Your family owns 500 acres of land that is 80 percent forested. ...

[Ebrown]

Your family owns 500 acres of land that is 80 percent forested. Timber was
  harvested from 150 acres 40 years ago. The area was replanted with three
  different kinds of trees. Fifty additional acres of timber were harvested over
  the past five years. Some parts of this area were replanted with pines. About
  200 acres of the forest have not been cut in the last 200 years. You have been
  offered a large amount of money for the timber in the oldest hardwood stands.
  You wonder what will happen to the forest if the older trees are removed. Your
  family calls a forester and a conservationist to assist them in making a
  decision. What would you do and why?

 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Which method of harvesting would have the least impact on the forest
  ecosystem?

 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Meganchabluk]

Answer to Question 1

There is no one correct answer to this question. I would suggest that the students in
the class come to some kind of group consensus through role-playing. Some of the
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students can be conservationists, and others can pretend to be foresters for the park
service. Some of the students should represent the timber industry, and a small
group should be the family of the landowner. You can increase the realism in this
role-playing activity by using topographic maps of forested areas in your location.
Students should consider the impact of harvesting old-growth forest areas on the
soil and water (streams, lakes, and rivers) in the area. Is the area to be harvested
flat, hilly, or a steep slope? Would the older trees be removed selectively, strip cut, or
clear cut? What would the landowners do with the area if the old-growth trees were
removed? These questions would need to be answered before a decision could be
made. This is the kind of decision that landowners must make about the
management of their land.

Answer to Question 2

Selective tree cutting would have the least impact on the forest ecosystem because it
produces the smallest impact on the forest site.

[Ebrown]

Both answers were spot on, thank you once again

[Meganchabluk]

Great! Please up vote