The diameter and height growth of advance reproduction of suppressed true fir (Abies spp.) and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr.) was measured in south-central Oregon after release by overstory removal in clearcuttings, shelterwood units, and uncut stands. Postrelease growth was greatest in clearcuttings, intermediate in shelterwood cuttings, and slowest in uncut stands. Multiple regression analyses were used to predict growth response as a function of tree and stand variables. Overstory basal area, live crown ratio, and past 5-year height growth accounted for the most variation in diameter and height growth after release. Vigorous advance reproduction having live crown ratios greater than 50 percent are the best candidates for crop trees.Keywords: Growth response, release, suppression (tree), advance growth, true fir, mountain hemlock.In 1983 and 1984, a study was conducted in the Cascade Range in south-central Oregon to obtain information about the diameter and height growth response of suppressed advance reproduction of grand fir (Abies grandis (Dougl. ex D. Don) Lindl.), Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var. shastensis Lemm.), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr.) after release by removal of the overstory. The purpose was to compare rates of diameter and height growth before and after release, to determine when increased growth occurs, and to develop models to predict diameter and height growth after release as a function of tree and stand variables, such as live crown ratio and basal area.The study areas were clearcut and shelterwood units and uncut stands in upper slope, mixed conifer/snowbrush-chinkapin and mountain hemlock/grouse huckleberry communities in the Deschutes and Winema National Forests, south-central Oregon. Growth patterns 5 years before and 10 to 20 years after release of the trees were determined by sectioning trees.Both diameter and height growth increased after release from two to four times the prerelease rate for both fir and hemlock. Acceleration of growth generally occurred within 5 years after release with the most rapid growth occurring on clearcut units. Growth curves had a sigmoid form showing constant growth before release, a rapid acceleration during the first 8 to 9 years after release, followed by a flattening of the curves from 10 to 20 years after release.Residual overstory basal area, live crown ratio, and past 5-year height growth were the three variables accounting for most of the variation in diameter and height growth after release. Growth of the advance reproduction after release was directly proportional to live crown ratio or past height growth and inversely proportional to overstory stand density. Both fir and hemlock responded to release regardless of age.The.best potential crop trees are vigorous advance reproduction having live crown ratios greater than 50 percent and those with the greatest height growth before release. Releasing these trees by removing the overstory and by thinning when needed will not only greatly increase grow...