The white pine resources of 21 counties in eastern and southeastern Ohio were successfully inventoried using remote sensing and Geographic Information System technology. The inventory required less labor and time than traditional forest inventory techniques and produced acreage and volume estimates with standard errors substantially below those of existing inventories.
Within the 21-county study area, 36,454 acres of conifers were identified, 24,147 acres of which were estimated to be white pine containing 570.5 million board feet of timber (International 1/4-Inch Rule). White-pine stands in the study area averaged 9.8 acres; 37 years of age; 11.7 inches average diameter at breast height; 162 square feet basal area; 23,625 board feet of volume; and had a 35-year white-pine site index of 76 feet.
These results indicate that Ohio's white pine resource is considerably larger and may have substantially greater economic development potential than previous inventories suggested. An accurate inventory of the white-pine resources of the entire state is needed to evaluate this potential. The methodology evaluated in this study, utilizing remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, offers an efficient and accurate method of obtaining this information.
The efficiency of a comprehensive inventory could be increased by refining the spectral classification scheme to identify only white pine. Further, its usefulness in evaluating the types of industry and harvesting that the resource could support long-term and the availability of the resource over time under alternative utilization and management scenarios could be substantially improved with acreage and age distribution information. Results and data from our study could be used to refine spectral signatures and to evaluate the potential for identifying different white-pine age classes.
Back | Forward | Table of Contents
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868