What is Forestry Anyhow?

Forestry is "Managing" your forest for multiple values

  • Forestry is the art and science of planning and managing woodlands
                The Science: understanding how trees and forests grow
                The Art: designing harvests with the forest in mind
  • Forestry is more than just cutting timber
  • Forestry, at its best, is ecologically sustainable and acts to improve woodlands with every treatment
  • Forestry practices should plan for the present and the future
  • Forestry practices can accomplish many goals such as increasing wildlife, increasing forest health, or increasing species diversity, decreasing fire risks, making money, improving aesthetics...... and much more

Forestry is Creating Wildlife Habitat

  • To keep snags (standing dead trees) for perch sites, food, and nesting
  • To leave large down trees for grouse to drum on and to decompose, which adds nutrients and makes the forest healthier
  • To plant fruit or nut trees and shrubs as a food source for birds, insects and mammals
  • To increase structural diversity (providing large tree areas and small shrub areas which increases the diversity of the wildlife that utilize your forest

Forestry is Managing Forest 

Good harvests 

  • Mimic nature, utilizes fire, blowdown, and natural tree death to maintain forest health  
  • Provide income
  • Remove hazardous trees and unwanted/poor form trees with bad genetics
  • Improve woodland health to better handle invasive species and disease
  • Decrease fire and environmental risks 
  • Salvage un-usable timber after insect and environmental destruction 
  • Grow selected trees faster and stronger through natural or artificial forms of regeneration.  *Growing new trees should always be on your mind
           

Forestry is Managing Non-Timber Forest Products

  • Mushrooms
            Shitake / Oyster / Chicken of the woods
  • Hazel nuts / Walnuts / Chestnuts
  • Serviceberry, Elder berry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry,         Gooseberry, Currants, Choke Cherry, Tree Fruits
  • Ginseng  
  • Root balls and burls
  • Specialty wood / furniture
  • Charcoal
  • Fire wood / tree coppicing 

Why Do I Need a Forester?

  • To improve your woods
            Grow better timber
            Enhance wildlife habitat
            Properly plan trails, harvests, and forest health 
            Diversify species
  • To protect your woods
            From short sighted logging (high grading)
            Insects and disease
            Fire/ice/wind/climate damage
  • To help you accomplish your goals
            Maximize profit
            View more wildlife
            Hunt more productively
            Create a more aestheticly appealing woods
    
Requests for site visits are trending down. When you want Russell the Forester to come out to your parcel for a free educational site visit, please call or text his cell phone at 989-335-8563.  Whether a single tree or a whole forest full, he is glad to visit