Forest Management Is Wildlife Management

Many outdoorsmen buy timberland with the goal of creating a hunting preserve for themselves, their family, and their friends.  They install food plots, open up shooting lanes, and limit disturbances on the property.  They may be wary of conducting timber harvests, releases, or other forest management work for fear of ruining the hunting on the property.  We tell them the same thing my wildlife professor said to our class: “Wildlife management is forest management.”

To many many people, forest management and wildlife management seem to be opposite practices.  It may seem that forest management is useless because in forestry, the trees aren’t going anywhere.  Your goal is to promote the existing stand of timber to reach its highest value.  Animals move, look for food and water, and don’t like to be disturbed.  Many people believe the best way to create wildlife habitat on their property is to install food plots and prevent timber harvesting as much as possible to reduce disturbance. 

However, wildlife respond very well to forest disturbances and diverse timber types.  Whitetail deer eat acorns and hickory nuts but prefer to bed in cutovers.  While these mature stands provide nuts during the fall and winter, they do not have herbaceous understories to graze during spring and summer.  This is found in cutovers and thinned pine stands.  Turkeys like to dustbathe and hunt for bugs in open hardwood stands and fields, but they prefer to roost in tall trees with a good view.  This can be found along a boundary between a cutover and a mature stand.  Ideal quail habitat is comprised of timber stands with scattered pine trees in the canopy and an herbaceous understory.  This is created by conducting heavy thinnings and controlling the understory woody vegetation.

Wildlife are also relatively undeterred by forestry practices.  We have seen large bucks in the middle of active clear-cuts, turkeys fly down from trees along the edges of clear-cuts, and heard quail in both recent cutovers and thinned pine stands. 

Maintaining ideal habitat for game and non-game species requires careful forest management designed to produce conditions ideal for wildlife.  Clear-cuts, thinnings, herbicide applications, and prescribed burns are tools a forester uses to promote forest growth, create wildlife habitat, or both.  Using these tools effectively will help you maximize the wildlife habitat and population on your property.

Thomas Rudd, Forester
NCRF #1699
t.rudd@tmmoc.com 

Benefits of Conducting Early-Rotation Releases

Following a clear-cut, many landowners simply replant their tract with loblolly pine seedlings and leave the property alone until it is time to conduct the first commercial thinning.  However, landowners can get a much larger return on their timberland investment if they control the natural regeneration in their young pine plantations.  Naturally regenerating vegetation often sprouts back after the stand is clear-cut and planted.  This regeneration can cause in over-stocking of the pine plantation which increases competition for water and nutrients, reduces growth, and increases the risk of disease and insect infestation in the stand.  

Stand release treatments kill the competing natural vegetation in young pine stands, which ensures that all available water, nutrients, and sunlight are relegated to the desired pine trees.  An intermediate stand release increases the growth rate of pine plantations, produces more income during intermediate thinnings, and allows landowners to harvest their tracts earlier than if no release was conducted.  Studies have also demonstrated that released pine plantations can produce 30%-50% more merchantable volume at the final timber harvest than stands which have had no competition control.

While there are many methods used to control competition in pine plantations, the two most commonly used are herbicide releases and pre-commercial thinnings.  A herbicide release uses chemicals which target the hardwood and/or herbaceous competition and have little to no effect on the pines.  Herbicide releases benefit pine plantations which are overstocked with natural hardwoods, vines, and grasses.

2 months after herbicide release: hardwood and herbaceous vegetation is controlled and 1 year-old pines are free to grow

 Pre-commercial thinnings are necessary when a stand is overstocked with natural pine regeneration and the trees are too small to thin commercially.  During a pre-commercial thinning the suppressed, smaller trees are cut down and the higher quality trees are left to grow.  Pre-commercial thinnings are typically done using crews of men with brush saws who cut down the suppressed trees without damaging the higher quality pine trees being released.  The pre-commercial thinning lowers the density of the stand, reduces competition for water and nutrients, and reduces the risk of disease or insects attacking stressed trees in the stand. 

Before pre-commercial thinning: stand overstocked with 1,000+ stems per acre and growth is inhibited.

After pre-commercial thinning: stocking reduced to 400+/- trees per acre and residual pines are free to grow.

 While cost-share funding is available for both herbicide releases and pre-commercial thinnings, the funding for a herbicide release runs out of money very quickly.  Cost-sharing for pre-commercial thinnings are funded through the Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program, however, and this program is typically well-funded.  Most pre-commercial thinnings get cost-share funding through this program.

Conducting intermediate stand releases not only improves the growth on pine plantations, they also improve wildlife habitat, aesthetic quality, and the overall value of the property.  Timber Marketing and Management of the Carolinas manages intermediate stand treatments for many of our clients.  We work with contractors and the North Carolina Forest Service to help landowners get effective competition control on their pine plantations at the lowest possible price.  If you think your tract might benefit from a herbicide release or pre-commercial thinning, please contact us for a no obligation first-time inspection of your property. 

Thomas Rudd, Forester

NCRF #1699

t.rudd@tmmoc.com

Timber Market Report - by Edwin Orr

Good News in the Timber Markets

We have seen significant improvement in demand and pricing for all products over the last year. Hardwood sawtimber prices have remained strong; timber stands comprised of over 50% hardwood have sold extremely well. Housing starts are now at their highest levels since June 2008.  The increase in housing starts is causing increased demand for plywood and OSB, which has shown in those markets. There has also been a significant increase in demand for pine and hardwood  pulpwood throughout the year. New mills are planned for NC and some have already opened, which will increase       demand. Many existing mills are now running at full capacity, and some previously closed mills have re-opened.  With this increase in activity, we expect to see an increase in competition and strong demand for all wood products the remainder of this year and into 2014.  Due to record rainfall this year, there is a strong demand now for tracts that can be harvested in wet weather. We will be happy to evaluate your timber tract and discuss your marketing options.

Real Estate Report - Sales of Rural Properties Active - by Edwin Orr, owner of TMMOC

"The real estate market has been extremely active in recent months. We have put over 30 tracts under contract from 10 to 429 acres in a three month period. Tracts under 100 acres have been the most active segment of the market, but some larger tracts are also moving. Most buyers are individuals who are looking for recreational/investment properties. Buyers prefer land where the timber has not been harvested in the last 20 years. They often want some open land and a pond is almost always a plus. Developers have not been actively seeking new land acquisitions. They can still buy developed lots in existing neighborhoods at significant discounts, so that is where their focus is. Well managed timber properties have also sold well. Lending can be difficult to obtain for a land tract, many banks no longer want to serve that market. However, financing is available with 15 - 20 percent down, good rates and with terms out to 15 or 20 years.  Our recent spurt of land sales has left us short on quality land listings. If you have any interest in selling your property, please give us a call. We would love the opportunity to work with you. Our current listings can be seen on our website at www.tmmrealestate.com"

- Edwin E. Orr, RF, CF, ALC

New North Carolina Statute Helps Landowners Protect their Properties

 

Posting your property lines is necessary to protect your land from encroachment, trash dumping, vandalism, and illegal hunting and fishing activities.  Posting the lines and painting the trees along property lines can also keep your property lines visible and make a costly survey unnecessary in the event of a timber sale.  This past June, the North Carolina General Assembly rewrote General Statue 14-159.7 regarding the process of posting property lines.  The Statute states that a property can be posted by either putting up POSTED signs 200 yards apart or nearer or by painting a vertical purple stripe at least 8 inches in length on trees along the property and spaced 100 yards apart or nearer.  Previously, establishing and posting property lines was a two-part process: paint the property line trees with horizontal stripes and put up POSTED signs.  Now POSTED signs are no longer necessary if you paint the property line trees with vertical purple stripes. 

Posting your property lines gives you more legal recourse against trespassers.  According to the Statute,

“Any person who willfully goes on the land …  of another that has been posted in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 14-159.7 to hunt, fish, or trap without written permission of the landowner, lessee, or his agent shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Written permission shall be carried on one’s person, signed by the landowner, lessee, or agent, and signed within the last 12 months.”

If a police officer or game warden meets an individual hunting or fishing on a posted property, written permission must be presented at the officer’s request.  If written permission cannot be presented, punishment for a Class 2 misdemeanor could range from community service to 45 days in jail depending on the severity of the crime and how many prior convictions the individual has.  Members of a hunt club need to present written permission given to the hunt club and an active hunt club membership card.

Timber Marketing and Management of the Carolinas is committed to helping forest landowners manage and protect their property.  We offer services such as posting and painting property lines in addition to annual inspections, timber sales and reforestation.  Give us a call toll free at (800) 962-2281 to discuss protecting your property from trespassing.

Timber Marketing & Management Offers Annual Inspection Program for Absentee Landowners

Are you an absentee landowner who cannot check on your property often?  Do you live on your property, but want periodic professional insight on how to better manage your timberland?   We can conduct annual inspections on your property to keep you up to date on the health and condition of your timberland.  Hiring a consulting forester to conduct annual inspections on your property can keep you informed on a variety of issues:

• Trespassing and dumping problems
• Property line encroachments
• Forest health - catching forest diseases or pests early can help fix the problem before they become a major issue
• Stand productivity and growth

• Necessary silvicultural activities – timber harvests, hardwood releases, pre-commercial thinnings,   etc.
• Check accuracy of tax records

We have helped landowners with such issues on two properties we recently inspected.  On one property, the landowner was being taxed for a mobile home the property.  During the inspection we checked for the mobile home and found that it was no longer there.  The landowner had been paying taxes for years on a building that was no longer present!  On another inspection we recently conducted we met a hunter who was flagrantly poaching on the landowner’s property.  He claimed that although he didn’t pay for his lease this year, he had permission to hunt the property.  When we informed the landowner, we found out that the hunter had decided not to pay his lease and did not have permission to be there.  We have run into similar situations on several tracts that we inspect annually and have been able to help sort out trespass, hunting lease, and other issues that would have otherwise gone on unnoticed by the landowner.

The annual inspection program gives landowners yearly updates on the condition of their property, management recommendations necessary for their timber stands, and a better idea of when timber stands can be marketed for selective cuttings and clearcuts.  Visit our website at www.tmmoc.com or give us a call toll free at (800) 962-2281 if you are interested in having us conduct an annual inspection of your property.