Habitat question

[ToddG]

I have 33 acres that has two 1/2 acre oak creek bottoms and the rest is 15 year old loblolly pine. The land is pretty thick now but I am concerned that as the pines grow, the undergrowth will die out. I will never log it because that would kill my hunting. Should I start dropping some of the pines and let them lay to get sunlight to the under story. I need the place to stay thick because of poaching and bedding for the deer.
Thanks,

 

[dsinwi]

Based on what you've stated I'd say yes. I'd probably hinge the pine for bedding. I wouldn't expect them to survive but they will offer ground cover for all sort of animals. I'd also do some kind of tree or shrub planting in their place while your at it. Something that would provide food and browse.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I would agree with dsinwi above. You can still keep things thicker plus provide some cover / browse at the same time. Some of the dogwoods would work ( silky, gray ), American plum, crabapple, Washington hawthorn, serviceberry. If you want to screen from poaching, plant some Norway spruce about 6 ft. apart. To speed up the growing process, throw down some 10-10-10 fertilizer starting in year 2 and continuing through year 7 or 8. Year 1 they are just getting roots established - not much happens.

 

[yoderjac]

Todd,

David Stone, the VDOF forester for my county described your problem pretty well. You don't have enough acreage for loggers to be interested in a commercial thinning of the pines (unless you have neighbors that are thinning at the same time). The overhead costs of moving equipment in and out and setup costs are not worth the value of the thinned pines. He now recommends that small property owners plant pines at lower densities so that a first commercial thinning is not required. If your property was larger, I would tell you that while in the short run the disturbance of logging will disrupt hunting, in the long run, managing timber so you have different successional stages proximate to one another not only produces income that can be poured into habitat projects, it provides for great deer and other wildlife habitat.

You can't really hinge loblollies well. They tend to snap and die. How old are the pines?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[bueller]

Look for some oaks or other species scattered in the pines. If you find any, open up the surrounding area and watch them take off.

 

[ToddG]

The pines are 15 years. When the pines were replanted after logging 15 years ago, they weren't spaced close together like you would expect. The owner was out of state and the company didn't plant like they were supposed to. I have a lot of undergrowth because of the spacing. I have quite a few white oak and dogwoods growing with the pine. They are almost keeping up with the growth. I am just worried about what happens when the pines get taller.

 

[shawnv]

Think about what you can do to screen the exterior and then create some pockets inside that can hold shrubs etc that work as screens/bedding/browse. Probably will need a little soil TLC with the years of pines being there.

 

[yoderjac]

The pines are 15 years. When the pines were replanted after logging 15 years ago, they weren't spaced close together like you would expect. The owner was out of state and the company didn't plant like they were supposed to. I have a lot of undergrowth because of the spacing. I have quite a few white oak and dogwoods growing with the pine. They are almost keeping up with the growth. I am just worried about what happens when the pines get taller.

Our pines were about 15 years old when we did our commercial thinning. That lower density spacing is what Dave Stone was recommending but it looks like they were not sprayed to keep other trees from infiltrating.

Here are my thoughts. I would probably contact USDA NRCS and see if you can get in the EQIP program for financial support if needed. Consider having a dozer put a firebreak around the pines and conducting a controlled burn first. If you do any cutting there will be too much fuel to burn for a long time. The burn will kill young hardwood trees and clean up the pine needles from the forest floor. Next, I'd consider a non-commercial thinning of the pines. You might want to target a savannah like result which can be great habitat. Another option is to create small wildlife openings of about a quarter acre scattered thorough the pines. You can maintain these with a bushhog every couple years so they stay herbaceous or you can burn again. Just mow around stumps. Pine stumps will rot out in just a few years. You can plant permaculture trees and shrubs in some of these and perhaps clover in others. Some you could let regenerate naturally and bushhog them just before they get too large for your equipment. Releasing some of the larger producing white oaks is also a good idea. This second approach would create small blocks of variation across the property which means a lot of edge habitat.

These are just ideas to consider and a lot of what might be best depends on surrounding habitat and how deer relate to it. We just had about 100 acres of 15 year old pines thinned and about 20 acres of low quality hardwoods clear-cut for bedding. We then conducted controlled burns. In the short run it really disturbed the hunting, but we are already starting to see benefits. We now have a lot of herbaceous growth in the thinned pines and the clearcuts are just starting to thicken up pretty well. They have a lot of food and will soon have good cover.

One free resource you should consider is a VDGIF biologist. I had one come out and tour our place in the off season and provide advice along with a forester. Since you are focused on wildlife only, you may not need the forester.


Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Todd, post #6 - It's good you have white oaks and dogwoods already growing in with the pines. Much better than starting from scratch with small seedlings. Cutting some pines should give those a boost with increased sunlight. Maybe throw down some fertilizer around the good plants.

 

[Bill]

Nothing wrong with cutting a few 1/4 acre patches each year. This way you always have areas of new thick growth.

 

[ToddG]

What do you guys think about clearing small areas and replacing with Elderberries, wild plums, or silky dogwoods each year. That way I will stil have cover but also will be providing a food source.

 

[yoderjac]

What do you guys think about clearing small areas and replacing with Elderberries, wild plums, or silky dogwoods each year. That way I will stil have cover but also will be providing a food source.

I would vary it. Do a quarter acre or so per year if you are clearing by hand with a chainsaw. That is fine for one block. Plant clover in another, some mast bearing trees in another, just let some regenerate. Each block will provide different deer resources at different times.

Thanks,

Jack