Research Conducted by the L-A-D Foundation

Pioneer Forest has undertaken a Continuous Forest Inventory every five years since 1952. For information on the history, methodology, and results of this inventory, see our Pioneer Forest Research page.

Economics of Coharvesting Smallwood by Chainsaw and Skidder for Crop Tree Management in Missouri.

Becker, Peter; Bilek, E.M. (Ted); Cunningham, Terry; Bill, Michael; Calvert, Marty; Jensen, Jason; Norris, Michael; Thompson, Terry. 2011. Northern Journal of Applied Forestry, Volume 28, Number 4, pages 214-218.

 

Pioneer Forest - A Half Century of Sustainable Uneven-aged Forest Management in the Missouri Ozarks

Guldin, James M.; Iffrig, Greg F.; Flader, Susan L. 2008. General Technical Report, SRS–108. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 123 p.

This is a collection of papers which analyze Pioneer Forest, a privately owned 140,000-acre working forest in the Missouri Ozarks, on which the science and art of forest management has been practiced for more than 50 years. The papers discuss how this half century of management has contributed to forest restoration and sustainability on the forest itself and, through its example undergirded by a remarkable body of research, throughout the Ozark region and beyond. A pdf file of the General Technical Report is available by clicking here.

Preface

A History of Forest Management in the Ozark Mountains, James M. Guldin

Missouri's Pioneer: A Half Century of Sustainable Forestry, Susan L. Flader

Silviculture and the Long-Term Dynamics of Single-Tree Selection on Pioneer Forest, Edward F. Loewenstein

Describing Single-Tree Selection Harvests in Missouri Ozark Forests, Greg F. Iffrig, Clinton E. Trammel, and Terry Cunningham

Pioneer Forest: In the Heart of Roughness, Richard P. Guyette and Michael C. Stambaugh

Invertebrate Community Structure and Forest Management in the Missouri Ozark Landscape, Gerardo Camilo and Nick San Diego

An Analysis of the Benefits and Profits of Single-Tree Selection Silviculture: A Case Study of Pioneer Forest in Missouri's Ozarks, Makoto Hamatani and Katherine M. Goslee

Natural Areas Protection and Recreation Opportunities on Pioneer Forest and Other Properties of the L-A-D Foundation, John A. Karel

Personal Reflections, Glenn D. Weaver, Bill Terry, David R. Larsen, David Hamilton, Gerardo Camilo, David Russell, Gene Maggard, Hank Dorst, Victoria Grant, Caroline Pufalt, and Mary Chapman

 

Pioneer Forest: A Case Study in Sustainable Forest Management

Iffrig, G.F., C.E. Trammel, and T.C. Cunningham. 2004. Pages 193-204 in Susan L. Flader, editor, Toward Sustainability for Missouri Forests.

General Technical Report NC-239, USDA Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN. 251p.

Detailed overview of the Design and Description of Single-Tree Selection Forest Management as Used on Pioneer Forest. Data for the period 1957-1997 are presented showing volume measurements for seven major species groups and basal area by diameter class from 6 inches to 24 inches or greater. Economic advantages of this system of forest management are demonstrated by looking at market price increases from Pioneer Forest for the period 1950-1999. Using this information an economic model is applied to an average acre of Ozark forestland managed for the most recent 24-year period (1975-99) using clearcutting versus single-tree selection harvest. From the two management scenarios, including management costs for conducting each sale, the authors showed a nearly doubled rate of return by using single-tree selection harvests. A pdf file of General Technical Report is available by clicking here. You may read or print the entire publication.

Missouri's Pioneer in Sustainable Forestry

S.L. Flader. 2004. Forest History Today. Spring/Fall: 2-15.

Susan Flader interviewed Leo and his staff as well as reviewed historical files and Leo's own collection of personal papers at the Western Historical Manuscripts Collection housed on the University of Missouri-Saint Louis campus. Here she shares a wealth of information as well as historical photographs from the Pioneer Forest archives. Flader chronicles Pioneer's long history beginning in the 1950s. She reviews the adopted method of management known as single-tree selection harvesting and the disfavor it received beginning in the 1960's as even-aged management became the focus of state and federal land management efforts. Flader also presents the more recent history and the recognition that has come to Pioneer Forest by way of a host of research projects, all pointing favorably toward the management and its effects on the forest and its biota. Click here to read this article.

Papers and Publications of Leo Drey and the L-A-D Foundation

The University of Missouri created the Western Historical Manuscript collection in 1943. The curation and preservation of that collection of records was then transferred to the State Historical Society of Missouri in 2011. Records are accessible in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis.

The collection includes papers of Leo Drey from 1957-1991. A summary of the contents is located at https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/stlouis/s0531.pdf.

In 2009 and in 2011 the L-A-D foundation donated a portion of its own records from Pioneer Forest. A link to the summary of the contents is found at https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/stlouis/sa0914.pdf.

Research Conducted by Others

To view, download, or print the extensive bibliography of published research on Pioneer Forest conducted by persons not affiliated with L-A-D foundation, see the Other Research page.