Relationship Between Tree Value, Diameter, And Age In High-Quality Sugar Maple (Acer Saccharum) On The Menominee Reservation, Wisconsin

Guidelines for managing sugar maple-dominated forests by the single-tree selection method are well established and widely adopted. The forests of the Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin provide an opportunity to validate current guidelines by testing tree value and size/age relationships in forests that have substantially older and larger high-quality trees than can be found through the northern region. We harvested grade 1 sugar maple trees across a wide spectrum of ages and diameters, which we then manufactured into veneer, sawlogs, cants, and hardwood/pulpwood bolts to determine tree value. Tree value continued to increase with increasing dbh, but when the effect of tree age on value was discounted, the value of trees older than 100 years dropped precipitously toward zero. Thus, managing trees to maximize diameter and quality within genetic and site potential and harvesting at about 100 years will produce high-value grade 1 trees in the range of 24 to 30 in. dbh.