Joel Salatin on Forest Thinning

Even if you don’t have a forest to thin, Joel leads a fascinating discussion that includes Native American history and a “squirrel tree” he used to play on that still stands on his property. Joel also explains why and how to thin a forest, including: which trees are “keepers,” a simple calculation to determine how many trees to cut down, and when to cut all of the trees down.
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[@asktheanimals]

Glad Joel mentioned the differences between moist Eastern forests vs. arid Western forests. George Wuerthner is a good resource for Western forest ecology, particularly in regards to fire mitigation. The studies around it are surprising & often counter-intuitive until you dive deep into the nuances.

[@dianesmith8183]

Thank you for that info!

[@user-gk2ut8mc5e]

Fascinating!! Thank you so much

[@peterellis4262]

When he speaks about the distance where you convert diameter inches to feet - you then cut around that tree out to that distance. Not leave everything within that distance, that is backwards. The idea is to thin to give the tree more space.

[@gerrywalsh6853]

So simple thank you

[@dantheman9135]

ThankQ

[@rochrich1223]

It's mind blowing how much which trees you desire changes once you value bee forage at market rates in addition to timber value. Hard maple often goes from best to worst(stingy things). Bass, tulip poplar, sumac and pussy willow(earliest pollen) jump to the fore. It's also nice how swampy land suddenly becomes quite valuable.(Bass, poplar and willow all like wet feet.)

[@jefferytrapani9700]

So you are saying that as people learn to use the forest again for personal resources for the home or business, the tree selection changes. We end up selecting varieties best for honey production and building purposes? Also, the value we place on the Type of land we have changes because swamp land- usually covered over for developing homes- is now seen as valuable for the type of timber wood it supports? Are Bass, poplar and willow good timber trees?

[@rochrich1223]

Bass(Linden in metric countries) is an excellent carving wood. Willow makes excellent charcoal(they used to make gunpowder with willow charcoal). Poplar is a useful interior timber wood(rot prone exterior) but is bland, so doesn't command the big bucks like oak, hard maple or cherry. Timber value is the usual (short-sighted) basis for valuing forest land. Reasonably often, you hear people adding in firewood into the calculation. With silvo-culture you often hear cattle forage added(with grass often penciling out more valuable than fancy lumber trees) Bee forage info I've only come across bits and pieces. An acre of sumac can provide enough nectar for 100lb of wildflower honey that comes in the fall when bees are preparing for winter. At $10/lb/yr, it is much more profitable than, say corn's ~$100ish/ac. A big single bass tree could do enough nectar for 40lbs of honey. Tulip poplar and black berry account for 2/3s of the honey produced in southern Appalachia. Tulip poplar is a fast growing tree, reasonable timber wood, ok firewood.

[@jefferytrapani9700]

Thanks for sharing! @@rochrich1223

[@wallacewimmer5191]

😊

[@aaaaallllld7576]

Native Americans' use of fire is best defined as a farming practice. All consumers should be aware that the gospel of "burning the land is good" is not strongly backed by research, and burning comes with serious risks (e.g., wild fires, wiping out local insect populations, encouraging invasive plant growth). There are many ways to healthfully manage the land, depending on your goals.

[@lynnjasmine3216]

Wouldn't you agree that some dead trees should be kept for birds such as owls and woodpeckers? (I really like birds. Lol)

[@aaaaallllld7576]

Yes, dead standing trees are an important part of the ecosystem! So are dead trees on the forest floor, so let them rot! (And p.s., vines are also an important part of the ecosystem, because it seems that people who are zealous about cutting trees tend to remove vines too.)

[@dungeonmaster6292]

It's all about balance

[@georgemead6608]

Don't forget to rake it!! (sorry,I coulden't resist the sarcasm)

[@dungeonmaster6292]

Radius or diameter x 2?

[@breesechick]

Diameter in feet then double it. 7 in diameter tree times 2 equals 14. then convert the inches to feet. Then cut outside of that number radius, and not within. If the answer is 12 then you don't cut within 12 feet of the tree. Something like like. Radius times 2 divided by feet is what he said at around 12:30

[@dungeonmaster6292]

@@breesechick radius x 2 is the diameter. And that is much closer to what you'd axtually measure than radius. So he mispoke or something. I think he meant diameter @ breast height (DBH) x 2 as inches then that many feets worth is the radius around which you cut.

[@breesechick]

@@dungeonmaster6292 Thanks! I agree. I think I heard him say it both ways and I got confused but tried to write what I heard.

[@dungeonmaster6292]

@@breesechick it's just a rule of thumb and frankly a more nuanced plan for each parcel is needed

[@peterellis4262]

@@dungeonmaster6292 Look at about 10:40, correct information at that point