Bob
Sounds like they had a very good forester. Was it all cut or did they have some stem retention other than wildlife trees? My dads place is presenting some interesting challenges as there's alder and some really nice second growth DF that needs CTd. The fields are gonna get afforested here in the two to 5 years. We have a bean grower interested in a 5 yr contract. It's paying pretty good and it will get some nitrogen in the soil plus there will be a cover crop of oats planted after fall. Good well have the site prep done for free and won't have compacted soil. Bad is the elk are gonna be used to that oat cover crop and come back in to find a bunch of seedlings... I'm contemplating doing a two aged stand in the DF and there will be patch cuts of sorts in the alder. Not sure if I'm gonna do natural regen or plant yet for the alder. The big ole spruces I've convinced dad to take at some point as they are wolfy and aren't doing a thing with spruce weevil in em. The bigger DF I think we'll just leave. Low brushy spots I'm planning on clearing out and either planting Cedar in or seeding with clover for deer and elk. The more experience and education I get the more possibilities I see.
Wes
It sounds like you have a good plan for that ground. That's the point that we were all trying to make with Timber Jim...get a good professional plan and listen to well schooled advice. Oh well.
The people I was talking about left quite a bit of timber. We were lucky in that it was one of those rare good mixes of forester, landowner, and logger. People who could communicate...and compromise if need be. It turned out to be one of my favorite jobs.
They're retired dot-com refugees from the Bay Area but they're totally without all the pretentious attitude and urban baggage that so many people like that carry to the country with them. They look at that piece of ground as their children's inheritance and they're keeping a very light footprint. I admire what they're doing. We did a lot of walking and they explained what they wanted. We found ways to do most of it and what we couldn't do we found alternatives for.
I spent about five years off and on up there. I'd cut a little and they'd mill it or turn it into firewood and I'd go back and cut a little more. We took the absolute cream in df, pine, and cedar. Old second growth and some passed over old growth, beautiful stuff. Most of the buildings were built with the timber milled on site. The forester would pick the trees based on what the owner wanted. I'd fall and buck to what the guy running the mill needed and do the skidding.
LOL...they started off wanting to do the skidding themselves with a little Ford 9N but they figured out pretty quick that might not work on 41 ft df and pine. I had a D-6 that wasn't doing much so I took it up there. They owners did some hobby skidding on the small stuff on gentle ground and had some fun with it. The mill guy was a pretty fair cat-skinner and when I wasn't using the 6 he cut pads with it and did some pond and road work.
They haven't had anything cut in a couple of years now and they may not cut much more at all. That's fine.
I stopped in and talked to them late last year and they're pretty happy with the way things turned out.
then we'll be off to the same old races again. I suspect it'll die here just as easily.
