It also has the capacity to grow rapidly and maintain dominance under favorable conditions in the open sun.īigleaf maple increases in abundance during intermediate to late stages of succession. Maple in the understory can quickly respond to release when openings are created in the overstory. It is quite tolerant and commonly establishes in forest understories, where it can persist for long periods. Biology and Managementīigleaf maple occurs as a dominant, codominant, or intermediate tree in even- or uneven-aged stands. About 18 percent of the total hardwood volume in the Pacific Northwest is bigleaf maple. Maple is most abundant in the Puget Sound region of Washington and the Northwest region of Oregon. Substantial volumes of bigleaf maple occur in every subregion of the Northwest ( Appendix 1, Table 1). It usually grows from near the Pacific Ocean to a maximum of 186 miles inland. The root system of bigleaf maple is shallow and spreading on wet or shallow soils.īigleaf maple is native to the Pacific Northwest at low to middle elevations from San Diego to Vancouver Island (lat 33 to 51°N). Open-grown trees have broad, rounded crowns on short, branching boles. In forest stands, maples often develop clear (50 to 70 percent of total height), well-formed stems with narrow crowns. Height growth becomes negligible after 50 to 70 years. Bigleaf maple is moderately long-lived some individuals may reach 300 years of age. Mature bigleaf maple trees range from 50 to 100 ft in height ( 160 ft maximum) and 12 to 36 in. It is the only western maple that reaches commercial size, yet its potential as a commercial species has not been fully recognized. Oregon State University, Forest Research Laboratory General Characteristicsīigleaf maple is second to red alder among native hardwood species in abundance and in commercial importance in the Pacific Northwest. This information was originally published in Hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest, S.S. Oregon Producers and Users of Bigleaf Maple.Quote from: Tillaway on May 02, 2008, 09:34:55 PM I guess I would have to disagree a bit about low value.Oregon maple, large-leaf maple, broadleaf maple Basically and alder mill in the state would be interested as well as specialty markets so do your home work before you turn them into firewood. These logs will also export unlike alder. I knew a family that would cut off stumps in the harvest units a little south of me and make good money selling those those since they usually had a little curly maple in them.Ĭascade Hardwoods is in Chehalis, NW Hardwoods, and there is a hardwood mill in the Sequim/ PA area as well. With those patterns even in a short bolt they are quite valuable. You will need a minimum of 3200bf (one log truck load) of decent saw logs to have something worth selling if it does not have any of the grain patterns I mentioned above. If the trees can produce 8' long 8" diameter logs then you can market them. These grain patterns tend to be in the older trees and even if rotten or hollow they can still have significant value. To qualify it a bit Big Leaf Maple can be very valuable and tends to produce, curly, Birdseye, and fiddle-back grain patterns.
I guess I would have to disagree a bit about low value.
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