No Hunting Posted

Due to time constraints and budget issues, we settled on 20 off-the-shelf signs instead of the 40 of my design. The Deerwood logo might appear again in some future signage.... Boo-hoo!

Today I went into town to buy some signs. I wasn't too surprised to find that most stores were sold out of 'no hunting' and 'tresspassers will be shot' signs. So, I got an assortment of signs and some red paint for spraying the red dot on trees which signifies a boundary not to be crossed. I think.


And I went out and marked rough property lines with all that stuff. Got a few soakers, but at least it didn't rain. It did hail, though.

Wood Fuelin'

Today was a productive Labour Day.

Now that chainsaw season is on, I'm in a rush to get a bunch of wood cut and split for winter's fuel.

The general rule is to cut and stack the wood for a year of air drying before you burn it. Wet wood doesn't burn too good, see? It smokes mostly and it lines the chimney with something called creosote which can cause dangerous chimney fires.

Because of this, I'm mostly cutting down standing deadwood trees along with cherry and birch trees which will burn okay even if they're wet.

So, today I finished dropping and cutting up a bunch of trees, then used the ATV wagon to haul the wood to the office area. Then I towed the gas-powered log splitter to the office along the forest trail I'd just cleared with the chainsaw and split about a bush cord of the stuff. Now all I have to do is stack it like in the photo.

I don't know how many cords of wood I'll need this winter. And I really should be stacking enough for two winters - so next year's will dry properly.

After I'm done with the office wood, I need to cut, split, haul and stack about five cords for Ma Pocock's fuelwood for two winters hence.

And before you start screaming at me for poluting the environment, using gas to cut and split the wood, I gotta tell you I don't think I could do it all by hand. Chop down trees with an axe, Swede saw each 12 inch log section, then maul split each one? Maybe when I retire and have nothing else to do all day. Or I get married....

You know what the really hard part is? Comedy. No - carrying each cut log from the forest floor to the wagon trail over uneven ground covered in webwork of cut branches ('slash') and knocked over saplings. Many, many times and near tripping all the way. It's a pain in the ass, tiring, but I'm grateful I have the ATV to haul the stuff away.

Still, it's better than office work.

Heritage Forest

I was talking with mom about Deerwood a while back and realized that she (the woodlot owner) and I (the woodlot's forest manager) had some different ideas about forest policy.

Mom wanted to plant some more yellow daffodils. I mentioned that daffodils are not naturally occurring in this neck of the woods. She didn't see what the problem was. Well, my forest management practice strongly discourages the introduction or maintenance of foreign or invasive species in the managed ecosystem. It's unnatural.

"In two hundred years, do you want this forest covered in yellow daffodils?", I asked. A smile lit up her face. Hmmm.

"Daffodils grow from bulbs, so they wouldn't spread. Oh, except for the double-headed mutations! They'll spread."

Sometimes being a forest manager means saying a soft 'no' to your mother. When in doubt on these matters I turn to my new bible, 'The Ontario Tree Marking Guide' published by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). It has many of the answers to practical ecological questions relating not only to trees but many aspects of forest management.

So, I've decided to name my forest management practice 'Heritage Forest' - the forest we leave behind. It's the way I do things as a forest manager. It's firm but fare and based on the latest science made available by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Sorry, daffodils.

Small Streams, Seepages, and Woodland Pools

I'm learning a new bible: The Ontario Tree Marking Guide.

Here's a few words on the subject of water in the forest...

Woodland pools are small depressions that fill with spring melt-water but may be dry during some part of the growing season. They generally have no well defined inlet or outlet. During dry periods, they appear as a depression with matted leaves and water lines on trees (Kittredge and Parker 1996). Woodland pools are important breeding sites for many forest frogs. Seepage areas are important habitats for a variety of wildlife because they support a diversity of plant species and green-up early in spring. Intermittent streams are valuable habitat for some salamanders. They generally flow less than nine months of the year and are characterized by a poorly defined stream channel.

Woodland pools are important breeding habitat for many amphibians. frog) and salamanders (e.g., yellow-spotted salamander). Large woodland pools are generally more valuable than small ones since large pools last longer and subsequently tend to support a greater richness and abundance of breeding amphibians.

A woodland pool in Deerwood's hardwood compartment, 2009

Research from Algonquin Park suggests that pools with a surface area of about 200 m2 (approximately 20 metres x 10 metres) or more generally persist for at least two months, long enough to be considered valuable to wildlife (Kittredge and Parker 1996). This threshold may vary regionally. Forest management operations should be conducted in a manner that maintains the integrity of small streams, seepages, and woodland pools. Avoid marking trees that are within or right on the edge of small streams and large (>200 m2 surface area) seeps and woodland pools.

Moreover, within a tree length of large woodland pools, retain at least 50% stocking unless based on other biodiversity or habitat objectives. In parts of southern Ontario where forests are highly fragmented and large woodland breeding pools are relatively rare, this should be a no-cut buffer (OMNR 2000). When lower basal area (or a larger opening) is required to meet other biodiversity or habitat objectives (e.g., for regeneration of yellow birch or butternut), locate these areas on north or east sides of woodland pools.

Markers should map small streams that are not depicted on forest resource inventory maps and large seeps and woodland pools to help ensure that skid trails and landings can be located so they avoid these features. Reporting requirements should be outlined in a local data collection arrangement.

Source: Ontario Tree Marking Guide

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.