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   If a person has timber ground, it is important to decide what one wants to accomplish with that property. It can be managed for recreation, lumber production, or wildlife among other uses. Though I own my timber property primarily for wildlife and specifically for deer and turkey, a good management program will improve the area for many uses. Managing a timber stand is a time consuming and laborious process, but the end result is well worth the time and effort expended on the process.

   I have the advantage of a few people with a lot of interest in improvement as well as the energy required to accomplish the goals. Damon and Pat both have the desire required. They both have chain saws and burn wood as their primary heat source.

   Rather than working here and there around the farm taking out undesirable trees and clearing small patches of brush as they went, they decided to concentrate on a patch of woods of about forty acres surrounded by open pasture and hay ground. During the summer, while brush was growing, I sprayed multiflora rose bushes and buck brush with a herbicide that was specific to woody brush. This killed back the thorny invasive plants.

   The next step was to go in and cut junk trees for firewood. Hedge, also known as Osage orange, is desirable for firewood and fence posts. It spreads out, shading the surrounding areas, preventing more appropriate trees, such as oaks, from growing. It has little wildlife benefit. Locust trees and hickory make good firewood. Elm and willow trees, in my opinion, have no value. Damon and Pat spent their spare time in the fall and early winter stockpiling large amounts of firewood from the hedge, hickory, and a few dead oak trees. The willow and elm trees that got in the way were dropped and left for wildlife cover.

   The next step, for me, was the scariest part. To burn a timber seemed dangerous and counter intuitive. After having seen a controlled burn through a timber and doing some research on the results, I agreed to let them go ahead. After a snow and on a day with no wind, the two started. My biggest concern was being able to control the fire and not burning down a large part of the county. Manned with a drip torch and a leaf blower, they started the back burn. A drip torch is a great way to start a fire, and the leaf blower will put it out by blowing fuel away from the area to not be burned. The entire area had a ring burned around it to limit the spread. When the fire burned into the timber there was no raging inferno. The leaves, dead branches, and dead brush burned at a nice steady pace. Occasionally, a dead elm tree would fall, or downed oak log would catch fire, but for the most part, there was no drama such as I was expecting. It took all day for the fire to burn to the center of the forty acres and took about a week and a half for the last of the smoldering logs to burn out. I was impressed with the looks of the end result. Grass is already growing in areas that have not seen grass for years because of being shaded by the canopy and smothered with leaves.

   Deer and turkey also seem to appreciate the improvement. They have been eating acorns that were previously inaccessible. I am anxious to see the area later this spring as new oak trees sprout and the mature oak, hickory, and walnut trees begin to thrive due to less competition.

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