The Rural Voice, 1999-03, Page 54Marvin L. Smith
B.Sc.F. (Forestry), R.P.F.
Farm Woodland Specialist
765 John St. West
Listowel, Ontario N4W 1B6
Telephone: (519) 291-2236
Providing advice and assistance with:
• impartial advice/assistance in selling timber,
including selection of trees and marking
• reforestation of erodible or idle land
• follow-up tending of young plantations
• windbreak planning and establishment
• woodlot management planning
• diagnosis of insect and disease problems
• conducting educational programs in woodlot
management
• any other woodland or tree concerns
1999 GREY -BRUCE WOODLOT
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
LEL
"Understanding Your
Woodlot"
Elmwood Community Centre - Saturday, March 27, 1999
9:30 A.M. - 3:30 P.M.
• View Forestry Displays (9:30 a.m. )
• Participate in Conference (10:00-3:30)
- Fuelwood Harvesting
- Insect and Disease Management
- Wildlife and Water in your woodlot
- Measuring what you have
- Harvesting Techniques
- Marketing Your Timber Products
- Door Prizes
Pre -registration Cost - $15.00 per person, payable to Grey -Bruce
Woodlot Conference (includes hot meal)
For More Information or to register contact:
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs
• Walkerton - 881-3301 or 1-800-265-3023
• Markdale - 986-2040 or 1-800-265-9152
Those who wish to set up an agroforestry display, please call.
The 1999 Grey -Bruce Woodlot Conference & Exhibition is hosted by;
OMAFRA
Grey Sauble
Conservation
Authority
6r
Saugeen Valley
Conservation
Authority
CD
- ' ONTMJO
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50 THE RURAL VOICE
Guest Column
oak with a clear stem of 16 feet or
more, less if they are white ash or
basswood or if they have limbs lower
down — and you can easily get a
rough estimate of the current value of
the trees in the woodlot.
Reports of a value of $30,000 for
trees on newly -purchased farms in
Southwestern Ontario a're not
uncommon. If the woodlot is large or
if there appear to be more than about
50 high-value trees, it would pay to
hire a forestry consultant to estimate
the value of the trees before you put a
price on the property. The cost of the
consultant would be less than the
worth of a couple of high-quality
trees.
Another factor to look at is
whether or not cattle have been
allowed to graze in the woodlot in
recent years. If so, although there
might be good merchantable timber
ready to be harvested, chances are
that it will take many years —
perhaps decades — for the woodlot to
return to its natural state. The cattle
will have plucked all the seedlings,
(except hawthorn, of course), and
will have damaged saplings up to
about six feet. As well, the cattle will
have trampled the soil under the
trees, leaving the roots starved of
oxygen, thus slowing their growth
and making them more susceptible to
disease.
Access to the woodlot is a factor
that loggers consider when preparing
an offer for trees. If they have to skid
the logs through a swamp or across a
river they are less interested than if
they can easily skid the logs along a
trail to a roadside or an open field.
The more difficult it will be to get the
Togs out, the Tess interested the
loggers are and the lower the value of
the land.
Upland woodlots grow more
valuable trees than do lowland
woodlots. According to Marvin
Smith, a farm woodland consultant
from Listowel, a well-managed
upland woodlot should produce, on
average over the long term, at least
$100 per acre per year, and a lowland
woodlot $50 — which, in both cases,