ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- The priorities of land use at Arnold Air Force Base are sustainable mission support and stewardship.
This results in a forest management program that is not primarily dictated by traditional commercial forestry practices that emphasize optimal yields of forest products. Instead, the Air Force strives for ecologically sustainable management of its forests to maintain the continued supply of desired ecosystem services, including realistic training settings and mission support in general, as well as maintenance of native biological diversity.
Of the 39,081 acres at Arnold AFB, 26,368 acres are pine and hardwood forest. Pine forests at Arnold AFB consist of planted pine trees with ages ranging from 10 to 75 years old. Hardwood forests consist primarily of closed canopy oak-hickory forest types ranging from upland hardwoods on well-drained sites to mixed bottomland hardwoods on poorly-drained sites. Our oldest hardwood trees are approaching 200 years old.
Approximately 4,300 acres of loblolly, shortleaf and white pine were planted between 1950 and 1960 for a variety of reasons. These include a sound attenuation program to establish a noise barrier between Arnold AFB and the surrounding communities and converting low quality hardwood sites into more productive, high quality pine sites.
Arnold AFB manages all its forests with a sustainable approach, but the primary focus for managing and harvesting forest products is within the pine plantations. In 1983, a formal pine reforestation program was established with the aim of producing commercially valuable pine pulpwood and saw timber. Currently, Arnold AFB manages approximately 5,000 acres of planted loblolly pine plantations on a 50-year rotation. Various treatments occur during this rotation including prescribed fire, thinning and harvesting, or allowing it to naturally regenerate.
This sustainable approach to forest management recognizes the current need to provide mission support while producing forest products and other ecosystem services (clean water and air, wildlife habitat, etc.), and the future need to ensure that these resources are available to the next generation. Our methods use natural models of forest disturbance and stand development to support the scientific basis for defining ecosystem integrity and developing sound tree cultivation practices.
For more information about the Arnold AFB Forest Management Program, call 931-454-3230.