Mark Gibson's highlights of  Tree Growth, Forest Management, and Their Implications for Wood Quality

• John Punches does an excellent job of summarizing the complexities of tree growth and forest management and how their interaction impacts the quality of wood
• Wood production is a biological process
• Core wood or crown-formed wood is formed in close proximity to the living crown of the tree and is commonly referred to as juvenile wood
• Juvenile wood exhibits undesirable characteristics of density, strength, stiffness, and dimensional stability
• Wood quality means different things to different people and its definition should always be related to a specific application or end use
• Knot size, type, and placement, ring width or number of rings per inch, density, and density variation are generally accepted predictors of wood quality
• Landowners should understand that both tree growth and wood formation are controlled by factors such as site, climate, genetics, and competition and that these factors interact in a complex and sometimes unpredictable fashion relative to wood quality
• The more knowledgeable a landowner is about how a tree grows and what management activities or silvicultural practices influence wood formation, the better able he/she is to predict the quality of the wood that will result
• Planting density, thinning, pruning, and fertilization are just a few of the management activities that can impact wood quality
• Thought should be given to the wood quality of both intermediate and final products when management decisions are made. Timing of thinnings, fertilizer application, and pruning can have profound beneficial or detrimental affects on wood quality
• The most important goal in managing for wood quality is control of the crown’s proximity to the base of the tree (crown length) because crown proximity can have a significant negative effect on wood quality 

Tree Growth, Forest Management, and Their Implications for Wood Quality. Ed. Dr. John Punches. 09. 2004. Oregon State University Extension. 10 08.2005. <http://wood.oregonstate.edu/pubs/pnw576.pdf>.