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Question 2 Once logged, how long would it take for an 

 old-growth stand to regenerate? 



It will take several centuries for a 

 logged area to again achieve the ecological 

 characteristics of old-growth (see Attachments 

 E pp. 535-538 and F) . Old-growth forests are 

 steady-state forests where the death of old 

 trees is balanced by the growth of young 

 trees. In southeastern Alaska, old-growth 

 forests have persisted over many centuries in 

 the absence of widespread catastrophic 

 disturbances such as wildfires. Trees of all 

 ages occur in old-growth with dominant trees 

 usually in excess of 250 to 300 years of age. 

 The oldest trees exceed 800 to 900 years. 



Alaback (Attachment F) provides a description 

 of forest succession in southeastern Alaska. 

 Following clearcutting, herbs and shrubs 

 quickly dominate the site. Conifers begin 

 replacing these plants in about 20 years, and 

 by 25 to 30 years most clearcut sites are 

 completely dominated by a dense growth of 

 young, even-aged conifers. This second-growth 

 forest remains a dense, dark environment with 

 little forest floor vegetation, and is of low 

 value to most wildlife species for over a 

 century. Though the timing of the eventual 

 breakup of the even-aged forest and 

 development of old-growth characteristics 

 varies from site to site, most ecologists 

 consider that it takes 200 to 300 years for a 

 stand to develop the ecological conditions 

 characteristic of old-growth. This is 100 to 

 200 years after the normal rotation age when 

 most stands are scheduled to be harvested 

 again. The result is a significant and 

 permanent (in a practical sense) reduction in 

 biological diversity. 



