My article for the next issue of “Virginia Forests.” I was a city kid, but my urban Milwaukee public schools featured nature and forestry programs. These sojourns into nature changed my life. I would not be a forest owner and conservationist today without those experiences. Today more people live in cities and even small towns kids often lack intimate contact with working nature common in the past – fewer hunt or work on farms. Even fewer are involved in forestry.
Disconnected from Working Nature A disconnect from working nature fosters destructive outlooks, among them the mistaken idea that humans and nature are separable and maybe should be kept apart, that that nature is fragile and needs walls to keep humans out.
Some places should be walled off – places so unique, beautiful or so crucial that it is best for humans not to tread, at least not often. But most conservation must be done on private lands, on lands humans use. Not understanding that fundamental truth will make our world less sustainable, less renewable and less resilient.
Sustained Profit Goes with Ecological Sustainability We can manage land both for profit and for ecological sustainability. It is the best way – the only long-term way. I know from personal experience and observation that it can be done. This is not a truth easily conveyed to people without similar experience. Show them a harvest and they see the “destruction.” The easy narrative is that harvesting is stealing from the earth and that the best thing we can do is keep people, their machines and their civilization the heck out of the woods. How can we tell what we know to be true to people unprepared to hear it?
Engaging Means Also Listening Engaging is more than telling our story to others; it is listening to theirs, understanding their concerns, maybe even changing our own outlooks. We cannot tell people more than they are ready to hear. By listening first, we can find ways they understand. This will often mean showing as well as telling and sharing our passion for forestry and welcoming them be part.
Most tree farmers delight in showing their land and telling about it. Many of us open our land for visits and field days. Do this and more. Elsewhere in this issue are articles about education about forestry. Our part is sharing our experience, our long-term experience of sustaining and regenerating land, while producing forest products and even making a reasonable profit, because most conservation is done on private lands by people willing to get their hands dirty.
The answer is that we cannot tell them. We must show them and share the experience. The key to understanding ecological relationships is boots-on-the-ground, along with an indispensable ingredient – time. The key to understanding is how relationships develop over time. If they see the destruction of a harvest, show them what it looks like five or ten years later. Explain that even right after it is wonderful wildlife habitat. This is what nature education should give young people – and older ones too. This is what we need to strive for in forestry education, not a single visit but engaging over years.
Forest Stewardship Plan for John Matel and Christine Johnson, Freeman Tract Introduction This Forest Stewardship Management Plan covers the examination of approximately 103 acres of forestland in Brunswick Country, near Freeman. The tract map is included. The tract is mostly flat. It includes approximately 65 acres of pine plantation, 25 acres of steam management zones dividing the property roughly in thirds. A power line right of way goes down the middle of the property and covers around 8 acres. The land was likely cleared for agriculture at one time, but has been forest for at least 70 years, as evidenced by old loblolly pines planted in rows that remain in some of the SMZs. Overall wildlife habitat and forest health are being maintained and improved by thinning, burning and planting feed and pollinator habitat in patches in the woods and along the powerlines, and maintaining soft edges.
No endangered species of plants or animals were noted on the tract.
Forest Stewardship Management Plan Landowners: John Matel & Christine Johnson Forested acres: 95 Total acres: 103 Location: Freeman Virginia Prepared by: John Matel This Forest Stewardship Management Plan was designed to help guide the management activities of the natural resources on the property for the next ten years. The plan is based on our goals in harmony with the environment around you. Project recommendations are for your consideration. The Goals for Managing the Property:
Innovations in forest management to restore longleaf ecosystem
Soil and Water Conservation.
Improvement of wildlife habitat.
DESCRIPTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS OF PARCELS: PARCEL Z Acres: 58.1 Forest Type: loblolly and longleaf pine Species Present: Loblolly & longleaf pine, ailanthus, American sycamore, sweet gum, yellow poplar, eastern red cedar, hackberry, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, mockernut hickory, white oak, chestnut oak, black oak, green ash, mulberry, sassafras, black cherry, persimmon, holly, black locust, blackgum, and red maple. Age: loblolly planted in 1996. Longleaf interplanted 2018/19 Size: loblolly are chip and saw and some saw timber Quality: excellent Trees/acre: Adequately stocked for our management objectives, i.e. thinned to 50 BA to allow greater wildlife habitat including grasses and forbs. Growth Rate: excellent. Recommendations: The vegetative nature of this parcel provides benefits to wildlife due to the diversity of ground covers and understories. We plan to
Do understory burns every 2-4 years
Create field borders on this parcel
Maintain and enhance diverse and native ground covers
PARCEL Z1 Acres: 4 Forest Type: longleaf pine planted in 2012 Species Present: Longleaf & loblolly pine, sumac, some oak and bald cypress Age: Planted in 2012 Size: Tallest around 15 feet high in 2018 Quality: Excellent Trees/acre: Adequately stocked. Trees are widely spaced on purpose to allow wildlife and understory growth Growth Rate: Excellent Recommendations: Parcel will be burned every 2-4 years in order to maintain longleaf pine and early successional habitat under them. PARCEL Z 2 Acres: 7 Forest Type: Loblolly & longleaf pine. Species Present: Loblolly and longleaf pine, some bald cypress Age: Loblolly planted 1996. Longleaf pine planted 2018/19 Size: chip and saw to sawtimber, loblolly; longleaf are seedlings Quality: excellent Trees/acre: Adequately stocked Growth Rate: Excellent Recommendations: Half of the parcel was clearcut in 2018 and rest heavily thinned. The clearcut will be planted with longleaf pine 10×10 of a little tighter and interplanted with loblolly on the rest. PARCEL SMZ Acres: 25 Forest Type: Mixed hardwoods and pine. Species Present: Loblolly pine, ailanthus, American beech, American sycamore, sweet gum, yellow poplar, eastern red cedar, hackberry, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, mockernut hickory, white oak, chestnut oak, black oak, green ash, mulberry, sassafras, black cherry, persimmon, holly, black locust, blackgum, and red maple. Age: 40 to 80 years Size: Various sizes including significant saw timber. (10 to 18 inches in diameter) Quality: Good to excellent Trees/acre: Adequately stocked Growth Rate: Good to excellent Recommendations: This parcel is in place to protect water quality and to provide wildlife corridors. We will periodically examine the SMZs for invasive species and treat as appropriate. Beyond that, this area will be generally left to natural processes, with interventions only in the case of some sort of disaster, such as fire or particularly violent storms. Non-Forest Border About 8 acres of the property is under power lines. This is managed as a long border area. It is planted with native grasses and forbs and will be managed to maintain early succession habitat by the use of fire and mowing.
Wildlife Recommendations Field Borders Field borders are established along woodland edges and major drainages. Field borders create vegetative transition zones between cover types. Such zones are much more attractive to wildlife than the abrupt change that often occurs, for example, between field and forest.
Daylighting consists of cutting most, of not all, trees in a specified area to encourage and accelerate the growing and non-shade tolerant plants. Existing shrubs, vines and herbaceous (non-woody) plants should be left undisturbed to the extent possible. Woodland edges should be daylighted to a depth of 40 feet, recognizing that remaining trees will quickly reach out to shade the opening. Field borders established by daylighting have the advantage of taking no acreage from existing open land. Where the loss of open land is not a major concern, a natural border can also be created by allowing woody plants to invade and encroach into existing open edges. “Encroachment” borders, like those daylighted, should be wide, at least 30 feet. Where grass is well established, this should be destroyed by plowing or by the use of a herbicide. This will speed up the invasion of the more desirable “border plants.” The establishment of field borders using this practice requires the least expense and labor.
If natural borders seem undesirable (perhaps from an aesthetic standpoint); the planting of shrubs is an option frequently used. Additionally, with the use of these, the results are more reliable and, in the long run, maintenance will be less (natural borders will be invaded with trees that should be cut back periodically). The transition from field to tree line should be gradual in height. Here, shrub plantings also have an advantage. By proper selection and arrangement of shrub varieties, the border can be a stair step from field to treetop. Taller growing shrubs, such as Mountain Ash should be placed next to the woods. Lower growing varieties, such as the shrub dogwoods or bi-color (VA-70) lespedeza should be placed against the taller varieties. The total depth of a shrub border should be at least 20 feet. The final touch to any border is the establishment of a herbaceous strip along the open side. These may not be necessary, if the border joins an annually tilled or recently fallowed field. If not, a strip 10 to 20 feet wide parallel to and adjoining the border should be plowed or disked. This can remain fallow for up to two or three years, allowing annual native plants to grow back many of which provide excellent wildlife food and cover. Or, if desired, these strips can be seeded using one of the warm-season grasses, white clover, Korean or Kobe lespedeza, or one of the locally well suited agricultural grains. Borders need not completely rim every field or fringe every wood line. Yet, they should be employed to the greatest extent possible. Good field borders provide food, cover, and security. Perhaps equally important, they provide a most favorable “edge,” a critical component in the habitat chosen by most wildlife. Open Fields Probably the best practice to enhance open fields for wildlife is the establishment of field borders. These have been described. Thinning Parcel Z This area was thinned in 2018 to 50 BA, with clearings of approximately ¼ acre in each acre. Thinning will increase their ecological value to wildlife. Thinning allows sunlight to reach the forest floor which stimulates the growth of forbs, legumes, and other herbaceous material. Tree tops left on the forest floor provide temporary cover and nesting places. Thinning can also increase mast production of healthy oaks and hickories. Snags All Parcels except the grassland: Snags, dead or deteriorating trees, are an important habitat component in forests for wildlife. The availability of snags on forest lands affects the abundance, diversity and species richness of cavity nesting birds and mammals. Two to four snags per acre should be maintained in the forest. Such trees provide forage, cover, perches, and nesting sites for wildlife species such as raccoons, bats, flying squirrels, snakes, owls, woodpeckers, bluebirds (near open areas), and wrens, to name but a few. When snags are lacking in a forest, they can be created by girdling trees of poor quality or health. Forest Openings Parcels Z This area benefits from the development of forest openings to encourage the development of low growing plants. Approximately twenty ¼ acre openings were created by cutting all the trees in these areas. The area will be planted with longleaf pine and burned every 2-4 years to maintain the longleaf and maintain early successional habitat under them. Power Line Right-Of-Way The power line right of way is planted with native grasses and forbs and maintained in early successional habitat by fire and mowing. Prescribed Burning Periodic burning is a tool used. Please see above. Logging Roads Soil erosion can be prevented through the careful location and maintenance of logging roads. Dominion Power maintains an access road along the power lines. This is the only regular road on the land. Broad base dips and drainage ditches should be placed 20 feet apart on steep slopes and 50 feet apart on medium slopes. Loading areas should be seeded in game food after harvest. When logging is complete, ruts and gullies should be filled and the road should be out-sloped slightly. Closing of roads to unauthorized traffic will prevent damage to newly sown grass or wildlife food. More information is available in the enclosed brochure. Skid trails, haul roads, and log decks should be seeded with a mix of orchard grass and ladino clover. Prepared by: _John Matel____________________________ Suggested Schedule of Management Activities
Year
Parcel
Activity
2018
Z
Thinning to 50 BA
2018
Z, Z1, & Z2 & power line
Prescribed burning
2018
Z 2
Plant longleaf and bald cypress
2019
Z
Plant longleaf (December)
2021
Z & Power line
Prescribed burning
2022
Z1 & Z2 & power line
Prescribed burning
2023
SMZ
Remove invasive species
2024
Z & power line
Prescribed burning
2025
Z1 & Z2 & power line
Prescribed burning
2026
SMZ
Remove invasive species
2028
Z
Harvest loblolly sawtimber
This schedule may need to be adjusted depending on financial needs, timber markets, timing of actual harvest, and availability of contractors.
I hate to look at it, but I have to learn from the mistake. The lesson that I take is not to do a fire during the growing season, especially when they trees are throwing up new growth. Southern pine can survive scorching, but if the fire gets too hot & knocks out the new candles, the tree dies. I lost a couple dozen.
You can see the damage on the first picture. Look closely at the middle of the picture that dead ones and the live ones next to them The two live ones right past the middle have fire marks on them. The surface fire went under them too, but did not kill them. The second picture looks down the road. Trees on both sides were burned, but they did not die, at least not yet. Picture #3 is the stump. Picture #4 is me after the cutting. Hard to see, but my shirt is soaked through with sweat. It was good exercise, but I will not do it again. Last picture is some of our wildflower/pollinator plantations. It looked really good in person. The photo did not do it justice.
I also think some of the trees died because their roots roasted. The fire dwelt a too long on the edge, smoldered for days.
Nature is resilient and something good will happen.I have still not decided what to do. I might under plant with longleaf, or maybe just let the natural regeneration of loblolly. My guess is that there is a little more than a acre killed. Letting it be natural or planting won’t make that much difference.
I thought I would take advantage of the bad situation by cutting down one of the dead trees and counting the rings. I did own this land when the trees were planted and the previous owner did not have perfect records. Cutting the tree was a mistake. I had only my hand saw and I get really tired about half way through. I had to finish, however. Could not leave a half cut hazard. I cut the tree about waist high and counted 30 rings. I may have missed a couple and it took it a couple years to get waist high, so those trees are probably around 32-35 years old. The rings showed that the tree grew very fast at first, but then slowed a lot, probably because it got crowded out. We thinned this tract in 2017, so it was too early to see results, especially because it was killed early in the season this year. Also down on the farms I did my usual walk around. It is looking good. Wildflowers are past prime and settling down for winter. They grew a bit longer and thicker this year with all the rain. The pines are done with their last splurge and hardening for the cooler weather. I thought I needed some comparisons, so I took pictures of my car near the trees. Could not get very close to the trees for fear of getting stuck. The car has all wheel drive but is not an all terrain vehicle.
A few book notes, before the memory fades. I notice that my books seem to cluster, i.e. there is overlap and synergy among them. No doubt some comes from my own interest and choices, but I think some of this is an artifact of memory. One book makes something salient and then I more easily see it in others, maybe even see what is not there. Well, since this is a journey in my mind, don’t have to resolve this. Used to be a problem in graduate school, since I would know stuff but not be able to tease out the sources, but now it is just all mine, so if you quote me on it you are working my memory and need to check the original if you want the author’s.
It started off very strong but then petered out. The first theme was the government requires lots of expertise and that civil servants are generally hard-working people with significant knowledge & commitment is true, IMO. I am both biased and informed by my own background on this. From there, however, he extrapolates too far about government’s role. IMO, government plays a role that only it can play in creating conditions for prosperity but cannot not itself create prosperity. There is big nuance here that I think he did not property address.
A good example of an important government role is in research. He mentions ARPA-E and DARPA, and all the things they gave us, like the Internet and fracking. This is correct but not complete. It is undoubtedly true w/o DARPA there would be no Internet, but it is also true that w/o American private firms and civil society the seed of Internet would have been sterile. Anyway, worth reading the book.
“Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain This is a great book but a little eclectic. Her main idea is that we have become too in love with extroverts, being out there, groups activities and “brainstorming,” and that we need more introspection and contemplation. I agree.
I also agree with her that the popular idea of introvert is pejorative (you have to come out of your shell) and that being an introvert is not something that needs to be cured and it does not mean that you are not engaged in the word. I come of as introvert of the Myers-Briggs (INTP for those who know the test), but I love public speaking, for example. I just also like to be alone sometimes.
The eclectic part comes from her discussions of the character ethic, systems theories and various sciences. All of this interesting and she probably read many of the same books I did, since I recognize the ideas, but I think it was a little off topic.
“How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life” by Scott Scott Adams
This is the book I would write if I was writing an advice book. I felt a real kindred spirit and attitude. At least that is how I see myself when I am flattering myself – practical, optimistic insouciant, adaptive, “lucky” and a seeker of patterns.
Lucky, which I put in quotes above, is how I would fit it together. You don’t have to be smart if you are lucky, but luck is distributed randomly. Some people get more good breaks than others, but a wise strategy is not to count on that, but rather position yourself so that good luck can “find” you. And when something happens, you have to be ready to move. You can make bad luck into good or the reverse by how you react and adapt.
This leads to the need to look for patterns, think in systems. There is a system to everything. If you can find the key factors and use them, you will be “lucky” more often. You need to be insouciant and optimistic, since you will fail a lot on your way to success. If you let that stop you, you will not get very far. He did not quote the USMC, but I think it fits here “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.”
He has an interesting formulation, which I agree but did not think of myself. Goals are for losers. Systems are for winners. Look to the process and you can be adaptive. In fact goals and systems will often overlap, but the system is more flexible. At this part I thought of the Stephen Covey habit, “Start with the end in mind.”
Alex and I were at the ruins at Mesa Verde about this time last year. We also visited Choco Canyon. Chrissy and I later visited several Pueblo sites in New Mexico. It is a fascinating study.
The Pueblo lived in a fire prone landscape for more than 500 years. We can learn from their adaptions, even if we live in very different ways. They removed fuels both by frequent but small surface fires and by using wood as fuel in their settlements. In effect, they kept the woods clean.
To a very great extent, the “natural” forests the early Europeans found were the creation of these humans.
Had an interesting expedience talking to one of the guides at Choco Canyon. We agreed that we (i.e. modern Americans) could take valuable lessons from these earlier inhabitants of the land. Then she said an interesting thing. She said that she regretted that those good practices were not part or “our” heritage. My belief is that this heritage is the common heritage of humanity and that is a part our heritage worth knowing more.
My first pictures show the front and back of my Mesa Verde T-shirt. Other three are left over from last week. #3 is the 21st Amendment Bar and Grill. Chrissy and I went there for a beer before the Smithsonian program mentioned in earlier posts. There was a funny incident on the road in front. A women tried to cross against the light. A car came by and beeped at her. She was so enraged that they threw her McDonald’s bag at car as she drove away. No doubt, the driver was punished by this woman wasting her meal. Picture #4 is Jackson Park and last is a view from Earth Day Park.
