Managing for a Healthy Forest
A forester and a logger can make a great team, and the more they work hand-in-hand, the healthier the forest they are managing will be. That was one of the important messages of the beginners’ forestry workshop ‘Managing for a Healthy Forest’ sponsored by Moose Mountains Regional Greenways (MMRG) and Branch Hill Farm /the Carl Siemon Family Charitable Trust (BHF/CSFCT) held recently on BHF forest lands in Milton.The workshop presenter was Charlie Moreno, a consulting forester for Branch Hill Farm, who has managed over 30,000 acres of forests for private landowners, conservation organizations, and communities in southern New Hampshire and Maine in the past thirty years. He was accompanied by Larry Hersom of Hersom Logging in Rochester, who has worked with Moreno to implement timber stand improvements at BHF.Moreno and Hersom discussed the range of logging techniques, from horses to mechanized harvesters, the choices a woodlot owner faces about how much and which trees to harvest and the long term consequences of each. A carefully planned timber cut that leaves seed trees, cover trees, wildlife trees, and multi ages of various species and eliminates invasive species (detailed in a handout) will produce a diversified and resilient forest. Moreno added an example: “being careful not to damage young oak and pine, even if only sapling-sized, while keeping trees important to wildlife [as food source or cover].”A healthy forest is resilient against the stresses of insect pests, diseases and climate change, whereas a forest of limited species diversity and age or one where the soils have been damaged by poor logging practices can be devastated by those stresses. A healthy forest can also create increased income in both the short and long term, since repeat harvests are possible in as little as 15 years and a well-managed forest will continue to be productive indefinitely.In the Branch Hill Farm forest, Moreno and Hersom showed examples of careful logging practices that respect the forester’s management plan, protect tree seedlings, can fell individual trees without damaging nearby value trees, and limit damage to the forest floor. All these precise logging practices serve to maintain or increase the quality of the growing forest and exemplify how loggers and forester working hand-in-hand will benefit the re-growth of a forest.MMRG, a non-profit land trust, works to conserve and connect important water resources, farm and forest lands, wildlife habitats, and recreational land in Brookfield, Farmington, Middleton, Milton, New Durham, Wakefield, and Wolfeboro. Throughout the year, MMRG offers many educational opportunities to inform all ages about the benefits of our region’s natural resources. For more information and a calendar of upcoming events, visit www.mmrgnh.org. Branch Hill Farm/the Carl Siemon Family Charitable Trust works to protect open space and working forests and to educate the public about sound forestry, conservation and agricultural practices; see www.branchillfarm.org.Photo: Charlie Moreno discussing forest management. Photo by Kate Wilcox.