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Slash wall

Started by moosehunter, January 20, 2020, 07:25:19 PM

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moosehunter

I live very close to Arnot Forest, a 4k+ acre research forest belonging to Cornell University. Usually called "The Arnot" by locals and the folks associated with it. 
As long as I have paid attention to such things they have been researching ways of limiting deer browse in the forest and the effects of deer browse.
 Something that was implemented a few years ago was a selective clear cut where only a few mature healthy trees of desirable species are left standing and enough of the low grade trees are used to make a slash wall or fence. The wall is 20 feet or so wide and 10 feet tall. A person could work their way over it but never a deer.

 

 

 
This is a cut that is just being finished. You can see that there are openings left in the slash wall and regular fence installed so that there is access to the cut. 
 I am told the earlier cuts are showing great potential for have desirable species regeneration.
 If this sounds like someone trying to explain something to you that doesn't truly understand all the details, well that's exactly what it is! I find the whole concept very interesting and thought some you might also.

mh
"And the days that I keep my gratitude
Higher than my expectations
Well, I have really good days".    Ray Wylie Hubbard

Old Greenhorn

Pretty fascinating idea. I would love to walk these cuts in 2 years. You can find more about this here http://blogs.cornell.edu/arnotforest/ They have some video showing the sites and slash piles. If I ever get over to that part of the state, I will give them a call ahead and find out what it takes to make a visit. I used to get out that way often when I went to the fire academy, but that was a different life.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

moosehunter

Old Greenhorn, the forest is open to the public. If you want to visit let me know and I'll make time to show you around. I also have contact info for two if the gentleman that manage The Arnot if you have specific questions after a visit.
It is 1 mile to the North gate from my place, 2 miles to the South gate.

mh
"And the days that I keep my gratitude
Higher than my expectations
Well, I have really good days".    Ray Wylie Hubbard

Old Greenhorn

It's a deal, I will look you up. I just have no plans to go out that way that I know of. I am sure it will keep. I enjoyed reading their blog that answers questions and gives progress reports and adjustment to the experiment.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

BradMarks

An interesting idea. My first thought is how much area is taken out of production with this method?  Perhaps the benefit overrides the loss.

Southside

I wonder what the slash wall will look like in 10 to 20 years and if it's presence will have an adverse impact as a home for insects or porcupines and such. Seems mother nature always has a way. 
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White Oak Meadows

Klunker

Deer are a really big problem.
I don't know of an area around me that has any regeneration of White Oak.
Not to mention the other natives that can only exist inside a cage.

I have piled tops around Oak seedlings that I have planted and I have planted Oaks in the middle of black berry patches.
It seems to have helped avoid the annual deer pruning.

Other have to be either fenced or tubed to survive.

The deer even chewed the tops off of White Pines.

I can see the future of our forests will be 3-4 spiecies that deer won't eat and everything else will be either large mature trees or nothing.


barbender

That doesn't look a lot different than some of the blowdown we've had the last few years, in that sense it's kind of natural. Bur oak regenerates well here, but the white pine the deer will eat all the tops off of. White pine seedlings are typically protected with a "bud cap" on the leader to keep the deer from nipping it off. They really do a number on our cedar, it basically no longer regenerates because deer eat all of the seedlings. Because of that, cedar is almost always reserved on timber sales in this part of the state. It's amazing to see the difference in vegetation in the areas where deer fencing is erected. 
Too many irons in the fire

Treeflea24

Quote from: Klunker on March 27, 2020, 10:15:48 PMI have piled tops around Oak seedlings that I have planted and I have planted Oaks in the middle of black berry patches.
It seems to have helped avoid the annual deer pruning.
+1 on this method. I will build brush piles - out of honeysuckle, autumn olive, or whatever invasive Im clearing that day -  around volunteer walnuts or oaks that I plant. Honeylocust makes a nice thorny defensible pile.
A potential con may be that this would encourage rodents and other tree-nibblers to live and thrive in the pile, though they dont seem to be damaged by the little furry ones yet.

Kind of a 1/1000th scale parallel experiment to what they're doing at the The Arnot
-

mike_belben

Why not just reduce the size of the deer herd?  It sounds like theyre starving from overpopulation and lack of better browse.

My observations in TN managing my own lot for more deer is that -given a full salad bar to choose from- they will eat the stump sprouts of black gum first, then red maple, sourwood and briars is about a 3 way tie.  ERC sapplings get torn up from them rubbing velvet but not chewed on.  I use those to monitor buck activity.  


I always hingecut stuff for them in the fall. If its a very tough winter by our standards they might take a few tips off a white oak ive hinged for them but its rare. Never any bark eaten here.  If youve got deer eating bark theyre starving, same as a horse chewing fenceposts.  

If youve got clumps of maples, selectively hingecut some junky ones in proximity to your sensitive species, and also cut off a few at the knee.  This will bloom and provide soft shoots to browse.  Extra light also promotes grasses and briars to feed on.  You can take it a step further and put in a patch of turnips and soybeans.  

Or just start letting people hunt.  It dont take long for deer to move next door once you overhunt a spot and stink it up.  Coyote calls are how i force deer to reveal themselves when bedded.  Maybe some scent would help.  Im not sure the wireless range on electronic callers but im sure theyll bolt if you throw some yips and howls at em at dusk and dawn. They run off blowing and that tells every other deer to be on alert.  Which makes them bed more and eat less.
Praise The Lord

barbender

Up here, if you have deer, you'll have deer browsing on things you don't want them to. If they have habitat, it's tough to knock their numbers back too much (not that hunters in our state would want their numbers reduced, including myself). I mean, we have the largest wolf population in the lower 48 and still have tons of deer.
Too many irons in the fire

Jwswan

likewise in Northern WI.   The  state's decision many years ago (under a different governor) to use citizens in a county based program to determine policy instead of scientists has had some pretty disastrous consequences.   Hunters (and I am one, though mostly my mantra is "save a tree shoot a deer"), seem to always want to grow the herd, no matter the cost or collateral damage.   A big part of me largely blames the sporting goods industrial complex for creating all kinds of unrealistic expectations of stacking up big bucks like cordwood in time to catch the badger game at 11 am on opening day. When that doesn't happen,  all that disappointment has to get channeled somewhere, and it seems to be some low hanging fruit to blame the DNR, the state, wolves, etc. Anyway, I've been bud capping white pine on our acreage each Fall, and it's amazing to see how much growth they (white pine) put on once they get past the browse line.  I watched a webinar and did some reading on the slash walls out on the Arnot and am eager to see the results.  Deer exclosures here over a ten year period have yielded some pretty remarkable results, but the fencing costs are just not feasible.   I'm for anything at this point, otherwise the only thing Northern WI will have in 50 years is bracken fern and ironwood.   okay, sorry for the the rant.  I work alone all day and this stuff kinda bottles up.  Thanks for listening/reading. -Josh 
Keep 'em guessin'.

mike_belben

Let it out josh..  Its okay man, just let it out.  I get it.  

:)
Praise The Lord

Nebraska

I planted my trees 18years ago just so I could see some deer on the place now and then. Although I checked an apple seedling I planted 3 years ago and it needs a cage. 

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