Clearcut to Bush

One of the major elements of this forest management program is...the design and clearing of forest trails in the current unmanaged bush forest.

It's currently a bushy forest because, as I understand it, the whole surround was clear cut in the 1950s of most accessible trees. Logging first came to the Parry Sound area in the mid-nineteenth century. As a result of clear-cutting, there's an eventual race for each tree seedling to compete for sunlight that distorts the natural forest tree structure (excepting fire damage) and the wildlife depending on it.

Anyway, the trees racing for the sun, overtopping others less tolerant of shade, create a thick jungle of vegetation on the forest floor making it often difficult to traverse. I think I'd rather cut a path through the Amazon jungle.

So, while I wait for the the temperatures to warm for curing concrete - and some snow to melt - I busy myself with blazing (marking) a network of forest trails for moving through the forest. When the trails are finally cut, cleared and maintained, a selective improvement cut will begin to rebalance the structure of the forest and improve the health and sustainability of all inhabitants.

This is the beginning of 10 years work.