There are many benefits to having a healthy forest. Some of these benefits include being a habitat for wildlife, watershed protection, recreational space, and timber income. However, a lot of forest are not managed properly and suffer from neglect. Forest that are neglected may not have ideal plant species growing in them, may not be a suitable habitat for wildlife, is a stressful environment for plant life, can be overly dense and populated with slow growing trees, and does not provide the owner with a source of income.
A common way to protect, sustain, and improve forest health is through timber stand improvement (TSI). TSI involves a combination of tree thinning, girdling and pruning for multiple resource benefits with an emphasis on timber and wildlife values depending on stand location and site-specific management objectives. To start doing TSI, you should begin by developing a forestry management plan where you identify your goals and/or objectives for your forest. Some potential goals and/or objectives include:
If you would like to know more about developing a forest management plan, timber stand improvement, or ways to improve the health of your forest, please consider participating in the Forestry Management Workshop Series. This program series will be on April 13, 20, and 27 from 6:00-8:00 pm at Ivy Tech Community College in Greencastle, IN. The final session will take place on April 29 from 9:00-10:30 am at a local forest near Cloverdale, IN. The sessions include:
The cost to participate in this 4-session program is $10 per person. To register call 765-653-8411 or go online at https://tinyurl.com/ForestMgmt23 Presenters include Purdue Extension staff and industry representatives. This program is sponsored by Purdue Extension and the Putnam County Soil & Water Conservation District.