Thinning

Forest thinning refers to removing trees in a forest stand to allow space for other trees and plants to grow (Punches 2004). Thinning is a silvicultural treatment used for commercial forest management and wildfire mitigation. Thinning projects are often performed as a part of larger forest land and resource management plans (USFS 2018). Mechanical thinning is the process of removing trees in overgrown forests to reduce the risks of extreme wildfires (Westover 2021). It is also frequently referred to as mechanical treatment, a more general term for any mechanized forest treatment, including mechanized cutting and hand thinning. Thinning can be done with chainsaws, crosscut saws, hand tools, bulldozers, and woodchippers (Westover 2021). As a nature-based solution, the primary goal of forest thinning is to reduce fuel and fuel connectivity to reduce high-intensity crown fires (Banerjee 2020). Thinning that is not followed by prescribed fire is not always an effective tool to combat wildfire spread, so it is essential to use them together as much as possible (Kittler 2022).