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Crop-Tree Thinning A 50-Year-Old Western Larch Stand: 25-Year Results, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

This paper describes study results after 25 years of crop-tree thinning in a western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) pole stand in western Montana. Five 1/2-acre plots were established in the Petty Creek drainage, Lolo National Forest, at an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level. Western larch site index of the study area was 52 feet at 50 years. The stand was 50 years old when the study began in 1949. Two plots were thinned by the D+4 Rule, two by the Crown Rule, and one was left unthinned as a control. After 25 years, periodic diameter, basal area, and …