Reprod

Day 356: My readers will have seen me use the term "reprod" when I'm writing about hiking in Pack Forest or other multiple-use forests, and although some may have figured out what it means by inference, others may be wondering. It's shorthand for "reproduction forest," known also as "artifical regeneration," and refers to groups or stands of young trees which were created either by direct seeding or by planting of seedlings. Here in the Pacific Northwest, reprod is most likely to be Douglas-fir or Western Hemlock (our two big timber crops), or less commonly Red Alder. Here you see a fairly open stand. Areas like this can be a treasure-trove for mushroomers, easy to walk through as long as you stay alert for broken, poky branches, but most of the time, reprod is difficult to penetrate even when you're as short as I am. Eventually, these trees will be cut for pulp wood or selectively thinned so that the strongest, straightest and tallest can mature into "lumber on the hoof."