The Regeneration Opening (pic intensive)

[OneWithWood]

Last spring I entered into an agreement with the Indiana and US Fish and Wildlife services to create two regeneration openings on my back ridge with a small vernal pond to be placed between the two.  One opening is only a half acre in size and was predominantly big tooth aspen with a few tulip tree and red maples.  I chose this site because I will be milling the big tooth into dimension lumber for an addition to the barn and a separate building to house the bio diesel operation. 
The second site is located about 100 feet southeast is 2.8 acres in size and had a good stand of tulip tree along with a small stand of big tooth aspen and scattered red maples, sugar maples, hickories, red and white oaks.  The openings are designed to produce early succesional growth that should be attractive to birds, especially grouse and migratory warblers.  80 years ago the large opening was part of a hayfield worked by horse drawn equipment.

Access to the sites from my house is by a road I constructed that traverses a couple of steep ridges.  When I frist contemplated this project I thought I would not have any problem getting the work done during the summer of 2010.  Unfortunately I had a couple of issues that prevented that.  The first issue was notification that I would not be allowed to cut any trees greater than 4" dbh and definately not disturb any shag bark hickories or white oak trees between April 1 and October 1 due to maternal hibernacula activity of the endangered Indiana bat.  That shot my summer plans     One of the design elements of the openings required all slash to be removed so essentially only bare ground would be left.  This is to ensure the seed bed left would get adequate sunlight.  No problem, I thought, I will simply burn all the slash and incorparate the ash into the soil.  Unfortunately we had a bit of a drought last summer and the county was under a burn ban during the period I was allowed to fall trees.  This meant that my options became chipping all the material or creating rather large piles of slash on the boundaries of the openings.  I went with piling the salsh because getting a chiper of any size to the site would be problematic.  I did contruct a number of coverts from the slash.

Here in pictorial form is the creation of the large opening.  All of the work was down by me with a Stihl 441, a Stihl 460 and a John Deere 4520 with a CX400 loader.  I only used the crawler to pull down the one aspen I hung in the crotch of a cherry.  I definately got a lot of practice with directional felling. 

The first pic is representative of what the area looked like when I started.  I did not think to begin taking pictures until I had already cleared a lot of the underbrush.  The pic was taken October 17, 2010.
 



November 29, 2010.  The mid story has been removed.
 



It began snowing the first week of December which is about three weeks early for us.  The snow on the side of the ridges prevented me from accessing the site until it finaly melted in early March.  During a normal winter the snow would last only a few days, the mud would dry up and I could get work done.  This spring the snow lasted much longer and the ground took an extra-ordinarily long time to dry up.

December 28, 2011
 



It may be hard to ascertain the steepness of the slope from this pic.  Neither my tractor with chains or the crawler with grouser treads could navigate the road.
 



Wildlife habitat (covert) contructed from some of the slash
 



Site of the pond between the two openings.  You may be able to see the flags marking each end of the proposed dam.
 



Once I was able to access the site I hit it with a vengance.
March 20, 2011
 



Burning slash from the larger trees.
 



Almost done.  All the trees are down, bucked and stacked.  The tulip (yellow end coating) will be used as siding for the out buildings and paneling for my basement.  Further in the back is a small pile of big tooth aspen (white end coat) and some piles of maple and hickory to be cut up for firewood.  I left any oak trees because my long term goal here is oak regeneration.  The two tulip trees still standing have been girdled and will act as perches for raptors.  The other trees are all oaks.
 



The pond is dug, just need to seed the dam.  July 9, 2011.
 



And finally, the regeneration opening in finished form.  This picture was taken from the observation stand (seen in some of the previous pictures) looking south.  I took the pic on June 21, 2011 and I intend to take a similar pic on each of the solstaces, March 21, September 21, December 21 and June 21 for as long as I can climb into the stand.  I will post those pics in this thread and we can all watch the opening return to forest in the varying stages.
 



If you look closely in the last pic you may see on the left a number of trees bent over.  Not long after I completed the opening we had 60-80moh straight-line winds.  These trees had no resistance to wind and were permanently bent over.  This fall I will copice those trees and hopefully shoots will sprout next spring from the roots and be able to outcompete the brush that will be invading the site at that time.  The brush should cause the trees to grow tall and straight.  Time will tell.

[Tom]

That's quite a project for one man and a chainsaw.  Lookin' good.

[thecfarm]

Your luck or timing is just about like mine.Will look forward to more pictures. Lucky you only lost a few trees to the high wind.

[pigman]

Is the site just south of the old hay rake ?

[OneWithWood]

Directly east of the old hay rake.  As you crest the ridge on the path we walked up (now the access road) the rake was on your left (north).  If you continued straight ahead (east) on the access road you would enter the opening at the southwest corner.

The old hay rake, parked where Mr. Harris left it under the maple when he could no longer farm some 80+ years ago, if not longer.
 

[Ron Scott]

Great wildlife project! A lot of work to take on by yourself, but a nice accomplishment during retirement to increase your land values.

I did a similar project a few years back for a client landowner and the F&WLS and Conservation District, but I had a logging contractor clear the pond areas, also aspen, and another contractor with a drag line build the ponds.

The project along with a few others helped my client get the Conservationist of the Year Award for Wexford County that year. I'm sure that yours will get such attention when you are done. Keep us posted.


 

[mad murdock]

I didn't realize that there was timber in Indiana   Seriously, that is a nice job there OneWithWood!  nice looking project.  I bet it will look even better with water in the pond.  Will be a nice place to hang out on a sunny fall day. 
can't wait to see your milling/building projects as they come along. Thanks for sharing with us!

[tyb525]

Indiana is blessed with an abundance of eastern hardwoods

[g_man]

Quite a stroke of work OneWithTheWood. Thanks for posting your picture story. Its very interesting to watch nature and see if it follows your plan or goes off on its own.
Did you get WHIP funding to help with your project? (Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project). If so what kind of future requirements did they put on you in maintaining these sites? Just curious.

[Autocar]

Very interesting project thaks for scharing it with use ! Bill

[treefarmer87]

thats a pretty woodlot

[OneWithWood]

G-man,
Yes, I got some whip funding - basically paid for the fuel to run the chainsaws.  I am not complaining - any funding is good funding - I do these things because I think there is value in the activity and I love working in my woods.  I am very hopeful that over the years there will be an increase in the bird and amphibian populations as well as preserving the oak-hickory component of my woods.  As luck would have it the land is part of the Norman Uplands which is naturally heavy to oak-hickory after the demise of the American Chestnut.  The rest of the surrounding lands tend to maple-beech.  Without dedicated stewardship my lands would be increasingly maple-beech.  It is my intended goal to keep the climax forest at bay.  
As for maintenance going forward, the agreement stipulates letting nature take her course.  The only continuing activity will be to eradicate any invasives that might rear their ugly heads.  As part of the preparations I killed all the multiflora rose, autumn olive and ailanthus that existed.  Keeping these invaders at bay is a constant battle - not to mention a great excuse for constantly cruising the woods 

[Clark]

Awesome project!  I look forward to the future pictures.

Around here any stand with as little as 20 ft² BA of aspen will regenerate to aspen.  How do you expect the aspen suckers to compete with the other hardwoods in your area?

Clark

[WDH]

So that is what you have been so quietly working on  .  Now you will be sawing a whack of lumber and the kiln will be kilning .

[Magicman]

I love to see a plan come together.  You will enjoy that vision for many years to come.   

[WildDog]

You sure did hit it with a vengence Looks good, I am keen to see the area evolve. What species of mamals do you expect to move in?

[woodtroll]

I like it.
Did you have good advanced regeneration of oaks and hickories present before you opened it up?
I would guess you are going to be inundated with tulip poplar. They like wide open and scarified soil.
Keep up the good work, look forward to future pics.

[OneWithWood]

I do not expect to have any new mamals beyond what we already have.  The observation post does double duty as a deer stand to keep the oak vacuums in check.  I am very fond of venison and the does are much easier to dress and noticeably more tender 

There is good advance regen of oak.  I expect there will be a major flush of aspen and tulip.  Aspen and tulip will provide the desired escape routes for birds fleeing the raptors as well as providing some cover for the oak from the deer.  The gnomes will probably keep the aspen and tulip in check around the oak seedlings to get them above the browse line.  The real challenge will be keeping the deer from munching all the seedlings.  The natural progression would be an ealy successional stand of aspen, tulip, ash, red maple, beech and cherry followed by the oaks and hickories if the sunlight can get through.  I worry more about the red maple and beech than I do the aspen and tulip.  The gnomes have been known to treat the red maples and beech on the oak aspects to a dose of tryclopir on occasion.  Who knows, there may be a controlled burn or two in the future. 

[SwampDonkey]

Awesome project!  I look forward to the future pictures.

Around here any stand with as little as 20 ft² BA of aspen will regenerate to aspen.  How do you expect the aspen suckers to compete with the other hardwoods in your area?

Clark

Depends on the height potential of the hardwood on that ridge. Around here the aspen will grow leaps and bounds above the hardwood, live it's life (80-100 years) and fall down. Large tooth (big tooth) is our fasted growing native aspen up here.

I would thin the regrowth in 10-12 years with a brush saw. Then watch out. Won't interfere with the birds and critters, best to cut in the fall...no bugs...birds done nesting.

OWW, looks like a great little project to keep you busy working off your retirement.

About the wildlife, it's a good thing that you have no hare, they will chew oak up real good. mmm yum. I planted some a few years back under aspen and they eat them back every winter.

Was the pond idea, for ephemeral pools in the spring? My woods are full of them, but this year some are more permanent with all the rain. The rain however has slowed up, it's wet a lot in the bush, but just from showers mostly. Hasn't really rained at my place for 2 weeks except showers. There has been freak rain down pours from thunderstorms around, but not here. Yeah, I have lots of amphibians, if anyone needs any. Lots of hares to, and moose, couple bears....and yes you will attract birds in those holes. Song birds and grouse take to those cut overs like flies to honey. Grouse however need to be near water it seems. So, if that pond holds some water you'll get a grouse or two around. I've seen a lot of flocks this year on the thinning blocks, seen two flocks yesterday.

I was going to mention also, that goshawk like to hunt down woods roads and trails. I've drove or walked down a  good many narrow roads with a goshawk on the hunt. One winter I came upon one that took a grouse along the road just before I got there and I saw where he got another one off a trail on a later walk. Still, I see grouse on the woodlot most every walk. Mostly single birds.

Have a good one.

[Mooseherder]

I bet Mr Harris is smiling from up above with approvals of the right person got his farm.

[Magicman]

Yup, none of us actually "own" the land.  We are simply the caretakers for a given period of time.  It is our responsibility to pass it on in a better and improved condition.  We are but a dot in time, but the land lives on.

[thecfarm]

Magicman,has a birthday today. Have fun with the family.

[Roxie]

Very impressive!  I am really looking forward to the future pictures as the regeneration occurs. 

[JohnG28]

That is an amazing project, it looks incredible!

[isawlogs]

 Thanks Robert for putting this together, first I really like seeing other countrysides and the layout of the land elsewheres to me. Second you and the misses are doing a fine job with this adventure. 
 
 I do have a question for you , what is the meaning of copice 

[woodtroll]

copice, is to cut a tree off to get it to re sprout. You get new stems, then can select the best stem and trim the others off.

[SwampDonkey]

Marcel, Coppicing can be off the stump, like maple and white birch, or off wide spreading roots close to the surface than send up shoots when more like hits the ground like the aspens. Also another type of new shoot off the stump is a stool shoot, like beech and elms. They make buds around the cambium (perimeter of the stump under the bark) where the tree was cut down and send up shoots off them.

[isawlogs]

 Thanks guys    Nothing like friday night at the school ... 

[grassfed]

This is very interesting to me since I just got some WHIP funding approved a month ago. I have 6 acres for Manual Clearing 2 acres Crop Tree Release and 2 acres Softwood Release-Wildlife Habitat Improvement. I also got a EQIP for some HT fence for my cattle.  I think that the WHIP is a great deal for me since I was going to cut these places anyhow. The price for HW pulp including Aspen is $38 ton 10 miles from here so what's not to love? 

[OneWithWood]

Here are some pics I took on Sept. 24, 2011.  I missed the autumnal equinox by a day but I think I am close enough for our purposes.

Here is a pic of the larger opening taken from the observation tower (double bench deer stand) looking south.
 



Most of the greenery is wild lettuce (polk salad).  It was so dry during July and August that I feel good anything grew.

This is a pic of the smaller opening taken from the ground facing north:
 



The pond between the two openings is starting to fill thanks to some recent rains:
 



When full the pond surface will curl around the end of the dam essentially doubling the surface area but maintaining a maximum depth of 24".

[WDH]

I see that some wildlife is already using the pond!

[zopi]

Was going to say, couple plots of clover in there....for the oak vaccums...

[ibseeker]

That's a pretty cool project. Thanks for sharing it with us, I'll keep an eye for future posts and pictures.

[OneWithWood]

December 21 update:

Large regeneration opening looking south from the observation tower
 

 

Not much happening this time of year but a number of lambs ear plants dot the landscape
 

 

Deer browse
 

 

Oak tree bent by high winds.  All the bent oaks will be copiced now that they are relatively dormant.  All I need is the mud to dry up or solidify
 

 

Smaller opening is relatively dormant except for some sedges
 

 

The wildlife pond is definately full
 

 

The aspens are up and about three foot high. I took a pic of one of the stems but my focus was pretty bad so I did not post it.

[Sprucegum]

Nice little pond  Did you line it with something or is there enough clay in your soil to hold the water?

[OneWithWood]

The soil has a large amount of clay in it.  I was happy this pond filled and held because it is very close to the top of a wash.

[WDH]

I see some more wildlife in the first pic! 

In the next to last pic, what is that understory plant that still has leaves?

[SwampDonkey]

I'm just guessing Danny, but it looks like beech. Since that is a ridge top and a little cooler climate. Beech does that up here, hold leaves all winter.

Also, my white oak holds it's leaves all winter until spring bud break.

[WDH]

Down here, understory like that on my property, would be hophornbeam.  Beech makes sense.

[SwampDonkey]

We get that to. But I see some bigger trees there that look like beech. I've never noticed the leaf retention in hornbeam though, I have some in the yard. Beech in the back yard has leaves.

[g_man]

On that bent oak tree - what do you mean by "copiced" ? I am not familiar with that tem. Thanks.

[SwampDonkey]

Cut down and stump sprouted.

[OneWithWood]

The trees with leaves in the understory are beech and red maple.  Two trees I try to eradicate on all slopes except the north, northeast and northwest aspects.  Because the beech and maples are shade tolerant they thrive and choke out the oaks.  I spray the beech and red maple stems with tryclopir (basal application) in early spring.  The leaves make them readily idenitifiable.
This area of Indiana is know as the Norman Uplands and tends to be an oak-hickory forest.  Much of the lands to the west of me are beech-maple so it is a constant struggle to keep them at bay.  A good contolled fire avery now and then is a big help but is hard to do given the pressures of the surrounding populace.

[Ianab]

On that bent oak tree - what do you mean by "copiced" ? I am not familiar with that tem. Thanks.

Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

In this case the general idea is that he has a bent sapling that's never going to make a sawlog. But cutting it off and letting it grow again from the stump it gets a 2nd chance, and the new sprout will grow much faster than a new seedling as it already has an established  root system.

Ian

[g_man]

SwampDonkey and Ianab thank you for the explanation. I have heard of the procedure but I can't remember ever knowing it was called coppicing.

[SwampDonkey]

Red maple and aspen are pretty much managed that way up here. Beech, yellow birch, white birch and sugar maple are mostly single stemmed from germination when they are thinned. Suckered beech is usually chewed up by the rabbits. Not much true commercial thinning in hardwood up here, just a select few stands. Most of the time the quality has suffered from high grades or poor ground.

[OneWithWood]

I am a bit tardy getting the March 21, 2012 pics posted here.  Mushrooms came in early so I was distracted 
 

 

The large opening.  All the bent oaks have been coppiced.  I took pics of a coppiced stem and stump but I'll be danged if I can find them 
 

 

The pond
 

 

The smaller opening
 

 

Some greenery is starting to poke through.  I expect to see a lot more in June.
 

 

At this point I was going to go around and prune back or deselect suckers coming up from the various stumps but the deer have severely pruned everything for me.  They have even topped all the aspen shoots!  I can see going forward my biggest challenge will be to keep the deer at bay.  I may resort to caging the oak stems that emerge around the stems I coppiced.

[WDH]

You cleaned up those openings very nicely.  Down here, the deer are not as bad as they have a good bit more to eat in the winter since it does not get as cold.  Do you expect the openings to grow up thick with weeds this year? 

[Raider Bill]

Robert, Does that pond hold water year round?
 In your spare time could you come down and tidy my land up a bit too?
You sure have done a lot of work there. It looks great!

[OneWithWood]

Danny, if this opening reacts like some others I expect a thicket of blackberry to take over for about 5 years or so.

Normally I would not have cleaned the site off to this extent.  The Indiana Fish & Wildlife folks stipulated no slash be left on it as it was going to be part of a longterm study.  Unfortunately I think their funding dried up.  My preference is to leave the tops.  The deer do not like to stick their heads in the tops and oak seedlings can get a good start.  As it is, I will be stocking the freezer with plenty of venison come fall.