Pre-commercial Thinning

Pre-commercial Thinning occurs in stands before there is any merchantable value to the trees being removed and they are often left on the forest floor to decompose and provide nutrients to the remaining trees in the stand. This occurs when the trees are 15-20 years old and are 2-6 meters tall for softwoods and 6-9 meters tall in hardwoods. They also must have a density of 4500 trees per hectare before they are thinned and must have a spacing of approximately 2.5 to 3 meters or 2000 to 2500 trees per hectare when completed. Trees to be removed are selected based on a pecking order of quality and desirable species.