Forestry Terms You Should Know!!

Chain- one chain equals 66 feet. This distance was chosen because it can be worked into acres relatively easily. An acre is a measurement of area (feet squared) and 66 feet squared is 4,356 ft square. So 10 chains squared equals 43,560 ft square which is one acre. A convenient way to measure these distances is to use a hip chain like the one featured on the left.


Board Foot- is a measure of total volume. One board foot is 12 inches wide by 12 inches length by one inch thick. To calculate board feet take length x width x thickness and divide that number by 12. For example a 2 inch by 6 inch by 8 foot board has 8 board feet in it.


Basal Area- is a measure of tree crowding. The higher the number, the more crowded the forest is. Gauges and prisms (like the one on the left) help foresters calculate basal area. So if a forester tallies 10 trees with a 10 factor angle prism, the basal area will be 100 square feet.