Help - Understory and Hardwood Health

[dlucas0304]

I am new here, been reading non-stop for a day now and loving the information.  I have been wrestling with my scenario for awhile and have worked up what I think is a solution (as a complete novice) but am curious what some more knowledgeable foresters think/know.

Here's what I have:  30 acres of mostly oak (red and white) on a high hill top amongst hundreds of acres of similar forest.  The forest is largely untouched and only a few houses sprinkled through the vast hardwood forest.  The base of the hill is a lot of agriculture and pasture land but the hill itself is 75% red/white oak with a couple large pine stands.  Mostly large oaks with thick mid-story (Beech, and others) roughly 20' tall.

Here's what I want: Sustainable oak growth for the sake of logging.  We pull an income from logging the oak (usually every 15 years, 10-15 acres at a time) in an "Improvement Cut" manner and really enjoy the aesthetics, and acorns from the Oak forest.  We are also hunters; whitetail, and turkey.  The numbers and frequency have dropped the farther we get from our most recent logging.  They need food and there isn't any for roughly 3/4 of a mile.

What I plan to do:  Clear cut an opening of roughly 1/2 an acre and expose soil.  I may someday wish to till and plant clovers, or other grasses for a 'food plot' but for the time being I would like to allow young, native shrubs and grasses to create food and cover for deer, turkey, and grouse.  Unfortunately, more than 1/2 an acre is not feasible due to the lay of the hill.  I am considering a thinning also and that is where i need help.  In my head, I want to march along the top, 5 acres of the hill and cut anything that isn't an oak at ground level.

What affects would this type of thinning have on my forest? Would I achieve the type of Oak Regen that I am hoping for?  Would it be more beneficial to harvest mature trees more often? 

Thank you for any and all input! Photo for your enjoyment!

[John Mc]

There are others with far more knowledge on here than I, but there is at least one statement that concerns me: "cut anything that isn't an oak at ground level".  I think you want to avoid creating a mono-culture. Variety of species is important to forest health.

[dlucas0304]

Right, I can understand that side of it too. So where does the middle ground lay?

My concern as it is, is the density of saplings. I would say on average the saplings are no more than 2 feet apart and roughly 1.5" diameter.  They are beech, sasafras, iron wood, and a few young oaks.  What I worry about is that if we continue to take the mature oaks, these less favorable trees will fill in behind them and eventually I will be left with a majority Beech forest and lose my Oaks.

[g_man]

I would talk to a forester. I would think you would need a plan in place to manage the beech before you cut. If it is like I picture, when you cut out the beech mid story you will get beech stump and root sprouts every where. Thicker than you can imagine. Getting oak regen in this would be difficult to impossible. Just something for you to check on with a forester. I am not a forester, this is what I have seen happen here.

gg

[John Mc]

You might get some good advice or contacts from NYFOA (New York State Forest Owners Association).

Another good place to check: the NY Master Forest Owners (MFO) program. This is a group of trained volunteers who will meet with you on your property and provide information to help you get started in managing your woodland.

Neither of the above takes the place of a good Forester, but they are great places to educate yourself, make contacts with people with similar interests, and perhaps get some suggestions of good Foresters working in your area.

[dlucas0304]

Very good. Sounds like I will be contacting a forester or similar professional.  Historically the land has been logged through the use of a local logger exclusively.  I wasn't involved so I have no idea of the arrangements or their fairness.  I do know that one logging covered the cost of the new porch, and roof.  A previous logging covered the purchase of 10 more acres. 

Who knows what the future holds but I have some projects laid out for this winter (creating a clearing for wildlife and trail clean up) and will definitely seek a professional to help me get my finger on the pulse of the timber.

Any reference on cost of having a forester come and cruise it with me? Are we talking $100 or hundreds?

[Wis Forester]

Your forest types are a little outside of my normal but here is what I see as a forester.

During past timber harvesting there has been no management of the beech and ironwood component and that has been promoting the conversion of the oak types to hardwoods. Historically, wildfires completed this competition control.

Beech and ironwood are prolific seeders and also are more shade tolerant than the oak. As a result, each time oak is harvested and beech and ironwood is preserved the forest tilts more toward hardwoods.  This commonly happens when landowners depend on loggers to make the harvesting prescriptions, not because of the logger but because of lack of knowledge on how to manage for the oak.

It is also the result of the fact that wildlife prefer acorns to beechnuts and ironwood seed, although both beechnuts and ironwood seed are good food sources. Also, deer prefer to browse on oak seedlings rather than beech or ironwood.

I would recommend that future harvesting work on setting up a shelterwood for the oak. To do this you would need to reduce the overstory and mid story canopy to no more than 60% crown cover. This would include saving a log of the oak across the harvest area to provide acorn sources and cutting all the beech and ironwood under the "drip line" of the oak reserves regardless of size of the beech and ironwood.  Following or during harvesting you would need to do seed bed preparation for acorns by creating patches of bare ground under the oak, release and/or installation of seedling protection around established oak seedlings, and competition control including cutting or herbicide treatments for the beech and ironwood until the oak seedlings are above the browse line. Alot of this work could be put into the harvesting contract, but you will see reduced income from the timber sale. Hiring a forester would be your best bet!

Under this management system, once you have the oak seedlings established and above the browse line of deer, you can start to manage for the oak again.

Natural conversion of forest types are greatly influenced by lack of natural fire regimes and loss of oak types is part of that shift from natural forest regeneration.