Timber Stand Improvement
In an attempt to maximize income from a hardwood stand, increase wildlife use and keep the stand healthy we recommend performing a timber stand improvement. Every time trees are cut from a woodlot the future value, health and wildlife use should be improved. However, some stands do not have enough value to sell the first cut commercially but that does not mean these stands should not be managed. In fact, they could have more of an active management need than more commercially valuable stands.
Here are some goals one looks to achieve when carrying out a timber stand improvement. Each landowner’s goals will be different but some or all of the categories below can be incorporated into an improvement harvest.
1) Improve future value byreducing competition around well formed and potentially valuable trees. This can be acheived within a number of strategies. One way is reduce the density within the entire stand by selecting non-desirable trees to a point where desired/retained trees can respond positively with increased growth. This density reduction is set not to exceed a certain level so the remaining stand is still well stocked. This can be likened to the following example; when a garden row is seeded with carrots they need to be thinned after they sprout to reduce competition and encourage the best specimens to grow into a wonderful crop. This scenario is just like an improvement cut but the trees live many years more than carrots allowing time to encourage and promote a good “crop”. Better yet when this crop is harvestable it can be selectively cut in a manner that will ever improve the remaining stand and keep a perpetual, sustainable harvest a very real possibility.
2) Improve wildlife habitat by incorporating well planned improvements into your management activities. This can be acheived in many different ways. The first is a suggestion to the firewood burners, do not cut standing dead trees! Yes, these trees are drier than their alive counterparts but they provide a host of benefits to the animals living within your woodlot. Standing dead trees provide food for insect predators as insects begin invading the stem. Once the tree decays enough, the open decay cavities make excellent homes for a host of animal species. Lastly as the stem falls to the ground it still provides food and habitat for animals and it helps continue healthy nutrient cycling within the stand. Additionally, if your stand is suffering from a lack of standing dead trees use the timber stand improvement as an opportunity to create some. A goal is to create/protect 5 standing dead trees per acre. Be mindful not to create these standing dead trees where they could fail and damage persons or property. To create a standing dead tree take a saw and cut two bands around the entire trunk, and make sure to adhere to all the safety standards required by OSHA when operating a saw. Beyond creating standing dead trees a number of other trees could be felled and left to degrade on the forest floor. These rotting trees provide coarse woody debris, long term wildlife habitat, and nutrient cycling benefits. Another wildlife enhancement is to pile the tree tops in large brush piles. This will give small mammals places to hide in and is strongly encouraged whenever you have the human power to make them.
3) To promote overall tree healththere are a number of things to consider. The first and most important attribute is to always manage a stand to maintain or increase its tree species diversity. Retaining a large number of different species protects your stand from a catastrophic pest or disease outbreak. Further, activities within your stand should not be done in the early spring, April-June, to reduce the amount of bark damage and soil rutting that is likely to happen during harvesting work at that time of year. Ideally all tree cutting should happen during the dormant months to minimize damage to the soil and remaining trees. There are a number of suggestions regarding management for current pests/diseases to incorporate when harvesting on your land. For Emerald ash borer, some ash trees should be focused on for removal to reduce the amount of ash trees within the stand. For beech bark disease, some of the the rougher barked beech trees should be removed or girdled. For Hemlock wooly adelgid your hemlocks should be allowed to have some room and light to grow. If you feel you have any one of these diseases call us and we can help you figure out what you have and what to do about it. Regardless of the imposing threat of an exotic pest or disease, do not remove any one species off of your property if it is at all possible. Further, seek professional advice before you make any rash management decisions.
A consulting forester, or qualified professional, should be able to understand your objectives and incorporate the management needed to meet your objectives. The above mentioned management ideas are just a few of the many ways to improve your land. Whoever you decide to help meet your goals make sure they are qualified and insured to do so.