Adaptive Forestry?

[SD51555]

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.

 

[SwampCat]

I was told fifteen years ago eab was 30 miles from my place. I should have had someone cut my 70 acres of ash the next day. I would have been 15 years ahead of this mess that is quickly developing - and no logger will touch it

 

[SD51555]

I was told fifteen years ago eab was 30 miles from my place. I should have had someone cut my 70 acres of ash the next day. I would have been 15 years ahead of this mess that is quickly developing - and no logger will touch it

I hear ya. I dread the day that it gets to my place. Is live ash completely gone from your place now, or do u have new trees coming?


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[Teeder]

For my place, if I open up the canopy, I get a flush of yellow poplar and/or multiflora rose.

 

[PatinPA]

I get black birch. You said about the balsam firs falling over when the neighbors are removed. I had a bunch of smallish (6-8" diameter) oaks (alive) just randomly fall over after I cut the hemlocks down. I always wondered if the hemlock roots were what was holding them in place and when they started rotting they couldn't support themselves.

 

[SwampCat]

I was told fifteen years ago eab was 30 miles from my place. I should have had someone cut my 70 acres of ash the next day. I would have been 15 years ahead of this mess that is quickly developing - and no logger will touch it

This is the first year it has hit. It happens quick. I would guess a third is dead no leaves, a third has lost most leaves, and a third still looks ok - it just doesnt know it yet. There is still tons of young from a foot tall to twenty feet tall.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I get black birch. You said about the balsam firs falling over when the neighbors are removed. I had a bunch of smallish (6-8" diameter) oaks (alive) just randomly fall over after I cut the hemlocks down. I always wondered if the hemlock roots were what was holding them in place and when they started rotting they couldn't support themselves.

We had a flush of black birch on our north slope too after logging. (I think you're on the north side of your ridge?) Lots of hemlocks in there too. After planting along & near the log skidding trails with Norway spruce, not much wind on that slope anymore.

 

[West_Fork]

I have been doing selective cutting for 20+ years, some of it intended to create an area of denial to protect new trees from browsing. But I have never dealt with the stuff you guys east of Colorado deal with. Holy cow. I guess having water comes with a price.

 

[Newbie]

Every bit of open woods I have gets engulfed in stilt grass and autumn olive. It is a real problem here, it's completely dominated my forest particularly when the ash died off. I've got areas of 5-8 acre stands of fallen ash that have been entirely consumed by stilt grass. I really need to get a good forester in there to help with some management

 

[PatinPA]

Every bit of open woods I have gets engulfed in stilt grass and autumn olive. It is a real problem here, it's completely dominated my forest particularly when the ash died off. I've got areas of 5-8 acre stands of fallen ash that have been entirely consumed by stilt grass. I really need to get a good forester in there to help with some management

And Mile-a-Minute! That stuff is great.