He started off with a several hundred acre block of trees that were in varying degree of health and quality depending on topography and past land use. We took detailed inventory of the whole property and then broke up the land on paper planning to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Increase Forest Health<\/strong> and productivity where good growth could be supported by identifying timber stands and performing a combination of TSI<\/a> and Crop Tree Release<\/a> on the stands to improve timber growth and wildlife habitat.<\/li>
- Increase Wildlife Habitat<\/strong> in areas where forest productivity is poor by managing them as Open Woodlands by thinning them to let light to the woodland floor, and then implementing Prescribed Fire <\/a>to stimulate and increase green vegetation and tender woody sprouts.<\/li>
- Increase Habitat Edge<\/strong> by creating habitat transitions between certain management stands using Edge Feathering to increase habitat diversity.<\/li>
- Increase Wildlife Food Production and Water Availability<\/strong> with food plots<\/a> and strategically placed water sources<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Today, I want to focus on what TSI and Edge Feathering looks like on the ground.<\/strong> <\/h1>\n\n\n\n
In\u00a0ecology<\/a>,\u00a0Edge Effects<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0are changes in\u00a0community<\/a>\u00a0structures that occur at the boundary of two or more\u00a0habitats<\/a>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scenicriversfarmforest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Ball-PHOTO-EdgeFeather-Example.jpeg\")
In this segment of the overall plan map for the property you will see how the habitat was laid out with forest stands, edge feathering in red<\/span>, food plots in green<\/span>, water holes in blue<\/span>, and open woodland\/prescribed fire stands in orange<\/span>. Photo Direction<\/strong> is for orienting the edge feathering photos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scenicriversfarmforest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20210114_101951-1024x516.jpg\")
In this photo you see how we make the transition from a continuous block of trees into 3 distinct but very complimentary habitat types. To the left is the boundary between forest stand 17 and 18 marked by the reference tree pointed by the red arrow. Stand 16 to the right of the installed fireline trail (orange line) will become an Open Woodland habitat. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scenicriversfarmforest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20210114_151809-1024x522.jpg\")
In this photo you see the edge feathering completed, and creates a distinct habitat type and creates a transition between the Forest Habitat to the far left (see pic below) and the future Open Woodland habitat to the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scenicriversfarmforest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20210106_122413-1024x397.jpg\")
This picture is what TSI looks like in stand 18, where we cut poorly formed, poorly growing, or undesirable species to make room for good quality trees to grow to their maximum potential. This makes for a productive healthy forest and good wildlife habitat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" These past few weeks we have been starting to implement a forest management plan that I developed for a landowner last year. His goals were to improve the timber and improve deer and turkey habitat. WE CAN HELP! He started off with a several hundred acre block of trees that were in varying degree of … <\/p>\n
- Increase Wildlife Habitat<\/strong> in areas where forest productivity is poor by managing them as Open Woodlands by thinning them to let light to the woodland floor, and then implementing Prescribed Fire <\/a>to stimulate and increase green vegetation and tender woody sprouts.<\/li>