Sustainable Forestry Activities
As we move through the fall at the Hidden Valley Nature Center we are winding down a very busy season of forestry programming. Over the past year we have held five forest management walk and talks: three were a series on our Crop Tree Release Projects (CTR), one was “Forestry for Maine Birds” in partnership with the Maine Audubon, highlighting HVNC as a demonstration site for habitat management; and another was sponsored by the Knox and Lincoln County Soil and Water Conservation District along with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, showcasing trail construction and forest management and how they can facilitate habitat and water quality management. We also held three successful chainsaw safety courses and were visited by an area high school forestry class.
Much of the overstory at HVNC is young and even-aged and over stocked as a result of previous harvest practices, which is a potential set-up for stand degradation over time and has a limited benefit to wildlife. Through our thinning projects, we are removing high risk and low quality trees, many of which were damaged during previous harvests. All thinnings that are of value are removed using low impact forestry practices. All tree parts that are not firewood or saw log quality remain in the forest. Through this method of management, our goal is to increase the number of larger older trees over time; succeeding generations of trees will be encouraged to grow in the understory, creating a multi-canopy forest to the benefit of many native woodland species. We leave woody debris of all sizes and minimizing soil disturbance by using widely spaced temporary trails and careful extraction techniques using cables to maximize soil productivity and tree health. This restorative approach also functions naturally in the vital role of at capturing and retaining carbon, critical to climate change mitigation.
Heading into winter, we will continue our CTR projects as an ongoing part of the overall Timber Stand Improvement Projects that Midcoast Conservancy is contracted to perform with the Natural Resources Conservation Services.
Watch our events calendar for program offerings and join us in 2022 for another full array of forest programming!
