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FORESTRY

What my grandfathers taught me . . .

What I promote and strongly maintain and what both of my grandfathers accepted is what veteran foresters with long standing believe — that is a forestry principle and practice called single-tree selection. It is a great deal more productive than clear-cutting.

Here is the way it works.

Every 10 to 15 to 20 years an individual should take out about a third of the timber in a stand. One should cut the LEAST robust, the Diseased, the Dying, the Crooked, and the Runts. This creates more open space, allowing the remaining forest trees to get a greater share of the sunlight that will lead to enhancement of their growth. Every year the quality and amount of the standing wood will increase.

Since regeneration happens gradually, this process can keep moving forward for centuries. There are two advantages to this method that stand out. Short-term income and a much larger payback over the long haul.

My grandfathers taught me that one cannot be Greedy or Be In A Rush when one is in the timber business!

Under the wing of the Master Tree Cutter . . .

I was in the timber business for 2 ½ years and learned a great deal from a Master Tree Cutter, Jim Anglin (now deceased), who, by the way, even under contract never cut all the large trees. He would cut somewhere between 1/3 and 2/3 of the big trees and cut all the big crooked trees and severely diseased trees and leave plenty of dead trees for wildlife. He knew that leaving several of the big trees would do well for not only reseeding but also serve as homes for the barred owls and eagles that require a certain percentage of virgin/old growth trees to be able to live.

One other point. If there were only one or two large black oaks, or just one or two yellow poplar trees in the group, he would never cut these because the percentage of the species within the forest was too low.

There is a certain formula that is calculated for every section of trees that is to be cut. People who are wise and are not only environmentally conscious but who are good stewards of the land know about such points as these. When my friend, the Master Tree Cutter, came out of the woods, his impact and imprint was very minimal. The woods he left behind still looked great!

The dirt on the subject . . .

As anyone knows, or should know, your better soils, moist soils of fertile hillsides, are found on north face slopes. Trees that favor north face slopes are yellow poplar, white oak, northern and southern red oak, black oak, chestnut oak, chinquapin oak, black cherry, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, shellbark hickory, etc.

Trees that favor south slopes are scarlet oak, pin oak, blackjack oak, post oak, mockernut hickory, butternut, etc.

Some trees that favor bottomlands are willow oak, cottonwood, beech, shumard oak, and sycamore, etc.

A mixed mesophytic forest that ranges in age from age 0 to age 100 is the finest forest one can have! An even-aged stand of trees is not even considered an excellent stand of trees no matter what the species.

Harvest time in the woods . . .

A forest is best managed using the method of selective harvesting and silvicultural practices. One does not want to high grade, which is defined as removing the highest quality trees while leaving the lower quality trees upon the land. One does not ever want to utilize commercial clear cut because this is very damaging to the land. Commercial clear cut causes severe erosion that becomes a further detriment to the localized environment, especially where slopes and streams are concerned.

A scientific analysis of the particular woodlands will determine the type of silviculturally based cutting that is needed. In a given forest a knowledgeable forester will prescribe a harvest whereby a significant amount of low quality trees will be marked for harvest along with good quality mature timber.

Good stewardship of the forest requires the use of practices that will enhance the future value of the woodlands and provide for a perpetual resource of the forest.

An unmanaged, unplanned timber harvest will always result in the loss of both short and long term timber value and productivity.

A forest that has been harvested using selective, silvicultural methods should leave enough standing vigorous trees that will respond to the growing space provided.

Don’t go near the water . . .

One major mistake people make is not backing away from a stream 100 or even 150 or even 200 feet (very steep slopes) when cutting timber. When individuals do not do this, it leads to the siltation of the stream thus destroying aquatic life.

Another mistake people make is cutting all the trees along a stream thus warming the water to a great degree (pun intended), again destroying aquatic life.

Trees and shrubs are definitely a stable of fish and crayfish habitat by being stabilization systems for stream banks and filtering sediment and pollutants. Trees also shelter cold, deep pools that fish and other aquatics love. The canopy shades the water while fallen logs form protective sections of the stream.

Willow trees and ash trees are best for stream banks to provide shade. Their leaves in the autumn will not clog streams.

Tennessee woods and waters . . .

According to the Tennessee Forest Council, Tennessee is home to some of the most diverse forests in the temperate region. The State contains more tree species than all of Europe, and the streams hold some of the most biologically diverse aquatic communities in the world.

Tennesseans should do their best to conserve natural resources, especially Tennessee woods and waters.

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