Conifer release

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Conifer release is a term used in forest management circles to denote selective silvicide and herbicide use, in order to promote conifers at the expense of alternate species. An Oregon State University Extension Service specialist wrote in 2014 that:^[1]

On sites recently reforested after a timber harvest, competing plants grow quickly. Competition for essential growth elements—sunlight, moisture, and nutrients—often depresses the vigor and survival of the desired crop trees. Competition comes from grasses, broadleaf weeds (called forbs), shrubs, or less valuable tree species.

Weyerhauser used Glyphosate as early as 1979 for its conifer release programme.^[2]

Scientists noted in 1997 that the below- and near-ground microclimates were affected by conifer release treatments.^[3]

Scientists at the Lakehead University used Vision (a trade-mark of Monsanto) in 1998 to suppress Vaccinium blueberry production and hence to promote conifer release in a jack pine plantation.^[4]

A partial list of common pesticides employed as early as 1981 for conifer release is found below.^[5]

• Amitrole
• Aminocarb (Matacil)^[6]
• Atrazine
• Dalapon
• Dicamba
• 2,4-D
• Fosamine ammonium
• Glyphosate (Vision)
• Hexazinone
• Mexacarbate (Zectran)^[6]
• MSMA
• Picloram
• Simazine
• Triclopyr

• Moola, F.M.; Mallik, A.U.; Lautenschlager, R.A. (1998). "Effects of conifer release treatments on the growth and fruit production of Vaccinium spp. in northwestern Ontario". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 28 (6): 841–851. Bibcode:1998CaJFR..28..841M. doi:10.1139/x98-046.
• Reynolds, P.E.; Simpson, J.A.; Lautenschlager, R.A.; Bell, F.W.; Gordon, A.M.; Buckley, D.A.; Gresch, D.A. (1997). "Alternative conifer release treatments affect below- and near-ground microclimate". The Forestry Chronicle. 73 (1): 75–82. doi:10.5558/tfc73075-1.
• Ghassemmi, Masgood; Dellarco, Michael; Fargo, Linda; Painter, Page; Painter, Pam; Quinlivan, Sandra; Scofield, Robert; Takata, Anne (1981). Environmental Fates and Impacts of Major Forest Use Pesticides. Redondo Beach, Calif.: Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, United States Environmental Protection Agency. OCLC 1231777595.
• Sundaram, Kanth M. S.; Sundaram, Alam (1987). "Role of Formulation Ingredients and Physical Properties on Droplet Size Spectra, Deposition, and Persistence of Aerially Sprayed Aminocrab and Mexacarbate in Forest Litter and Soil Samples". Pesticide Formulations and Application Systems. 7 (986): 139–51. ISBN 978-0-8031-0970-4.