BE A WOODLOT MANAGER
The neglected private woodlots; government support; the firewood business; additional income.
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Woodlot management is a healthy outdoor occupation that can
provide an individual or co-op with steady work, good
wages, and a regular supply of firewood for personal use.
But these considerations, though important, aren't the only
reasons to consider a career as a "tree farmer" . . .
because woodlot managers are downright ecologically
necessary!
That fact is that there are thousands of acres of privately
owned hardwood forests—all over the United
States—that are badly in need of management. Though
most folks don't know it, these woodlots suffer from
"weeds" just as gardens or croplands do. But, in the case
of forested areas, this unwanted growth consists of the
undesirable, poor quality, or dead trees that crowd out
more valuable species.
Now, most of the neglected stands still contain some usable
saw timber and great quantities of firewood, but— if
the present trends continue—these resources will soon
be gone ... because our valuable hardwoods require regular
and careful management if they're to continue to serve us
and the generations of the future.
THE NEGLECTED WOODLOT
Private woodlots—once the pride and joy of the family
farm—are now often ignored. The availability of
inexpensive fossil fuels, of course, is one reason for this
neglect ... few people are willing to cut, haul, and split
firewood when a flick of the thermostat can accomplish the
same result. But the problem goes deeper than that. New
farm buildings, for instance, are now usually built of fir
and pine boards purchased in town, instead of the
once—common oak planks milled from the "back 40".
And, many modern farmers—with huge herds of livestock
or hundreds of acres of crops to tend—simply don't
have the time or labor available to manage their woodlands
carefully ... if they manage them at all.
Often, too, woodlots are held by absentee owners who are
either unwilling or unable to put in the work necessary to
maintain a healthy tree farm. These folks may faithfully
tend and weed their gardens, but many of them
assume—incorrectly—that any forest with trees
is healthy, productive, and best left alone.
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