When they logged your place, what did you decide to cut and what did you decide to leave?
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I took out all the Jack Pine I could.....(I hate jack pine and the way it looks....tho the deer eat it when needed)......and most of the Red Pine were logged off, but did leave some around the ponds and a few larger areas to provide some winter cover and kept a degree of "beauty" on my place. My place was predominately a RED PINE PLANTATION owned by a timber company. My forester and I made some choices here. Also took all the mature Aspen trees which were predominantly in one section of my property...and some was ready to tip over due to age. (Stump sprouts are now carrying allot of grouse.)
I had the logger avoid damage to the numerous small (stunted) burr oak trees that were scattered through my red pine plantation....as well they avoided any birch....which is now more plentiful too (still not a huge %). I did have a GOOD logger and a good FORESTER...that understood my wants and needs.....and were both attuned to this kind of work. They both did me a solid job.
I'd say that 85% + of the timber taken was Red Pine and that is what Potlatch managed for. They had done a select cut a few years before selling the property to me. And the remaining trees needed a few more years to reach a marketable sale. And I did it.
I have not planted a single tree (except for some apple trees many years back and some spruce to make a screen for our cabin) and 100% of the regenerization is from my trees here. I do worry about having too many pine trees again in the future....and may take some TSI action on those pines to keep them at bay. This property is a tree growing machine! I got water a few feet below the surface and once a tap root is established the trees here really flourish. Huge deal here. Pines can grow up to 30" per year here. Crazy.
The small burr oaks likely number in the thousands now...and were released the minute the pines were cut. Many are now 20 to 30 feet tall and from 4" to 8" diameter. Most are producing acorns on a regular basis each year. Same goes for birch and aspen trees...as well as so many things like hazel, american plumb, and other brush and forbs. Hard to beleive the transformation that occurred. I had almost zero squirrels before...now many of em. Before I seldom saw a rabbit or a grouse or turkeys...much less song birds. Now?....they are all over the place. Now too....by getting rid of row crops.....the coyotes have a far lower chance of catching the little critters than when I did row crops. Now....the switchgrass and rye provide the cover for the prey to survive in the never ending battle.
I feel I have found some good solutions for wildlife on my property.....and I keep working to that end. Been fun figuring it out....and got good results so far. Also now have decent racks on the bucks taken in this area due to better nutrition and less stress in winter (I think).
I am so done with row crops, and tillage....dumb!.....old school methods, that can set you back a bunch. That is my story....and I am sticking to it! Grin.
DRILL BABY, DRILL!
(OH...and THANK YOU SD!.....and several others that helped me to find the light on no-till practices and saving our soils. INVALUABLE!).