Tree Farmer - January/February 2011 - (Page 28)

Interplanting By wildlife matters Jackson My acquaintance with intensive forest management began in the late 1970s, when I arrived at the university of Georgia (uGa) — by way of Michigan, Ohio, and sub-Saharan africa — to be the state’s extension wildlife specialist. I was assigned to the extension forest resources Department. Intensive row-crop forestry was new to me. I learned forestry from my new forester colleagues. I had saved enough from my previous job to buy a piece of timberland that included a parcel of bare, cutover land. I site-prepped and planted this parcel to loblolly pines. a year later, in 1979, I began an experiment to diversify my future forest by interplanting sawtooth oak seedlings (Quercus acutissima) among the loblolly pine seedlings. I hoped the oaks would produce nuts for wildlife during the life of the pines. Further, I speculated that after the final harvest of the pines, the oaks would have a headstart on the way to developing a mast-producing area for wildlife. I did not deliberately choose sawtooth oak. A friend had unexpectedly given me a bag of seedlings. Sawtooth oak is an exotic from eastern Asia, and Overtopped sawtooth oaks (light grey trunks) in loblolly pine forest. Oak seedlings were interplanted in 1979 amongst pines planted in 1978. Photo by Phyllis Jackson JeFF Oaks in Pines I’ve come to like exotics less and less. Sawtooth oaks were the new wonder tree for wildlife at the time. It seemed that everybody was caught up in sawtooth oak fever. I also dabbled in a few Chinese chestnut seedlings that I had germinated and grown in the garden. Last fall, when the UGA silviculture class came for a field trip, one of our “point-of-interest” stops was in this sawtooth oak/loblolly pine interplanted zone, to see the status of the experiment. Jeff Jackson is a wildlife management consultant, based at his Tree Farm in Arnoldsville, Georgia. He is a retired professor of wildlife management and former Extension wildlife specialist at the University of Georgia. Reach him at (706) 543-2656. 28 International Year of Forests, 2011 Tree Farmer JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - January/February 2011

Tree Farmer - January/February 2011
Contents
Cover Story
2010 Northeast Regional Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Sponsored by STIHL, Inc.
Managing Risk in Agritourism
Taxing Issues
Woodland Security
Wildlife Matters

Tree Farmer - January/February 2011