A little TSI

[G-man]

Had a chance to drop a few aspen in a small oak flat today.  Get some light on the ground and hopfully get some cloning off the aspen roots for deer browse and grouse food. 

[Bucksnbows]

I’m waiting for my logger to finish his ash contracts in April to come do a heavy TSI between my oldest and youngest clear cuts (modified seed tree harvests). I have 5 more acres marked out. That will be 22 of our 107 acres done in clear cuts over a 13 year period and another 10 acres of TSI to improve the crowns of my red and white oaks. 

[nywaw]

I had no idea what TSI was exactly, I just knew you did some land/tree management, so here's a link if I'm not the only one who wasn't sure!

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/conservation/timber-stand-improvement-managing-forestry-for-hunting-wildlife

[Bucksnbows]

7 minutes ago, nywaw said:

I had no idea what TSI was exactly, I just knew you did some land/tree management, so here's a link if I'm not the only one who wasn't sure!

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/conservation/timber-stand-improvement-managing-forestry-for-hunting-wildlife

TSI = timber stand improvement.  You cut lesser trees to open up the canopy for the trees you leave standing so they produce bigger crowns.  When doing so in oak/hickory forests like the property I manage, it will produce more acorns by far over time and the remaining trees will grow faster than in a more crowded forest.  The need for it is often because our forests were 100% logged off more than once, so all the regrowth in those forests is the same age which isn't what makes for a healthy forest.  TSI can also allow in light to increase the shrub and herbaceous layer of plants, providing food and cover and habitat for a plethora of critters.  

[mowin]

2 hours ago, nywaw said:

I had no idea what TSI was exactly, I just knew you did some land/tree management, so here's a link if I'm not the only one who wasn't sure!

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/conservation/timber-stand-improvement-managing-forestry-for-hunting-wildlife

Ya, had no clue what it was.  

Edited March 16, 2023 by mowin

[Bucksnbows]

16 minutes ago, mowin said:

Ya, had no clue what it was.  

Modern forestry is often attacked here in NJ by the tree hugging preservationists that think man has done enough damage to our forests and is incapable of restoring them, the latter of which I disagree with.  But we have nomenclatures for the various practices so that we don't sound like our goal is to remove all trees for the timber industry.  So things like "clear cuts" are called "modified seed tree harvests" meaning a few trees per acre are left standing to produce seeds/mast to regenerate the forest where stump sprouting will not.  And TSI is another excellent tool to help the better trees grow even faster and stronger by getting them more sunlight and less competition for water from the "lesser stems" around the trees we leave in place.  My interest in forestry is based on my father's side of the family all working for Weyerhaeuser in Oregon and involved in a now defunct pine mill there and my work in riparian restoration as well as my work in Sparta, NJ for improving forest habitat to hunt on.   

[nywaw]

Is TSI different than "Selective Timbering"?  I've heard the latter term before but it might be loose in definition as some selectively timber high value wood for sale while others may selective timber to improve habitat.

[Bucksnbows]

1 hour ago, nywaw said:

Is TSI different than "Selective Timbering"?  I've heard the latter term before but it might be loose in definition as some selectively timber high value wood for sale while others may selective timber to improve habitat.

No, Select Cut/Harvest/Timbering is when you cut your best trees to send to the mill.  I have done one select harvest and that helped pay for the two modified seed tree harvests I did on the property initially.  Your forester will know what is selling well and when, so he marks out the timber sale, a logger cuts and hauls the trees, and you are left with the tops.  I pull my tops into brush piles for critters and they rot down over time.  

[G-man]

11 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

I’m waiting for my logger to finish his ash contracts in April to come do a heavy TSI between my oldest and youngest clear cuts (modified seed tree harvests). I have 5 more acres marked out. That will be 22 of our 107 acres done in clear cuts over a 13 year period and another 10 acres of TSI to improve the crowns of my red and white oaks. 

Doing a heavy hickory harvest now as price has almost doubled  per 1000 bf

[G-man]

5 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

No, Select Cut/Harvest/Timbering is when you cut your best trees to send to the mill.  I have done one select harvest and that helped pay for the two modified seed tree harvests I did on the property initially.  Your forester will know what is selling well and when, so he marks out the timber sale, a logger cuts and hauls the trees, and you are left with the tops.  I pull my tops into brush piles for critters and they rot down over time.  

A select harves doen properly should be the worse 1/3  of the trees you have  .. 10 years later the worse 1/3

 And so on  . You are talking about high grading a woods  worse way to harvest timber

[G-man]

7 hours ago, nywaw said:

Is TSI different than "Selective Timbering"?  I've heard the latter term before but it might be loose in definition as some selectively timber high value wood for sale while others may selective timber to improve habitat.

Tsi is quite differnet removing less valuable trees  or working to create a specfic habitat. Aspen are only valuable to grouse under  15 ft tall  at 60 footer is wasting nutrients that could be going to other timber. A d good ( buds/ catkins are out of reach)

[Bucksnbows]

12 hours ago, G-man said:

A select harves doen properly should be the worse 1/3  of the trees you have  .. 10 years later the worse 1/3

 And so on  . You are talking about high grading a woods  worse way to harvest timber

I don’t think we’re talking apples to apples.  My forester marked out three select harvests on our property. We did one of the three and have no need to do more. I used a portion of the mill money to pay for plantings and other work we did early on. Most of our work is for habitat and not to make money. My landowner certainly doesn’t need the income from his forest, he just wants to see his friends enjoy hunting and fishing it. He also has a 12 acre bass lake.