Talking About our Timber Plan

This year we worked with a forester to complete a timber plan for our acreage. In our area timber plans are used to demonstrate to the county and other programs that there is a plan in place for commercial timber production and eventual harvest of timber products. I feel like the forester that we worked with help us find a plan that doesn't clear cut the forest and works with nature for a healthy forest overall.
Right now implementing the timber plan looks like a bunch of pre-commercial thinning to allow room for healthy canopy growth and reducing potential for disease. While thinning I will be making sure there are cedar and hemlock growing in the understory and I'll also establish paths to cut and remove mature trees when they are ready for harvest.
I have some plans for the wood that I will be thinning. Right now those plans look like a temporary goat barn and fence. Also I am looking into building a wood gasifier and running our generator and possibly a green house on wood gas. But this will all be in future videos.
I'm interested to know about other peoples experience with growing a forest on their property.
You can now support our channel! Learn more
www.simpleground.com/supportus...

Be sure check out our other content.

Website: www.simpleground.com
Patreon: www.patreon.com/simpleground
Instagram: simplegroundjourney
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/simpleground/

[@novanut1964]

good video, glad you talked to the expert forester

[@Simplegroundlife]

I am too.

[@hawkfather1]

We are nearing completion of 36 acres of thinning around our house…about 15% of the total property. Our goal is to be mindful of habitat, forest health and esthetics as we thin for the primary purpose of fire safety. We signed up for the federal grant program, though we have done most of the physical work. Looks great and we have all the firewood we can use (our primary source of heat) as well as a few dozen decks of logs to sell for firewood in the next couple of years. Also set aside a healthy supply of saw logs for additional building projects.

[@honthirty_]

Wise move. Allowing new people a chance to adapt to the land is a smart idea that the county hopefully supports. Mono crops / forests are a concern. Wood gassifier sounds like an interesting project. I made a small one as a kid, but not KZbin appropriate.

[@Simplegroundlife]

It seems like it has been a good process so far. The county seems to support this type of forestry plan. Not all of the timber farmers in the area jive with this type of timber management, but it is accepted overall. I'm excited to explore a wood gasifier and I have liked what I have seen so far. I will have to see how it all goes.

[@jason-white]

The one big thing that always pops in my head is that the forest never had a problem until we started "managing" it.

[@Simplegroundlife]

You know, that is where my mind has been honestly. The counter argument on my place is that it was clear cut about 12 years ago. I'm hoping that the "management" that I would be doing is restoration work as much as anything else. I'm sure nature would find some balance all by herself if I did nothing at all though. Also a lot of the "problems" are only problems because they cut into our plans or our bottom line somehow. Best wishes.

[@jsaysyay]

i think it’s really great of an idea, honestly succession in a forest is fascinating and under-mentioned imo. not just hacking it to nothing, letting the forest exist and live to help new trees of diverse species and ages grow. i don’t really have experience with your sorta situation but i have done a lot of research on succession where i live so that i can help restore what’s been lost or could be lost around me

[@Simplegroundlife]

I am honestly fascinated by the whole topic and was happy, at first, to let the forest grow wild as I learned. But I am slowly being educated enough to feel confident in thinning. I spent some time hiking through some of the old growth forests around here and they have really inspired me in many ways.

[@honthirty_]

FEMA published a how-to 90 page report in 1989 for a gassification unit that could run a tractor. Still available on-line.

[@Simplegroundlife]

I did find the FEMA report and some of the commentary about it. There are quite a few good resources on syngas production and it seems like a deep dive. It might be a good fit for our place and as I explore many of my options it keeps coming on top. I have a few ideas that I am going to explore in some of my next videos if I can. We will have to see how it all goes.

[@springerranch3178]

We are in the same boat, the only difference for us is that about 15 of our 30 acres is currently a 60ish year old unmanaged ash forest that we going to lose soon due to the emerald ash borer. So we are looking at ways to start replacing that with native alternatives, but it's a big undertaking since most of the ground is higher than average in water retention, due to a highway being built and blocking drainage, so some dirt work is required too.. I'm not interested in the mini forest though, so it will have a lot of variety, Oregon oak, big leaf maple, cottonwood, quaking Aspen, Doug fir, red cedar, hemlock, etc... have to figure stages though to aid in controlling water as I enhance the wetlands areas and help dry out the rest... The woodgas route is one I plan on taking as well, even have an idea based on it to create an incinerator for the pyrolysis of trash to use as fuel smoke for a wood kiln... Not sure how soon I can try it, but definitely eager to do so!

[@springerranch3178]

Won't let me edit that, mono forest, not mini...

[@Simplegroundlife]

Oh man! I attended an online conference about emerald ash borer this summer and was blown away about how devastating it can be. I'm sorry you have it on your place and that your trees are so hard to get to. It is especially hard, I imagine, because of the increased fire risk of working during the dry season. I've been impressed by your ingenuity featured in your videos so far so it will be interesting to see what you come up with. It is amazing how much there is to growing a forest. I'll have to look into what you have found on woodgas as well. A gasifier pairs especially well with a sawmill for sure, but utilizing the heat/etc for a kiln could be a useful thing. I've been wondering about integrating the system into a greenhouse to capture excess heat as well.

[@JCZ2601NL]

👍👍👍👍👍🍀

[@Simplegroundlife]

Best wishes!