A Landowner's Guide to Managing Your Woods: How to Maintain a Small Acreage for Long-Term Health, Biodiversity, and High-Quality Timber Production

by Anne Larkin Hansen, Mike Severson, Dennis L. Waterman

Overview

Whether you have a few acres of trees in the suburbs or a small commercial forest, you can encourage a healthy and sustainable ecosystem through proper woodland management. This introductory guide shows you how to identify the type, health, and quality of your trees and suggests strategies for keeping your woodland thriving.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781603428002
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	09/01/2011
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	270,968
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Steve and Ann Larkin Hansen, authors of Maintaining Small-Farm Equipment, have run a family farm in Wisconsin for the last 20 years. While Steve has kept their farm equipment running smoothly, Ann has authored books, including The Organic Farming Manual, A Landowner’s Guide to Managing Your Woods, Finding Good Farmland, Making Hay, and Electric Fencing. She has also served as a regional editor for The Country Today and a contributing writer to Mother Earth News.

 

Mike Severson is a Certified Master Logger, licensed arborist, and tree surgeon. He is dedicated to sustainable forestry and education for good forest management.

Dennis L. Waterman is a professional consulting forester who serves private landowners with small acreages. His services include forest stewardship management plans; timber harvest; and forest inventory, mapping, and appraisals.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Why Manage Your Woods?
A Quick Look Back * Where We Are Now * Where We Go from Here

2. How Forests Grow
Tree Strategy * Tree Anatomy * Forest Succession: Sprinters vs. Marathoners * Tree Ranges * Local Forest Conditions * Forest Health

3. Taking a Woodland Inventory
Figuring Out What You Have * Identifying Forest Flora * Identifying Soil Type * Identifying Wildlife * Identifying Terrain and Special Features * Finding Property Lines * Pulling All the Information Together * When to Hire a Forester

4. Establishing Goals
Determining Woodland Goals * Management Options * Timber-Stand Improvement Projects * Timber-Harvest Methods * Guarding against Disaster * Keeping the Most Important Goal in Mind

5. Working with a Forester
What Is a Forester? * Writing the Management Plan

6. Working in the Woods: Landowner Projects
Safety First * Equipment * Making and Maintaining Trails * Controlling Invasive Species * Encouraging Wildlife * Other Woodland Harvests * Planting Trees * Woodlands and Kids

7. The Logging Industry
How a Logger Makes a Living * Classes and Values of Timber * Logging Equipment * Sorting and Milling * Types of Loggers * Market Pressures in the Timber Industry

8. Harvesting Timber
Planning for a Cut * Setting Up a Timber Sale * The Walk-Through * Monitoring the Cut * After the Cut

9. Finances and Legacies
Evaluating a Forest Purchase * Taxes * Insurance * Federal and State Grant Programs * Carbon Sequestration * Legacies

Glossary
Resources
Index