Dear IFWOA members,
Check out some upcoming events below that may be of interest. IFWOA Board of Directors and Liz Jackson, Executive Director
Accessing Carbon Markets Webinar Wednesday, October 27
Carbon sequestration, carbon markets, and the sale of carbon credits continues to gain widespread attention. Several markets, protocols, and criteria exist that certify projects and help broker the sale of carbon credits. Yet, which protocol applies to a project, the differences between the markets, and how to access these approaches is not well understood. Join the Michigan Society of American Foresters, Michigan Forest Association, and Davey Resource Group, Inc. for an exploration of forest-based carbon markets and protocols that are currently available.
IFWOA hosted a webinar on the NCX carbon program in June. Besides NCX, this webinar also provides information on 3 additional programs: Forest Carbon Works, Family Forests Carbon Program, and Finite Carbon/Core Carbon.
Register by Wednesday! Annual Woodland Owner Conference November 6
IFWOA will be hosting our annual meeting on November 6 at the Hendricks County 4H Conference Center in Danville. Please register by Wednesday, October 27 to help us in planning. Late registrations will be accepted through November 4.
Agenda
9:30 a.m. ET Registration, Networking & Coffee
10:00 Opening & Welcome
10:15 Division of Forestry Update
10:45 Deer Impact Monitoring & Prevention
11:30 Timber Markets & Industry Update
12:00 Lunch (provided), Silent Auction
1:15 Awards Program
2:00 Policy Update/Business Meeting
2:30 Managing Smaller Properties
3:15 Using Herbicides Effectively to Treat Invasives
4:00 Closing Agenda may be subject to change.
Exclusion Fencing Practices Available through USDA to Enhance Tree Regeneration
By Lenny Farlee, Extension Forester, Purdue University
USDA conservation programs provide technical and financial incentives for landowners to install and maintain conservation practices, including tree plantations. They are an important tool to help encourage landowners to make an investment in long-term activities like planting hardwood trees. Research across the eastern US, including work done by the HTIRC, demonstrates that deer browse can be one of the most significant barriers to establishment of a successful tree plantings. Deer may increase mortality, but more often they are preventing planted or naturally regenerating trees from growing in height due to repeated browsing. This damage can also deform trees, resulting in poor stem form and lower potential log quality.
One of the primary purposes for these conservation tree plantings is developing forest wildlife habitat, but to successfully establish that habitat may require excluding deer for a few years, until the trees are tall enough to continue growing past the deer browse damage. Fortunately, many state Natural Resource Conservation Service offices are recognizing the impact that deer browse is having on establishing successful conservation tree plantings. To address this barrier to successfully establishing tree plantings and natural regeneration, new scenarios are being added to the Tree and Shrub Establishment practice:
The “Planted Area with Protection” scenario provides cost assistance for tree and shrub planting and placement of a temporary perimeter fence to exclude deer until trees have grown above the height of deer browsing.
The “Regeneration Area with Protection” scenario provides cost assistance for placement of a temporary fence to protect natural regeneration of tree and shrub species.
Increased cost assistance payments may be available to help offset some of the additional cost a deer exclusion fence adds to a planting project. States may have differing cost assistance rates and practice requirements. These and other additions to the NRCS tree planting practices provide landowners and natural resource managers effective tools to establish tree plantings that can produce high quality hardwood trees in the future. Check with your local foresters and NRCS offices to see if this practice is available in your area and details on payment rates and requirements. If the practice is not available, work with your local resource management contacts to request addition of this practice for your area in the future. Note: EQIP application deadlines are December 17.
The HTIRC has supported this fencing practice through research and demonstration plantings that have showcased the benefits deer exclusion fencing can provide for timely establishment and timber quality development in hardwood plantings. The publication, How to Build a Plastic Mesh Deer Exclusion Fence, https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-486-W.pdf is used as a reference for deer fence construction options in Indiana and Wisconsin. We are also exploring material and construction options that can make this fence design easier and perhaps less expensive to build. We plan to release updated construction methods soon, but a preview photo of one of our construction options is included with this article. This article was originally published in the Spring 2021 HTIRC newsletter and is reprinted with permission.
Leaves & Limbs Newsletter Now Available
The fall edition of Leaves & Limbs newsletter should have arrived in your mail and is posted online now. Articles include:
Spotted Lanternfly Found in Indiana
Carbon Credits Could Provide Additional Income in the Future
USDA conservation programs provide technical and financial incentives for landowners to install and maintain conservation practices, including tree plantations. They are an important tool to help encourage landowners to make an investment in long-term activities like planting hardwood trees. Research across the eastern US, including work done by the HTIRC, demonstrates that deer browse can be one of the most significant barriers to establishment of a successful tree plantings. Deer may increase mortality, but more often they are preventing planted or naturally regenerating trees from growing in height due to repeated browsing. This damage can also deform trees, resulting in poor stem form and lower potential log quality.
