Pre-Commercial Thinning Video Series

If you’re stewarding a young forest, reducing competition among the trees for sunlight, nutrients, and water is a key part of helping them grow well. Pre-commercial thinning (removing non-merchantable trees) creates more space in the canopy and frees up resources for the remaining trees. That added access to water, soil nutrients, and light helps trees grow more vigorously and better resist insects and disease. 

In this video series, Kirk Hanson, Director of Forestry at NNRG, explains how he conducts pre-commercial thinning in his own forest, including stand assessment and tree selection, felling trees in dense stands, and getting hung-up trees down to the ground.

The techniques demonstrated in these videos should only be used by experienced chainsaw operators. If you have limited experience, we encourage you to take a training or work with a skilled operator.

Stand Assessment & Tree Selection

In this video, Kirk explains why a forest needs thinning and how he reads stand conditions to decide which trees to remove and which trees to keep. 

Tree Felling in Dense Stands

In this video, Kirk covers tree felling in young, dense stands – where to start, and how to quickly size up a tree before cutting.

Dealing with Hung up Trees

In this video, Kirk demonstrates the techniques he uses to safely bring trees that are hung up in the canopy down to the ground.

Funding

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2021-38640-34695 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number WRGR22-009. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.