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Originally Posted by Dean Romig
Very nice Garry. I especially like what you have done with your woodlod. Will you be managing it for woodcock going forward?
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Thanks Dean. Our farm is a registered/certified Tree Farm and has been for almost 40 years. To achieve certification you have to have a written management plan...and follow it. Establishing and maintaining early successional forest areas is in our plan. We work with consulting foresters from our Conservation Department. It's been somewhat of a challenge to get some of the foresters to grasp the concept of how important early successional forests are for certain wildlife and insects. I had to get one of the RGS biologists to write and convince one of my foresters that I should leave young trees growing with greater stem density rather than thin the trees at an earlier point. The tree growth is retarded some, but the habitat benefits outweigh that, and our timber is mostly palette grade wood (although we have some nicer potential logs since we've been managing our farm).
Interestingly, the Wild Turkey Federation and the various deer management groups are now singing the praises of early successional forests. We actually get cost share funds from the WTF for many of the management practices we employ (TSI/FSI, prescribed fire, temporary openings, etc.).
I'm proud to say that in 2017 Elaine and I were recognized as Missouri Tree Farmers of the year for the work we'd done on our farm.
It's amazing what nature will do with a little help from us.
Woodcock are definitely in our management plans.
(You can find Savannah Ridge Tree Farm on Google Maps to see our location and some photos of the farm.)