Matthew W. Yancey insists that taking care of woodlands makes sense as well as dollars.
"Forestry management means keeping a forest healthy and productive," Yancey said. "If you let it sit idle, it will decrease in value."
Yancey, extension agent for agriculture and natural resources with Virginia Cooperative Extension's Rockingham County office, hopes that enough landowners in the Shenandoah Valley feel as he does.
And, in an effort to help them learn how to better care for their property, Yancey and fellow forest specialists Jennifer L. Gagnon and Bruce D. Harmon are holding an event aimed at showing folks in possession of timberland what they can do to improve and preserve their property.
On July 25, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Paul State Forest, Yancey will help lead a seminar on woodland management. Joining Yancey for the clinic, known as the Paul State Forest Field Day, will be Gagnon, coordinator of the Virginia Forestland Owner Foundation, and Harmon, area forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Paul State Forest is a 173-acre woodland area in southwestern Rockingham County, managed by the forestry department, Yancey said.
Ideal Model
Paul State Forest will serve as a site for the seminar because the forest represents "the diverse forest area that we have here" in the Shenandoah Valley, Harmon said. Paul State's half-dozen species of hardwoods include several types of oak, maple and poplar that are common throughout the Valley and Virginia, he said.
The idea of a clinic on forest management, Yancey said, stemmed from the belief by state officials that such a workshop could help owners of woodlands learn about more caring for their property more effectively.
"Our main goal is to help owners of woodlands understand that some management should take place," Yancey said.
Literally, say specialists, there is a growing urgency to preserve forests, and to keep such areas in prime condition. Trees lost, they say, are not easily replaced.
According to Harmon, the state is losing an average of 30,000 acres of forestland a year to development and other nonforestry use.
"A lot of trees in our forests take 50 to 100 years to mature," Harmon said.
Out With The Bad
Managing a forest for the sake of keeping it alive requires a landowner to periodically cut down trees of lesser quality to allow healthier trees to grow, Gagnon said. Diseased trees rob healthier ones of sunlight, rain and other nutrients found in soil, she said.
"You want to take the worst trees," Gagnon said. "Every time you harvest for forest health, you improve your forest."
Even hearty trees can be a problem in a forest area, if they crowd out trees that might be more commercially useful, Gagnon said.
For more information on the field day, contact Yancey at 564-3080 or Gagnon at (540) 231-6391. Registration fee for the field day is $20.
Contact Tom Mitchell at 574-6275 or [email protected]The Daily News Record
