from hardwood, saw-timber size trees from 

 pulpwood and recognize density. 



b. A good interpreter should have a high de- 

 gree of stereoscopic perception, which is the 

 ability to see in the third dimension. The lack 

 of this ability will be a serious handicap. 



c. Extensive experience in timber work is an 

 essential requisite for interpreting aerial photo- 

 graphs. Timber cruising and estimating is prob- 

 ably the best type of experience. Before an ob- 

 ject can be identified on a picture, the observer 

 must know how it looks on the ground. Con- 

 stant field checking will be required for the 

 interpreter until he gains such experience and 

 confidence that he is positive of his ability. 



d. Objects can be identified on aerial photo- 

 graphs because of certain pictorial character- 

 istics such as size, shape, shadow, tone, texture 

 and dimension. 



e. Pine can be readily distinguished by tone. 

 Pine appears darker than hardwood. In general, 

 the older and denser the pine stand the darker 

 it appears. Contrast in tone is more easily recog- 

 nized on infrared pictures. 



f. Texture, described in terms of smoothness, 

 roughness and coarseness, is a very important 

 recognition feature. Young pine of sapling size 

 appears very fine and, depending upon age, 

 grades from fine to coarse. Open-grown rough 

 pine appears rough on photos regardless of age. 



g. Size and height will serve to distinguish 

 the stand size. The older the timber, the taller 

 it is. By this feature, saw-timber, pulpwood, 

 saplings and reproduction can be identified. 



h. Site will serve to identify some features. 

 Most important is to recognize upland from 

 overflow bottomlands. 



i. The classification of hardwood stands must 

 be done by an on-the-ground inspection of the 

 stand. Because it is impossible to recognize cull 

 species, cull trees and poor quality on aerial 

 photographs, their use must be restricted to 

 area measurement, stand delineation and an aid 

 for location. 



j. Density is discussed in Annex #8. 



8. Corner Locations in Timber Areas: (See 



Annex #9) 



9. Estimating Standing Timber: (See Annex 

 #10) 



10. General: 



a. Aerial photos should be used in all phases 

 of valuing timber. They can be used in cruising 

 to locate stands down to 2V-> acres. With photos 

 the cruiser can go into the stand and measure 



several plots or enough to satisfy himself that 

 he has a fairly representative sample. In this 

 manner homogeneous stands may be cruised 

 with a low-intensity cruise (5% or less, depend- 

 ing upon the variation in blocking.) 



ANNEXES 



1. ARKANSAS FOREST REGIONS BY 

 LAND CLASS 



2. ARKANSAS FOREST TYPES— MAP 



3. ARKANSAS FOREST REGIONS- 

 DRAWN ALONG COUNTY LINES 



4. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOUR 

 FOREST REGIONS 



5. DESCRIPTION OF TIMBER CLASSES 

 WITH BASIC VALUATION PRICES BY 

 REGION 



6. LINE-PLOT CRUISE PLAN 



7. A METHOD OF RANDOM CRUISING 



8. PHOTO DENSITY 



9. CORNER LOCATIONS IN TIMBER 

 AREAS 



10. ESTIMATING STANDING TIMBER 



Annex 4. Characteristics of the Different Forest 

 Regions 



1. The Coastal Plain Region is the most im- 

 portant of the four regions. It is characterized 

 by low rolling hills, sandy soil, commercially 

 important stands of pine and hardwood. The 

 associated forest-type is loblolly — shortleaf — 

 hardwood mixture. Growing seasons in this 

 area are from 205 to 220 days. The climate is 

 hot humid summers and mild winters with 

 average temperature of 64 degrees. Average 

 rainfall is from 50 to 55 inches. This region is 

 the center of Arkansas lumbering industry. 

 Markets are readily available. Transportation 

 is good. Extensive tree farming is practiced, 

 with selective cuttings, for sustained growth. 



2. The Ouachita Region is characterized by 

 long distinct East-West ridges, shallow rocky 

 soils, and has a high potential for pine produc- 

 tion. The associated forest-type is the shortleaf 

 pine — hardwood type. Growing seasons in this 

 area are from 200 to 210 days. The climate is 

 hot summers and mild winters with average 

 temperature of 62 degrees. Average rainfall is 

 from 45 to 50 inches. This region falls second in 

 the Arkansas timber industry. Markets are not 

 always readily available for pulp and chips. 

 Post and piling must be shipped distantly. 

 Transportation is good but confined mostly to 

 trucking. Tree farming is not practiced on a 

 large scale, only small individual parcels of 

 timber. Jack pine grows on the poorer soils. 



