I’m concerned about timber, erosion and water quality
Erosion, water quality, timber replenishment, and wildlife habitat are great concerns of mine. My concern for those items led to many of my decisions in harvest planning in the vicinity of Mt. Sinai church.
My goal is to allow the landowners an opportunity to manage their land for timber by improving the quality of the growing stock while minimizing negative impacts on water quality and wildlife habitat. Timber revenue reduces the financial pressure on landowners to subdivide and sell their property by offsetting the long- term holding cost.
The local crew harvesting the site uses tracked cutting and delimbing equipment. The tracked equipment, as well as debris spread over the site by the delimber, reduces ground pressure and spinning. Unlike a plowed field a timber harvest leaves the roots and debris in place reducing soil movement.
Perennial streams (year round), intermittent streams (wet weather), and many drains that only run immediately after a rain storm (ephemeral) have streamside management zones to act as filter strips for any soil that is displaced. The roots, debris, and stream buffers work together to reduce the potential for erosion and reduction of water quality.
Previous to the planning of this harvest, the site was high-graded. High grading is a harvesting method that removes the highest quality trees and leaves the small and poor quality trees. The remaining trees are often damaged during the removal of high-quality trees. Since trees seal over wounds the scars remain in the wood, reducing future timber quality.
On this site, the majority of the trees remaining after the high- grade cut were crooked or rotten pulp quality trees or wounded small diameter oaks that had been previously out competed by larger trees. A study on oaks done in Sewanee has shown that previously over-topped oaks do not respond from increased light and nutrients. The trees take up space preventing vigorous saplings from growing. In this situation leaving the smaller trees and pulp quality trees actually was hampering the replenishment of quality timber.
In relation to wildlife habitat it is true that some species that prefer closed canopy forests such warblers and tanagers are negatively impacted. However other species that are dependent on openings such as quail, deer, and blue birds are positively impacted. In this harvest wildlife corridors have been left to link closed canopy forests and break up harvested areas.
To ease any further concerns the harvest plan, which was laid out last winter, calls for a 20-acre buffer in the immediate vicinity of Mt. Sinai church.
Sincerely,
Ben Myers
118 West End Ave.
McMinnville