The Northern Tier Hardwood Association, in partnership with the Hardwoods Development Council, Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group, and the Keystone Wood Products Association, have been awarded a grant to develop and publish an informational resource entitled “What Will My Woods Look Like?” The help of industry members and forest landowners is vital to complete this extensive educational booklet.

Before a timber harvest, there are many things to think about, questions to answer, details to consider. One important outcome that woodland owners often have a hard time imagining is “What will my woods look like after the job is done?”

This booklet will show some typical forest stands before and after different kinds of logging operations. The pictures are intended to help start a pre-harvest discussion about post-harvest results. The forest scenes also help tell the story of woodland stewardship, forest management and the professionals who make it happen.

We need your photos and captions to publish the “What Will My Woods Look Like” booklet of before/during/after picture sets. Forest scene examples include: Timber Stand Improvements, Thinning, Shelterwood, Clear Cutting, Crop Tree Release, Crown Release, Overstory Removal, Clear cut, Non-Commercial Thinning, Invasive Tree Removal and Thinning, and Roads and Landings.

There are several parts to the captions for each photo. The first is how a woodland owner might view their woods and express their goals for their land. The next is how a forester might describe the pre-harvest stand and post-harvest results, written in the forestry profession’s language. Then the logger’s view, which is often through an operational lens but also considers forest health and aesthetics. Finally, a statement of likely wildlife outcomes, which are often a higher priority for landowners than other silvicultural objectives. The hope is that linking the photos with the various points of view will serve as a “translator” that will help both professionals and landowners understand each other better. The forest scenes chosen should be familiar and representative of family woodlands in Pennsylvania.

Please submit photos and captions to hardwoods@pa.gov. Guidance for photo and caption submissions can be found below.

Photo/Caption Submission Guidance

Photo Location
Please try to take all the shots in the series from the same point of view, same angle, same zoom, similar light conditions, etc. We know this is not always possible, but it makes the comparisons better if they are close.  It really helps to have a recognizable reference feature in all the pictures in the series. This can be a sign post, a big rock or stone wall, or an easily recognizable tree. Again, this makes for better before-and-after comparison. Consider setting up a Picture Post, for long term visual documentation of the location. Go to https://picturepost.unh.edu/ for more about this.

Photos with People
Please do not send pictures with people in them unless you have a written release that their pictures can be used. When you send us photos, you are granting the Northern Tier Hardwood Association, Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council, Allegheny Hardwood Association, and the Keystone Wood Products Association permission to publish in print and online.

Photo Guidelines
Ideally, pictures will be print quality resolution, 300 d.p.i. or better. Some tips to considering before submitting your pictures:

• When taking pictures from a digital camera, it’s best to set your camera to the highest resolution setting.
• Your screen resolution doesn’t accurately reflect your image resolution. To view print resolution of your image, zoom in up to 300-400% on your screen.
• If you are not sure how to set your camera’s resolution, please consult your camera’s user manual or search the internet for your model of camera.

Captions
Please write your own captions. You can choose to keep the exact location & landowner contact information confidential, or make it public, with landowner permission. We do need to know who is sending the pictures, though– no anonymous submissions please.

Video
Video is also welcome, just remember that the file size may be too large to send as an attachment.  We are also interested in going beyond timber harvests—other types of woods operations, such as site preparation and planting, culvert replacement, road or bridge building, etc. will also be considered for inclusion, if it helps landowners and other non-forestry professionals envision the results of the activity.

Photo Submissions
Please submit your photo series to hardwoods@pa.gov.  For large files, you might need to post your pictures using a file sharing service, such as Dropbox, and send us a link.

We will review the submissions, potentially edit for clarity, and ultimately decide whether or not to add the series to the website. If you have any questions about suitability, please contact hardwoods@pa.gov.