Ability assessment of felling crew in directional felling in west forest of Guilan province

Control of logging damage is important for sustainable timber production in Caspian forests. Methods often recommend to control damage levels including directional felling and pre-felling design of skid trial. Directional felling needs felling crew with the ability of leading the trees to an accurate falling path. The present study is an experimental evaluation of felling crew ability for directional felling that carried out in compartment 207 of Nav district in Asalem watershed. A total of 25 trees were randomly selected from the total harvested trees by four felling groups. Falling path of selected trees was specified by paint on the trunk of trees and recorded by using a compass prior to and after tree’s falls. The difference between the intended and actual direction of tree's fall was then calculated for each felling group and an average margin of felling error was calculated for each felling group. Comparison of mean directional error for felling groups indicated that none of felling crew could direct the marked trees to desired path. The result showed that current felling is not according to goals of directional felling. Results suggested that felling worker in study area need more training program for reaching to the goals of directional felling.