Situated in northeast Tennessee, the city of Kingsport was historically a staging ground for westward migration. Frequent visits by frontiersmen like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett gave it a colorful past. Kingsport’s riverside location also made it ideal for industry, including papermaking. The legacy continues today, with Domtar’s Kingsport Mill supportting more than 300 local jobs.
One of these jobs belongs to Tom Kain, the area procurement forester. A native of California’s Marin County, Tom has been working with forests for decades. After earning a bachelor’s degree in forestry and a masters of science in natural resources from Humboldt State University, he moved his family to Virginia and began consulting with small landowners. He helped them plan timber harvests, develop reforestation plans and manage wildlife habitat, all as part of a comprehensive, long-term forest management plan. In time, he became a trusted guide to these families and individuals, who owned anywhere from six hectares to 80 hectares (15 to 200 acres) of land. This is his story.
On-the-ground expertise
At Domtar’s Kingsport Mill, Kain’s role involves overseeing the purchase of chips that are used to make paper as well as biomass that generates steam and electricity. The company procures chips from a variety of sources like company-owned chip mills, small wood yards or area sawmills; or that are created in the forests using mobile chipping equipment. One of Kain’s responsibilities is to monitor in-woods chipping operations by filling out paperwork to track movement and ensure that land is being handled appropriately, especially when it holds a certification.
“When you go out and you do an inspection, there’s a long form that you go through,” Kain said. This form asks about the management practices for the past five years, and includes a place for the inspector to make recommendations to keep the tree farmer on track with the long-term management plan.
Being an inspector in this region is no easy task, as Tennessee does not have statewide rules for forest management – unlike states in the Western area of the country, which are highly regulated. Therefore, Kain’s job involves a great deal of on-the-ground instinct and a sharp knowledge of best practices. In addition to vegetation and wildlife, water quality is always a top priority.
“If you have a creek that runs through your property, first you figure out what type of creek it is. Does it have fish in it? How steep are the slopes coming into that creek? Depending on these two factors, you determine how far your setback needs to be. You try to keep equipment out of those areas, so you don’t disrupt the soil,” he said. “There will be a filtering area for leaf litter and tree cover, which lets that water disperse and drop any sediment out before the water reaches the creek.”
Across the state, voluntary water protection initiatives have been quite successful, even without regulations in place. Every five years, the University of Tennessee conducts a study to measure compliance with the best management practices; the last study published in 2013 found that loggers were in compliance 89% of the time.
The benefits of active management
Kain has come to recognize the benefits of managing forests actively instead of preserving them entirely. While natural, old growth forests certainly serve an important ecological function, they often need to be supplemented with younger plantings for a truly diverse habitat.
“The old trees are very valuable for certain types of animals – but other plants and animals need a more open habitat. What about all the wildflowers? They don’t pop up in old growth. You need all the habitats there; you need this mosaic across landscapes,” he said.
Kain added: “We also have to remember that these are natural systems we are working in. We need to be renewing the forest so that we have a continuity of habitats available for all types of plants and animals to flourish.”
Achieving this mosaic requires an understanding that every region is different, a point that Kain has witnessed firsthand in his travels from the West Coast to the South. Different trees require different planting patterns, and as forests age, the ideal density shifts as canopies thicken and older trees begin to decay. Similarly, animal species that are prevalent in one area – like California’s northern spotted owl – are completely absent in other geographic locations. Because of these disparities, an on-the-ground approach is truly needed, according to Kain.
“You have to help that landowner one-on-one, to help them achieve the goals they have for their property,” he said. “That’s where a group like the American Tree Farm System can come in and be very helpful. Forestry is very local and regional. You have to have that flexibility in there – it’s not a one-size-fits-all.”
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