HomeMy WebLinkAboutBiomass Boiler Project Timber Harvest Plan 1999BIOMASS BOILER PROJECT
TIMBER HARVEST PLAN
BY
Glen A. Hanway
LAND PLANNER
MTNT, LTD.
May 20, 1999
GENERAL INFORMATION
This harvest plan covers an area of some 100 acres located
on Cranberry Ridge, 4 miles southeast of McGrath, within
section 36, Township 33 North, Range 33 West, Seward
Meridian. The land is owned by MTNT, Ltd., the village
corporation for the native villages of McGrath, Takotna,
Nikolai, and Telida. Access is by road from McGrath to the
McGrath Emergency Airstrip, and via the White Mountain
Trail, an ANCSA 17(b) easement within the area.
MTNT, Ltd. also owns McGrath Light and Power, the electric
utility for McGrath. One aspect of ML&P is the ownership
of a waste heat pipeline running from the powerhouse to the
FAA facility at the airport in McGrath. In an effort to
expand this district heating capability to the McGrath
School and Iditarod Area School District offices, a biomass
boiler system and an expansion of the waste heat pipeline
has been designed by James S. Strandberg of the firm of
Strandberg Engineering. The annual requirements of this
biomass boiler system are the equivalent of 180 cords of
wood chips per year. The purpose of this harvest plan is
to identify the source for the wood chips, the method of
harvest, and plans for reforestation of the area harvested.
SIVICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
Cranberry Ridge is an upland area located at an elevation
some 100 to 150 feet above the floodplain of the Kuskokwim
River. Previous construction of the Emergency Airstrip and
access road, as well as Vanderpool Road, has shown that the
soils are characterized by glacial loess that is generally
permanently frozen on the top 12 to 24 inches. As a result
of this, the area is generally vegetated by black spruce
ranging in size from 2- to 5-inches in diameter. Groves of
aspen grow in depressions where permafrost is missing, and
range in size from 3- to as much as 8-inches in diameter,
and 40 feet tall. Very little birch is present on
Cranberry Ridge.
Biomass Boiler Chip Harvest
Page 1
PRESENT LAND USE
Land use of the Cranberry Ridge area has in the past been
limited to trapping along the White Mountain Trail, and
hunting of spruce grouse, moose, caribou, and bear. In the
fall, cranberries become ripe after the first frosts, and
are harvested at that time. Prior to the construction of
Cranberry Ridge Road in 1977, and Vanderpool Road in 1990
to access the Noir Hill Quarry, there was not much activity
in the area because access was’ very difficult. Since that
time there has been an increase in subsistence activity in
the area.
HARVEST PLAN
This harvest plan addresses a 40-acre block of land south
of the Emergency Airstrip and east of the White Mountain
Trail as depicted in appendix A.
Recent sampling by the staff of MTNT, Ltd. of test parcels
on Cranberry Ridge has shown that a biomass equivalent of
0.9 cord (117 cubic feet) can be expected from a 2,500
square-foot area in which black spruce is growing
exclusively. This is equivalent to 16 cords per acre
(2,048 cubic feet) of biomass available if only black
spruce is harvested. Should groves of poplar be
encountered in the harvest area this figure could increase
dramatically. The field notes and calculations to support
this estimate are included in Appendix B.
The method chosen for harvest is to clear-cut a 12-acre
parcel per year. Access to the parcels will be via
Cranberry Ridge Road to the Emergency Airstrip. At the
southwest corner of the airstrip, approximately 300 feet of
new access will have to be constructed to the White
Mountain Trail. Utilizing a small dozer (John Deere 450 or
equivalent), a portable chipper will be towed around the
parcel, with the trees chipped as they are cut. This will
eliminate the need for slash disposal. It is anticipated
that this will require a 3- or 4-man crew composed of a
dozer operator, two cutters utilizing chainsaws, and one
person to operate the chipper.
Biomass Boiler Chip Harvest
Page 2
HARVEST PLAN (cont’d)
The resulting chips will be returned to a previously
designed storage facility in McGrath on a daily basis,
probably at the end of the crew’s work day.
One of the advantages to the location of these parcels is
that work can be done in either winter or summer. The only
difficult time for access would be in late April or early
May due to the muddy roads. If a summer harvest is
anticipated, care will have-to be taken to protect against
fire hazard due to the extreme dryness of the area.
REFORESTATION PLAN
Each parcel will be reseeded with fast regenerating hybrid
poplar. In order to accomplish the reseeding process, a
dozer with a rear-mounted ripper will be needed to expose
the permafrost layer so that it may thaw to allow for
reseeding. Previous experience with construction of the
Emergency Airstrip, Vanderpool Road, and Cranberry Ridge
Road has shown that the thawing process can take about one
week in the summer planting season. It is anticipated that
the reseeding process will take place in the month of June,
and take approximately one week to accomplish utilizing a
3-man crew consisting of a dozer operator and two planters.
Biomass Boiler Chip Harvest
Pade 3
BLACK SPRUCE TIMBER COUNT
MP DIAMETER COUNT LENGTH CU-FT/LOG TOTAL CULE (INCHES)
2 16 0.3500 0.0000 3 50 16 0.7800 39.0000 4 50 16 1.3900 69.5000 5 2 16 2.7200 5.4400 6 1 20 3.9200 3.9200 7 25 6.6800 0.0000 8 30 40.4500 0.0000
TOTAL CU.FT. = 117.8600
TOTAL CORDS
IN A 2500 SQ.FT. AREA
0.9208
16.02 CORDS/ACRE