PROJECT OVERVIEW
Landowner: Robert and Barbara Carbin, Weathersfield and Springfield, Vt.
Bob and Barbara Carbin have been longtime client landowners. The property began enrollment in the Vermont Current Use program in 2005.
We completed a ten-year update to their forestry plan in 2015. In that management plan several resource concerns were documented and steps to remedy these concerns were charted.
Part I: Boundary Line Marking
The first step in the management process was to identify and mark the property boundary lines. Having a clearly marked boundary line is critical for many forest management activities.
The Problem: The southeastern boundary line was obscured. This line was previously surveyed and marked in 1988 and no maintenance had been done on the boundary line since.
The Solution: Using the 1988 boundary survey and the remaining on-the-ground evidence, we were able to locate the lines and re-mark them (pictured right)
Part II: Invasive Plant Control
One of the most common disrupters of forest health are non-native, invasive, plants. These species evolved in other parts of the world and when grown here they are free from the regulating pressures that keep our ecosystems in balance.
The Problem: Wetland and forest habitat health impaired by infestation of glossy buckthorn. Glossy buckthorn, a non-native shrub, had become established in a small alder wetland in the northern portion of the property. The plants had reached maturity and had been producing seeds now for several years. These seeds were being spread into the adjacent forest and an infestation of buckthorn had taken hold in the forest’s understory.
The Solution: Reducing the population of glossy buckthorn on the property required a multi-year approach. Understanding plant biology and treatment options is critical for creating durable invasive plant control results. The first invasive plant control treatment was completed in September 2020. Treatment methods included foliar, stump, and basal herbicide treatments as well as mechanical removal. This treatment covered 55 acres, including both wetland and upland sites. A follow-up treatment, using the same methods, was completed in the fall of 2022. Having two full growing seasons in between the treatments was by design and improves long-term success.
Before the treatment 👆
After the treatment 👇
Part III: Improving Timber Quality
The third resource concern in the 2015 management plan was improving timber quality and creating growing space for the crop trees.
The Problem: Forest productivity limited by an overstocked condition and an abundance of low-quality timber.
The Solution: Harvest low-quality timber, open up growing space for crop trees, and create conditions for native tree regeneration to become established. This activity needed to be dovetailed with invasive plant control to make sure that non-native plants did not regenerate in the sunny conditions created by a timber harvest. To accomplish this, a post-harvest invasive plant control treatment plan
The timber harvest was completed in December 2022. This was a shelterwood treatment that covered 50 acres of the property. A logging contractor with a whole-tree harvest system was chosen because of the ability to merchandise a large volume of pulpwood and to satisfy the landowner’s priority of minimizing logging debris.
In the fall of 2023, the third invasive plant control treatment was conducted. This treatment captured the low numbers of buckthorn seedlings that had sprouted in the harvested area. The wetland and stream buffers were also treated again. Currently, the results of the management work look very good, with native vegetation thriving and timber crop trees with room to grow.
“In 2015 we contacted Richard Root to evaluate our property and complete a ten-year update to our Current Use plan. He was extremely helpful in getting a logging project completed and improving the native habitat on our property. We are very pleased with the quality of the management work that he and Jon completed for us.”
Robert and Barbara Carbin