SD51555
5 year old buck +
I've had some hard lessons in managing my forest. Some things I didn't see coming:
*Balsam poplar will explode in abundance in a clearing
*Balsam fir can uproot if suddenly exposed to the full force of the wind when it's neighbors are removed
*Clear cutting tag alder makes a huge dam mess
*When balsam firs are released and go from 4' to 10', bucks love to destroy them. All of them
*Follow up releasing is needed where good things are found and released
*I don't have unlimited ash, so I need to leave some to continue to grow so long as EAB hasn't arrived. I use ash for campfire grilling.
So, going into this winter, I've got some new objectives as I go about working my way across the property with the saw.
1. Where I'm releasing all the good stuff, I'm going to leave some medium sized ash to keep growing, so long as there's plenty of sun to get through to the forest floor.
2. Where I find rub-vulnerable balsam firs, I'm going to stack brush around them to discourage the bucks.
3. This gives the brush a purpose and hopefully can also serve as small game housing.
4. I'm going to dedicate time to hand-thinning past release areas. This is where I go back and bust off new rapidly advancing brush (alder, balsam poplar, etc) while it's still small enough it can be done. Where I've found things that need more time for sunlight, if I catch it early, I can obliterate a patch of brush in 60 seconds and keep the sun on it for another year or two.
When I say adaptive, what I'm thinking about is stacking dry brush around my balsam firs. For fire risk management, it's a terrible idea. I'm taking a gamble on fire being a lower probability than the near certainty a buck is gonna destroy it. I don't have high prevalence of balsam fir, but I can get one every 20-40', and it'd be nice if I can get those 4-8' trees to get some sun and get going.
*Balsam poplar will explode in abundance in a clearing
*Balsam fir can uproot if suddenly exposed to the full force of the wind when it's neighbors are removed
*Clear cutting tag alder makes a huge dam mess
*When balsam firs are released and go from 4' to 10', bucks love to destroy them. All of them
*Follow up releasing is needed where good things are found and released
*I don't have unlimited ash, so I need to leave some to continue to grow so long as EAB hasn't arrived. I use ash for campfire grilling.
So, going into this winter, I've got some new objectives as I go about working my way across the property with the saw.
1. Where I'm releasing all the good stuff, I'm going to leave some medium sized ash to keep growing, so long as there's plenty of sun to get through to the forest floor.
2. Where I find rub-vulnerable balsam firs, I'm going to stack brush around them to discourage the bucks.
3. This gives the brush a purpose and hopefully can also serve as small game housing.
4. I'm going to dedicate time to hand-thinning past release areas. This is where I go back and bust off new rapidly advancing brush (alder, balsam poplar, etc) while it's still small enough it can be done. Where I've found things that need more time for sunlight, if I catch it early, I can obliterate a patch of brush in 60 seconds and keep the sun on it for another year or two.
When I say adaptive, what I'm thinking about is stacking dry brush around my balsam firs. For fire risk management, it's a terrible idea. I'm taking a gamble on fire being a lower probability than the near certainty a buck is gonna destroy it. I don't have high prevalence of balsam fir, but I can get one every 20-40', and it'd be nice if I can get those 4-8' trees to get some sun and get going.
