A cost evaluation was conducted of four alternatives for improvements on maturing western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) woodlands. The alternatives were: (a) the use of picloram (4-amino-3,5,6-trichloropicolinic acid) to kill the trees with no further treatment, with a total cost of $78/ha ($31/acre); (b) picloram with sufficient limbing and/or removal of trees to allow passage of a rangeland drill for seeding at a cost of $448/ha ($179/acre); (c) mechanical clearing and burning of the trees at a cost of $595/ha ($237/acre); and (d) wood harvesting and slash disposal at a cost of $2,080/ha ($832/acre). The picloram and limb, mechanical, and wood-harvesting treatments provide mechanically seedable sites, but of considerably different quality in terms of ease of seeding and chances of seedling establishment. The mechanical treatment requires a large capital investment, while the wood-harvesting treatment requires a large amount of labor. Based on equivalent energy values, the wood-harvesting operation would produce a profit for the landowner who could afford to invest the labor. For a specific woodland, a combination of treatments would be most cost effective. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.