The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I will go with the bad first. The state forester came out, looked around for 15 minutes, and said manage for wildlife. I was disappointed that the only two aspects he considers important are pine production and wildlife. The main trees I have, oak and hickory, are good for wildlife and hardwood timber. He said that hardwood takes to long so don't mess with it. I figured I would get a response like this, but not one devoid of any help at all. The good news is the folks over at http://www.forestryforum.com/ have been very helpful with their expertise. I have enough book learning to get a plan in place, and the forum members can help me fill in the gaps and problem areas. The ugly comes in two parts. First is a couple of ugly areas of poor form elm overtopping some nice oak and hickory saplings. The forum members helped me a lot by informing me that it would be a good idea to cut out the poorly formed trees and release these seedlings. The second is the ugly bois d'arc trees I found pushed over may not be good for sawing. I cut up the first on into firewood because of a monster heart check 6" wide splitting the trunk. Combined with the regular exterior checking, the log was toast. I have only trimmed off some of the limbs of the second larger one, but it appears it will be the same. They are going to make over a cord of firewood, so we will have a couple years supply of rot proof firewood on hand.

Milling and finally getting the forester out

First of all, I finally scheduled a date with the state forester. It kind of fell between the tracks between me being patient and them forgetting all about it. April 1st is the day I will finally get some professional help. In the mean time, I have been moving ahead with my plans. I need to get back out there and mill enough bois d'arc for someone. I also have quite a few dead cedar to get milled. I am going to start cutting culls once i have milled these other items. The forest is divided into 5 segments along natural changes or geographic features. I tried to size each to make work easier to plan. Each area has a similar tree density, species types, and problems within it. Each covers an area I should be able to work each year. I will basically have a rotating 5 year work schedule. The first step I am taking is cutting the junk out. The forester will tell me if this is right or wrong, hopefully. I am sure he is going to suggest a clearcut and replant it with pine, but I am not sure I want that. Maybe a small area where the soil is best for pine. I can't wait to see what he can tell me!

Picking up speed

Well, things are really moving now. 100 cypress and 25 mayhaw trees are on their way from Arborgen. The dibble bar should make it before they do, and I should be able to get them in the ground before spring. If they ever call to say they shipped. I decided not to wait for the forester to get around to visiting and helping with a plan. A few areas need replanting to a very water tolerant species, and I wanted to get them in the ground now. The mayhaws are jsut for fun. Mmmm, I can already taste the jelly! I also put a deposit down on a sawmill from Mister Sawmill up in Flippin, AR. http://www.mistersawmill.com It should be ready in 2 weeks. I opted for the Model 21 with the 13HP Honda engine and 20' deck. It should handle almost anything I can find to put on it. I sure hope nobody offers me anything larger than I can handle. It will be used to cut some construction lumber for the property, unique wood to sell, and start a mobile sawmill business in the near future.

Texas Forest Service forester contacted me

Oh boy, the new management plan program is not slow! I faxed in the form late last week and they gave me a call today. I guess I was one of the first, because they had some problems with the form and fixed them when I pointed them out. The forester said they would do a walk through after the holidays and give me suggestions on what to do next.

Forester guidance form

Sent in my form today to the Forest Service, hopefully it does not take to long. I will send in my form to TPWD for technical quidance on the wildlife side of things including the pond and open areas. The guidance will be in preperation for applying to the Landowner Incentive Program(LIP): http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/private/lip/ . Hopefully I will qualify for some state assistance since I have prime habitat for some threatened freshwater mussels, a woodland plant called Arkansas Meadow-rue, and maybe some others. The mussels already live in the pond. I hope to be able to replant the pond perimeter with native plants and get some assistance with some timber stand improvement where the meadow-rue could be planted or may already be. The next chance I have to get out there to work is the day after Christmas. I need to clean up the brush I already cut around the pond into firewood and brush piles built for animal habitat. Many of my books describe there construction, but the Maryland DNR has the best web description: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/wabrush.asp .