Forest Farming Site Assessment

What is a site assessment?

A site assessment is a guided walkthrough of many aspects of a potential forest farming site, from general, fixed elements (like exposure and slope) to existing tree and plant species and other details. Site assessments are an important tool as they help identify overall health, assets and advantages as well as challenges and limitations. All of these factors put together help to paint a picture of available options, practices, compatible species and long term objectives, and can be invaluable to forest farmers.

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Why assess a forest site?

Site assessment can help forest farmers explore several factors regarding a specific site, as well as potential suitability for growing certain forest botanicals. While there are helpful online assessment tools, they are mapping and data based and therefore no substitute for quality field based site assessments. In order to be most effective, basic documentation like property maps are needed, as well as being at the site during the growing season (mid spring through mid autumn) and taking a hard copy of the assessment to fill out. This improves the chances of accurate observations of forest health, current conditions and species during the growing season.

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In addition to having fixed aspects like site type, direction, exposure and slope, every forest is also an ever changing mosaic of tree and species succession, wildlife, understory changes and varying plant composition and competition. For the most part, healthy forests naturally support plenty of biodiversity which is generally favorable to forest farming, but the challenge most often faced by potential and new forest farmers is not the habitat itself, but:

a) learning to work with the forest, because every place is different,

b) selecting ideal species for their habitat

c) finding the right balance of existing conditions and practices for success

d) long term planning of goals and objectives

 

What is a site assessment?

Click the button below to read, download or print the Northeast Forest Farming Coalition Site Assessment Tool. The video below is an Introduction for Site Assessment Evaluation.

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​Topography

Hydrology

Vegetative Composition

  -Woody indicator species

  -Dominant tree species

  -Herbaceous indicator species

  -Dominant Understory Plants

Shade Level Estimates

Soil and Site Surface

Site Accessibility vs. Security​​​