by Caroline Pufalt, Chapter Conservation Committee Chair
Missouri had a chance recently to celebrate one our state’s true home grown
successes when over 160 citizens gathered in October to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pioneer Forest. Pioneer Forest is a 160,000 acre forest owned by Leo Drey. Leo and Kay Drey are well known in Missouri for their work in environmental issues. Friends, coworkers, professionals in research management in Missouri and from across the country gathered in St. Louis to recognize Pioneer Forest.
In 1951 Leo Drey purchased the first forested Missouri Ozark acres in Shannon county which was the start of what later grow in number to became Pioneer Forest. Leo recognized that forests in Missouri could be managed for both timber and ecological values. Today Pioneer Forest stands as an exemplary example of how single tree selection can be used to provide an ongoing timber supply without the ravages of clearcutting. Not only did Leo and his dedicated staff of foresters apply conservative but effective cutting methods, they also kept detailed records of test plots across the forest. That staff included Greff Iffrig, who some Sierrans may recall as an activist in the Ozark Chapter when he lived in the Springfield area. Some of you may also recall that a few years ago the Ozark Chapter recognized the conservation work of forester Clint Trammell. Clint works for Pioneer Forest and has been indispensable to documenting the management of Pioneer Forest.
That documentation, painstakingly recorded for decades, provides a wealth of information rarely available to researchers. Researchers have made ample use of the Pioneer Forest records and have concluded that timber management on the forest has been successful in providing timber as well as regenerating ample growth, without the use of clearcutting and similar practices.
This represents a major contribution to our knowledge of management of forests like those found in Missouri. For some time it had been thought that species such as oak and shortleaf pine could only regenerate after a substantial clearcut to open up enough sunlight. We now know that is not true.
Pioneer Forest has proved that a good management plan using primarily single tree selection will work. And it will work better because it will also provide contestant forest cover for wildlife, watershed protection, recreation and other values. It only makes sense, because single tree selection mimics what happens most often in nature. Individual trees die, eventually fall over and create sunlight and space. Windstorms or ground level fires may thin a forest intermittently. There is little in nature that mimics a large clearcut. But we often need patient and dedicated folks like the Dreys to show us the way to that understanding.
To learn more about Pioneer Forest visit: pioneerforest.com.