Tree Farmer - Winter 2012 - (Page 16)

From Carbonetti, Mike learned to look at the bark and base of a balsam fir to determine its age and how much longer it might live. What he discovered surprised him: “These balsam fir trees are not going to outlive us. They are going to die, and quickly.” Without younger, more diverse stands to fill in when the balsams die, “It was a recipe for a big mess,” Mike says. The realization that nature was not going to give them the forest they wanted led the Fritzes to create a management plan for their land that included active forestry with selective timber harvests and some deer hunting to restore balance to the local deer population and allow young trees to grow. The detailed map of the property that the Fritzes had created for orienteering turned out to be a big help in developing a sustainable forestry management plan. Carbonetti says that one of the keys of the Fritzes’ success is their willing- ness to learn. For Mike that meant tapping not only Carbonetti’s expertise, but also the resources available through his Vermont county forester, Russ Barrett. It also involved reading many books and articles, participating in several sessions of the Game of Logging training program and taking every opportunity to tour other Tree Farms in the American Tree Farm System®. “It has been one of the highlights of my professional career to work with Mike and Vivien,” says Carbonetti. Part of the Fritzes’ learning process involves mistakes. Mike was disappointed in the amount of damage logging vehicles did when trees were harvested in the summer, for example, so now the Fritzes harvest timber only in the winter, when the ground is typically frozen. And Mike tried several logging contractors until he found one with the attention to detail needed to comply with the family’s management plan. The Fritzes have worked with that contractor for five years now. There are many payoffs from the Fritzes’ active management of their forest. One is taking shape in the family’s three-story, restored barn: a cherrywood dining table made from 15-inch planks milled on-site. Mike borrows a saw mill for a few months each year, which allows him to complete projects like this one—where the wood is grown, cut, milled, and the piece created and finished on the property. Mike says that much of the couple’s furniture was built this way. As a long-time woodworker, Mike says, it had always been his dream to harvest his own cherrywood. Other payoffs have wings, and fur, and feathers. With a mix of trees of all ages, wildlife has flourished at Beaver Brook Tree Farm. “We now see more moose, black bear, and turkey. And the increase in warblers has just been incredible,” says Vivien, an avid bird watcher. 16 ‘‘ ‘‘ ‘‘ ...in the past 10 years, the land has produced enough saw logs to build 80 homes, enough pulp for 1,000 tons of paper, and enough wood chips to heat one of Vermont’s larger high schools for seven years. Tree Farmer Winter 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - Winter 2012

Tree Farmer - Winter 2012
Contents
From the Director
Forest News
After the Election, Time to Re-engage
Finding Their Way
A Woman’s Touch
Real-World Education
Connecting Kids to Nature
Sharing Your Experiences
Ties to the Land
Woodland Security
Taxing Issues

Tree Farmer - Winter 2012