) and dioeca and dioecus would be the male and female
forms of the same word, in Latin. But I don't think that botanical Linnaean
binomial taxonomy works that way. Either a (contemporary) Somebody screwed
up or a (historic) Somebody couldn't make up their mind. I used 'dioica'
because the names I've seen for other plants seem to favor the feminine
dioecious name (Urtica dioica = stinging nettle; Silene diocia = red
campion; Bryonia dioica = white bryony; and many others)
A recent visitor to our pages emailed us to give the correct scientific name
and the reason based on Latin usage that it is correct. Please see if you can
also give us this answer.
see Answer
What is a DEM? Where would I get it?
How would I use it?
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Which do not belong and why?
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Which cannot reproduce and survive under a closed forest canopy?
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"Sorry", I say, "But Mr. Jones is willing to give me $300 per
thousand."
"Yes," says Mr. Smith, "but Jones has a 1/4 inch kerf circular saw and buys on
doyle log scale. I, however, have a 1/8 inch band saw and buy on
international 1/8 inch log scale, so you should sell to me."
What is Mr. Smith talking about? Where will I get the best price for my logs?
see Answer
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Five of the following six tree species are native where I live:
Which one is not?
Do I reside in New York, Kentucky, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas or California?
How do you know?
see Answer
Where am I?
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My leaves are simple not compound.
My leaves are serrated not lobed.
My leaves are doubly toothed around the margins of the leaf (doubly serrate) and asymmetrical at the base.
My leaves appear alternately on the stem, not opposite each other.
I have a dry, 1-seeded fruit with a wing.
I appear throughout Eastern North America.
What am I?
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Quercus macrocarpa Quercus virginiana
Magnolia soulangiana Magnolia grandiflora
Gingko biloba Pseudotsuga menziesii
Larix laricina Pinus ponderosa
Ilex verticillatta Ilex opaca
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Finance - The Arithmetic of Interest
Effective use of compound interest in financial calculations necessitates a
thorough knowledge of its mathematical structure and computation. Here are
the principal formulas useful in interest calculations.
Accounting
A Bookkeeping and Accounting Primer
For Small Business Owners & Bookkeepers
by Duane Bristow
October 30, 1999
Chart of Accounts:
(revenues are negative and expenses are positive)
General Ledger:
Balance Sheet:
Profit and Loss or Earnings Report:
Accounts Receivable:
Accounts Payable:
Payroll System:
Inventory Control:
All contents copyright (C) 2012, Duane Bristow. All rights reserved.
