The thinning of trees is an important step in the wildlife management process and it helps improve your pocketbook.
My mother has part of her family’s land in Montgomery County. It has been in her family since 1833. Part of the land (25 acres) that was farmland in 1937 (that is the oldest aerial photo I have found) has grown up in a thick stand of green ash and sweetgum. Another part (30 acres) was growing a mixed stand of pine and upland hardwoods. Some of the oaks had died as a result of stress.
Nevertheless, my mother is primarily interested in income and I am primarily interested in wildlife. To reach both goals, we needed to do a “junk” cut or timber harvest.
First, let’s discuss what steps we took. We hired a forester to mark the trees that were to be cut. On the upland site, he marked sweetgum and pine that were very old or were crooked and taking up sunlight, nutrients and space from straighter trees.
On the bottomland site, he marked primarily sweetgum, sycamore, green ash and oaks that were old and diseased. He also marked trees that were too close together so the stand would be evenly spaced and each tree had plenty of water, nutrients and sunlight.
Both high-quality and low-quality trees are good for wildlife, but the high-quality tree is the best income producer. Small trees are unsuitable for sawtimber because they are too small.
In 10 to 15 years from now, both types of trees will be big enough for sawtimber, but only the quality tree will be used for sawtimber. The crooked pine tree will be used for pulpwood. It will be worth only about $7/ton, whereas the straight pine tree will be worth about $24/ton.
Historically, the first tree will have increased in value at an annual compound rate of 5 percent, whereas the second will have done so at 19 percent. As investments, one is great, the other is a loser. You want to eliminate the losers now to increase available water, nutrients, and sunlight for your income producers.
I write this column because of the strong need for good quality forest management in Mississippi. It is good for wildlife (and keeps my mother happy). Plus, you can make your forests/wildlife habitat into superb investments. This won’t happen unless you do something now and do it right. And you can teach your children or grandchildren how to do it.
So, by taking care of your big-dollar trees, you’ll protect the environment, create forests that will regularly produce income, produce all the timber we need, and maintain great areas to hunt and view wildlife.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Its website is
www.wildlifemiss.org.
