This is a busy time of year around our offices as our Learn About Your Classes have started, in 23 locations and on the web. One of our topics is planning for your forest, so I thought I would take some time today to share some insights with you. I was reading a couple of […]
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Non-timber Forest Products: Part III Mushrooms
It may be helpful to understand the ecology of mushrooms before you get started hunting your own, or even growing them. A mushroom itself is a fruiting body, kind of like the acorn of an oak tree. The fungi itself (the tree trunk) is often hidden from our eyes either in the soil or the […]
Passing the Land on to Others
Family members are invited to participate in activities like deer hunting, and asked to help with tree planting and harvesting. But more often then not, their input is not looked for when decisions are being made regarding the management of the woodlot. Many times they are turned off by the phrase “my woods”, when they […]
Using a chainsaw safely and efficiently
Avoid mistakes and injuries while using your chainsaw by treating it with kindness and respect. My wife’s grandfather, who turns 100 years old this fall, has been working in the woods off and on for most of his life. If it wasn’t cutting ties and bolts by hand in the winter to make some money, […]
Non-timber Forest Products: Part II Seeds and Boughs
Just this past week, I saw a local florist advertising that they are now purchasing boughs (or branches from conifer trees). In fact, nationwide, the most frequently sold NTFP is boughs. The most common use for boughs is of course wreaths. Other uses include garland, floral arrangements and producing aromatic oils. Luckily for those of […]
Building a forest one tree at a time
There is more to planting trees than “one to a hole, green side up”. I have planted a fair number of trees in the twenty some years I have been in this profession, and it is still a joy to put a tree in the ground with visions of more shade or veneer quality logs […]
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
As forestry educators, we often focus on timber sales (we want them to go well after all), but there are many more goods that can be harvested from woodlands for recreational or financial reasons. These goods are usually called non-timber forest products (NTFPs), which although states what they aren’t, does a good job of indicating […]
Wildfire and your Woodland
There are a number of simple things that any landowner can do to protect their home and property from damage from wildfires. My wife and I bought a home north of Rhinelander on a pretty dry parcel of land. To say that it is sandy is a bit of an understatement. The description in the […]
Getting the most out of your forest trail
The keys to developing a trail and road network that meets your needs now and into the future. My wife’s grandfather is a retired farmer in the Tomah area with a small woodlot that he has been extracting firewood from over the past seven decades. For much of that time, he has used his trusty […]