Summer Forest Stewardship Tips
Summer is the perfect time for major forest management activities like thinning trees, controlling weeds and invasives, and maintaining roads.
© 2015 - 2020. Northwest Natural Resource Group. All rights reserved.
Tag: Harvesting
Using the SuperACE Tool for the Skokomish Tribe
Much of NNRG’s effort this spring has focused on our work for the Skokomish Tribe on the Tribe’s forestland located at the south end of Hood Canal. To help the Tribe achieve its management goals, we’ve completed a timber appraisal and are planning the first commercial thinning on tribal lands in a couple decades. NNRG is applying the “thin from below” method in the commercial timber harvest: harvesting smaller, suppressed trees and leaving the larger dominant trees with more light, space and nutrients to thrive. We’ll also be removing trees displaying signs of root rot to help reduce the spread of the
Not Your Father’s Lumberjacks
Remember the Super-Axe-Hacker from The Lorax? The machine that could whack off four truffula trees with one smacker? Advances in logging technology have made this fantasy contraption a reality, with equipment like feller-bunchers, forwarders, skidders, and processors changing how we harvest. These machines can make ecological forestry better, efficiently and safely removing some trees while leaving others to continue providing wildlife habitat, clean water, carbon storage, and even beauty. Our Executive Director Seth Zuckerman shares his take on logging advances to a sold-out crowd at Ignite Seattle’s March event.
Forest Tour: Thinning Overstocked Stands for Health and Productivity
NOTE: This workshop was originally scheduled for February 24th but has been rescheduled for March 10th due to icy road conditions. If you already registered for the 2/24/18 workshop, please let us know if you can make it on March 10th by sending Cailin an email at cailin@nnrg.org. See how your neighbors are thinning excess wood to improve forest health and reduce fire risk Saturday, March 10, 2018 | 9am-3pm | Orcas Island [button color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://www.eventbrite.com/e/forest-tour-thinning-overstocked-stands-for-health-and-productivity-tickets-43572015070″ text=”REGISTER TODAY!” color_override=””] Many forests in the San Juan islands are crowded with suppressed and unhealthy trees due to a lack of management. Excess
Forest Tour: Many Shapes & Sizes
Kevin Kaster (right), owner of a small-scale sawmill in Clackmas Co., presents a sample product to forest managers, designers, and woodland owners. A Tour of “GOOD WOOD” Management and Products REGISTER TODAY! Can a forest be managed for different purposes? Why might one tree be cut and another left standing? How does the way our forests are managed affect the products that come from them? And, do you know where your wood comes from? Join the Build Local Alliance, Forests Forever, Inc., and OSU Extension to explore these questions on a “Good Wood” Management and Products tour. At this event hosted
By the Numbers: 2016 Accomplishments
2016 was an incredible year for Northwest Certified Forestry members and the forests they steward. Because of the dedicated community of ecologically-minded woodland owners, Pacific Northwest forests are healthier, more resilient homes for wildlife and people alike. Here are some highlights of our year: Accomplishments: We hosted 11 workshops on ecologically-based forest management, precision tree-felling, forest monitoring, and programs for natural resource professionals and engaged 267 participants. We conducted more than 92 site visits to forest landowners – including NCF members and beginning woodland owners. We completed 6 ecologically-based thinning projects across 65 acres We oversaw 4 forest restoration projects involving inter-planting, pre-commercial
Summer: Forestry through the Seasons
Summer is the perfect time for major forest management activities like thinning trees, controlling weeds, and maintaining roads. Performing these stewardship activities in the dry season when sap flow is low will reduce damage to residual trees while minimizing soil compaction and other effects on forest ecosystems. Steward your Forest Clear winter debris from roads and trails for recreation and forest maintenance access. Conduct pre-commercial and commercial thinning. Be sure to wait until mid-June when the sap flow slows down as the bark on your trees is more vulnerable to damage until that time. Birds tend to fledge through July, so
By the Numbers: 2015 Accomplishments
2015 was a productive year! Northwest Certified Forestry members showed their dedication to stewarding Pacific Northwest forests with ecologically-minded practices that contribute to the regional economy. We are so inspired by the forest stewards in our community who worked to enhance habitat for threatened and endangered species, remove invasive species, plant native seedlings and shrubs, pursue new markets, and do what it takes to nurture and sustain complex forest structure. Here are some highlights: Our Community 160 members across more than 162,000 acres in Washington and Oregon, More than 100 family forests and small businesses 12 youth camps and education centers 11
Workshop: Optimize the Value of Your Timber – November 7
Recognizing the value of the timber you have can be the difference between selling a veneer-grade log at pulp prices instead of the market premium. By understanding the specialty product markets for veneer, figured wood, pole-quality timber, and export logs you can extract the highest value for your timber. It’s important to understand the niche markets that exist around you, the log manufacturing process, and what you can do right now to optimize for long-term timber value and specialty forest products. Attend this class to learn specific practices you can do to grow quality wood and obtain the highest value for
Member Spotlight: Shiitake Mushroom Logs
In our Member Spotlight series, we highlight Northwest Certified Forestry (NCF) members who have used forest products for unique and entrepreneurial purposes on their land and within their communities. Often these projects help members earn supplemental income. For the second installment in the series, we introduce you to Gopher Valley Botanicals, a Forest Stewardship Council® certified member of our group certificate, who has sourced non-timber forest products from her woods to local markets. Gopher Valley Botanicals Located amid the rolling foothills of Yamhill County in the western Willamette Valley, Gopher Valley Botanicals (GVB) stewards a 20-acre forest comprised of Douglas-fir, Oregon white oak, and a wooded wetland. The landowners take an active management
Member Spotlight: Large woody debris & wetland restoration
In our Member Spotlight series, we highlight Northwest Certified Forestry (NCF) members who are improving ecosystem functions and who have cultivated forest products for unique and entrepreneurial purposes on their land and within their communities. In this edition, we introduce you to Digger Mountain Forestry-a Forest Stewardship Council® certified member of our group certificate, and Yankee Creek Forestry-an NCF Preferred Provider. Recently, these members provided woody debris for restoration projects focused on salmon habitat and wetland recovery in the Willamette Valley and the Southern Oregon Coast. Digger Mountain Forestry Digger Mountain Forestry stewards 650 acres of forest in Oregon’s Coast Range. In recent years Northwest Certified Foresty has put out calls
Growing biologically rich forests for wildlife and income
On a beautiful summer day in early June, woodland owners gathered inside the library at Sedro-Woolley High School for the Managing for Timber and Wildlife workshop. The more than 20 participants were there to learn from Rolf Gersonde and Ken Bevis, two experts in the fields of silviculture and wildlife biology. Rolf Gersonde, a renowned silviculturist and researcher for the City of Seattle’s Cedar River Watershed presented first, focusing mainly on sustainable forest management practices. He explained that creating stands that are diverse in age, class, and species would not only serve as sanctuary to many different types of wildlife but would also
Funding Forest Stewardship – Enhance Forest Health
For the third installment in the Funding Your Forest series, we’re focusing on ways to improve the diversity and productivity of your forest. Stewarding a forest that is diverse in species, age and size classes, with appropriate stocking densities is beneficial to the entire ecosystem – supporting resilience to diseases and pests, and boosts overall productivity. So to speak – it diversifies your forest’s investment portfolio. The objective of enhancing forest health can be accomplished in a variety of ways and typically includes: pre-commercial thinning, planting native trees and shrubs, and removing invasive species – mechanically or chemically. For example, forest stand improvement (EQIP code 666), or pre-commercial thinning, entails removing individual trees
Workshop: Tree Felling & Yarding – September 24-26
Join us on Orcas Island for a unique hands-on training program for small woodland owners who are interested in conducting their own timber harvests. Detailed instruction will be provided on precision tree felling techniques and low-impact log yarding strategies and equipment. Precision Tree Felling – 2-day course Thursday & Friday, September 24-25, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – each day Cost: $250 for the two-day felling course Location: Camp Orkila 484 Camp Orkila Rd. Eastsound, WA – directions will be provided Important! All participants will need to bring a chainsaw, gas and oil, personal protection (chaps, gloves, ear & eye protection, hardhat) and lunch. Low-Impact Yarding
Funding Fuel Reduction and Forest Health Projects
Depending on the state of your forest, fuel reduction and forest slash treatments may be ways you can improve your forest’s health and fire resilience. We’ve identified cost-share programs, funding, and other resources, as well as information on how to do-it-yourself. Forest slash treatment is becoming a necessity in many forests due to historic fire suppression and the trees and vegetation that have grown since (more dense, often comprised of more species less resistant to fire). Fire suppression has led to many overstocked forests that become serious fire hazards during the increasingly dry summer season. Methods to reduce fire fuels range from removal
Workshop: How to Manage a Timber Sale – August 15
Harvesting and marketing timber can be one of the most rewarding experiences of owning forestland… it can also be one of the most challenging. On Saturday, August 15, join us for a workshop to learn how to manage a timber sale on your land and effectively market your wood products. This day-long seminar will introduce landowners to the steps involved in setting up and managing a timber sale. Participants will be better prepared to manage a timber sale and more familiar with resources for assistance. All woodland owners are encouraged to attend regardless of past workshop experience. Harvesting timber is an important management tool. When done with care
Harvest Underway at Roslyn Urban Forest
This month, Northwest Natural Resource Group started the restoration harvest on the City of Roslyn’s Urban Forest. Roslyn’s forest has not been managed for decades and is extremely overtstocked for its age – mostly with Douglas fir that has grown in among the Ponderosa pine in the absence of naturally occurring forest fires. NNRG is helping the City implement its stewardship plan for RUF. The aim is to assist the forest in transitioning to more resilient conditions: a mosaic of open Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and grand fir forest, with varying degrees of tree densities and canopy closures, low volumes
EQIP and a Forest Classroom
Butler Family Forest, Olympia, WA Nestled along Pants Creek and the Capital Forest near Olympia sits a 40 acre FSC® certified forest owned by Paul and Peggy Butler, and Jim Stroh and Jan Yancy. Paul, a retired Evergreen State College professor, and his partners bought the property from another former Evergreen professor in 1990 and believes that the property had not been thinned or logged in over fifty years. The property hosts a mix of mature Douglas-fir, western red cedar, western hemlock, red alder and big-leaf maple, as well as dense thickets of young, small diameter alder and vine maple.
contact us
SEATTLE MAIN OFFICE
2701 1st Ave, Suite 240
Seattle, WA 98121
ph: 206-971-3709