Forest Management
We conduct forest management using a comprehensive approach, from stewardship planning to timber sale administration. Before taking any action, however, we like to have an intimate knowledge of your forest. For this reason, we advise clients to have a Forest Stewardship Plan completed prior to any timber harvesting activities. This allows us to fully assess forest resources, including timber, wildlife, wetlands, topography, soils, and accessibility. Additionally, it allows us to determine your goals and objectives as a landowner, and to tailor management accordingly.
Forest Stewardship Planning
A Forest Stewardship Plan is a comprehensive narrative that describes a forest’s resources, both present and potential. It is written based on a full timber cruise of the property, landowner input, and external resources. The timber cruise is an on-the-ground assessment that determines the species, size, and quality of trees on a property. The trees that are present in the understory and overstory tell us a lot about how a property should be managed. The timber cruise also includes notation and mapping of significant cultural features like cellar holes, natural features such as views, wetlands, and wildlife activity, and challenges to access such as large boulders or steep slopes. In addition to the field review, a full interview is conducted with the landowner to determine their management goals, which may include recreational objectives, wildlife considerations, timber harvesting techniques, and income generation.
We also gather other data, such as soils information from the USDA, which tells us more about which trees will grow best on different parts of the property. Then, utilizing these all of these resources, we develop the Forest Stewardship Plan. This plan describes the current forest, suggests which trees to encourage, and recommends steps for action. We also create a map of the entire property using a GIS (Geographic Information System) program, which includes observations from the timber cruise, forest stand types, soils information and topographic data.
Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC, offers two types of Forest Stewardship Plans, one which is prepared to NH Current Use Assessment and NH Tree Farm Program Standards, and another which is prepared to USDA-NRCS EQIP, NH Current Use Assessment, and NH Tree Farm Program standards. The latter includes extra information that enables the landowner to apply for USDA-NRCS cost-share funds if desired. These funds help the landowner to perform various improvements on their property, from treating invasive plants in the forest understory to creating log landings and access roads. Both plan types facilitate the application for Current Use With Stewardship tax status and NH Tree Farm Program certification.
Timber Harvesting
The management recommendations in a forest stewardship plan usually include cutting some trees. (Note: a stewardship plan is not required to perform a timber harvest; however, we do recommend a plan as it gives us a better understanding of your forest’s resources.) The methods and reasons behind a harvest can vary, but they usually accomplish a few things: harvesting typically enhances wildlife habitat, increases opportunities for recreation, and they improve the existing forest by harvesting a mix of mature, high-value trees and low quality trees that are competing with the higher-quality young trees. Leaving the large, strong, and/or valuable trees effectively “weeds out” the less desirable trees and reduces competition for the more desirable trees. This makes for a forest with better health and higher value in the future. Another purpose of a timber sale is to generate revenue for the landowner. During a timber sale, it is the Forester’s role to act as the agent for the landowner. The Forester ensures that the proper harvesting system is used to suit the property and the owner’s objectives, and works to make sure that operations run smoothly and all parties involved are fairly compensated.
Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC, organizes and oversees the timber harvest from start to finish. First, we will find a quality operator that fits your management objectives to perform the harvesting on your property. We then draft two contracts, one between Martin Forestry Consulting, LLC and the landowner, and another between the logger and landowner, to ensure that the scope of work and rates are agreed upon before any work begins. We take care of permitting, including Intent to Cut forms and the NHDES Forestry Notification for wetlands impacts. We take the time to mark the timber to be cut and to lay out landings and skid trails on the ground, which ensures that your specific management regime is followed, and that your land is accessed in the most efficient manner.
During the harvest, we perform sale administration, visiting the site at a frequency appropriate for the size and progress of the operation. We troubleshoot any problems, verify that NH Best Management Practices are followed, make sure that trees are properly utilized into their intended products and that all other aspects of the contract are followed. After a harvest has been completed, we will work with the contractor to close out the site, making sure that all Best Management Practices have been implemented, that areas sensitive to erosion are water barred, seeded, and mulched, and that your property is left in a visually acceptable state.
Timber Harvesting Methods
Three main types of logging are used today, all of which have costs and benefits that vary depending on the piece of property. The traditional style of logging is called cable logging, which involves hand-cutting trees with a chainsaw and removing the limbs in the forest. Then, a cable with chains attached is pulled from the back of a machine called a skidder. The chains are hooked around each tree, and the skidder drags the trees in groups called hitches to the log landing. Here, the trees are processed into different forest products: saw logs and pulp, which is wood used for making paper.
Another type of logging that uses a skidder is called whole tree harvesting. This method differs from cable logging in that it uses a machine called a fellerbuncher to cut and pile the trees into hitches, without removing any limbs. Then, a skidder with a grapple bucket carries the logs to the landing where they are processed into forest products. The additional material from the limbs is typically processed into woodchips, which are burned to produce electricity at any number of biomass plants in the State of NH or VT.
The third system is called Cut-To-Length (CTL), and is sort of a combination of the two previous methods. Similar to whole tree harvesting, the Cut-To-Length system uses a machine called a harvester to cut and pile the trees. However, the harvester also removes tree limbs in the woods, as is done in cable logging. Another machine called a forwarder, similar to a log truck, picks up the logs and carries them to the landing.
The harvesting method used will depend on the type and quality of forest, the landowner’s goals and preferences, topography, and time of year of the harvest, among other considerations. A forester can help decide which system is right for each unique situation.