Participants all own land along or near the North Shore of Lake Superior. They spent additional hours outside of class reading, listening to webinars, working their land, researching topics that would help them in restoring their woodland properties and interviewing with Forester Jan and Mike, sharing their goals for the future forest on their property. 

October 16, 2060: 

From the journal of a “Lost Forest” woodland advisor:

On this fiftieth anniversary of the “Lost Forest” initiative, it is a pleasure to gaze upon the young and healthy forest made up of birch, spruce, aspen, maple, cedar, balsam fir, bur oak, hemlock, and on the highlands, young white and red/Norway pine.

The climate has warmed over the past 50 years, giving us a dryer, warmer environment with more frequent, intense storms.  Increasing temperatures and decreasing soil moisture in summer months has had dramatic effects on plant communities.  New biological communities have arisen, dominated by plant and animal species that are best able to disperse in our new climate, especially invasive species.  As predicted back in 2011, the ranges for plants and trees have shifted from south to north and from west to east. In addition, climatic disturbances have changed the frequency and severity of fires, tornados, insect and pathogens, thunderstorms and droughts.

Invasive plants, insects, and diseases, such as buckthorn, Emerald Ash Borer, and White Pine Blister Rust, have contributed to the demise of the forest that existed 50 years ago and the succession of the young healthy forest we see today.  Herbicides that are relatively earth friendly supplement digging and pulling in maintaining control of non-native plants.  Identifying and locating the invasive plants are the first step before applying the herbicide.  The newer herbicides used today to eliminate invasive species are more targeted to specific species and are more rapidly degraded to protect the environment.  The use of CWMA (Cooperative Weed Management Area) teams, working with landowners to try to eradicate the sources of the invasive species and apply the herbicides, has increased and the benefits are visible in the forest.

There are constants that remain as they were fifty years ago. The larger rivers still flow, deeper lakes provide good fishing, and the ledge rock remains ever so strong at the waters edge.  The smaller creeks and streams are more often dry due to the warming climate with longer, drier summers.  The increases in the wolf and coyote populations have reduced the whitetail deer herds substantially.

Technology is a new constant in the maintaining of and planting of new trees in the young forest.  Tree farms and tree gardens, developed just for climate change, are two of our best sources for new trees to plant where landowners need and want them.  Large area seeding from the air is another popular technique used by landowners to reforest larger areas of their acreages. Cooperative efforts between landowners and government agencies contribute to the steady growth of the young forest.  Landowners share knowledge and resources, such as equipment, work force and tools to make managing and maintenance easier for the landowners and Mother Nature.

Technology abounds in the landscape.  Residential living, tourism and diversity within the population have all increased.  Demand for more lighting and creature comforts impacts the technology seen in the landscape.  Wind and wave generators, communications towers for TV and cell phones, as well as electric generators are dotted through the forest. New roads carefully plotted to get to the technological equipment run in and around the young forest. Again, cooperation and collaboration between landowners and government agencies is extremely important in these efforts to get the landowners what they need to maintain a healthy forest.

Less public money is available for protecting the resources the forest offers landowners and visitors.  Often the land is too expensive for a family succession plan.  Therefore, educational efforts are prevailing in many social settings within the established villages and towns along the North Shore as well as within the tourism settings of resorts and townhome associations.  Ongoing town meetings, forest management presentations, Sugarloaf and State Park educational programming, as well as hunting, fishing, hiking, biking and recreational vehicle education all contribute to the ongoing interest in and commitment to the forest along the North Shore of Lake Superior.  Forest fragmentation and exploitation of forest resources is in check because of the collaborative efforts among all groups using the forest.  There is room for all and the acceptance of “the common good” prevails. We live with the forest; the shared commitment to preserving and caring for the forest abounds thanks to the efforts of so many over the past fifty years.

Mary McDermid
Mike Reichenbach, Molly Thompson, Jan Bernu
Robert Callery
Lawrence Doe
Marty Duchscher
Cheryl Erickson & David Tyack
Suzanne Hanson
Randall Lake
Michael Monten
Fran & Jim Mullin
Glen & Darlene Scott
Jane Sweet
Dale Ulrich

 11-22-2011

We must protect the forests for our children, grandchildren and children yet to be born. We must protect the forests for those who can’t speak for themselves such as the birds, animals, fish and trees.
~ Chief Edward Moody, Qwatsinas, Nuxalk Nation ~

More about the Lost Forest Scenario Planning project:

Lost Forest participants enjoyed:

• A 60-hour customized Woodland Advisor training program under the instruction and direction of Mike Reichenbach, University of Minnesota, Extension Educator, Forestry; Molly Thompson, Executive Director, Sugarloaf: The North Shore Stewardship Association; Jan Bernu, consultant and SAF Certified Forester; and guest instructors.
• A certified Forest Stewardship Plan for their land, developed by Forester Jan, based on the landowner’s goals for the environment of the future forests.
• Access to mini-grant funds for forestry work on their property and access to genetically appropriate nursery stock.
• Help with tree planting and trail clearing from Conservation Corps of Minnesota and Iowa.
• Help with invasive species spraying and removal

Class topics included:

• Growing and tending tree seedlings
• Tree identification
• Insect diseases and tree growth
• Financial care of your land – easements, land transfer, taxes
• Climate change – “How will it affect the North Shore?”
• Measuring and reading your forest
• Non-timber forest products
• GPS/GIS
• Wildlife diversity
• Timber sales
• Record keeping/ journaling

Related posts:

1. Woodland Advisor and Woodland Leadership Institute motivate garlic mustard removal project
2. Fall 2008 Woodland Advisor calendar
3. Woodland Advisor program releases 2008 annual report

This month’s features include the following:

• MN DNR cuts, reorganizes private forest management program
• Excitement building for Minnesota Family Woodland Conference
• Northern Minnesota phenology report: Rodents!
• MFA member profile: Carter and Flo Hedeen
• An update on the Woodland Advisor program

And the usual: Upcoming events, quiz of the month, poem of the month,
discussion board, other items you may have missed, news, and more.

Related posts:

1. Read the January 2011 update now
2. Read the August 2010 update now
3. Read the February 2011 update now

Related posts:

1. Northern Minnesota phenology report: January 2012
2. January 2008 update
3. January 2009 update

Related posts:

1. Quiz of the month: January 2011
2. Quiz of the Month: December 2011
3. Quiz of the month: January 2010

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry recently announced big changes to its Private Forest Management (PFM) program.  The program is facing some major reductions.  Landowners will notice the changes.

The PFM program’s annual budget was cut by 75% from $2 million to $500,000.  While PFM forester capacity will not drop by quite that much, it will be reduced from an average of 15-17 full time equivalents over the past several years to only 12, seven of which will be funded by grants, rather than state funds.  These staff, along with private sector partners, will be responsible to serve Minnesota’s 200,000 family woodland owners.

How will this capacity be deployed?  DNR PFM foresters will focus on three primary responsibilities:

1. Reviewing and recording Stewardship Plans written by private sector foresters,
2. Working with landowners in a technical assistance role to implement Stewardship Plan recommended practices on the ground, and
3. Landscape-level stewardship projects, which are a key priority for the DNR and USDA, which funds the Stewardship Program.  This role will focus on working collaboratively with multiple public and private partners through Minnesota’s six regional Landscape Committees.

Rising private sector contributions: A written forest management plan is required to enroll in Minnesota’s Sustainable Forests Incentives Act (SFIA) and 2c Managed Forest Lands property tax classification, both of which require other commitments but also carry substantial financial benefits to the landowner.  These financial benefits changed the economics of Stewardship Plans, making landowners more comfortable spending money for professional advice in the form of a written plan because they’d recoup their costs in only a few years.  This is part of the reason why Stewardship Plan development has shifted hard to the private sector in the past few years:   Between 2009 and 2011, the share of Stewardship Plans written by private consulting foresters has increased from 58% to 82% (Figure 1).  The private sector seems well positioned to maintain this role.

Fig. 1: Stewardship Plan acres developed by group

But… formal written land management plans are only part of the story.  In my 2010 survey of over 1,000 Minnesota woodland owners, only 23% had a written management plan.  Yet 45% had received woodland information from a public sector forester, compared with only 22% from a private sector (private consultant or industry) forester.

So what kind of information are woodland owners getting from public sector foresters?  In many cases, they’re getting practical information about how to manage their woods:  When to harvest, what species to take or leave, how to ensure adequate regeneration and a healthy, productive post-harvest stand, how to protect the site during harvest operations, and how to have successful and positive land management outcomes.  In other words, practical advice that creates value not only for the landowner today, but for society in the short- and long-term.  It’s recognition of this value that makes investments in private forest management programs worthwhile, and that has sustained these investments until now.

In this light, it’s wise for the PFM program to focus its limited capacity on implementation activities (e.g. tree planting, timber harvest).  But with only the equivalent of 12 full-time foresters statewide, the program will be stretched very thin to serve these needs for 200,000 woodland owners, given other responsibilities.

The value of good advice.  Advice from a natural resource professional has been shown in a variety of studies to improve outcomes not only to landowners but to all of us from timber harvest operations; that’s why states have traditionally invested in private landowner assistance programs.  To the extent that private forests provide public goods in terms of water quality protection, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration and storage, and so on, we may all notice the effects of these service reductions.  Less access to this kind of advice will not only hurt landowners, but the rest of us as well.

Where will landowners turn instead?  Knowledgeable landowner volunteers like Woodland Advisors may become more common sources of advice, helping their peers make more efficient use of professional resources and quality information.  Landowners trust their peers, and small investments in programs like Woodland Advisor generate value for  landowners and can lead to more efficient use of limited professional resources.

But when it’s time to harvest or plan the next rotation, there’s no substitute for one-on-one work with a local natural resource professional.  Minnesota has an excellent community of professional consulting and industry foresters ready to serve the state’s landowners.   The challenge for the forestry community is to help landowners understand the many benefits, and the financial value, of investing in the services of a professional.

Foresters sure aren’t known for our public relations work, and while many landowners know from experience the value of professional advice, many do not.  Landowners haven’t had to pay for that advice in the past because DNR foresters did not, until recently, charge for most services.  But they will have to if they’re to benefit from experience and advice from a local professional in the future.  And because private forest lands generate value for all of us, we will all lose if those lands are managed less well in the future.

What do you think? Have you worked with a public or private sector forester?  How will reductions and changes in the DNR’s PFM program affect you?

Related posts:

1. Federal Budget Cuts Proposed for Private Forest Stewardship
2. Changes to the Minnesota Forest Stewardship Program
3. Why you need a written management plan

An old oak tree shelters the dead,
Its wide arms stretched out in benediction.
We aren’t the first to cry on this windy hilltop.
Mothers and fathers and sons and daughters,
Having lived a hard-won, fleeting life,
Now feed the prairie earth beneath our feet.

In this present moment, before the bells ring
Calling witnesses to choral communion,
The tree bends low to shade a new pioneer pair.
Life-laden limbs defy the weight of a hundred years
To gather us in and send us away
Into a world made hazy with joyful tears.

By Bjorn Arneson

This poem was written about a year after Bjorn’s wedding.  It was originally published here and is republished with permission.

Related posts:

1. Poem of the Month: An Evening when the Full Moon Rose as the Sun Set
2. Poem of the Month: The old elm tree by the river
3. Poem of the Month: The Porch over the River

Meadow jumping mouse: CC-licensed photo by J.N. Stuart.

Northeastern Minnesota is home to two species of jumping mice, the meadow jumping mouse and the woodland jumping mouse. Both are hibernators and so are seldom seen after the first snowfalls. They tend to travel on the surface and oddly enough, contrary to their name they don’t often jump. Their tails are long, greater than half their total length, and when you encounter their tracks the tail makes an obvious impression in the snow. These mice don’t store any food but add great layers of fat in the fall. Those adding the greatest amounts, sometimes in excess of doubling their body weight, have the best chance of emerging from hibernation.

White-footed mouse: CC-licensed photo by J.N. Stuart.

Our native mice belong to the genus Peromyscus. In the northeast we have two species, the woodland deer mouse and the white-footed mouse. The woodland deer mouse can be found across northeastern Minnesota from Grand Marais to Brainerd and Bemidji. The white-footed mouse extends up the north shore about as far as Two Harbors, but beyond that becomes quite rare. They tend to stop their expansion to the northeast along the U.S. Highway Two corridor. Where the two ranges overlap the white footed mouse prefers the deciduous forest and a more open habitat while the woodland deer mouse settles in the coniferous forests.

Both species are arboreal and frequently climb trees and shrubs in search of seeds. From time to time you may come across a bird’s nest with a makeshift top on it and inside you may discover a cache of seeds. Often this is the work of one or the other of these two native mice. Both species have long tails useful in maintaining balance while climbing. Both have large ears and a bi-colored body, brown above and white below. Determining which species is in your trap may best be left to an expert. Often times it can only be done with a careful examination of the skull. And few of us are prepared to go that far just to satisfy taxonomic curiosity.

House mouse. CC-licensed photo by Lynette S.

The final member of the mouse family found in the north is the house mouse; yeah that’s its real name. It’s an introduced rodent and a highly successful one. Though you are not likely to come across this fellow outside this far north, if you provide any type of shelter and a food source they will come. And come in great numbers, for it seems they can tolerate overcrowding to a greater degree than other small rodents. Once they reach the carrying capacity of a habitat they respond in several ways. Females will have smaller litters, and the young will take longer to reach sexual maturity. More of the babies and young adults will die, and some mice will simply set out in search of new homes. House mice can compete with native mammals in warmer areas, but here in the cold north they require some form of shelter to survive. Unlike the jumping mice they are not hibernators but they can become torpid for short periods to conserve energy. If you control rodent intrusions with traps the house mouse is the one with large ears, a long tail, and uniform short grayish brown hair. I find the consistent color of the fur to be the easiest way to tell these fellows from all the rest.

Meadow vole. CC-licensed photo by manual crank. The larger view is worth a click.

Voles are the easily distinguished from the mice by their short tails and the seeming absence of ears. The ears are there they’re just not very apparent. There are two species of voles in northern Minnesota, the southern red-backed vole and the meadow vole. The meadow vole is the larger of the two, but the red-backed vole has more prominent ears, and as its name implies a red tinged pelage. The red-backed vole is far and away our most common rodent. Beyond the physical differences the meadow vole prefers open areas and the red-backed vole frequents the woods. When their territories overlap they may fight with one another, especially during the summer months when they are breeding.

The final member of the rodent family is the southern bog lemming. It resembles the voles but occupies a niche in the swamps and bogs and so is not often encountered. It has the same short tail found on the voles, but has a much darker fur and a broader head with a stubby nose. I have never seen a lemming and don’t really expect to either. The population of lemmings can fluctuate widely, though I doubt they ever congregate into herds and plunge over cliffs into the sea, as was depicted by Disney all those years ago. For many of my generation this was the lasting image of lemmings from our youth. All these years later it comes to light that this was a staged event.

For most of these animals life holds little in the way of possibilities. Their purpose seems to be to convert sunlight into protein. They eat green living plants and in turn are eaten by all manner of carnivores. Shrews are lurking around each bend in the trail, weasels race along their pathways, owls swoop down from above, it’s a tough life.  What’s their reward? Procreation, not only their reward, but also their defense. Pass those genes to the next generation.

Related posts:

1. Northern Minnesota phenology report: January 2011
2. Northern Minnesota phenology report: January 2010
3. Northern Minnesota phenology report: May 2009

Melvin and Sheila Rosholt own 100 acres in the Warba area, in south-east Itasca County. Melvin has been heavily involved with the management of the property all his life, which was originally 240 acres, and consisted of corn and potato fields, pasture, and wood lots. One of Melvin’s earliest memories of the property was at age nine, limbing with a double bit axe, helping his dad cut white pine for the family saw mill.

Melvin and Sheila acquired 100 acres of the original 240 acre family farm in 1980. Approximately forty acres consists of red pine plantation, which Melvin, along with other family members, planted in the mid 1950’s, after his father quit farming the land. In 1984, with assistance from MN DNR forester Mimi Barzen, Melvin had a forest management plan written, and enrolled the property in the American Tree Farm System. Melvin has maintained his certified Tree Farm status since, which has included periodic inspections.

In the past 25 years, the red pine plantation has been thinned twice, in order to keep the trees at ideal density for optimal growth and vigor. Since 1996, two regeneration aspen harvests, totaling about 45 acres, have also been done on the property. These regeneration harvests were done to utilize mature aspen and balsam fir, and to regenerate the stands to younger, healthier, faster growing aspen.

Other property activities have involved pruning red pine for improved lumber quality, encouraging natural seeding of spruce, the planting of 1,000 white spruce seedlings in 2001, bud capping of young white pine to protect them from deer browse, and enjoying the property with their children and six grandsons.

In 2010 Melvin and Sheila’s property was recognized as the north-east MN regional Outstanding Tree Farm of the Year. This year Melvin and Sheila were recognized at a statewide level, and received the MN Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts / MN DNR “Outstanding Forest Steward Award”. They were honored at a MASWCD convention luncheon, December 5th, 2011 in Bloomington.

The Rosholts credit Melvin’s father, DNR forester Mimi Barzen, and great loggers, for their assistance and expertise, and commitment to sustainable natural resources management.

Related posts:

1. Book review: Timber Tax Management for Family Forest Owners
2. Why you need a written management plan
3. UMN Extension to develop an ash management guide for family forest owners

Holiday 2011…Demand is high for holiday decorations in the home, for host/hostess gifts at holiday parties, for gifts for family and friends, and for fun activities to do with kids. Why buy? Why load up with paper, plastic, and foam stuff from Michael’s? In Minnesota, the best holiday decorations are made by hand from resources common to the region. Think about it: fragrant balsam boughs, birch bark, cedar sprigs, pine cones, varied berries…we have an abundance of seasonal non-timber resources that can be easily gathered and assembled for holiday decorating. It’s not too late to get in on the action!

Laying Out a Centerpiece

Today, I was surprised and pleased to discover my colleagues’ plan to use lunch break to craft centerpieces for our holiday party. Earlier in the week they gathered balsam, cedar, and white pine boughs, assorted sticks with cones attached, some princess pine, and had some paper birch cut into disks. They brought scissors, glue guns, assorted ribbons, and some purchased votive candles and LED lights.

Cones and Sticks

Glue Gun

The Workspace

Thanks to my colleagues’ advanced planning, in about thirty minutes I assembled a holiday centerpiece from the materials listed above (see below for an example). It was a great way to spend some time with friends and to make use of easily available natural resources to bring our holiday festivities to life.

Too much for you? Start simply by cutting some boughs and filling a vase for the mantle. Toss in a few birch sticks, red osier dogwood sticks, or anything else that catches your eye.

Remember: tread lightly in the woods and harvest carefully and respectfully. Don’t harvest on the trail and be sure to get permission from landowners if not on your own property. Cutting boughs 18″ or less at this time of year doesn’t harm the trees. Be sure you don’t cut the leader at the top of the tree. Have fun!

Ready to Begin

Ready for Use!

No related posts.

I don’t often see porcupines in maple trees. Their preferred winter food is usually the bark of the white pine. On several occasions I have come across maples that were stripped of bark and I suspected that it might have been the work of porcupines but until this sighting I had never witnessed a porcupine in a maple. Tree bark is a large portion of their food in winter and white pine, jack pine, and scotch pine, are preferred, but I have seen them eat the bark of Norway pine, and once even saw them eating bark from a bur oak. In summer much of their diet consists of plants found on the forest floor. Though they have a reputation for gnawing plywood and tool handles supposedly as a source of salt, in controlled situations they refused to drink even mild saltwater solutions that were acceptable to other wild animals.

In winter the porcupines will often restrict their feeding to one or two trees, preferring to stay close to home and avoid having to travel in deep snow. They are stout round critters with relatively short legs and walking in snow must be a trial. When they are not up a tree feeding they often have a den under an old stump or fallen log. Sometimes they will share this with another though they are by nature solitary animals.

A porcupine’s den is nothing to write home about. They are slovenly creatures whose waste often chokes the entrance to their hovels. The scat looks like rabbit pellets only larger. The one den I came across was nearly filled with scat. No effort was made at housekeeping, they simply voided where they slept.

Porcupines are rodents and most members of this family end up as food for some other animal. Mice and voles are two good examples. They reproduce at a blistering rate to stay ahead of losses to the meat eaters. Porcupines have few enemies. Thirty thousand quills keep most hungry animals at bay. They have only one offspring each year and gestation takes seven months. There is no need to keep reproducing since most porcupines that survive childhood can live for up to ten years.

The one well-documented enemy of the porcupine is the fisher. They have developed techniques that allow them to overturn and attack the unprotected belly. Native Americans, early European settlers, and even some folks living on the fringe of civilization today find porcupines easy to kill and palatable. I have read that they are much better eaten in the fall after a summer diet of fresh greens than in the spring after a winter diet of tree bark. I’ll leave you to decide which you prefer.

Porcupines are quite vocal though not loud. They can grunt, squeal, moan, whine, and click their teeth. They are also quite smart. A study conducted in the Adirondack Mountains found that they preferred to eat certain species of trees and they were able to negotiate the maze of the forest and locate these trees for up to one hundred days.

Hunger and a desire for the most tender shoots often drive the porcupines to creep out on ever-smaller branches. Imagine that round body precariously balanced upon a tiny branch; from time to time they lose their footing and plummet. It has been reported that their skin contains antibiotics to ward off infections brought on by inadvertent punctures from their own quills.

Speaking of the quills, they are present at birth and harden shortly after the baby is born. These spines are white with a black tip and have overlapping scales at the exposed end. These scales have the free end pointing away from the tip and act as barbs which cause the quills to work into flesh and make them extremely difficult to remove. One misconception about porcupines is that they can throw their quills, this is not true, they must make contact with their enemy. They can flick their tails very quickly if they sense danger and anything foolish enough to let the tail smack them in the face will certainly learn a painful lesson.

Porcupines are slow moving docile creatures whose proclivity to eat the bark of merchantable trees often makes them less than welcome in the forest. The damage they inflict is minimal when you look at the forest as a whole. The creation of snags provides homes and food sources for a variety of birds and animals so control isn’t really required. Should one take up residence on your property and raid you garden or cause problems with your pets it may be necessary to eliminate it, but indiscriminate shooting isn’t the answer. If you’re lucky enough to stumble across one of these amazing critters, pause and marvel at the wonderful variety of life here in the northland.

Related posts:

1. Northern Minnesota phenology report: October 2011
2. Northern Minnesota phenology report: December 2009
3. Northern Minnesota phenology report: May 2011