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North Slope Criteria for Forest Restoration

NOTE: This is a draft version that is subject to revision.

Special Conditions and Exceptions

Wood from Salvage Logging

Salvage logging is the logging of stands of forest in which there is widespread mortality due to forest fire, disease, or insects such as pine beetles. Salvage logging is not generally considered “forest restoration” under the North Slope Critieria. However, wood from salvage logging sites will be considered for use on a case–by–case basis under the following conditions, at a minimum:

It amounts to less than 50% of the “restoration wood” being considered for use in a structure or purchased as part of a “restoration wood” inventory.
If the salvage site where the wood originates is over 10 acres in size, at least 2 or 3 snags per acre must be left standing for wildlife habitat.
On salvage sites where the majority of trees have been killed, any trees that have a reasonable chance of surviving should be left standing.

Wood from Well-Managed Forests

The criteria above all apply to “unmanaged” forests or “poorly–managed” forests that have been “high–graded.” (High–grading refers to logging in past decades that focused on removing the valuable trees in the most inexpensive manner and ignored the effects of this on the forest that was left behind.) In contrast, “well–managed” forests under these criteria are those that have already been using restoration forestry. They have been thinned over the years, but have consistently left behind a majority of the dominant trees. On a case–by–case basis, wood will be considered that comes from long–term, well–managed forests, under the following conditions:

Due to good past management practices, the site includes dense stands of dominant trees.

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