Logging...Give this dummy the rundown

[hesseu]

After reading J-Birds thread....and multiple others, I am a self professed ignorant dummy when it comes to logging. We have approximately 80 acres of woods that we were told was logged around 10-15 years ago. This will be our 3rd season on the property, and just doing some simple habitat and trigger management, trail cameras show some great improvements (5 bucks this summer on camera that would be shooters for us at 4+ years old on a total of 120 acres). We have hinge cut some areas to bring in the sunlight and encourage growth on known bedding areas.

So, what should our path forward be from here?

 

[BradB]

What kind of woods? Logging will be very specific to where you are located and what kind of trees you have.

 

[bueller]

Are we talking a clear cut, a thinning that is now canopied over again, or somewhere in between?

 

[hesseu]

I wouldn't say we have a canopy...especially when I see pictures of you folks from the Wisconsin / Minnesota areas. We are way thicker than that. Our #1 goal on this property is deer hunting. We want woods to be thick, since we keep them all as a "sanctuary" and we pretty much hunt the tree-lines connecting woods. Most tree's are oaks. Attached you will find a layout of the property. The area's in the gray are some hinge cut and clearing we've done to thicken up the "sanctuaries". Yellow are our stands....red is access. The woods on the western part of the area I'm curious in regards to the logging. East woods across the creek would impossible to get to. So it would stay as-is.

 

[kpj5br]

Thought I'd throw in a pic of my industrial log splitter - I've run almost 15 cords of oak through that baby in the last 12 months from trees taken down on my piece

What I did was ask the local DNR forester to come out and make a recommendation. That worked really well - at least up here they know their stuff.

Not sure what your options are there, but if you give your county could probably help find the right contact.

Seems to me that every single piece is unique and really requires a set of knowledgable eyes on it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wiscwhip]

As kpj mentioned above, find a reputable forester who is on the same page as you, then he can help you find a logger.

 

[j-bird]

You need at least 2 things for a logger to be interested.....enough trees and tress they have a market for. You also should really have a habitat plan.

You also need to consider what you want. If you want a clear-cut (where they cut and take everything), or if you want a selective/thinning type cut where you pick and choose the trees to be harvested. This can influence your plan moving forward as well. If you want your futur woods to be more of what you already have a select cut is fine.....if you feel you will have to plant to get what you want in the future then that tends to lean more toward clear cutting larger areas (commonly done in the south for pine plantations).

Tree size and species will make a big difference as well. Pallet or pulp wood isn't going to be of too much interest to loggers. Good prime hardwoods however can be a different story. Oak, Cherry, Walnut and Sugar Maple are in demand in my area. They have to be of appreciable size and you have to have enough of them to make it worth the effort. Also make sure they don;t just take the good stuff and leave you with the junk (this is called high grading) - that was why I logged mine was because decades before my ownership they came in and cut off all the oak, I had to remove a lot of junk to give the remaining oaks a fighting chance.

Cutting all sizable oaks is NOT a good idea in my opinion. You want to retain some mast production and you may even want to keep them in certain areas that benefit your hunting efforts.

I would suggest you contact a forester or someone you trust that has done this before to help guide you and your efforts. Logging is one of those things that if done right can be a great tool, but if done poorly you can regret it for a long, long time. That chainsaw can quickly undo decades worth of mother natures work very quickly. Loggers simply want to cut trees and maximize the production with minimal inputs....it's a business I get that. However you need someone to represent your wildlife/habitat desires and interests as well. A good Forester should do that for you.....or a fellow habitat nut that has done some logging in the past. The Forester should also be able to help you get top dollar for your timber, write a contract for the work to be done and ensure your dealing with a reputable logger.

 

[hesseu]

You guys are fantastic! Thank you!

 

[yoderjac]

We hired a forester and it was a great investment for us. We had some small sections of hardwoods clear-cut and a large block of pines thinned. We interviewed 3 different private foresters from a list we got from our county forester. Two of them seemed completely focused on maximizing timber income and paid lip service only to our desire for a plan that balanced timber income with wildlife management concerns. The third that we hired was great! He listened to us a lot and made recommendations with alternatives. He would say things like: "If you do this, you will get roughly $x more in timber sale but if you do that, it will be better for you wildlife management goals and here is why".

Don't be afraid to interview a number of foresters before selecting one. Things are different from state to state, but in our state, the department of forestry pays county foresters who will provide broad advice (not conduct or oversee sales). They also linked us up with state cost sharing programs for things like spraying. In addition, our game department has wildlife biologists who come out for free and provide advice. Finally, USDA NRCS has some conservation programs like EQUIP that we used. This offsets cost for things like putting in firebreaks, spraying herbicide, and conducting controlled burns. They too sent out wildlife biologists that help us assess and do some planning.

If your objective is primarily deer, I would not think of this in terms of logging. I would develop a long-term wildlife management plan and think of logging as one tool that may be useful in executing that plan.

Thanks,

jack

 

[Boll Weevil]

I wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion of engaging a forester and/or available program assistance; especially if you don't have a lot of experience/knowledge managing timber. If your property was logged 10-15 years ago some focus on regeneration may be in order for the immediate term. As well, know that high-graded timber stands could take considerable effort to rehabilitate but it's worth starting immediately vs. allowing a poor stand of timber to persist (on behalf of BOTH timber value and wildlife).

 

[gunther89]

I would say find a certified forester. In Wisconsin, there is a list of certified foresters and those are the people that I would trust.