The guest speaker for the CCFFA Annual Meeting on April 15 was Hans Heinimann, a visiting Swiss forestry professor to the Forest Engineering Department at Oregon State University. Han's talk covered three areas: natural conditions in Switzerland, socioeconomic conditions in Switzerland, and Swiss philosophy of forest management.

Natural Conditions

Geographically, Switzerland has four neighbors, Austria to the east, Germany to the north, France to the west, and Italy to the south. Three major watersheds are the Rhine River, Rhone River, and Ticino River. The majority of Swiss people live in the valley regions between Geneva and Lake Constance. Hans displayed a tree species elevation chart showing:

1. Hardwoods forest at low elevation, then preceding to
2. Beech forests,
3. Beech and white fir forests,
4. Spruce-fir-pine forests,
5. Norway spruce forests, and finally,
6. The highest elevation forests were larch at 7000 feet.

The dominant commercial tree species is Norway spruce, which is used in construction. Norway spruce is to Switzerland, what Douglas-fir is to Oregon. Historically, beech stands were used to construct sleeper cars on Swiss railways. More recently, Italians have imported beech to make furniture. Stone pine grows with larch at high elevation. The price of stone pine may be four times that of Norway spruce.

The rocky soils of Southern Alps have become home to chestnut trees in valleys up to 2400 feet. Chestnut trees were brought into this area by Romans centuries ago. An Italian word, "selva" describes what Oregonians call agroforestry. Selva is a chestnut grove where this tree is grown in combination with cattle or goat grazing. Today, this custom is done on a cultural heritage basis.

Socioeconomic Conditions in Switzerland & Oregon Switzerland Oregon Area (acres) 10.2 million 62 million Forestland 2.7 million 27.5 million Population 7.5 million 3.0 million Harvest (bd ft, annual) 0.8 billion 6 billion Potential sustainable harvest (bd ft, annual) 1.5 billion 7.5 billion. Population density measure (soccer fields per capita) 1 15

There are major differences between Switzerland and Oregon on who owns the land! Land Ownership Switzerland Oregon Public 6% 60% Private 28% 17% Community owned 28% 0 Community allotment 35% 0 Industrial 0 21%

The community allotment ownership of 35% belongs to five families who have had the land rights back to the 13th century. This land is passed down from generation to generation. Individuals own "shares" of land that is managed by the "community". Market competition can be absent under this mode of ownership. Community property of 28% belongs to the community. The property includes meadows and forests. A forest guard is paid to protect the property. This person is familiar with local conditions of the land and people.

Philosophy of forest management

Switzerland forestlands are very productive in providing products to their citizens. Forest management in Switzerland since 1950 has considered the forest an ecosystem. In additions to providing forest products, the Swiss place value on ecosystem health, structural safety, and aesthetics/spiritually.

The Swiss utilize four different silvicultural systems:

1. Shelterwood system retains some seed trees for natural regeneration. A light demanding species like pine works well in this system.
2. Strip cutting system harvests a strip width approximately one tree length on the edge of the forest unit. Natural regeneration will fill the strip, creating a continuous change of age.
3. Group Selection felling system (Swiss Femel System) allows regeneration to start from different centers at the "ridge" between transportation lines (roads). This system proceeds in spatial and dynamic sequences.
4. Selective cutting system (Plenter System) maintains on a permanent basis all age classes on a very small area. This system is ideal for shade tolerant trees (beech-fir combination)

The trend in steep slope harvesting is to use a harvester/forwarder combination rather than skidders. Cable systems are used, but they are labor intensive and labor costs are high. A high percentage of Swiss logging is done with helicopters. Traditionally the helicopters were Swiss, French and U.S. built in logging, however more recently Russian helicopters at one-tenth the cost have carved out a niche. Some problems with Russian helicopters include they do not meet government aviation standards; they lack backup systems for hydraulics, engines, etc, and they have a shortage of spare parts.

The Swiss have established protection forests in response to the very steep mountainous nature of their country where towns are frequently found at the base. Protection forests serve as structural safety in the ecosystem. They comprise 10% of northern forestland, 15% of central forestland, and 20% of southern forestland. Protection forests give stability to withstand stress in the ecosystem. Stress comes in the form of erosion (surface and channels), floods, mudflows, snow creeping, rockfall, and avalanche (>50% slopes). Protection forests maintain the number of trees on the site, because openings would have adverse effects. Clearcuts have been forbidden in Switzerland since 1872. There is a huge demand for wood fiber in Switzerland, but this is tempered with the likelihood of avalanches. Engineering structures are used to lessen snow creeping on steep land. These structures can be temporary or permanent (made with steel). Installation of the structures can be a major challenge.

Dr. Heinimann listed fours political issues (forestry and other) which the Swiss face:

1. Swiss move citizens with trains. The sheer volume of train traffic is an issue.
2. Space management is an issue. Ninety-five percent of the population lives in urban areas.
3. Urban dwellers use 80% of natural resources, but 95% of the population is in opposition to resource use.
4. Switzerland is comprised of 26 cantons (a political unit, perhaps similar to our counties). Each canton has different laws and rules on forest practices.

Dr Heinimann finished with four concluding remarks:

1. Greater population density in Switzerland than Oregon means more pressure on land use issues.
2. Swiss silviculture practices "imitate" natural regeneration process.
3. "Timber is beautiful, don't cut any near me!"
4. Rehabilitation of protect forestland is expensive.

Editor's note: Master Woodland Manager, Scott Hanson, is an associate editor of the Forest-Tree Leader.