Wood management

Here's one small piece of an answer to a question that has a bunch of answers...most of them good.

Natural regeneration is ongoing, and in many species is actually aided by the removal of larger trees that are producing a heavy canopy that is suppressing growth in the understory.

Selective cutting with advice from a knowledgeable person is your best insurance for future generations of trees.

To quote the Society of American Foresters - "A healthy forest is no accident".

Forest management plans for private landowners are written with just your question in mind. And - there is definitely room for manual reforestation as part of that plan.


www.IntegratedStewardship.com - not intended to be an advertisement, only information

On my 4.5 acres in MI, which have only been managed in the sense that I cleared a driveway and homesite, the trees do a pretty good job of planting themselves. Indeed, if I wanted to maximize wood output (rather than, say, forest density/privacy) I would cut down most of the younger trees since they are so close together. Sugar maple, at least, spreads itself very well. I have thought about trying to encourage more yellow birch and beech in open areas, since they don't reproduce quite so readily. Replacement won't be an issue until we move there full-time, because I don't need to cut down any live trees now.

Here in MD, I scrounge mostly removed yard/street trees. I suspect they are planted as fast as they are cut down, and there's not many lots left to clear in the city and inner suburbs. But it's only sustainable because so few burn wood here; the few trees on my 1/6 acre would not last me long. When the remaining half of the 25yr bradford pear in front of my house finally falls over it will be replaced, but it won't provide even 1yr of firewood.

I burn lumber, The more hardwood flooring we make, the more lumber I have to burn

all of our wood is from forest fires from the summer and scrap lumber from my neighbor doing a remodel...goes in the trash or is burned outside in a burn pile...

That is a good question. For me, much of the wood I cut is already felled trees (cut for powerline clearance, road cuts, home building, or returning land to natural prarie, etc) A bulk of the remainder is standing dead / dying trees and seriously deformed trees. I can't really think of one "specimen" tree that I have ever cut. The flip side of that is that I haven't really planted any trees either. I guess that may sound bad, but really, when I cut an old dead or dying tree down and there are 20 saplings in it's shade just waiting for a chance to get some sun and nutrients, you get the feeling it won't be long before the area is full of new growth anyway.

Corey

It has been said, if managed properly, a 10 acre woodlot can provide indefinite firewood.

Mine's about that size. I cut damaged, diseased, low forked and "wolf' trees first, preserving the straight and healthy lot with adequate crown room. I've been here four years and am still getting all I need, about 5 - 6 cords per year, without any noticeable effect. There are lots of little saplings growing as well as 4 - 6 inchers (DBH) I ignore. And there are many,many other maple, beech, ash, black cherry and a few birch. Scrounging fallen branches provides even more firewood.

I've had some forestry people in here sniffing around and giving me bids on the maple and black cherry. So far, I've shoo'd 'em away.

Aye,
Marty

I think I fall in the category with my 4 acres of management by clean up. I couldn't burn all the deadfall in one year if I wanted too (I have a lot of very old, large trees). I also have enough trees around 400 feet of fence line, which needs to be cleared, to keep me burning for at least 2 years. I have some large red oaks that I'm saving for later on life, like an investment. I hope to clear out an area over-run with poplar and aspen and plant something really special for my retirement years, like hickory or white oak.

oh yeah i have planted a tree a year...i guess i should plant some in the burned out area but i think the forest service is going to do that and most in the area that i take from needed to be thinned out...as a fire break...you would be surprised how much these last fires added to global warming....i don't think they are taken into account when doing calculations.

Marty S said:

I've had some forestry people in here sniffing around and giving me bids on the maple and black cherry. So far, I've shoo'd 'em away.

Aye,
Marty

Click to expand...

They were probably independent loggers, or buyers for pulp/paper or lumber companies.

Excerpt taken from "The Homeowner's Guide To Energy Independence" (Author Christine Woodside)

-- Chapter five - Heating With Wood --

IS THERE ENOUGH WOOD?
What if heating with wood were to take off in popularity and most people wanted to do it? Would Americans burn down all the surplus firewood in a few years? It seems highly unlikely. As attractive a method wood burning might be when considering the alternatives, using wood stoves will only interest those people willing to do a little work building fires, cutting, stacking, and carrying wood, and sweeping up the ashes. For this population, there is more than enough wood. Forester Stephen Broderick of the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension has studied wood supplies for burning for two decades and burns wood at his house. According to Broderick: "We grow significantly more wood in our forests each year than we cut, and the local forest literature has for seventy years amounted to one long lament about the lack of markets for small, non-timber quality wood that needs to be thinned out of the forest in timber stand improvement cuts. We could demand several hundred thousand more cords of wood annually and still be fine if we had a system for assuring good forestry practice was employed in the harvesting."

I work in the box business, and I was fortunate enough to see how Georgia-Pacific harvests their forests for paper. They own enough acreage to harvest, replant, and not touch the same area any earlier than 10 years later.

You'd be amazed. Remember that the vast majority of people heat using alternative sources of fuel. In reality, very few of us are burning wood.

I'm in the same boat as Corey (and the same part of the country). All my wood is from deadfalls or timber that was encroaching on crop ground and got trimmed back. I have access to quite a bit of farm/pasture ground and don't believe I'd ever have to take a tree down although there are several good sized ones in my yard that really need to come out.

I hate double posts, sri

I have just under 9 acres, and additionally surrounded by 100's or 1000's? I just looked down over the hill the other day, and theres got to be 6 cord or more just laying around in one area. Sapplings everywhere. The previous owner forested it out. But only about 1/2. Now I need something to get down that hill that can haul it back up. I'll figure a way, one way or another. I am thinking about planting some, but theres so much here now, not sure its necessary.

As a small-time wood burner (3-5 cords/season), my replenishment efforts are probably insignificant. Every couple of years I'll wander the woods in spring or autumn anywhere from nearby to 5 miles away. Bringing along freshly fallen seeds, acorns, nuts, helicopters, chestnuts and the like I stick 'em in the ground like you see squirrels do. Johnny Appleseed. Hope this does more good than harm because I pay little attention to what species get put where. Diversity is good for trees, isn't it?

my dad retired recently from the papermaking buisness (actually he is a great source of knowledge when it comes to wood in its broken down components, helpful when thinking about pellets) i digress, the company he worked for has planted trees by the thousands! makes sense he says , that if trees have to be cut down to make paper, new trees have to be planted , or ...no more paper. think about that next time you have to visit the latrine just my 2 squares worth

by the way , when i bought my current house there was 1 tree in the yard 2.25 acres, there are now 13 total, went from a yard with virtually no shade to about 60% shaded (projected) added plusses include , house staying cooler in the summer, wind break, prettier property, and a bunch more wildlife for my daughter to watch (she loves it) we see deer, squirrels, birds galore, even an occasional fox. didnt get much in the way of wildlife before we got the trees planted and growing tall enough. every arbor day at least 1 tree goes in the ground at the holton house, going smaller now as im gonna run outta room at this rate

After burning versious types of wood for a few years, I recently "discovered" pinion after bring a few splits back from New Mexico. I am in love... it can be 0 outside, and I can burn a single thick split of pinion, and a scrub oak log of similar or smaller size, and it will go for 4-6, even longer hours. If I load up my Napoleon 1400 to capacity, we will be tropical for many hours.

I have been very fortunate to develop dialogue with a couple of people at the BLM, and they point me to stands of beetle infested pinion which helps them clear out areas that are very high fire hazards. So in some small way, I pursue recommends by the BLM and they in turn, point me to primo areas. Man, am I in heaven or what? I've got sources of both pinion and oak, fairly close to me. After burning other types of wood for a long time, these two are just spectacular. And it is all ready to go... no need to season it unless I pull some not ready to go in prep for next season.

The BLM folks do state that the better method of decomp is fire, but they appreciate the harvesting of this terrible beetle infestation because there are large areas that have turned into huge fire hazards. But the experience works both ways... me get tons of great wood, while playing a small but conscious part in clearing out fire hazards. And man, is this combination of pinion and scrub oak dynamic or what?!? A single hefty split of pinion will heat our 2000sq ft home for several hours. Just have to be mindful of the stove piping as the wood is pitchy and needs more cleaning. But hey, given the very long burn times that produce way more heat than I have been able to pull from any other type of wood, I am all for it... and it smells very pleasing too. Plus, the oak usually produces a beautiful blue flame. I am in hog heaven.... knowing within 30 minutes I can be in the middle of enough wood to heat several homes for 1000 years.

wrenchmonster said:

This question may belong in the green room, if so feel free to move mods.

I'm wondering, with all the wood we are burning, what is being done to replace the wood? In particular, those with private wood lots, do you folks plant trees? If so what type? Does anyone here make an effort to plant any trees?

-Kevin

Click to expand...

I know that "land management" is controled in this region by federal, state and local government. Forestry is one of our natural resources and is fully controled. I guess the answer to most or all your questions is Yes.

At my previous two homes I planted a couple dozen trees, fruit and flowering types plus some other things like maple. Alas, the morons who bought my last house had a dozen trees cut down, and then the idiots that bought from them had the last fruit tree and a giant willow taken down. I try not to think about it.

My current home has been in my family for about 50 years. Used to be mostly a field with no trees. My father and the rest of the family planted about a hundred trees. Now there are trees all over as well as some prairie. Pear, apple, walnut, and poplar are the major species, but there are lots of other trees as well. Our trees reproduce vigorously, so we have to KILL small trees all the time or we would live in a forest, our fruit trees wouldn't get enough light, and there would be nowhere to grow vegetables. Mind you, most of our firewood comes from other people who have trees cut down on city lots for some reason, we are just removing the unwanted wood.

More importantly, when I worked for AT&T and was in the Environmental Club there, I sold between one and two thousand trees really cheaply to my fellow employees. I did that a couple times, selected a few varieties, took pre-orders, ordered them from some wholesale catalog. Gave out the pre-orders and sold the rest to others who got interested. Once I did it out of some meeting room, but once they all went through my office. When I left that office, the cleaning staff told me that normally they just vacuum when people move, but in my office they had to clean the carpet. Fortunately my officemate got first dibs on selecting his trees, so he didn't complain about the mess and traffic. I have also given people trees as gifts. So I try to get trees planted, but not on my own land, because they reproduce too well.

Around here it isn't the burning that is an issue to trees, it's the building. can't turn around without another developement going in. I get wood from people taking down huge oaks to make a drieveway and from storm damage. havn't had to leave my neighborhood for wood in 2 years and doubt I will.

Of the 57 acres we have, about 35 is wooded. I take whats dead, fallen, or diseased for fire wood. Beech bark disease hit this area hard years ago so I burn a lot of it. Other than that everything else is on it's own and appears to be doing fine with not much help from me.
Last year I cut up a couple poplar trees that had fallen as a test to see if I would like burning it. I have a lot of them and really do like it. Very easy to work up and split. Fast, clean burn for fall and spring fires. Also, I get a lot of solar gain this time of year. A hard wood fire at 5:00 AM. lasts to long and at about 8 or 9 it's to hot. A quick poplar morning fire seems to be just the thing. I'll cut more for next year.
Dan.