By Will Smith. Aug. 2, 2018. When we think of a forest, the picture that comes to mind is of vast national and state forests along the Cascade Range—places where we hike, camp, hunt, and fish. The Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington each cover more than a million acres. Maybe the word conjures images of land managed for industrial timber production. Goliaths of the logging industry, such as Weyerhaeuser or SDS, own thousands of acres of forest land in and around the Gorge.
Sherry and Les Penney own 35 woodland acres near Snowden, Washington. For 20 years they’ve been replanting areas cleared by a previous owner.
But collectively, individuals and small families own many thousands of acres of forested land in small parcels. Here they’re called woodland or woodlots–each one too small to be considered a forest. Owners use these small woodlands in various ways and for various objectives: beauty for a residential retreat, tax benefits, wildlife conservation and diversity, and/or timber production.
There is no universally accepted definition of woodland. In Britain, the definition is simple. Their National Small Woods Association defines a small wood as anything greater than a quarter hectare (half acre), but less than 10 hectares (25 acres). In the United States, they are known as nonindustrial forest land, and how they?re looked at depends on the state and the county. A woodland as small as two acres qualifies for Oregon’s Special Assessment Program for Forestland. Landowners in this program have a reduced property tax assessment.
Some definitions are based on what is removed from the land. Washington State defines a ‘small harvester’ for tax purposes as someone who harvests less than two million board feet of timber a year. This equates to roughly 3,000-6,000 trees (depending on tree size and type). At about 30 mature trees per acre, small woodland owners would need to harvest more than 10-20 acres a year to move out of that ‘small’ category.
For comparison, a 2,000 Square foot home requires about 16,000 board feet of timber, or 20-50 large trees.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you have three acres or three hundred. What is important is what each person wants from their woodland. These small forested lands must be managed to provide the desired benefits and because wildfire, pests, and disease affect all forests no matter the size.
Managing woodlands
A healthy forest can provide the owners and the greater community many benefits: timber, landscape enhancement, conservation, recreation, therapeutic properties, education, carbon fixing, job creation, heritage values, and water quality. The first step for the owner is deciding what their objectives are for their land. A forest management plan detailing current conditions, management objectives, harvesting, and planting schedules is an essential component for a successful forest.
Les and Sherry Penney own 35 acres of forest land near Snowden, Washington. They set short and long term management objectives focused on reducing fire hazard, increasing diversity of both timber products and wildlife habitat, and maintaining a healthy forest. They’ve spent 20 years managing this land: thinning, adding diversity to the tree mix, and replanting clearings. Their site and their goals determined their choice of trees to plant.
What kind of trees?
Like the Penneys, what a woodland owner wants from the forest ties to what kinds of trees they want for their purposes. Each tree species brings distinctive values and uses. Douglas firs are generally the most valuable for timber. However, mono cultures of any kind of tree produce an increased risk of pests and diseases. Adding other species, say ponderosa pine and grand fir, helps create a healthy stand. Grand firs tend to be more shade tolerant and can fill out the understory.
Larch, or tamarack, is an excellent tree at higher elevations, and has some of the best potential for quality firewood. Western red cedars thrive in wetter areas, and should be planted near waterways. The Penneys even planted mountain sequoias (redwoods) as an experiment. Snowden is far north of redwoods’ California habitat. But the Penneys think that climate change projections indicate Snowden may soon be just right for them. Whichever trees are selected, they should be purchased from nurseries that grew them at similar elevations and moisture conditions to give them the best chance of survival.
Wildlife
When managing for wildlife, it is important to provide a varied landscape. A patchwork of wooded areas and clearings creates ‘edge habitat,’ valuable areas where grassland and fields transition into woodlands?fostering greater species diversity and density. Woodpeckers and other bird species thrive amongst thickets and standing dead trees. Species from deer to small mammals feed in fields and bed in brush. The Penneys cleared shrubs in swaths and left some areas of brush between their replanted fir and pine stands. Additionally, they left intermittent woody debris piles instead of chipping or burning trimmings. These methods help support the types of wildlife they enjoy and keep the entire forest healthy in accordance with Ecosystem Based Management principles: a holistic way to manage a landscape.
A unique dry side woodland
Further east near Klickitat, Washington, the Windward Education and Research Center‘s 120-acre forest demonstrates an atypical management objective. A twenty acre section is called Herland Forest, and there they offer a natural burial ground in a lightly managed ridge-top oak and mixed conifer stand. By becoming a ‘Guardian,’ anyone can reserve a favorite wooded resting spot, and occasionally camp in the private campground.
The foresters at Windward are researching ancient and novel methods of establishing a society based on forestry rather than agriculture by using their own sawmill and managed thinning. They focus on finding ways to live life within a forest that would provide for societal needs: food, clothing, and housing on marginal land. Besides Herland Forest, a portion of Windward is dedicated to developing a Biomass 2 Ethanol project converting local ‘waste’ biomass into transportation fuels.
The Penney’s thinned, removed ladder fuels, planted a mix of trees species. On this section of their property they see the result: a healthy natural forest.
Keeping the woodlot healthy
A good forest manager constantly monitors woodlands for problems: pests, disease, infertility, weather extremes, sun exposure, drought, erosion, invasive species, and of course, wildfire. Individuals who own just a few acres of woodland play a valuable role in helping forests, and communities that depend on it, thrive. For these woodland owners, good stewardship takes creativity, resourcefulness, and no small amount of labor.
Pests
Every tree species is susceptible to some kind of insects or fungus. Local programs and foresters are available to solve some problems, but often Mother Nature provides built-in solutions. The Penneys worried about an invasive pest (gouty pitch midge) that damaged some of their young trees. Their forester told them they could just wait it out. Sure enough, soon the pests’ natural predator arrived in droves and eliminated them.
Alternating plantings can slow or stop the spread of a fungus. The Penneys plant a few pines, and then a few firs in separated clumps. This way if one grove of firs become infected with root rot, for example, it will only spread until it runs into the pines, which it does not infect, and the epidemic forestalls.
The California Fivespined Ips (a Pine Engraver Beetle) arrived in the Gorge several years ago and killed hundreds of pines, primarily in lower elevations. The damaged dead and dying trees can still be seen along the Mid-Columbia. As the effects of climate change increase, the range of these and other insects will spread to the north with potentially devastating impacts.
Water
Windward’s Walt Patrick notes that one of their main issues is the low moisture in eastside forests. With little to no rainfall from June through September, and with geology unfriendly to successful wells, one of their solutions uses their forest detritus to construct ‘hugelkultur’—ditches dug along contours, filled with punky logs, and then covered with dirt. These logs and branches act as a sponge, soaking up rainwater and slowly releasing it during drier periods.
Breaking up the natural forest
Parcelization—breaking the forest into smaller ownerships—frequently results in the conversion of forestland into rural residential or agriculture. The forest can then no longer function as a natural eco-system. The smaller the parcels, the less effective the forest system. In Wasco County, the minimum parcel size for resource-dedicated forest lands is 80 acres, and the Farm-Forest Zone requires 10 acre minimums. Some Washington counties require 20 acre minimums. These small sizes make it less likely woodlands will be productive, and more likely to reduce forest benefits, especially if the parcel is converted to residential. Parcelization also breaks the continuity of wildlife migration corridors. It increases conflicts between land uses.
Les Penney trimmed the lower branches of conifers. If a wildfire starts this will keep the fire on the ground.
Wildfire
Every woodlot owner’s top concern is wildfire, says Jim White, Chairman of the Mt. Adams Resources Stewards (MARS) board, a non-profit community forest organization.
The tool of choice to reduce fire danger is thinning, pile burning, and underburning. But small land owners do not generally have the knowledge or resources to run a successful prescribed fire across their land. And it’s dangerous. Larger landowners may be able to receive state or federal assistance for prescribed fire. When MARS decided to try this on a few hundred acres they own near Conboy National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, they worked with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
There are a few alternatives to burning for a landowner trying to reduce fuel loads and ladder fuels—the lower branches or small trees. ‘Lop and scatter’ is a method of thinning where ladder fuels are mechanically thinned and scattered in clearings to naturally decay. Piling branches in long, winding hedgerows creates wildlife habitat for small mammals, beneficial insects, and birds. Trimming the lower branches (lifting) to a ten foot height reduces the risk of a ground fire climbing into the canopy, turning a low intensity fire into a crown fire which runs faster through the trees and burns hotter.
Lifting also ensures that trees grow straight and knot free, while allowing the energy of the tree to go into more upward production. This process encourages earlier, more valuable harvests.
Lots of places to get advice and help
County, state, and federal agencies, universities, and woodland associations offer resources to help owners. The WA Department of Natural Resources Small Forest Landowner Office (DNR SFLO) website, states that any small harvester is eligible to receive technical assistance from them at no charge. Owners of ten or more acres get a free site visit; those with smaller parcels can have free phone consultations.
MARS’ Jay McLaughlin at their prescribed burn.
In Washington, the Washington Farm Forestry Association’s local chapter (the Mt. Adams district) covers Klickitat and Skamania Counties. Oregon’s Small Woodlands Association’s nearest chapter is in Clackamas County, but they can provide answers to many questions. MARS, may also be able to help. Jay McLaughlin, Executive Director for MARS, launched a stewardship crew this year to support land management needs and has worked on small private parcels in addition to projects with the Forest Service and Columbia Land Trust.
Underwood Conservation District does a lot of Firewise work around residences in forested areas including use of their mobile chipper program. MARS partnered with them: “They bring the funding; we do the work,” said McLaughlin. The Washington Department of Natural Resources has cost-share programs (such as the Forest Landowner Enhancement Program) to support woodland stewardship work. This can include fuels reduction, tree planting, habitat enhancement and plan development. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has a cost-share program. Oregon State University?s Forestry Extension offers a Mentored Management Planning course for small forest owners.
It is important for landowners to research good science-based practices and create a plan that can achieve their goals while providing for the long term sustainability of the forest and land for future generations.
RESOURCES
- Mt Adams Resource Stewards (http://www.mtadamsstewards.org/)
- Washington Farm Forestry Association (https://www.wafarmforestry.com/)
- Oregon Small Woodland Association (https://www.oswa.org/)
- Oregon Department of Forestry Stewardship Foresters (https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Working/Pages/HelpingLandowners.aspx)
- Washington Department of Natural Resources Small Forest Landowner Office (https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sflo)
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/landuse/forestry/)
- Local Extension offices (OSU, WSU, etc.)
- Local Conservation Districts
- Herland Forest (http://www.herlandforest.org/)
