 Thinning is an important tool in managing your forest. Regardless of whether you're managing your forest for timber production, forest health, wildlife benefits, or all of them, the term thinning describes the practice of removing select trees. Thinning encourages growth of residual trees, reduces woody competition, and helps reduce stress on remaining trees that might otherwise encourage pests and diseases. For southern yellow pine stands consisting of loblolly, longleaf, slash, and shortleaf pine across the southeastern United States, thinning is an essential practice to keep stands vigorously growing and produce saw timber in a shorter time. Loblolly pine is the most commonly planted species of southern yellow pine. Typically, even aged loblolly pine stands are thinned twice before the final cut, with each thinning lowering the stand's basal area to 60 to 80 square feet per acre. In addition to lowering the basal area, each thinning should selectively target trees that are suppressed, diseased, deformed, and dying. This can free up growing space and nutrients for trees with better form and yields better saw timber returns in the future. Even aged row planting, commonly referred to as plantation pine stands, are not the only forests that can benefit from thinning. Thinning natural growth, mixed hardwood forests can also increase overall forest health. Thinning in hardwood and pine forests also promotes natural regeneration. In wildlife management, thinning in pine and hardwood stands can increase the available sunlight to the forest floor and stimulate a variety of grasses and herbaceous plants that provide nutrition and cover to an array of wildlife species. It also boosts available understory cover and fruit and nut production of residual trees. Generally, if wildlife management is the primary objective, heavier or more frequent thinning will need to be conducted. Recognizing when to thin is paramount to the long-term health of the stand and the understory vegetation below. Basal area measurements provide an excellent index for the stocking of the stand. For southern pine timber production, basal area values between 100 and 120 square feet per acre typically indicate the need for thinning preparations. When basal area rises above 100 square feet per acre, in many cases southern pine growth rates decline and stands become more susceptible to disease and bark beetle attack. In addition to the basal area, the live crown ratio is another index used to indicate the need for thinning. The live crown ratio is the distance from the lowest live branch to the top of the tree divided by the total height of the tree. Lob lolly pines exhibit the best growth and vigor when the live crown ratio is greater than 40%. When trees start to approach 40%, it is time to thin. If thinning is withheld for too long and ratios dip below 40%, the stand may not respond to thinning. Incorporating these indicators in your forest management activities coupled with timely timber thinning will ensure that adequate resources are available to maintain optimal forest health and monetary returns from your forest.