The Evolution of Forestry and Pulpwood Production: A Case Study of Crossett, Arkansas, 1

Introduction

The history of forestry and pulpwood production is a fascinating journey that intertwines with the economic and social fabric of many communities. This essay explores this journey through the lens of Crossett, Arkansas, a town that played a pivotal role in the evolution of these industries.

?Historical Context

?In the 1930s, the forestry industry was in a state of flux. The need for a comprehensive forestry program was recognized, leading to the engagement of Spain and Company, Consultation Foresters, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Their task was to assess the availability of pine timberlands for a mill, marking the beginning of a significant chapter in the industry's history.

?The Forestry Program

?By February 1936, a secured loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation had been approved. This decision was driven by the potential to provide employment for many unemployed men in the area, highlighting the socio-economic impact of the forestry industry. Construction plans for a 150-ton kraft mill were nearly completed, setting the stage for a new era of pulpwood production.

?Chemicalwood Production

?During this period, the market price for chemicalwood was $2.25 per "unit" (52 inches wide x 4 feet high x 8 feet long) of wood delivered to the chemicalwood yard in Crossett. The company acquired used 1?-ton trucks and built chemicalwood racks on the back of each. This initiative not only provided employment but also improved the growing conditions and pine stocking on the areas treated.

?Pulpwood: An Overview

?Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is commonly used for paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered products. The use of wood pulp and the invention of automatic paper machines in the late 18th- and early 19th-century contributed to paper's status as an inexpensive commodity in modern times.

?Historical Context of Pulpwood

?Large-scale wood paper production began in the 1840s with unique, simultaneous developments in mechanical pulping made by Friedrich Gottlob Keller in Germany and by Charles Fenerty in Nova Scotia. European papermakers developed machines to break down logs from various tree species into pulps and also dry and flatten the pulps using a series of rollers that grew progressively larger and faster. This allowed for the mass production of many types of pulps and papers.

?Uses of Pulpwood

?Pulpwood has a wide range of applications. It is used in everyday products like tissues, books, and baby wipes, to the more innovative ones, such as car filters, LCD screens, renewable fuel, and stickers. Hardwoods are preferred for pulp used in printing papers due to their small dimensions in fibers, which can be useful for small-scale uniformity, opacity, and surface smoothness, all important for printing paper. Softwoods are the preferred raw material for strong papers, due to the length and slimness of the fibers.

?Pulpwood in Crossett, Arkansas

?In the context of Crossett, Arkansas, pulpwood was a significant industry. The specific cut length of pulpwood was particularly important, and it was used extensively for a period. The pulpwood industry not only provided employment opportunities but also contributed to the local economy and the development of the community.

?Growth and Yield Tables

?Growth and yield tables are essential tools in forestry. They are a type of 'experience' table which lists expected productivity/volumetric yield for a given age, site or crop quality and sometimes other indices such as density. These tables usually refer only to even-aged stands.

?These tables provide information about the patterns of tree growth and potential productivity that can be expected in forest stands of different tree species, with varying growth rates, when managed in different ways. They are in daily use by forest managers and practitioners when making decisions about the future management of a forest.

?The Forest Yield tables present values for all the main growth and yield variables for a sequence of stand ages. There are two table formats. The first format is for displaying yield tables involving thinning as part of the management prescription.

?Growth and yield tables help landowners determine the value of their trees during a timber sale, whether or not it is the right time to thin a forest, where a forest exists in relation to some desired forested condition, how that forest will grow into the future, and what practices can be used to manipulate the forest for optimal wildlife habitat and/or carbon production.

?More specifically, growth and yield modeling is a means whereby mathematical models are used to predict forest attributes. There are generally two conditions where growth and yield modeling is applied: current time (or at time present) and future time (or projections).

?In the context of Crossett, Arkansas, the Southern Forest Experiment Station developed growth and yield tables for fully stocked stands of the four principal species of southern pine-loblolly, longleaf, shortleaf, and slash. However, the concept of "fully stocked" stands was challenged by James W. Girard, who proved that it was possible to have significant growth in stands with less than full stocking. This finding revolutionized the understanding of growth dynamics in understocked stands.

?Pulpwood Thinning Study

?The Pulpwood Thinning Study, initiated on June 11, 1936, aimed to determine the present and future yields, returns, and costs when varying numbers of the best trees were reserved per acre at different spacings. Trees smaller than 6 inches d.b.h. were not counted as crop trees and were allowed to remain on the plots. The study was undertaken in a 44-year-old oldfield stand with an average basal area of about 140 square feet per acre.

?Method-of-Cutting Study

?The Method-of-Cutting Study was designed to compare the yields, costs, returns, and the type of stands that would develop from four different methods of cutting in the previously unmanaged second growth shortleaf-loblolly pine-upland hardwood stands. The methods ranged from clearcutting for sawlogs of all pine and hardwood trees 12 inches d.b.h. and larger, and for pulpwood of all pine trees 6 inches d.b.h. and larger up to sawlog size, to a selection cutting to be repeated on the same areas every 7 years.

?Selection Management-Cutting Cycle Study

?The Selection Management-Cutting Cycle Study, initiated in 1937, aimed to answer questions such as: can light, frequent, selection cuttings be made in previously unmanaged immature, understocked, second-growth shortleaf-loblolly pine-upland hardwood stands? Will this type of management and partial cutting, when applied to large acreages, permit the sawmills to be operated profitably on logs of good size and quality while the badly rundown stands were rehabilitated and their stocking, quality, and growth built up? Will frequent selection cuttings increase growth enough to make up for the lower logging costs to be expected from heavier and less frequent cuts? How will frequent cuttings affect reproduction? Will there be an appreciable difference in board-foot growth where the cutting cycle is relatively long or relatively short?

?Conclusion

?The history of forestry and pulpwood production in Crossett, Arkansas, provides valuable insights into the evolution of these industries. From the establishment of the forestry program to the development of growth and yield tables, each step marked significant progress. Today, these historical developments continue to shape the present-day forestry and pulpwood industry, underscoring the enduring legacy of Crossett's contribution.