It has been a
"....long strange trip..",for sure, since we packed a ton-and -a-
half Chevy truck, in 1974, with all of our tools, belongings, a freezer full of
food, and our two dogs. With a few thousand dollars, and a pile of Mother Earth
News and Organic Gardening magazines, we were headed for anywhere that would
accommodate what we felt would be a simpler and more rewarding lifestyle than
the urban sprawl had to offer.
The abandoned mountain
farms of Northwest Arkansas were one of the last places that we visited in the
two months that we toured the backwaters of Americas deserted agricultural
past. The soil on most of the farms was as poor as when it had been abandoned during
the depression.
The adjoining forests
had regenerated to a great extent and reasonable timberland could be bought for
a song. After a few adjustments, we found ourselves the owners of 160 acres
covered with massive red and white oaks, hickories, and a dozen or so other
minor species.
We bought our sawmill in 1979 and began to selectively harvest
our trees.
The land was immediately put into the American Tree Farm
system. This allowed us to get help from various government and professional
sources in planning and managing our land in a manner that would optimize yield
and minimize environmental impact.
Some of the plans that were proposed ran counter to our
sensibilities, and were ignored or discarded. The most notable of these is the
use of herbicides to kill out unwanted vegetation or suppress less desirable
species.
The concept that herbicides are "safe" is one that
eludes me. We prefer to use the method of "girdling" to kill unwanted
trees. This consists of
cutting a groove, about 3/4 of an inch deep, completely around a tree. The flow of
nutrients and moisture is interrupted and the tree dies in about 4 months.
Slower and less certain than herbicides, it is guaranteed not to hurt wildlife
or my family.
We have cut over
350,000 board feet of lumber from our land in the past 30 years. The effect has
been to "release" a lot of the highly desirable species to grow to
their potential. The forest canopy has restored itself from the initial heavy
cuttings of cull species and trees that were of poor form or unsound. We now
can cut 10 to 15 thousand bd ft of high quality lumber from our forest with an
increase of quantity and quality every year.
The logging roads
and openings in the canopy provide forage and cover for a huge variety of
wildlife. From its near barren start, we now routinely see deer, bear, turkey,
bobcats, coyotes, and a dozen or so other minor species of mammals.
We achieved
the “holy grail” of North American ecological reconstruction the past few
years. In a sandy wash by a road ditch, have been the unmistakable tracks of a
Mountain Lion
The bird population has exploded with dozens of species
abundant now. From the Eagles in the spring, to the Great Horned and Screech
Owls every night,we enjoy our
daily contact with all but the most inconsiderate Raptors. And for those
occasional , "hard to deter" predators, we keep a personal flock of
crows that treat all threats, feathered or furred, with equal disdain.
We are especially
proud of the habitat improvement that we have done with the reptile and
amphibian species. We have recorded species of both that are deemed
"rare" in the field guides.
The furniture that we
build from the trees will extend their lives for a hundred or more years past
their harvesting at maturity. Our management and harvesting practices guarantee
that all future generations that desire to, can continue with this process.
I look at furniture
in our house, or beams in the ceiling and flooring under our feet, and remember
the tree that it was cut from.
