Silvaculture Improves Habitat & Forest

Improve Game Habitat & Forest Regerenation

Silvicultural Treatmints Improves Habitat & Forest Regerenation

Forest Regeneration Techniques Provide Habitat and Timber Value

Silvicultural treatments not only improve your woods for aesthetics and income but have a very positive effect on food and cover conditions. Timber harvesting is often seen as a destructive occurrence in the woods but, when done properly, can have a constructive influence on the wildlife carrying capacity of the land

Deer are creatures of the thickets, utilizing heavy cover to avoid predators and to feed. It is their nature to cling to cover that is thick enough to hide them, but allows them to move quickly should they have to run for safety. If they have thick cover that also provides them with enough food to sustain them, there is no reason to leave the area, outside of dispersal and rut habits. The problem is to be able to provide both food and thick cover in the same small area of forest. I will describe how I go about creating quality forest habitat that, hopefully, will become the core home range of the best bucks in the area and attract lots of does. Whether you have ten or hundreds of acres, proper silvicultural treatments in your forest will attract deer, keep them on the property and provide feed all year.

. Existing forest conditions in much of today’s hardwood timberland has deteriorated greatly since Europeans began to influence the landscape. Foreign infestation from fungus and damaging insects has taken their toll on the landscape. The tragic loss of the American chestnut tree and their reliable nutritious mast is one example. The poor health of the American beech, and its cousin the oaks through introduction of fungus, aphids and moths from Europe have greatly eroded the ability of the modern forest to produce food for deer and other wildlife. The loss of these valuable trees along with poor logging practices and poor deer population management have caused invasive understory plants to flourish. Ferns and mountain laurel dominate the forest floor today. These plants were, in the past, just part of a diverse understory of fruit-bearing plants, forbs and wildflowers. The palatable plants are all but gone here in Pennsylvania, leaving a green but very poor landscape for wildlife.

High grade logging practices have also contributed to the loss of important tree species. Unfortunately for wildlife, the most precious trees are also the best mast producers. Oak and cherry have been heavily harvested over the past few decades because of the high stumpage prices. In high grade harvesting, only these valued trees are taken, leaving behind all of the poorly formed, unhealthy individuals or species that are not prized by sawmills. Many timber stands have been high graded two or three times over the last 20 years, leaving behind a forest full of “green junk” - trees and understory that will never make saw grade timber and will produce very little food for deer and other wildlife. High grading should be avoided at all times.

Proper silvicultural treatments will provide better growing conditions for the quality hardwoods that people want for economic reasons as well as for wildlife habitat. Deer will always gravitate to regenerating areas of forest for the thick cover and browse available to them. In nature, regeneration is caused by fijre, storms or disease infestation that destroy the overstory and allow light to contact the forest floor. Most fruit bearing trees and shrubs are shade intolerant. They need plenty of sunlight to grow. We can simulate natural regeneration by creating, through harvesting, the light and space necessary to grow new trees, shrubs and forbs on the forest floor while maintaining a well spaced overstory of mast and income producing trees. All tree species require different levels of space, light and moisture to thrive. A forester’s job is to juggle all of the ingredients available on the site to set up the best possible growing conditions possible. Getting trees to grow is as much of an art as it is a science.

When I mark a stand for harvest I have to take into account the slope and aspect, the type of soil, moisture availability and the trees and understory plants that are currently standing there. Through the removal of some trees, and through different logging techniques, I can encourage particular plants to grow and discourage others that I don’t want. The undesirable species can be further discouraged through the proper use of herbicide and mechanical removal. Desirable species can be planted when good conditions for their growth are achieved and when a reliable natural seed source is not available. As with any garden or crop field, site preparation is the key to a good crop. Whether you are growing a lawn, a garden, grain crops or forest, good site preparation is important. The first step with any regeneration project is to eliminate invasives that threaten to take over the forest after harvest. These species usually include striped maple, beech brush, ferns and sometimes mountain laurel and blueberry. These can be reduced through mechanical means, herbicide or a combination of the two. Fire is a good site prep tool, but is rarely used in the northeast. Sometimes, if your lucky, the harvesting operation itself is enough site prep. Machinery can tear up unwanted brush and expose mineral soil so that seed can come in contact with it and sprout.

Silvicultural treatments that encourage regeneration are: clear cut, seed tree and shelterwood harvesting. A good forester can help make the decision of which to use on your property. The decision of which to use depends on the composition of the current timber stand, your goals for the property and the market conditions for wood products in the region.

When a tract is not responding to other treatments or has been so severely high graded that there are no trees left worth keeping on the site, then a clear cut is often the best prescription. Clear cuts have been vilified with media hype. It is easy to attack this type of timber harvesting because they are ugly at first. But they are the proper regeneration treatment for tree species that require full sunlight and very little competition to grow. Much of the extremely valuable hardwood forests we have in Pennsylvania are the result of clear cutting vast forests dominated by hemlock and pine. This treatment resets the stage for a new forest to grow. Very fast regrowth results from stump sprouts and stored seed in the soil following clear cutting. Some species of trees grow faster than others from stump sprouts and soon outclass the competition. Red maple and black gum are two examples. But if there is plenty of sunlight and moisture, oaks will grow steadily both from sprouts and from seed that made contact with mineral soil while being disturbed during logging operations. They will eventually take their place in the overstory as the trees compete for dominance. This competition for sunlight creates tall, straight defect-free timber for the future. Without it, trees grow limby, poorly formed stems. If clear cuts are big enough, deer cannot keep the trees browsed enough to damage them. But when populations are high, the slower growing species like oak will not survive. Small clear cuts with high deer populations will turn into a deer selected forest and the only species that grow are the ones deer won’t eat or can grow fast enough to get out of their reach. Red maple can do this, but it is often not a valuable timber tree and is of no use to deer once it grows above browse height. Population control and/or deer exclusion fencing along with proper site preparation prior to cutting will make a huge difference in the health and growth of the new forest.

The seed tree harvest is the next most severe regeneration treatment. Trees with good crowns and of the most desirable species are left in the overstory at a very thin amount – just enough to provide seed for new tree growth and let in as much light as possible. Again, keep in mind that proper site prep is critical so that seed from the “leave” trees can contact soil and have room to grow. A heavy harvest in a stand with 90% ferns in the understory will result in a thinly forested fern field. Leave trees can be of any form as long as they have good crowns. All we want from them in the future is their seeds. So, higher value trees can be harvested.

The shelterwood treatment is the least severe of the regeneration harvests. It leaves the most trees of the three to “shelter” new trees and provide a seed source. This treatment usually requires a second cut once sustainable regeneration is established. The second cut will open up the forest to more sunlight so the new forest can grow. The leave trees in a shelterwood will grow at an increased rate after the thinning and will make the landowner a lot of money in board foot volume as they grow. I usually leave the best trees I can find so that they will increase in value.

The primary rule of silviculture is to never remove your seed source from the timber stand until you have a new stand well established and free to grow. I once had a landowner ask me to fix a poorly harvested timber stand, stating that he wanted to encourage red oak to grow. Every red oak tree had been removed from the stand and all the sump sprouts had come up and died from over browsing and lack of sunlight. The only way to get a red oak forest would be to site prep and plant it – a very expensive proposition. With proper silvicultural treatments, a new red oak stand could have been naturally established and he would have had much more income from his timber sales. A hunting club once asked me to conduct a harvest on a section of their property. The forest floor was carpeted with fern and there was very little quality timber in the overstory, which was heavily populated with red maple and black gum. The stand had been harvested, had storm damage and was damaged by gypsy moth infestation. I explained that one more harvest of the oak would ruin the stand until the next ice age. We treated the ferns and cut the gum, red maple and some of the oak out of the stand. An electric deer exclusion fence was installed. Today, even after another severe gypsy moth outbreak, the area is a deer magnet, with thick cover, browse and mast producing trees.

Mast and wildlife cover can be further enhanced with planting of species that are not present in the stand. Find out what the native mast producing shrubs are in your area and plant them. I have been re-introducing blight-resistant American chestnut and planting hybrid oaks to provide more reliable nut crops in the future stand. I also collect seed from native crab apples and other shrubs. When I see a particularly prolific seeder in my travels, I stuff my cruising vest with seeds and plant them out on my client properties.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of eliminating browse pressure and competition from invasive and undesirable plants. Wise use of herbicide, mechanical removal and deer exclusion fences will ensure your success of establishing a new timber stand. Once plants are well established and can withstand some browsing, deer can be allowed to re-enter the area. But, since the most valued mast species we want to establish are also the most preferred browse, deer can wipe out your new stand, especially if it is a small area.

Timber harvesting will always change the landscape. Whether it is changed for the better or worse for your property is up to you. Seek knowledge and advice from professionals who share your goals for the land and you will come out on top in both timber volume, income and wildlife habitat.