Re: timber management: wasRe: Home built septic tank

On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 21:41:52 +0000, enigma wrote:

> "Ann" <nntpmail@xxxxxxxx> wrote in
> news:pan.2006.01.01.16.20.14.285283@xxxxxxxx:
>
>> On Sun, 01 Jan 2006 13:43:46 +0000, enigma wrote: <...>
>>> i'm just looking into putting my woodlot 40 acres (partly
>>> wetlands) into timber management. a good 25 acres is mostly sugar
>>> maple, with a little oak, beech, ash & hickory. too much pine though,
>>> which i plan to log off to start replanting with hardwood.
>>
>>> any suggestions on books/websites to read so i know exactly
>>> what to ask of anyone i ask to log off the pine & 'junk' trees? and to
>>> decide which tree species i want to replant with? lee
>>
>> You should be able to Google up lots of information on NH and nearby
>> states' university and government websites. And no matter what anyone
>> says, there are trade-offs. An example is the pine. (I'm assuming
>> white pine.) White pine was the dominant tree in my area when it was
>> first settled, but because of pollution, disease, insects, it's no
>> longer commercially viable. But even as aggressive as most logging is
>> here, pine groves are spared because of their perceived value as big
>> game habitat. The typical northeast US woodlot has multiple values and,
>> imo, the first and most important decision is prioritizing them.
>
> really? pine for big game habitat? my softwood stands are not
> really large, just a few trees per cluster, & those areas aren't where i
> see the deer, moose or turkeys. all of them seem to prefer the areas
> with more beech or hickory. squirrels hang around the pine & porcupines
> hang around the hemlock. the deer do browse hemlock if they can't get to
> beech mast or grasses in the wetlands. the pine is never touched by
> either deer or moose, which is too bad because it volunteer seeds
> copiously in any open area.

Note that I used a qualifier. <g> The primary value is claimed to be as a
place for the deer to yard (and the turkeys to get around) when there is
heavy snow. For the same reason, it's supposed to be good to leave
evergreen corridors. It is hard to get white pines started here because
the deer will browse the seedlings but, agreed, the older trees are seldom
browsed.

>> Other considerations are what species will grow after logging and which
>> will be most valuable at maturity. I don't think it's as much of a
>> problem in NH, but acid rain has destoyed the buffering capacity of
>> untilled soil here to the point that sugar maple don't regenerate well
>> without liming, which is impractical except in a tree farm.
>
> no logging, only selective cutting.

It's all logging; the gotcha is getting the trees that are cut out.
Absolutely, the damage can be minimized but the trees should be marked and
the ground rules set beforehand. And even if you hire a forester to do
this and oversee the job, keep an eye on it yourself. (Which I'm pretty
confident you'd do anyway.)

> that's odd about sugar maple & lime, since they grow in areas
> with acidic soils.

Decades of pH 3.5->4 rain and sandstone (rather than limestone) underlying
rock.
http://www.hubbardbrook.org/education/SubjectPages/AcidRainPage.htm

>> This is a good time of year to be deciding if wildlife habitat is near
>> the top of your list. (For those in warmer climates, because of the
>> tracks in the snow. <g>) If there are any particular migratory birds
>> you want to keep, you'll see where they nest this spring. And, what
>> does/doesn't dry out first (so is/isn't a good place for a logging
>> road.)
>
> areas to the left (when facing the house) are more 'upland' &
> one can get a motorized vehicle in there. areas to the right & behind
> the house are wet much of the year. best time to mechanical harvest
> would be when the ground is frozen, but it's not that difficult to find
> someone who uses horses or oxen, in which case any time but spring
> runoff would work. i already have decent clear roads to everywhere but
> the swamp & it's possible to take a 4WD vehicle almost anywhere anytime,
> but in many areas having a winch is useful & will develop bad ruts
> really easily.
> lee

Do you plan to have it done by competitive bid through a forester or do
you have someone in mind?
.

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