post sale woodlot treatment

[JimMartin9999]

I am haviang a timber sale on 150 acres of northern hardwoods and hemlock in south central NY.  The DEC in NY doesnŽt give state aid to land owners for post timber sale treatment so IŽll have to do it all out of pocket.
I have read that lots of decaying tops and brush etc. can lead to massive outbreaks of insect populations which can lead to attacks on the remaining stand.  I know that composting material--the same as  mentioned  above is good for the forest soil. There is also a question of fire danger with tons of wood  fuel lying around. Probably more so if wood is left drying  off the ground.     There is a conflict here and I am having a hard time thinking clearly about this.  Can anyone out there help me?

[Bro. Noble]

We have sold post timber from a yellow pine plantation.  They often reccomend a controlled burn before thinning to lessen the fire danger afterward.  We havn't done this but will consider it in future thinnings.

Noble

[Ron Wenrich]

Most landowners don't do any type of post sale treatments.  Basically, there isn't that great of fire danger when compared with the western states.  Dry lightning is pretty rare, here in the East.

I don't know of any fires that were caused by left over topwood .  Most foresters prefer to leave the limbwood as a protection from deer browse on young seedlings.  

There can be an issue with some insects.  A lot depends on when you have a harvest and what is in the residual stand.  Peach bark beetle is what causes the gum streak in cherry.  They can develop in fresh cherry slash.  

Not logging during spring or summer can help limit the problem.  You can also remove or cut the limbwood down to firewood size.  That will help it dry out better and will lessen nesting sites.

[OneWithWood]

Some folks around here just advertise free firewood for the cutting.  That will eliminate the tops that are easy to get at.  I do not do this becasue my terrain is severe and others aren't as careful with errosion control as I am.  And then there are the liability issues. . .
If your harvest is spread out averaging only a few trees per acre I would not worry to much about clearing the tops.  If, on the other hand, the harvest leads to clearings with many tops in close proximity to each other some cleanup will make replanting a lot easier to do.

[Ron Scott]

A good logging job usually does not require a lot of "clean-up"if it has had a "slash plan" and if it has been managed properly to meet your objectives.

Should you allow others in for "firewood cutting" be sure that they will cut downed wood and remaining topwood only. Do not let any of the remaining quality standing trees or designated wildlife den, cavity, or snag trees be cut.