Clear cutting half arsed, why?

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Looking at the first picture I thought they should push it back some since it looks like a drop off unless they plan on burning it.
I planted 500 white pines with a dibble years ago.

 

[newbury]

I planted 500 white pines with a dibble years ago.

When I was a freshman through junior in high school I must have planted thousands. There was a state nursery that would hire high school kids in early spring. We would generally only work a few critical weekends planting "sprouts" that just had a long root and about 6" above the ground. Would spend about the entire day bent over. But there weren't many paying jobs for 14yr olds and it beat collecting bottles.

 

[Jstpssng]

I planted 500 white pines with a dibble years ago

When I was a freshman through junior in high school I must have planted thousands

My back hurts just from reading these posts!
We don't plant a lot up here. If anything we have too much regeneration, thanks to previous cutting practices. Not many clearcuts with the exception of a couple of companies, and we can sell almost every forest product for something.

A recent startup is making wood based insulation with R values comparable to cellulose. It will be interesting to see if that takes off.

 

[jyoutz]

Just trying to educate... Pine bark beetles attack live / stressed trees, needing moisture for the young larvae to survive to adulthood (they live just under the bark). When you hear crunching on dead pines, those are wood borers and their young feed in rotting dead wood.

As for why people clear cut like the OP saw... it's the cheapest, most cost effective way. The owners most likely don't even see the property! Once the under story begins to grow, it great habitat for so many animals and it provides cover for them too.

My degree is in forest management (Stephen F. Austin, '80) where you learn a half dozen ways to manage a forest.... with clear cutting being used 98% of the time.

Hopefully, they will replant it (but I doubt it...)

In my Region we use group selection cutting 90% of the time for pine and mixed conifer forests. Occasionally shelterwood cutting, with clear cutting only to regenerate aspen. This is becoming very common throughout the Rocky Mountains.

 

[Torvy]

Just trying to educate... Pine bark beetles attack live / stressed trees, needing moisture for the young larvae to survive to adulthood (they live just under the bark). When you hear crunching on dead pines, those are wood borers and their young feed in rotting dead wood.

My degree is in forest management (Stephen F. Austin, '80) where you learn a half dozen ways to manage a forest.... with clear cutting being used 98% of the time.

Thanks! We lost a few this fall to beetles.

The TAMU extension office is staffed by SFA grads, oddly enough. We toured the campus there when #2 was looking. I liked it a lot. She almost went there. Math worked out better ar UTA (she could live at home after 1st year).

 

[jyoutz]

Thanks! We lost a few this fall to beetles.

The TAMU extension office is staffed by SFA grads, oddly enough. We toured the campus there when #2 was looking. I liked it a lot. She almost went there. Math worked out better ar UTA (she could live at home after 1st year).

The forestry school in TX is SFA

 

[forgeblast]

That makes sense. Someone comes in, offers you the best bang for the buck on the money you can make on the trees taken down and you run with it.

Although I can be lazy at times, if you're prepared to do something, do it right the first time is something I've always held myself to.

That said, since I have no clue what I'm talking about, perhaps in 15 years after a clear cut, everything will look "fine".

I honestly don't know.

well there are times you want to clear cut too....if it was previously high graded and all you have are firewood trees left then cut and re start. Piling up the tops will keep the deer out and let trees grow.

If i was going to clear cut though....I would use 5-6' tall tubex tubes and buy hardwood seelings like cherry, sugar maple, and black walnut, chestnut ones its released is what I am going to do a lot of because all of our beech trees have beech bark disease.
The tubes keep the deer and voles from killing the trees.
I just finished up a 15 year crep planting and it went from an eroding multiflora field to a nice little woodland where I have pin oak, black walnut, hickorys, etc growing. the deer bed down in there and i plan on putting a few archery stands in it.
I was working with a forester to come up with a plan for my 20 acres and we had a neighbor doing a cut. Well they came on my property and marked all the trees they would like to take. (all high grade). We said no, as I was working with the forester. When he came out and saw how bad they cut the neighbors he said we did the right thing. By waiting 10-15 years we doubled the price we can get on the trees. My black cherry are growing at 1/2 a year....But the neighbors cut they had barber chairs, they had pull out from the butt end of the log. It was a mess.
Now we are pretty confident in what we are doing is the right thing. If i could I would honestly deer fence to exclude parts of my property to allow it to regenerate. The deer are relentless on little saplings.