Replies

1. 
   forestgirl | Jan 12, 2008 07:49pm | #1

   There are a couple, maybe more, forestry forums on the internet.  I'd suggest you join up and post your question at one or more of them.  Here are two links:
   http://www.forestryforum.com/
   http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/forestry.pl 

   I would encourage you to investigate what ecological value leaving some of the snags and maybe some downed trees would have.  I know in our area (Puget Sound in the Northwest), snags provide food and homes to pileated woodpeckers and other birds, many of which are on the decline in a serious way. 

   We bought some property from a forester last year, and during lunch with him and his wife, talked about the way areas are cleared around here.  He emphasized the importance of leaving the slash to some extent.  I'm sure there are details about that to be followed though.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 
   
2. 
   BobSmalser | Jan 13, 2008 05:33am | #2

   I'd want to do some soil tests, but most conifer stands with 30" DBH boles are 80 or more years old and benefit from a controlled burn after thinning ops.

   Conifer needles are acidic and Mama Nature sweetens her soil with fire periodically. Wood ashes are alkaline and mineral-laden, they raise the soil's pH and provide nutrients for the leguminous pioneer trees that generally follow next. In older stands like yours, man controls fire at the expense of forest health.

   I prefer thinning to clearcutting and in my own Doug Fir stands, generally leave only one old-growth candidate (the largest, healthiest tree) per acre and leave a balanced selection of non-DF tree species for diversity. I also include diverse species during replanting.

   Your local extension agent and Soil Conservation Service at your county seat can advise on what species are appropriate for natural diversity, and the SCS also generally sells native seedlings at cost during an annual tree sale. Your state forestry board may also be helpful but foresters are usually more interested in production than diversity. 80 years from now when your grandchildren harvest again, the difference in bf between a monoculture and a diverse, healthy forest will be surprisingly small.

   I usually skid the trees out whole and limb them on the landing where the slash can be easily piled with the log loader and burned. Locally in an 80-year-old stand there is already plenty of detritus and if you leave all that slash in the forest your controlled burn might not be.

   
   

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   Edited 1/13/2008 11:21 am by BobSmalser

3. 
   joinerswork | Jan 13, 2008 04:57pm | #3

   dave,

   What Bob said, but I'll add that you state's dept of forestry ought to be able to help you with a management plan that will meet your needs.  My son used to be a forestry technician here in VA, and helped landowners develop plans to maximise yield, if that was what they wanted, but was prepared to develop a management plan for other outcomes as well.  Wildlife habitat,  plant species diversity, whatever.

   Ray