Bad Ash problem.

[Flo1919]

I have 70 acres in WNY hit hard by the Emrald Ash Borer (EAB). 70 % of my acreage is Ash. I’m cutting this winter, whenever it arrives. I’m doing some clear cuts where I will put in hard-mast, late dropping fruit trees, and small kill plots. Worked with a Consulting Forrster.

My current dilemma is, would you, clear cut or put a minimum cut diameter say 8”-10”?

The thought of clear cutting all of it turns my stomach. We live in the county to live in the woods. Any other suggestions or similar experiences would be welcomed.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Well, you've got to remove all the dying ash. But what species is the other 30%? Is it something like hard maple that you want to be regenerating? I'd advise against clear cutting, but I'm not fond of a diameter cut either. A TSI (timber stand improvement) is the way to go. You pick the best trees and leave them for seed trees, spaced as evenly as possible, with open spaces in between. The spacings vary to the available trees and the owners discretion. This is the most responsible forest management tool, and determines what your forest will look like in twenty years from now. The ideal forest for timber dollars and habitat has trees in multiple stages and sizes, and should be logged for the biggest trees about every 15 years to continuously allow sunlight to the forest floor. A properly managed forest like this is beautiful to behold, and has something to offer for every species and purpose, including a constant supply of browse and bigger trees. If you clear cut your woods it will not be ideal for wildlife in many of the stages of regrowth process. First you have no cover, then for a few years you have ideal browse but no thermal cover. Then all to quickly there's nothing but a 10' high thick growth of saplings that an antlered deer can't even get through and that has no lower browse. From that it goes to open woods with big trees and no understory and a wildlife desert with no food at all for deer. Then another clear cut starts this bad cycle all over again.

 

[George]

Clear cutting could also lead to a flush of invasives. Being that this is a deer hunting forum, other than some diversity ash pretty much sucks for deer habitat, a mono culture really sucks. Leave some dead standing for wildlife and let the sun shine.

G

 

[Buckly]

What does the consulting forester say? All the ash is considered dead now or later.

 

[weekender21]

The experts are predicting 100% die off thanks to the EAB. I'd definitely cut all of those regardless of size and leave some healthy "seed trees" of your preferred species. Large healthy trees, not the 8" trees that may or may not be old. Invasives are a concern in parts of the country but I'm sure your forester can tell you what the risk is in your specific area. Prescribed fire can help fight back the invasive species and promote some fire tolerant natives. Maybe that's an option for you.

 

[JDunham]

What does the consulting forester say? All the ash is considered dead now or later.

This is a question for your forester who walked the property. He should be able to tell you what each option will produce on your property. Cut what you can use with the ash, the rest will not inhibit sunlight getting to the forest floor when it dies. We don't have as high a percentage of ash as you but it was over 50% on several parts of our property. We just had ours logged and all of the ash were obviously marked for cutting, they ended up leaving a lot of them as they were too far gone. We are cutting those for firewood. It was a heavy cut but certainly not a clearcut. I wouldn't get crazy cutting ash trees that you are just going to let lay, just energy and time you could spend on another habitat project. I have seen several stands of dead ash here that look like an old forest burn out west. Standing dead trees with lush undergrowth due to the sun getting to the forest floor.
My buddy had his property clear cut,roughly 60 acres but they left some scattered large oak trees in it as seed trees. They took everything else. It looked like hell for the first 2-3 years but has been a wildlife magnet the last 7. It served the purpose for that property which was to create deer cover where there was none prior to the cut. It was dense mature pine where you could see forever at ground level.
These are two different examples on two different properties. They each called for a different approach and we came to those plans with our forester after walking the properties and talking about our goals and what options we had given the market and our prospective properties.
We will just be throwing pies in the sky with our ideas about your property. As you can see that didn't stop me from throwing my 2 cents around. It is still fun to kick ideas around because they spark ideas for all of us. Seriously though, tell your forester what you are looking for and he will give what options you have to get there. That is what you are paying him for.

 

[Flo1919]

Thanks for all the thoughts guys. Any thoughts are welcomed & appreciated. Given the fact that no matter what I do, these Ash will die is making this decision harder. I just don’t know if I can stomach looking around and seeing all the ash gone even if it will die soon. Yesterday, I showed my wife a 3” diameter tree that was infected to demonstrate to her the dire situation we are in.

I’ve been a successful nut/seedling grower over the past ten years and I believe I can plant a deversitiy of hard mast that will improve my habitat, which is what I’m hanging my hat on. It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend, it really stinks.

 

[Keith Nehrke]

I'm in a similar situation, though not quite as dire. We own property to your east. Many of the parcels along the Lake Plains have an inordinately high abundance of ash. No matter how I try to frame it, the bottom line sucks. Yes, we will get more light to the forest floor. But I'm going to lose the only trees that I can use for stands in certain areas, and the invasives such as bush honeysuckle, MFR, autumn olive plus all the perennials like swallowwort, knotweed, and garlic mustard are poised to take over. I've been doing my best to prepare for the inevitable over the past five years, but still...it's going to be a disaster.