Subject: MANAGEMENT: Pine Straw & Fuel Although I would appreciate input from all list subscribers, I am particularly interested in responses relating to the southeastern United States: 1. I recently came across the following paper: Ku, T.T. and J.B. Baker. 1993. Understory biomass from southern pine forests as a fuel source. in Energy, Environment, Agriculture, and Industry: 1st Biomass Conference of the Americas: Proceedings, Volume 1. August 30 - September 2; Burlington, VT. pp. 284 to 289. This study claims the use of understory biomass "would not only provide a renewable energy alternative to forest industries, but its use would also reduce understory competition and accelerate growth of overstory crop trees." The dominant understory plants in the study plots were red maple (Acer rubrum), red oaks (Quercus spp.), pines (Pinus spp.), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) & winged elm (Ulmus alata) which are claimed to provide high BTU output upon burning. The study concluded "for a ten-year harvesting cycle, an understory biomass production of 25 T/ha (2.5 T/ha/yr) would provide a commercially operable quantity to harvest as fuel." I was wondering if anyone knows to what extent (if any) that understory species are currently utilized as an alternate fuel source in the southeast U.S. 2. Harvesting of pine needles for landscaping use can be a lucrative venture. Again, I would appreciate any information as to how widespread this activity is in the southeast U.S., if it is only worthwhile to harvest from monoculture pine plantations, and the number of litter harvests that can be made each year. Thanks. David Knepper U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District Norfolk, VA 23510-1096 e-mail: david.a.knepper@qm.nao-wc.usace.army.mil
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