Transcript Thinning for Healthy Trees

Why a Management Plan?
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Management Plans
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The best tool for protecting your woodlot
today and enhancing your woodlot in the
future is a management plan.
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
How a plan can help
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Prevent hasty decisions
Identify value of resources
Communication medium
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Yourself, in the future
Family
Foresters
Loggers
Motivation
Money (i.e. 480a)
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Example 1
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“I’m a logger, and your woods looks like it
needs to be cut for the health of the trees. How
about if I cut it now, while I am working in the
area?”
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Check your plan
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Example 2
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“I’m a logger, and I want to cut your 40 acres
of timber. Here is a check for $20,000.”
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Check your plan
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Example 3
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Emerald ash borer is headed my way. How
vulnerable am I to it?
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Check your plan
March 12, 2011
New York Forest Owners Association
Developing a Forest Management
Plan
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Know what you want –
goals
Physical property
Boundaries; description
Inventory – trees, water,
wildlife
History
Assess your resources
Work with a forester
Activity plan
Resources and Realism
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How much time do you
have to work in your
woodlot?
How much money can
you spend on your
woodlot?
Do you have the
necessary equipment
and training?
Fun and Flexibility
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Don’t expect to make a living
Don’t turn it into a job
Revisit goals occasionally
Expect interests to change over time
Goals
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Why do you own the land?
Recreation, wildlife,
income, timber, aesthetics,
water, preservation. Assign
a relative importance for
your goals.
Long range planning
Family? Inheritance? Trust?
Conservation Easement?
Web resources and courses
to assist you
More on Goals
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Most goals are not mutually
exclusive – can have your
cake and eat it too
Example – improve wildlife
habitat via a timber harvest
But some goals will exclude
other options so you need to
prioritize
Inventory
Boundaries
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Survey map
Tax map - deed
Aerial/satellite photos
Physical evidence –
hedgerows, fences, old
trees, stone walls etc
Permanently mark
your boundary –
posted signs, paint,
blaze
Walk you boundaries
Inventory
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Water Resources
Lake, pond, stream,
ephemeral stream,
vernal pools, springs
Soils
Sand, silt, clay – loam
humus layer
productivity
drainage
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Wildlife
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What species are you trying to
promote?
What habitat is required? Often
changes throughout the year –
breeding etc
Food, cover, reproduction
Increase the number of species
by increasing your
horizontal(landscape) and
vertical diversity(site specific)
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Tree inventory
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Map above was created by a landowner
Stands – relatively
uniform in species
composition or age
and can be managed
as a single unit
Hardwood?
Softwood?
Soils?
Wet or dry?
Age?
Site Productivity?
Past Practices?
Site productivity
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Based on tree height indices
Soil surveys – google web soil survey or visit
your county SWCD
Poor, fair, good, excellent – keep it simple
Stocking
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Three size classes are recognized: (1) Seedling-Sapling
[1"- 3"], (2) Pole [4"-11"] and (3) Sawtimber [12" and up].
Three categories are used for the level of stocking:
(1)Understocked, (2) Well-stocked, and (3) Overstocked.
An understocked stand would lose growth by not having
enough stems to utilize the growing potential of the site
adequately. An overstocked stand has too many stems in
competition, and a corresponding reduction in the growth
rate. A well-stocked stand represents a somewhat ideal
density for realizing the growth potential on a site.
Be aware of
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General forest health –
insects and disease
Rare and endangered
plant and animal species
Historical and
archeological areas of
significance
Access – present roads,
lanes and paths and
future desires. Erosion
potential
Wetlands – state and fed
Work with a forester
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Property description
Stand descriptions with
a forest stand map
Activity
recommendations
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Timber prescriptions
Wildlife enhancement
Recreation – trails
Invasives?
Other gov’t assistance?
Stewplan