National Forests Stands for the SAA Data Set Name: Coded Name of National Forest District, where: armuchee Armuchee NF District Stands blksburg Blacksburg NF District Stands brasstwn Brasstown NF District Stands chattoog Chattooga NF District Stands cheoah Cheoah NF District Stands chestate Chestatee NF District Stands clinch Clinch NF District Stands cohutta Cohutta NF District Stands deerfld Deerfield NF District Stands dryriver Dry River NF District Stands fr_broad French Broad NF District Stands glenwood Glenwood NF District Stands grndfthr Grandfather NF District Stands highland Highlands NF District Stands hiwassee Hiwassee NF District Stands james_rv James River NF District Stands lee Lee NF District Stands mt_roger Mount Rogers NF District Stands newcastl New Castle NF District Stands nolichuk Nolichucky NF District Stands ocoee Ocoee NF District Stands pedlar Pedlar NF District Stands pickens Andrew Pickens NF District Stands pisgah Pisgah NF District Stands shoal_ck Shoal Creek NF District Stands taladega Talladega NF District Stands tallulah Tallulah NF District Stands tellico Tellico NF District Stands toccoa Toccoa NF District Stands toecane Toecane NF District Stands tusquite Tusquitee NF District Stands unaka Unaka NF District Stands warm_spg Warm Springs NF District Stands watauga Watauga NF District Stands wayah Wayah NF District Stands wythe Wythe NF District Stands Description: National Forests Stands (CISC) for the Southern Applachian Assessment (SAA) Study Area SAA Version 3.0 Version Date: 3/21/96 *********************** (provided by Chris Frye, US Forest Service, Atlanta, GA) STANDS COVERAGE METADATA LINEWORK. The stand boundaries in this dataset were delineated on aerial photos exceeding 1:24,000 scale accuracy, and transferred to mylar bases. These bases were hand-digitized and/or scanned, and registered (vertically integrated) to ownership, streams, roads and other coincident coverages. The stands coverages were originally projected in State Plane coordinate systems, and all have been re-projected into the SAA Albers projection. The coverages to which the stands coverages were integrated originated as digital files produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, and were modi- fied by the Forest Service Geometronics Service Center, and Forest Service Ranger District personnel. Positional accuracy of the linework meets National Map Accuracy standards. Old growth maps appearing in the SAA reports were generated using the COVGRP and GROUP attributes in the stands coverages, applying criteria described in the technical reports. The Tennessee Valley Authority produced the original stands coverages as prime contractor to the Southern Region of the Forest Service. The Southern Region has completed a standard GIS database covering more than 12 million acres, and the SAA stands coverages were extracted from that database. ATTRIBUTES (ITEMS). Data needed for silvicultural prescriptions include information required to: 1) accurately describe silvical attributes of the stand, 2) design timber sale projects, 3) prescribe silvicultural treatments, and 4) describe other resource data as appropriate to identify coordination and enhancement opportunities and potential mitigating treatments. The summarized stand data are entered into the Continuous Inventory of Stand Conditions (CISC) data base. Several CISC fields are attached as attributes to the stands polygons. Following are descriptions of the attributes of the SAA stands coverages, exerpted from the Forest Service "Silvicultural Examination and Prescription Handbook": ACRES Area of the stand in acres, calculated from the GIS stands polygon. AGE_YEAR Calendar year of stand origin, determined by subtracting the current stand age from the current year. It is recorded as a four-digit year for all stands except those in the process of regeneration and non-stocked stands for which the Age Year is recorded as blank. Age Year for stands managed with group or individual tree selection will be the year of stand establishment for the oldest age class in the stand. The tree, or trees, checked to determine a stand's Age Year should be representative of the prevailing situation in the stand. The tree may or may not be the same tree used for site index classification. Age Year should not be rounded to the nearest five years as in site index determination. For example, a stand, determined to be 72 years old in 1991, would have its Age Year recorded as 1919. COVGRP Potential old growth code: Code Old Growth Forest Type Group 1 Northern Hardwood 2 Conifer-Northern Hardwood 5 Mixed Mesophytic 10 Hardwood (Elm-Ash-Maple) Wetland Forest 13 River Floodplain Hardwood 21 Dry-Oak Mesic 22 Dry and Xeric Oak 24 Xeric Pine and Pine-Oak 25 Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak-Pine 26 Upland Longleaf Pine 28 Eastern Riverfront 31 Montane and Allied Spruce-Fir 37 Rocky, Thin-soiled, Excessively Drained Cedar Woodland DIST_NAME Eight-character abbreviation of the name of the Forest Service Ranger District in which the stand lies. FOR_TYPE A classification of the forest overstory cover type currently existing on the stand. The same codes are also utilized to identify management type. Forest type is based on one or more species of trees that comprise the main crown canopy (i.e., the dominants and co-dominants). Forest types codes used in Region 8 generally conform to definitions in "Forest Cover Types of the United States and Canada," Society of American Foresters (1980) with some notable exceptions. Forest types are divided into four broad groups as follows: Pine Types: Stands in which 70 percent or more of the basal area of trees with dominant and co-dominant crowns are softwoods, the specific name represents the species comprising the plurality. Pine-Hardwood Types: Stands in which 51-69 percent of the basal area of trees with dominant and co-dominant crowns are softwood species. Use the type name associated with the softwood species comprising the plurality. Hardwood-Pine Types: Stands in which 51-69 percent of the basal area of trees with dominant and co-dominant crowns are hardwoods. Use the type name associated with the hardwood species comprising the plurality. Hardwood Types: Stands in which 70 percent or more of the basal area of trees with dominant and co-dominant crowns are hardwoods. Use the type name associated with the hardwood species comprising the plurality. The SAF cover type classification requires a stand to exceed 80 percent in one species to be considered pure as opposed to the 70 percent threshold used in the Region 8 classification. The SAF cover type classification considers all mixtures of pine and hardwood that have less than 80 percent stocking of one species group as pine hardwood types. The Region 8 approach divides the group into Pine-Hardwood and Hardwood-Pine. The percentage of softwood and hardwood in the Region 8 classification applies to the particular mixture of trees at any single sample point. This is not the same as, and should not be confused with intermingling of less-than-stand size areas of pine type in a hardwood stand or of a hardwood type in a pine stand. These less-than-stand-size areas should be treated as pine inclusions in hardwood stands or hardwood inclusions in pine stands. In heterogenous areas with neither type being of stand size, forest type should be assigned on the basis of the type occupying the plurality of the area. Such situations should not be assigned a pine-hardwood or hardwood-pine forest type unless individual plot classifications for a plurality of the area are a mixed type. Forest type codes are also utilized to identify management type. Acceptability of a forest type as a management type is by the footnoting convention presented in the Management Type section. SAF TYPE NUMBERS refer to the appropriate SAF cover type discussed in FOREST COVER TYPES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, Society of American Foresters, 1980, and are presented only for information and will not be recorded in CISC. The codes can be changed using the CISC Lookup Table Menu under Regional direction. Forest Type Codes PINE TYPES Stands in which at least 70 percent of the dominant and co-dominant basal areas are softwoods. Use the type code associated with the species constituting the plurality of dominant and co-dominant. Code Forest Type SAF TYPE NUMBER 02 (1) Red Pine 15 03 (1) White Pine 21 04 White Pine-Hemlock 22 05 Hemlock 23 06 Fraser Fir 34 07 (1) Red Spruce-Fraser Fir 34 21 (1) Longleaf Pine 70 22 (1) Slash Pine 84 23 (1) Pondcypress 100 24 (1) Baldcypress 101 25 (1) Yellow Pine 26 (1) Longleaf Pine/Hardwood 31 (1) Loblolly Pine 81 32 (1) Shortleaf Pine 75 33 (1) Virginia Pine 79 34 (1) Sand Pine 69 35 (1) Eastern Red Cedar 46 36 (1) Pond Pine 98 37 Spruce Pine 82 38 (1) Pitch Pine 45 39 (1) Table Mountain Pine 45 PINE-HARDWOOD TYPES Stands in which 51-69 percent of the dominant and co-dominant basal areas are softwoods. Use the type code associated with the species constituting the plurality of the dominant and co-dominant softwoods. Code Forest Type SAF TYPE NUMBER 08 (2) Hemlock-Hardwood 24 09 (2) White Pine-Cove Hardwood 51 10 (2) White Pine-Upland Hardwood 51 11 Eastern Red Cedar-Hardwood 46 12 (2) Shortleaf Pine-Oak 76 13 (2) Loblolly Pine-Hardwood 82 14 (2) Slash Pine-Hardwood 85 15 (2) Pitch Pine-Oak 78 16 (2) Virginia Pine-Oak 78 17 Red Spruce-Northern Hardwoods 31 18 Pond Pine-Hardwood 98 19 Sand Pine-Hardwood 69 20 (2) Table Mountain Pine-Hardwood 78 HARDWOOD-PINE TYPES Stands in which 51-69 percent of the dominant and co-dominant basal areas are hardwoods. Use the type code associated with the species constituting the plurality of the dominant and co-dominant hardwoods. Code Forest Type SAF TYPE NUMBER 40 Hardwood-Pond Pine 98 41 (2) Cove Hardwoods-White Pine-Hemlock 58 42 (2) Upland Hardwoods-White Pine 51 43 Oak-Eastern Red Cedar 46 44 (3) Southern Red Oak-Yellow Pine 76,78,82 45 (3) Chestnut Oak-Scarlet Oak-Yellow Pine 44 46 (3) Bottomland Hardwood-Yellow Pine 82 47 (3) White Oak-Black Oak-Yellow Pine 52 48 (3) Northern Red Oak-Hickory-Yellow Pine 52 49 (4) Bear Oak-Southern Scrub Oaks- and Yellow Pine 72 HARDWOOD TYPES Stands in which at least 70 percent of the dominant and co-dominant basal areas are hardwoods. Use the type code associated with the species or species groups constituting the plurality of dominant and co-dominants. Code Forest Type SAF TYPE NUMBER 50 (1) Yellow Poplar 57 51 (1) Post Oak-Black Oak 40,110 52 (1) Chestnut Oak 44 53 (1) White Oak-Northern Red Oak-Hickory 52 54 (1) White Oak 53 55 (1) Northern Red Oak 55 56 (1) Yellow Poplar-White Oak- and Northern Red Oak 59 57 (4) Scrub Oak 43,72 58 (1) Sweet Gum-Yellow Poplar 87 59 (1) Scarlet Oak 44 60 (1) Chestnut Oak-Scarlet Oak 44 61 (1) Swamp Chestnut Oak-Cherrybark Oak 91 62 (1) Sweet Gum-Nuttall Oak-Willow 92 63 (1) Sugarberry-American Elm-Green Ash 93 64 (1) Laurel Oak-Willow Oak 88 65 Overcup Oak-Water Hickory 96 66 Atlantic White Cedar 97 67 (1) Baldcypress-Water Tupelo 102 68 (1) Sweet Bay-Swamp Tupelo-Red Maple 104 69 (1) Beech-Magnolia N/A 70 (1) Black Cherry 28 71 Black Ash-American Elm-Red Maple 39 72 (1) River Birch-Sycamore 61 73 Cottonwood 63 74 Willow 95 75 (1) Sycamore-Pecan-American Elm 94 76 Silver Maple-American Elm 62 77 (2) Oak Hammock N/A 81 (1) Sugar Maple-Beech-Yellow Birch 25 82 (1) Black Walnut N/A 83 (1) Black Birch 25 88 Black Locust 50 97 (1) Live Oak 89 98 Undrained flatwoods - Includes N/A so-called savannahs. Usually non-stocked with management species. Stocking efforts complicated by water table at or nearly at the surface throughout most of the year. 99 Brush species - Areas stocked with N/A brush species other than Bear Oak or the Southern Scrub Oaks; includes Titi, Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel FRTY_SITE_INDEX Forest Type Site Index. Site index for the stand's current forest type. See Site Index section for codes. GROUP Potential Oldgrowth Category Codes: Code Category 1 Conifer/Northern Hardwood 2 Mixed Mesic 3 Mixed Xeric LAND_CLASS Land Class is the timber land suitability classification for National Forest land. The classification is divided into two broad categories: suitable for timber production and unsuitable for timber production. Suitable lands are managed for timber production. Unsuitable lands are not managed for timber production. FSH 2409.13 and 36 CFR 219.14 give detailed direction on using this classification system. Direction for coding is given in the Timber Management Information (TMIS) Handbook, Table T1A. The Forest Plan identifies how a Forest's land is allocated into these broad categories and sub-categories. Forests may supplement this section to give additional direction for implementing the Forest Plan. The following codes will apply Region-wide. Forest may supplement this section to add codes to accommodate local needs. The codes can be changed using the CISC Lookup Table Menu under Forest direction. The third digit "9" has been reserved by the Washington Office to denote old growth. Old growth may be recorded in any land class series. For example, a stand code 549 would be defined as standard forest land, suitable for timber production, steep slopes, old growth. Suitability for Timber Code Production Land Class 100 N/A Water Area 110 Natural Lake, 1 acre + 120 Reservoir, 1 acre + 130 Estuary, greater than 120 feet in width 140 River, greater than 120 feet in width 200 N/A Non-Forest Land 210 Public Parks and Cemeteries 220 Transmission Lines 230 Road and Railroad R-O-W 240 Special Uses 250 Wildlife Openings 260 Other Non-Forest 300 Unsuitable Reserved - Withdrawn from Timber Production 310 Scenic Area 320 Historic Area 330 Natural Area 340 Geological or Archeological Area 350 Wilderness Area 400 Unsuitable Deferred - Withdrawn from Timber Production Pending Final Action 410 Scenic Area 420 Historic Area 430 Natural Area 440 Geological or Archeological Area 450 Wilderness Area 500 Suitable Standard - Normal Timber Production 500 Standard Forest Land 510 Key Area for Wildlife Featured Species 520 Contains Key Area for Wildlife Featured Species 530 Low Site Productivity, Standard Forest Land 540 Steep Slopes, Standard Forest Land 550 Needs R-O-W 560 Needs Road 590 RCW Foraging Stand for Active Colony 592 RCW Foraging Stand for Replacement/Recruitment 593 RCW Foraging Stand for Inactive Colony 600 Suitable Special - Timber Production Secondary to Other Resources 600-629 (Reserved by Washington Office) 630 Recreation Emphasis (even-aged mgmt) 631 Recreation Emphasis (uneven-aged mgmt) 640 Visual Emphasis (even-aged mgmt) 641 Visual Emphasis (uneven-aged mgmt) 650 Wildlife Emphasis (even-aged mgmt) 651 Wildlife Emphasis (uneven-aged mgmt) 660 Water Emphasis (even-aged mgmt) 661 Water Emphasis (uneven-aged mgmt) 670 Special Study Area 671 Growth and Yield Research Plot 680 Progeny Test Plantation 700 Unsuitable Lack of Technology 700-709 (Reserved by Washington Office) 710 Restocking Cannot Be Assured 720 Irreversible Damage Is Likely To Occur 740 Adequate Response Information Is Lacking 760-799 (Reserved by Washington Office) 800 Unsuitable Not Appropriate - Land Not Appropriate for Timber Production 800 Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) Colonies 801 Inactive RCW Colony 802 RCW Recruitment Stands 803-809 Other Rare and Endangered Species 812 Designated Experimental Forest, Range or Watershed 820 Minimum Management Level (MIN LEVEL) 821 MIN LEVEL Steep Slopes 822 MIN LEVEL Inadequate Markets for Harvest Product 823 MIN LEVEL Inaccessible - ROW Needed 824 MIN LEVEL Sensitive Soils 825 MIN LEVEL Low Level Management 826 MIN LEVEL Inaccessible - Physical Barriers 827 MIN LEVEL Inaccessible - Road Cost Exceeds Values 850 Developed Recreation Sites 851 Undeveloped Recreation Sites (NFRS) 852 Appalachian Trail 853 Other National Recreation Trails 860 Administrative Sites 861 Undeveloped Administrative Sites 862 Summer Home Sites 870 Nurseries 871 Seed Orchards 880-889 RARE II Lands Under Study 890-899 (Reserved by Washington Office) 900 Unsuitable Unproductive 900 Lands Incapable of Producing Industrial Wood MGT_TYPE A classification reflecting the forest type that should be produced on the site to best meet the goals and objectives of the Forest Plan. For areas classified as suitable for timber production and allocated to management prescriptions with timber production management emphasis, the management type is the forest type that optimizes the productive capability of the site to produce high quality material. These same criteria also apply to all other areas unless the Forest Plan requires occupying the site with another, less productive forest type, to meet some other resource goal or objective. MGTY_SITE_INDEX Management Type Site Index. Site index for the stand's designated management type. See Site Index section for codes. PRODUCTIVITY Productivity is an indicator of the mean annual increment of stand growth. It is a code representing the number of board feet per acre or cubic feet per acre that the stand is expected to grow per year. Productivity is based on the management type, management type site index, and the geographical location of the stand (i.e., mountains, flatwoods, or bottomlands). This code is computed by CISC. SAWTIMBER PULPWOOD Code Board Ft/ac/yr Code Cubic Ft/ac/yr 1 800+ 1 225+ 2 600-799 2 165-224 3 500-599 3 120-165 4 300-499 4 85-119 5 150-299 5 50- 84 6 100-149 6 20- 49 7 less than 100 7 less than 20 SITE INDEX Site index is a measure of site quality based on the height of the dominant trees in a stand at an arbitrarily chosen base age. In Region 8 the base age is 50 years. Site index is recorded for both the forest type and the management type. Site index is recorded in classes based on 10-foot intervals. For example, site index 60 includes all trees between 55 and 64 feet tall at age 50. To determine site index from the site index tables in the FIELD BOOK, round the site index tree age to the nearest 5 years (e.g., age 47 is rounded to 45 and age 48 is rounded to 50). When the rounded age has been determined, read the table horizontally to find the largest indicated height that does not exceed the measured height of the selected tree. The site index value at the top of that column is the indicated site index based on the selected tree. Forests may substitute, after Regional approval, other site index tables that more accurately reflect local conditions by supplementing this handbook. The code for site index is a three-digit code (i.e., a site index of 110 feet is recorded as 110). The tree chosen for measuring site index should be of the species representing the plurality of the forest type or management type. Several well dispersed trees may need to be examined within the stand to get a good estimate of site index. Species site index tables are included in the FIELD BOOK for all types except the various combinations of upland hardwood. Northern Red Oak, followed by Black Oak and Chestnut Oak, are the preferred species for site determination for all upland and cove hardwood types except White Oak (Type 54) and Yellow Poplar (Type 50). Scarlet Oak may be used for site determination if there are no other suitable site trees available. The age of the site tree is the age, from seed, of the tree being measured. To determine age from seed, measure age at DBH and add: 5 years for hardwoods, 7 years for longleaf pine, or 4 years for all other pines. Select trees for site index determination as close to age 50 as possible. Trees younger than 30 years or older than 70 years tend to give inaccurate readings of site index. Height is total height from ground level on the uphill side to tip of the main leader. Height must be measured with an Abney level, clinometer, etc., and at a measured horizontal distance from the tree. Logger tapes must be used to accurately measure distance from the tree. Trees used for site index determination should be dominant, preferably the tallest of several dominants, show no signs of damage to the main stem, and should have been dominant throughout their life. Omit trees which show signs of suppression such as narrow growth rings at the center and/or nearby stumps of such size and location as to have supported trees that would have suppressed the selected tree. In addition the selected trees should be on a location that is typical of the stand to avoid any micro-site influences. Site index is a three-digit numeric value rounded to the nearest 10 feet. STAND_CONDITION A classification of the woody growth occupying the stand that incorporates a broad evaluation of (1) the adequacy of stocking, (2) size of material, (3) thrift, (4) age, (5) and success in meeting planned product objectives. The detailed definition, description, and discussion of Stand Condition Classes are in FSH 2471.1 R8 Silvicultural Practices Handbook. A stand can qualify for only one stand condition class. That class will be the first class encountered in the list of stand condition classes that describes the stand being classified, unless that stand is under group or individual tree selection management. Once selection cutting has been initiated, the appropriate code, 16 or 17, will be used. The stand condition classes are listed in priority for regeneration. Consider this as the second order in an hierarchal scheme with the priority given in the Forest Plan having the first order of consideration. The objective is to implement the Forest Plan. The priority given in the Plan shall be the first to consider in meeting the Forest Plan objective. However, it may not be the best way because of conflicts with standards and guidelines. The priority of the condition class provides a second order of consideration when the first hierarchal order is not desirable. The codes can be changed using the CISC Lookup Table Menu under Regional direction. Stand condition class is a two-digit numerical field. Code Stand Condition Class (blank) None Even-Aged Management 1 In Regeneration 2 Damaged Poletimber 3 Damaged Sawtimber 4 Forest Pest Infestation 5 Sparse Poletimber 6 Sparse Sawtimber 7 Low Quality Poletimber 8 Low Quality Sawtimber 9 Mature Poletimber 10 Mature Sawtimber 11 Immature Poletimber 12 Immature Sawtimber 13 Seedling & Sapling Adequately Stocked 14 Seedling & Sapling Inadequately Stocked 15 Non-Stocked UnEven-Aged Management 16 Group Selection Management 17 Individual Tree Selection Management USTAND The unique stand identifier. This 12 character string is the concatenation of forest number, district number, compartment number, and stand number. USTAND identifiers uniquely name individual stands throughout the Southern Region of the Forest Service.