Forestry for the Future: Lessons in Sustainable Management from Maine

Summary

The video script from the University of Maine School of Forest Resources delves into forest management, showcasing various techniques like clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, and selection cutting. It emphasizes the importance of sustainable practices, wildlife habitat, and addressing climate change through forestry. The script features interviews with foresters and researchers, highlighting the balance between ecological health and human objectives in managing forests for future generations.

Takeaways

• 🌲 The script discusses the personal journey of someone who started with a passion for forests and eventually sought professional knowledge in forestry management.
• 📚 It highlights the importance of education in forestry, emphasizing the value of attending classes at the University of Maine to learn about forest management.
• 🔍 The video script introduces various silvicultural treatments like clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, selection cutting, and irregular shelterwood cutting, showcasing the range of options available for forest management.
• ❓ It addresses the concept of exploitative harvesting, which involves taking out the most valuable trees without considering the long-term sustainability of the forest.
• 🌳 The script explains even-aged management, which involves regenerating the next cohort of trees all at once, leading to a uniform forest stand.
• 🏞️ It contrasts even-aged management with uneven-aged systems, where trees of many different ages coexist, creating a more complex and diverse forest structure.
• 🐦 The importance of forest management for wildlife habitat is discussed, with a focus on creating conditions that support a variety of bird species and other wildlife.
• 🌱 The script touches on the impact of past exploitive harvesting practices on current forest composition and health, and how these practices have led to a shift towards more sustainable management strategies.
• 🌤️ It discusses the role of forestry in addressing climate change, emphasizing the potential of forests to store carbon and the importance of managing forests to enhance this capacity.
• 👨‍🏫 The value of consulting with foresters for landowners is highlighted, as they can provide guidance on creating management plans, conducting timber inventories, and addressing ecological concerns.
• 🚫 The script also mentions the various regulations that affect forestry in Maine, emphasizing the complexity of managing forests and the need for professional guidance to navigate these rules.

Q & A

What is the main goal of the person speaking in the script?

The main goal of the person speaking is to manage and take care of their forest in a way that promotes both the health of the forest and the well-being of wildlife, while also producing saw logs for the mill.

What role does the University of Maine School of Forest Resources play in the script?

The University of Maine School of Forest Resources is involved in educating and assisting with forest management. They offer forestry classes and develop management plans, contributing to the knowledge and practices of forest management.

What is silviculture and how does it relate to the script?

Silviculture is defined as the art and science of managing forests for desired outcomes. It is central to the script as it discusses various silvicultural treatments such as clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, and selection cutting, which are used to manage forests sustainably.

What are the different silvicultural treatments mentioned in the script?

The script mentions several silvicultural treatments including clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, selection cutting, irregular shelterwood, and exploitative harvests.

How does even-aged management differ from uneven-aged management in the context of the script?

Even-aged management refers to techniques where the next cohort of trees is regenerated all at once, leading to a uniform forest age. Uneven-aged management, on the other hand, involves having trees of many different ages in the forest at the same time, which requires careful long-term management to achieve.

What is the significance of pre-commercial and commercial thinning as mentioned in the script?

Pre-commercial and commercial thinning are stand tending activities that involve removing smaller trees to reduce competition and allow better trees to grow. This practice helps in creating an open forest structure and improves the overall health and quality of the forest.

How does the script address the issue of wildlife habitat in forest management?

The script addresses wildlife habitat by discussing the importance of maintaining a diverse forest with multiple layers of vegetation, gaps for bird species, and the presence of old trees and snags. It also mentions the decline in bird species and how certain forest management practices can help support their habitats.

What is the impact of exploitative harvesting on forest health as described in the script?

Exploitative harvesting, or high grading, focuses on taking the most valuable trees without considering the future sustainability of the forest. This practice can lead to a decline in forest health, with poor-quality trees dominating the stand and a loss of valuable species like spruce and hemlock.

How does the script suggest managing an uneven-aged forest to improve its condition?

The script suggests creating small gap openings in the forest to allow more light and encourage the growth of different aged and sized trees. It also recommends thinning out lower quality trees to allow healthier ones to grow bigger and older.

What advice does the script give to landowners regarding forest management and planning?

The script advises landowners to work with foresters who can help set priorities, prepare management plans, conduct timber inventories, and address issues like wildlife, invasive species, and water quality. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the outcomes of different management practices.

Outlines

00:00

🌲 Forest Management and Education

The speaker, Martin Grant Strim, a research assistant at the University of Maine, discusses his journey into forestry after discovering the need to take care of his land. He shares his experience of learning from a forester and attending forestry classes at the University of Maine. The video aims to educate about forest management options, harvesting techniques, wildlife habitat, climate change, and other considerations. It introduces various silvicultural treatments, including clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, selection cutting, and the difference between silviculture and exploitive harvesting. The speaker emphasizes the long-term implications of forest management decisions and the importance of sustainable practices.

05:02

🔍 Exploring Forest Management Techniques

This section delves into the specifics of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management. Even-aged management involves regenerating the next cohort of trees simultaneously, leading to a uniform stand. The speaker contrasts this with uneven-aged management, which maintains a mix of tree ages and sizes. The discussion highlights the importance of thinning and stand tending to reduce tree loss and improve forest health. The economic and ecological aspects of forestry are also considered, including the balance between market opportunities and tree biology. The speaker discusses selective cutting as a sustainable silvicultural practice that maintains forest health and biodiversity.

10:03

🌳 The Impact of Exploitive Harvesting

The paragraph discusses the consequences of exploitive harvesting, which involves removing the most valuable trees without considering the long-term sustainability of the forest. The speaker describes a case study where a forest initially dominated by spruce, hemlock, and fir was subjected to high-grading, leading to a shift in species composition towards red maple. The poor-quality stump sprouts that resulted are highlighted as an undesirable outcome of such harvesting practices. The speaker suggests that creating small gap openings and thinning out less desirable trees can help improve forest diversity and health.

15:04

🌱 Regenerative Forestry and Ecological Dynamics

This section explores ecological forestry, focusing on the Acadian forests and their natural regenerative processes driven by gap dynamics. The speaker discusses irregular shelterwood silviculture as a method that mimics natural disturbances and promotes forest regeneration. The benefits of this approach include economic efficiency and minimal environmental impact. The speaker also encourages landowners to actively monitor their forests for signs of decline, such as the hemlock woolly adelgid, and to promote forest diversity to enhance resilience against disturbances.

20:05

🌿 Climate Change and Forest Management

The speaker addresses the role of forestry in combating climate change, emphasizing the importance of increasing carbon storage through longer rotations and minimizing soil disturbance. The choice of tree species that are suited to future climates is highlighted as a strategy for sustainable management. The speaker also discusses the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of using wood as a construction material compared to alternatives like steel. The paragraph concludes with a call for responsible harvesting practices that consider both local and global environmental impacts.

25:06

📚 The Role of Foresters in Sustainable Forestry

The final paragraph underscores the importance of foresters in guiding landowners through the complex process of forest management. Foresters help in setting priorities, preparing management plans, conducting timber inventories, and addressing various ecological and legal considerations. The speaker stresses the need for a balance between ecological health and human objectives, such as timber production and wildlife habitat enhancement. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on the practical aspects of forest management, emphasizing the value of hands-on learning and the importance of understanding the outcomes of different management techniques.

Keywords

💡Silviculture

Silviculture is defined as the art and science of managing forests for desired outcomes. It is central to the video's theme as it encompasses various techniques for cultivating and harvesting trees. The script discusses different silvicultural treatments such as clear-cutting, shelterwood thinning, and selection cutting, which are methods used to shape the forest's future health and productivity.

💡Even-aged management

Even-aged management refers to techniques where the next cohort of trees is regenerated simultaneously, resulting in a uniform stand of trees of the same age. This concept is illustrated in the script through the example of a shelterwood stand, where larger trees were left to provide seed and shade for the regenerating stand, and then removed once the new growth was established.

💡Uneven-aged management

Uneven-aged management is a system where trees of various ages coexist in the forest. The video script explains this through the depiction of a forest stand with a mix of mature trees and younger ones, which is harvested selectively over time. This approach aims to mimic natural forest dynamics and can provide a more diverse habitat for wildlife.

💡Exploitative harvests

Exploitative harvests are harvests that focus solely on extracting the most valuable trees without considering the long-term sustainability of the forest. The script contrasts this with silvicultural treatments, highlighting the negative impacts of exploitative practices on forest health and future productivity.

💡Pre-commercial thinning

Pre-commercial thinning is a practice where less valuable or weaker trees are removed from a stand to allow the remaining trees to grow more vigorously. The video script uses this term to explain how selective removal of trees can improve the overall health and value of a forest stand.

💡Commercial thinning

Commercial thinning is the selective removal of trees from a forest stand that have reached a certain size or quality suitable for market sale. The script mentions this as a part of stand tending, which helps to capture intermediate value from the forest and improve growing conditions for the remaining trees.

💡Wildlife habitat

Wildlife habitat in the context of the video refers to the types of forest conditions that support diverse wildlife populations. The script emphasizes the importance of managing forests not only for timber production but also for creating habitats that support a variety of bird species and other wildlife.

💡Climate change

Climate change is mentioned in the script as one of the considerations in forest management. It relates to the video's theme by discussing how forest practices can either mitigate or exacerbate the effects of climate change, such as through carbon sequestration and the selection of tree species that are adapted to future climate conditions.

💡Gap dynamics

Gap dynamics is a natural process in forests where small openings or gaps are created by the fall of trees, allowing for regeneration and the growth of new trees. The script describes this as a feature of ecological forestry, where management practices aim to mimic natural processes to maintain forest health and biodiversity.

💡Irregular shelterwood

Irregular shelterwood is a silvicultural system that combines elements of even-aged and uneven-aged management. The script explains it as a method that creates a multi-aged forest structure by harvesting in small gaps, which allows for economic harvesting while maintaining a diverse forest ecosystem.

💡Sustainable forestry

Sustainable forestry is the practice of managing forests in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The video script connects this concept to the various silvicultural treatments and management goals discussed, emphasizing the balance between timber production, wildlife habitat, and ecological health.

Highlights

The importance of understanding forest management to ensure sustainable growth and care for forests.

The role of a forester in creating a management plan to guide forest care and development.

The value of forestry classes at UMaine for learning how to take care of forests.

The goal of having saw logs taken to a mill while also ensuring wildlife happiness in the forest.

Introduction to the University of Maine school of forest resources and its research on forest management options.

Explanation of silviculture as the art and science of managing forests for desired outcomes.

Discussion on different silvicultural treatments such as clear-cutting, shelter wood thinning, and selection cutting.

The concept of exploitative harvests and their impact on the future sustainability of forest management.

The profound implications of forest decisions on future forest conditions.

Description of even-aged management and its effect on forest regeneration.

The benefits of pre-commercial and commercial thinning for forest health and product quality.

The challenges of managing uneven-aged forests and the aesthetic and ecological benefits they provide.

The terminology of selective cutting in forestry and its role in sustainable forest management.

The impact of exploitive harvesting on forest species composition and the resulting poor quality trees.

Strategies for enhancing bird habitat in forests through management practices.

The consequences of high-grading in forests and the loss of valuable species like spruce and hemlock.

Advice for landowners on managing uneven-aged forests to create more diverse conditions.

The negative effects of diameter-limit cutting on forest stand quality and health.

Ecological forestry principles and the use of nature's template for forest management.

The importance of regular forest inspections to identify and manage issues like hemlock woolly adelgid.

Strategies for increasing carbon storage in forests through longer rotations and minimizing soil disturbance.

The role of foresters in helping landowners manage for multiple objectives, including timber, wildlife, and income.

The practical application of forest management techniques and the importance of understanding outcomes in the forest.

Transcripts

[Music]

we just wanted to be tenting over here

and having fun with it being up the

outside and then I figured out it

started growing and then I figured out

okay I've got to take care of it

I need to know how to do it so I I asked

my forester can you help me and he said

you can help me my management plan and

so I learned a lot about that and then I

said okay now I'm gonna go back to

forestry classes and so I've taken many

or most of the forestry classes at

UMaine because I need to know how to

take care of it and that's what I do

when I figure it out so yeah I'm not

gonna give up

I love me forests so my goals would be

to have some saw logs taken to a mill I

also want wildlife to be happy here

that's important to us and our planet

welcome my name is Martin grant strim

and I'm a research assistant with the

University of Maine school of forest

resources over the next 30 minutes we'll

meet with folks working in the maine

forest and learn more about management

options and explain some harvesting

techniques will touch on wildlife

habitat climate change and some other

considerations while these examples are

from the northern conifer forests of

Maine much of what we'll learn applies

to tree species and forest types

elsewhere

[Music]

the u.s. Forest Service has more than 80

long-term research sites nationwide and

this is one of those it was established

in 1950 what we're researching out here

is silviculture which is the art and

science of managing forests for the

outcomes that you want and we're looking

at a full suite of silvicultural

treatments so there's ones that create

an even-aged forest condition and

there's others that create an uneven

aged forest condition and there's a lot

of different options between those and

so we're looking at things like

clear-cutting shelter wood thinning we

also have what's called selection

cutting irregular shelter wood so these

are all different types of silvicultural

treatments and then along with that

we're also looking at what we call

exploitative harvests so exploitive

harvests are the result of going into a

forest and just taking out what you can

sell in the short term without any

consideration of the future

sustainability of the management and so

by looking at that full range of

different types of silvicultural

treatments we can look at the outcomes

of them over many years and identify the

pros and cons of each of those options

the decisions we make in the forest

today have really profound implications

for what will be there in the future and

so whether you choose to do a type of

silviculture or a type of exploitive

harvesting you can end up with a

different condition not just immediately

after the harvest but for many many

decades in the future so even aged

management refers to any technique in

which your regeneration so your next

cohort of trees all gets regenerated at

the same time it means you get all of

your crop in at once and you get all of

your harvest in at once

[Music]

this is a shelter would stand so this is

a stand that was regenerated using

even-aged management techniques where

they left some big trees that acted as

seed sources and shade for the

regenerating stand and then removed

those big trees once the regeneration

was established this stand has been both

pre commercially thinned and

commercially thinned and so what that

means is they've come through and

they've captured some of the

intermediate value so some of these

balsam fir that might die early on are

taken out and that's what creates this

open condition in here in contrast this

stand was started at the same time but

has never been pre commercially thinned

or commercially thinned and you can see

that when you look at it there's a

extremely dense very small stems you

can't see very far you can't walk very

far in it it does provide some good

shelter for certain types of wildlife

because it's it's very dense and closed

but it also doesn't give you a lot of

very merchantable products because you

have a lot of really small trees that

really limits your options and if you

were to go in and remove a bunch of the

trees to create this open structure

you're going to lose a lot of the

remaining trees to blow down and damage

and things like that so there's a lot of

trees in here that have already fallen

over or are dead and still standing and

it's really it's a natural stand process

because they all grew up together the

smaller trees that were shaded out have

died and fallen over and you can help

reduce that by thinning and removing

trees as they grow with stand tending

which is what we call activities like

pre commercial and commercial thinning

there's windows of opportunities that

you kind of have to hit both in terms of

markets and in terms of tree biology and

so foresters I think are always keeping

both those things in their head the

biology the ecology of forests and the

economics which is how we make a living

[Music]

this is an uneven age system so we have

trees of many different ages in the in

the forest all at once when we come in

at harvest we tend to harvest some of

the mature trees but we're also always

harvesting the lower quality trees and

the shorter lives species to try in

favor favor better trees so we're

harvesting trees and all the diameter

classes from the very big to the very

small based on what our management goals

are this is the kind of forest you

cannot create overnight if you're

starting with a forest that's relatively

even aged or maybe has two ages that all

the trees are the same you can't turn it

into this overnight but through careful

management over a long time you can get

it into this into this condition its

aesthetic I think it's aesthetically

beautiful there's a lot going on here

but it's also a place that's produced

timber for a long time those of us who

work in forestry can get pretty specific

in our terminology and that can be

confusing to folks who aren't themselves

foresters and one example of that is the

term selective cutting so to us

selective cutting means that you just

selected what to cut and oftentimes it

was the most valuable trees and you

didn't really think about what you left

behind selection cutting is a very

specific type of sila culture that's

focused on creating and maintaining a

stand of many different ages and sizes

of trees and that is sustainable

forestry

[Music]

we're helping landowners and foresters

see the forest in a little bit different

way that can benefit multiple bird

species and then along with that other

species that use similar type of habitat

we know that many of our bird species

are declining dramatically across not

just Maine but across the entire

continent we selected 20 species that

are representative of those birds and

then looked at what are the particular

forest types they use and what are the

particular habitat features that they

use within those forests and those

include things like do you have three

layers of vegetation a healthy full

overstory mid-story and understory do

you have small gaps in the forests that

are somewhere between 1/10 of an acre to

2 acres in size do you have big legacy

trees or old trees in your forest keep

those if you don't have them try to grow

them by opening up the area around

really healthy-looking trees that can

then grow even bigger do you have dead

standing trees or snags as we call them

that are good habitat for woodpeckers

and other species like flying squirrels

you can pack a lot more birds into a an

older force that has multi stories and

and multiple age and ages and classes of

trees than you can a younger forest

[Music]

so right now we're standing in a area of

the forest that has been subjected to

what we call exploitive harvesting and

this is considered a high grade so the

term high grading when it comes to

harvesting means taking all of the most

valuable trees so when we started in the

1950s this was a mature softwood

dominated stand so lots of big trees

spruce hemlock or important species here

we came in for the purposes of research

at that time and we just cut everything

that could be sold and after the stand

grew back in the 1980s we did it again

so today the species composition in this

stand is dominated in large part by red

maple and a single stem red maple that's

what we call a tree that's just growing

on its own can be a really nice tree

from a timber production perspective but

what we see here is what we call a red

maple stump sprout and red maple stump

sprouts often result from past

harvesting it's a species that

vigorously sends up a bunch of new stems

after the main stem has been cut and

many of these unfortunately are very

poor quality and poor vigor and so we

see an example of that here where these

trees have poor form many of them are

dying and so from a forest management

perspective when we're thinking about

using our growing space wisely on trees

that we can manage in the future this

isn't a desirable outcome when we think

about this stand it originally was more

than 80% soft woods

it's almost completely spruce hemlock

and fir to a large extent the spruce and

hemlock are now gone so they are slow

growing they require a really kind of a

moist seed bed in order to regenerate

and so they don't do very well in a

large open area the fir however is a

much more competitive conifer in this

region it's faster growing and so that

has maintained a good representation

here in the stand but unfortunately it

has a short lifespan so while the

hemlock and the spruce can

400 years or longer these fur on these

poorly drained sites tend to die at 70

to 80 years old this is not ideal bird

habitat this is that intermediate stage

where it's too old for those species

that really like super young forests to

do well and it's too young for those

species that like older forests to do

really well so you'll definitely get

some birds in here but not nearly the

same variety of species or a number of

individuals as you would in the

selection cut so if a landowner does

have a forest like this

that's uneven-aged and not that old what

are some things that they can do to try

to kind of create a more diverse

condition well I think one of the first

things that I would suggest would be to

go in and do a few small gap openings

something that could be 1/10 of an acre

patches spread out or maybe one or two

larger quarter acre half acre even so

that you you open up the forest get some

more light in get some different ages

some different size trees and then in

addition to that you might want to go in

and start thinning out some of the real

scrubby stuff so that and keep the

better sized trees and the better the

healthier looking trees so that they can

grow even bigger and older and

eventually turn into good saw logs no

longer live species and the long to live

species yeah

[Music]

so the stand we're in right now was

harvested with what's called

diameter-limit cutting and specifically

we call this fixed diameter-limit

cutting which means there's a specific

or fixed tree size and above that all

the trees that are merchantable are

harvested and all the trees below that

are left and by removing all the large

and most valuable trees and leaving

those that are poor vigor or unmerge

aníbal and not doing any thinning or

what we would call tending in the

smaller size classes over time the

quality of the stand and the health of

the stand deteriorate I think there are

some misconceptions about sustainable

management of stands that have many

different ages or sizes of trees and in

a stand where you have let's say trees

of a similar age those that are bigger

are more competitive they're growing

better than the ones that are smaller

that might be on the same age class

they're sort of the losers and the

competition and so if you come in to a

stand and you remove the large trees

what you're releasing are sort of the

trees that were the losers in the race

to the sky

and so they're not going to grow as well

as if they were young trees you have to

be thoughtful about leaving some of the

good trees to provide seed and doing

some thinning which is reducing the

stand density in the smaller size

classes to give more growing space to

the best trees you have there but that

is more complicated than just cutting

the largest trees and I think that you

know a combination of ease and

efficiency and misunderstanding about

the effects of this type of harvesting

have led to it being so prevalent

[Music]

ecological forestry the way I define it

and I think most people is about using

nature's template to inform those

processes in the case of the Acadian

forests where we are here a very diverse

place what we know about it is that it's

driven by what's called gap dynamics

where the patches of regeneration are

very small within the stand tenth of an

acre or less typically driven by wind

storms and forest pests so what we're

looking at here is one variant of your

regular shelter wood now irregular

shelter wood is kind of a hybrid

silvicultural system we think of it as

multi age we're looking at here as one

of the small gap treatments over a

hundred year period both treatments

regenerate in gaps one percent per year

every ten years in that one to the large

gap treatment we cut 20% we do that five

times and then the stand is regenerated

most importantly one of the hardest

things to do in silviculture if you're

going to have a light hand and not

harvest very much under an ecological

paradigm if you do that one tree at a

time scattered around in the whole

forest that's very difficult because of

the especially with the moderate harvest

machinery just the trails to get to

those trees are gonna ma amount to

probably twenty or twenty-five percent

of the area in the stand whereas if you

group them in these small patches you

can you can economically harvest 10% and

maybe with a few little trails but the

trails get reused so that's this very

small investment just a few percent area

five or six percent of the area to stand

and it's economic to come in with a

large harvester and do that just uh if

the wood is concentrated like it is in

these gaps so that's a really critical

advantage I think of these irregular

group shelter wood approaches

[Music]

so one of the things we encourage people

to do is spend time in their forest so

sometimes an example is hemlock woolly

adelgid so people will say well you know

all of a sudden the hemlock have died or

it looks sick from hemlock woolly

adelgid and the reality is that in Maine

that is not in all of a sudden its it is

a gradual decline and so if you're

actively looking for hemlock woolly

adelgid

on a regular basis you're gonna find it

before there's any significant sign of

decline and so it's getting out there

and really looking at your trees and if

you notice a change then question it you

know is this normal is this something

that I should get some help on you know

besides our division there are district

foresters out there that can you know do

walks in the woodlot and say yeah this

you know this might need some attention

or no it's it's nothing to worry about

one of the best things you can do is to

encourage diversity and diversity of

species diversity of age classes

diversity of structure you have some

ability to escape damage the good news

in Maine is that we have forests that do

fairly well at regenerating after those

disturbances and the worries as far as

that's concerned as things like your

invasive plants that may out come to eat

that natural regeneration or the big

disturbance event

[Music]

I got involved when I was at the Maine

Forest Service and we started thinking

about how do we manage for us to reduce

climate change so there are big unknowns

but there are also big knowns that we do

know how to deal with we can increase

carbon storage in the forest by growing

trees and longer rotations and making

sure that we minimize soil disturbance

as we're doing harvest things and you

should be trying to grow species that

are going to be well-suited to future

climates like you'll notice here on my

property what am i emphasizing I'm

emphasizing Oaks and Pines and that's

because that's what we expect is going

to do the best in this part of the world

in the future you have to look at all

the interacting pieces this is a system

that we have and it's a system that we

use to provide materials that if we

don't have wood materials then we're

going to use something else and those

other things all consume far more energy

intensive greater greenhouse gas

emissions so it takes ten times as much

energy to produce a steel stud as it

does a wooden stud and if so if we

substitute wood for other construction

materials we really could be providing a

huge benefit people think oh I did a

wonderful thing because I set aside this

piece of woods and I'm not going to ever

harvest anything from it if we don't

harvest it here where we can see it

where we can we have regulations to

control it and where it's close by so

we're not transporting it all over the

world

you're just shifting the impact of sub

sub point size you're not avoiding me of

that you may be avoiding the impact to

you you don't have to like if the

harvests that occurs but you're not

avoiding the impact you can increase the

carbon stocks in the forest over time

you can have ups and downs as you go

along but increase the carbon stocks in

the forests over time and increase the

rate of growth and

prout in the harvest of timber to

substitute for other materials there are

a lot of regulations that affect

forestry in maine they can get very

complicated depending on where you are

there's laws pertaining to boundary

lines to splash or brush along roadsides

public ways there's the water quality

laws there's Shore land zoning in towns

is also what's known as statewide

standards for timber harvesting in towns

those are the water quality buffers and

it's often advisable to get some help

from a resource that really understands

them like a consulting Forester or

getting advice in the Maine Forest

Service or an entity like that forestry

is complicated forests are complicated

getting the outcomes you want that are

going to make you happy can be

complicated to do and not every forest

is in the condition that you can push it

all the way to where it wants to be or

where you want it to be right now it's a

long it's a long term process

[Music]

a forester in addition to providing

on-the-ground management help can also

educate a landowners about - what's out

there preparing a management plan is

something that a landowner might think I

own this land but what do I do with it

where do I start it the whole thing is

kind of overwhelming and a forester can

help you set priorities for the work

that's done and generally make a plan

for a ten-year period and a Forester can

also do a timber inventory to help you

know what is on your land what are the

volumes and values of trees and also a

lot whole host of other things like what

are what wildlife species might be

living there what are some potential

insect and disease problems invasive

plants if there's anything like that

around that needs to be addressed on a

soil erosion or water quality concerns

Forester looks at all those things and

assesses them and makes recommendations

either for protection or changing things

or some other kind of stewardship

activity forest health can be defined in

different ways and it's really a matter

of finding a balance between ecological

health and what humans think of as a

healthy forest as well and managing for

both of those most landowners really do

have multiple objectives for their

property you can manage a forest for

timber and actually enhance wildlife

values and provide income then it's a

matter of finding what's the right

balance for each individual landowner

and each individual woodlot but if these

multiple objectives certainly aren't

exclusive

this is an area that has just recently

been harvested in the past few weeks and

you can see it's a selection harvest

there's a few painted trees that are

left around that he still needs to cut

but basically trying to thin out the

canopy to get a little bit more sunlight

on the ground to encourage regeneration

and to take out the low-quality trees

and leave the better trees with more

room to grow remember we have 20 species

in the Acadian forest and sure we can

let that come back next what nature

would have done right but nature was

starting with the full suite when we're

starting with these forests that have

been heavily exploited in the past or

they might just be old field for us on

your small landowners right a lot of

that's old field vegetation missing a

lot of the pieces I'm unapologetic about

the benefits of Management right that's

what silviculture is is to give us is to

help us have the kind of forest that we

want whether that be for just aesthetic

and hunting enjoyment while watching

wildlife or to make some money or

ideally do both at the same time we

talked about partial harvesting or

uneven aged or even aged management all

those things are very technical but once

you've gotten into the woods and you can

say okay I see what this looks like

I understand whether this is what I do

want or what I don't want so looking at

that outcomes in the forest is useful

for connecting folks to a better

understanding of forest management

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so I know where all the trees are

measurements are and I'm a growing fast

that's how you learn

the best way to learn is to ask

questions and try it yourself I love my

forest I love learning everything

doesn't matter what it is

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you