The first meeting of the Blair County Woodland Owners Workshop was a success.
It was held at the Ramada Inn on March 21, 2009 by DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry. The topics that were covered were: Insects and Disease, Forest Management, Forest Stewardship, Erosion Control, Woodland Owners Association, Quality Deer Management Association, and Private Landowners Assistance Program by PGC. This was followed by a general meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for April 23, 2009 at 7:00pm at the Bureau of Forest, 536 Municipal Drive, Duncansville. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Mark Maser at (814) 472-1862 or mmaser@state.pa.us. All are welcome.
Next Meeting is at Brush MT Sportsman June 4th Thru at 6:30pm. All is welcomed.
Key points:
Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) is more dangerous then the Gypsy Moth, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, and the Chestnut blight combined. If seen contact any Forestry Service, Department of Agriculture, or DCNR. For more info please visit: http://www.uvm.edu/albeetle/.
What is it? | |
The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is an exotic pest threatening a wide variety of hardwood trees in North America. Adults are large (0.75 - 1.50 inches long) with very long black and white banded antennae. The body is glossy black with irregular white spots. The beetle has been introduced into New York City, Chicago, New Jersey and most recently Worcester. Adults can be seen from late spring to fall depending on the climate. Learn more about it's biology, how to distinguish ALB from other native insects, and what trees it infests. | |
The select cut or the diameter cut is not good practice. They remove the best trees and leave the weak ones. Three years of using the select cut practice would lead to zero good trees.
A shelter wood harvest leaves the dominant trees while the smaller or undesirable trees are taken. The question is: what kind of trees do we want to grow? Rather than: what trees do we want to cut?
We are in the enrollment process.
There are relevant rules and regulations. For more details please visit: www.depweb.state.pa.us keyword “Erosion Control.” Basically, you need a site plan that will consider the soil types, streams, wetlands, permits, roads, and log landings. Site Management deals with drains, culverts, waterbars, buffer zones, etc. A plan is required if 25 acres or more is disturbed. A $75 dollar permit must be submitted to the state if 250 acres or more are disturbed. Any stream crossing it will take over two months to get a permit form the state.
Some QDMA key points were:
One deer will browse seven lbs. per day for seven months. That is approximately a ton of food per year for one deer. If there is not enough food, you won’t have healthy deer. Maintaining the proper deer density for your area can be a popular topic. Keeping a Doe to Buck ratio 1 to 1 is best for most management plans. In order to get a more aggressive rut, like in Texas, there is a higher Buck to Doe ratio.
It is important to let alone bucks that are between 2 ½ to 3 ½ years old, with an antler spread less then their ear tips. One should harvest only the mature Buck. A mature Buck is one in which their spread is wider than their ears and is between the ages of 4-6. Do not harvest any Button Bucks. Some clubs require members to carry binoculars to distinguish young does from button bucks. A squared off head is a give away. Also some clubs will impose a fine if a Button Buck is shot.
QMDA also promotes food plots. There is a lot of available information on this.
Adding a Edge by planting Trees where the
Edge, the area where two habitat types meet, such as the boundary between a timber stand and a food plot, is considered a critical component of the deer management puzzle by most biologists. “ We at Blair Game are doing this.
A deer Sanctuary is a practice I have used before with great results. Having an area with no human interaction. IE: hunting, trespassing, etc. Having a safe place for the game except for predators (coyote) hunting. If we are seeing more Doe’s then Bucks, then we need to harvest more Does.
Yes I know, good luck with controlling this one. It would take joining property owners to also invocate this QMD plan.
Dr. Vince Vena of QMDA might be willing to give us a seminar on QDMA if enough people express an interest.
Other News
On the new property
A new watering hole has been put in on the new property. Thanks to Mike of ACE Contractors for that and rebuilding the water brakes to control erosion on the road. We taped into the old well using two solar panels, timer, 12 volt battery and a water pump. This will hopefully give some water to the animals during the dry summer months. Another solar panel is needed along with a better 12-volt battery, preferably a deep cycle battery.
Big thanks to Kevin Fisher for expanding the existing food plot. Maybe this summer we could plant some Brassica’s up there for the late fall.
Part of the PGC Habitat recommendations from Jamie Flickinger was to cut down the old mature aspens. This will generate new growth thru the root system. This new growth is more important the all the other tree species for the wildlife. Approx 75 aspens were cut.
On Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 over 350 Seedlings / trees were planted by friends and family of Cub Scouts Troop 341. These free trees came from PGC. 300 of these trees were planted on the new property. The trees were Blue Spruce, White Oak, Saw Tooth Oak, Black Locust and Crabapple that are beneficial to wildlife. The weather was prefect for Sundays Picnic. It was amazing how a small group can make a big difference. Thanks to all that helped out!! I hope in 10 years some of the Scouts will revisit the site and say, “ Hey I remember when I help plant these trees, they where the size of my shoe, now their 15 foot tall.“
Also there are 3 sitting benches made along the tram road to the top of new the property. Please take a vantage of the view before it is gone. The new growth after the timbering is fantastic. It is very conducive to the wildlife.
450 trees were fertilized with 10-10-10 that were planted last year and in 2007. Even the trees that Bob planted on the old log landing 10 years were fertilized. They look like it is time to take down their fencing and trunk tubes. The remaining 50 Blue Spruce were planted in area 2 in around the Saw Tooth Oaks we planted last year.
In area 1 it is a real battle between the new trees and Ferns.
TO BE CONTUED>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>…………
