Salvage Removal On SPB Sites

Managers and owners usually prefer salvage removal over the other control options because infested trees are removed from the forest and used, giving the landowner some financial return. However, salvage of individual spots is not always practical because of inaccessibility, insufficient volume, poor lumber or pulpwood market, and sensitive environmental constraints. In addition, salvage removal often takes longer to implement than alternative tactics.

For salvage to be effective, SPB-infested material must be removed on a timely basis. An adequate buffer strip of uninfested green trees must also be cut around the spreading edges of the spot. Doing this ensures the removal of freshly attacked pines that were overlooked or became infested after the spot was initially ground checked and marked.

Procedures for Salvage Removal

Identify the spreading head(s) of the spot. The head(s) contains the trees that have been recently attacked. They may have green or fading foliage, fresh pitch tubes, boring dust in bark crevices or on the foliage of understory vegetation, tight bark, and adult checkered beetles on the bark.

Mark all SPB-infested trees or a boundary around them if there are many trees.

If recently attacked trees are present, mark a horseshoe-shaped buffer strip of green uninfested trees around the head(s). The buffer should surround the recently attacked trees. A strip 40 to 70 ft. wide will be needed for most active spots, while a 100-ft. strip (and occasionally larger) may be needed for large, rapidly expanding spots. As a rule, the width of the buffer should not exceed the average height of the trees in the spot. When a spot has 10 or fewer infested trees, none of which are freshly attacked, it normally should not be treated. 

Salvage removal of infested and buffer-strip trees should begin as soon as possible after ground checking and marking the spot. Vacated trees can be left standing since their removal will not contribute to beetle control. But they can be salvaged in they have not deteriorated and the additional volume is needed to make the salvage removal economically feasible. Choosing which trees to salvage first depends on the season. The following priorities, in order of importance, should be followed in salvage removal:

May-October

Trees in the buffer zone

Trees with fresh attacks

Remaining trees with living brood

Vacated trees

November-April

Remaining trees with living brood

Trees with fresh attacks

Trees in the buffer zone

Vacated trees

Infested trees should not be decked next to green timber because emerging beetles may attack adjacent green trees.