Treeaddict
Treehouser
What dost thou thinketh?
Argument for NOT replanting
- Thread starter Treeaddict
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What dost thou thinketh?
Makes sense to me. My opinion, as almost always, is trees can take care of themselves. The fire risk is a way they take care of themselves, but that puts it in conflict with humans, so management becomes more thoughtful. Economic stands aren't environment, so they get managed by humans. Otherwise, cut trees down, more trees grow. They do it by themselves. Might not always be in a timeframe that satisfies humans, but they'll handle it.
Burnham
Woods walker
Eventually. Maybe. Never as quickly as is wise if you wish to manage for a crop that is designed to meet our appetite for wood fiber in an efficient manner.
I didn't watch the vid. I believe I've heard the argument before, and it is complete horsepucky in my admittedly biased opinion.
If you don't plant for desired species, and manage competition to encourage those species, then you get undesired species in ascendency for what can sometimes be many decades, or longer.
If all you care about is getting something, anything, growing, then that's easy. Just cut and run. You'll get a brush patch for decades before a few Douglas fir manage to soldier through, in small numbers per acre (as an example of what will happen here on the west slopes of the Cascades).
Because that's what this vid is advocating. Cut and run.
I didn't watch the vid. I believe I've heard the argument before, and it is complete horsepucky in my admittedly biased opinion.
If you don't plant for desired species, and manage competition to encourage those species, then you get undesired species in ascendency for what can sometimes be many decades, or longer.
If all you care about is getting something, anything, growing, then that's easy. Just cut and run. You'll get a brush patch for decades before a few Douglas fir manage to soldier through, in small numbers per acre (as an example of what will happen here on the west slopes of the Cascades).
Because that's what this vid is advocating. Cut and run.
Burnham
Woods walker
OK, I broke down and watched it. He makes some solid points.
I'll maintain that he cites a lot of exceptions to the "don't replant" title, many of which my post above is in alignment with.
His too tight forest needs thinning, not cutting a few big trees and hoping for the best. Managing competition is not at all the same as harvesting and not replanting.
I'll maintain that he cites a lot of exceptions to the "don't replant" title, many of which my post above is in alignment with.
His too tight forest needs thinning, not cutting a few big trees and hoping for the best. Managing competition is not at all the same as harvesting and not replanting.
Treeaddict
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
And I’d imagine the end goal has a lot to do with it. If you’re looking to harvest the trees in the future, you’d plant and plant desired species. If you just want erosion control and wildlife habitat, let nature take care of it.
Agreed, he did advocate for replanting in quite a few situations which seems contrary to the title.
I was curious what the House thought about his philosophy, especially you Burnham, as you specialized in that arena. Glad you broke down to watch it!
Agreed, he did advocate for replanting in quite a few situations which seems contrary to the title.
I was curious what the House thought about his philosophy, especially you Burnham, as you specialized in that arena. Glad you broke down to watch it!
flushcut
TreeHouser
IMO a timber crop is the same thing as a corn field but on a different timeline. Some fields get planted some go fallow it depends on who’s buying.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
That was a good vid. He made some good points.
I've pointed out many times that natural reproduction overtakes planted trees 10 to 1.
Especially here on the coast. Unless you want to change what grows naturally on your slopes planting is generally a waste of time and money.
Otherwise it's site specific.
I've pointed out many times that natural reproduction overtakes planted trees 10 to 1.
Especially here on the coast. Unless you want to change what grows naturally on your slopes planting is generally a waste of time and money.
Otherwise it's site specific.
stikine
Treehouser
I didn't watch the video yet but will eventually. Planting is certainly a good thing in many areas but totally unnecessary here in coastal Alaska. Our natural regeneration is often in excess of 15000 trees per acre. Pre commercial thinning to a 14 to 18 foot spacing is the norm depending on the objective.
Kaveman
Treehouser
USFS didn't do much to reforest after the Rodeo-Chediski fire 22 years ago. Now the burned area, which had been predominantly Ponderosa and Pinion pine, has regenerated to some extent. The new growth is almost exclusively Gamble Oak and Alligator Juniper, with Shagbark replacing Juniper in certian areas. The more recent Bear Wallow fire will likely see similar regrowth eventually. This is mostly due to the oaks and "cedars" being more resilient early on than the pines.
Mick!
TreeHouser
Don’t know too much about where you guys are, but in Western Europe you could wait 100 years or more from an abandoned agricultural field to any sort of forest, even then it’ll be mostly birch or other pioneer species.
I’m very much in the planting camp.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
On good tree growing land you have endless options on how you might mange it.
Environmentally, though, some sites are inhospitable for trees to grow, or too impractical to attempt growing trees on.
I'm constantly pulling seedlings out of the ground. The mower keeps large open areas clear.
If I didn't pull or mow for ten years my yard would transcend into a fledgling forest of Pygmy Cypress, Bishop Pine and Douglas fir. In that order, some exceeding 20 feet tall.
It's a constant battle, and when I'm gone the trees will win.
Environmentally, though, some sites are inhospitable for trees to grow, or too impractical to attempt growing trees on.
I'm constantly pulling seedlings out of the ground. The mower keeps large open areas clear.
If I didn't pull or mow for ten years my yard would transcend into a fledgling forest of Pygmy Cypress, Bishop Pine and Douglas fir. In that order, some exceeding 20 feet tall.
It's a constant battle, and when I'm gone the trees will win.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Some volunteers at one of our log deck and milling spots...
