There are approximately 142,000 acres of forest on Fort Polk and Peason Ridge that are managed intensively through a compartment prescription process. These forest lands are divided into 92 compartments, ranging in size from 1,200 to 1,600 acres. The compartments are further divided into forest stands, based on the type of timber, size class, age, etc. Fort Polk utilizes a 10 year management rotation where a particular compartment is inventoried and the prescription is updated every 10 years.
This information is analyzed for each stand in the compartment and a “prescription” or management plan is written that helps the Forestry Branch determine what actions should be taken on the compartment. Prior to executing any forest management of sivilcultural treatment, coordination with JRTC and G-3 is done to ensure all prescrubed actions are in support of military training. The prescription is reviewed by various branches within the Environmental Division and recommendations made concerning endangered species, cultural resources, wildlife, botany, aesthetics and ecosystem management. After the prescription has been approved, management actions are carried out.
While some stands are simply monitored, with no silvicultural action taken, other stands require management practieces. The most common is thinning, which is removing some of the trees to open up the stand. In this practice, unhealthy or forked trees are taken out, leaving the superior trees behind. This, in turn, improves the stand, thereby creating a higher quality, forest to be used for military training.