C O N T E N T S. INTRODUCTION... 1 Planning Objectives... 1 History... 1

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1 C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTION Planning Objectives History Property Description Location & Landscape Field Method Boundary Lines Regulations Tree Growth Tax Law Forestry Laws Environmental Laws Forest Resources Management Young Poplar (Po3B) Old Field Spruce-Fir (OF-S3B) Mixedwood Stands (M3B) Hardwood Stands (H3B) Balsam Fir - Cedar (BF-Ce3A) Glossary Forest Type Map Codes Addenda: Forest Type Maps Shoreland Zones Map Tree Growth Tax enrolment form

2 FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN SHIRLEY NELSON Lot A New Sweden Township Elwood Farm INTRODUCTION Forest lands which are registered under Maine s Tree Growth Tax Law (TGTL) are required to have a current Forest Management Plan. Its purpose is to give the landowner guidance in caring for and improving the timber resources on the property. Production and harvesting of commercial timber must be the primary objective in owning the woodlot. PLANNING OBJECTIVES Sustaining a healthy, productive forest is an important objective for the Nelson family. Production of timber, whether for personal use or to be marketed, shall be pursued as appropriate and as market opportunities present themselves. Also important are protection of the water resources, wildlife habitat, and recreational uses. The planning period for this report shall cover the years 2015 through Recommendations may be implemented at the landowners discretion. HISTORY The Nelson family has owned this property for at least a couple of generations. Formerly a potato farm, all of the old agricultural land is now reverting to forest. Remnants of the former homestead remain with a small cellar hole near the front. The woodlands had been used as a regular source of firewood by the farmers. It also looks like a heavy harvest was would have been carried out in the softwood stands along the brook. But that was many decades ago, now re-grown to a very dense forest of mid-aged fir, cedar and spruce. The most recent harvest occurred in 2013 and 2014, by logging contractor John Carrier. I served as the Landowner Agent in overseeing the operation. Total harvest was in excess of 1,000 cords, the majority of which was fir and poplar (aspen). It was a partial harvest with the intent of leaving a moderate stock of healthy younger timber. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 1

3 Property Description LOCATION & LANDSCAPE The Elwood Farm is situated in the western region of New Sweden Township. It is on the West Road approximately two miles in from the Fort Kent Road, Route 161. Frontage is roughly 1,500 feet, thence running west to the township line for some 3,500 feet. According to municipal tax records this parcel covers a total of 115 acres. Bisecting the tract is a small brook flowing northerly. Along it are several sizeable beaver ponds, with evidence that they are still active at least in parts of it. At each end the land rises steadily with well drained soils. The back (west) end is dominated by hardwoods, the front by the former croplands. Running along the north edge of the tract is a snow-mobile trail, a segment of the ITS 81 trail. It is well maintained by local clubs, and includes a solid culvert crossing of the brook. For timber harvesting we were able to utilize this trail to access the western end of the woodlot. FIELD METHOD My examination of the Elwood Farm includes frequent visits over the course of 2013, 2014 and The most recent was in July, to show the land to a prospective buyer. During exams and layout for the harvest operations I collected notes and GPS data throughout the property. It was not the intent of this Plan to conduct a comprehensive timber inventory or appraisal. The purpose was to assess the present forest resource conditions, and establish a priority schedule for management. BOUNDARY LINES By State law the landowner is responsible for having the boundaries marked prior to harvesting timber. This applies where logging will be within 200 feet of the line. For the harvest operation I marked the boundaries with flagging ribbons. On-the-ground evidence already existed, although often hard to distinguish. Both of the back corners were marked: an old post at the south end, a iron pin at the north end. The south line was in the best condition, having ample evidence of old red-painted blazes in the trees. The north line had only scattered old ribbons along it. A wise investment would be to refurbish the boundaries in the near future. Re-blaze the trees and paint them in a bright, durable color. You might also want to set new posts or pipes defining the corners. Pressure-treated 4 4 posts are quite durable. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 2

4 Regulations TREE GROWTH TAX LAW This property is not currently enrolled in TGTL. The Nelsons plan to do so before April 1 st of this year (2016). A primary requirement of TGTL is to have a current Forest Management Plan. And the objective of the landowner must be production and harvesting of timber. The plan will need to be reviewed and re-certified by a Forester every 10 years. This involves an inspection to certify the landowner has been making reasonable efforts to implement recommendations. TGTL is permanent. That is, there is a misconception that it ends after 10 years. If at any point in the future, should listed acres be converted out of commercial timber use, there would be a penalty assessed on that acre(s). Wetlands, brush, open fields, building areas etc. will not be restricted by these TGTL standards. FORESTRY LAWS Maine s Forest Practices Act (FPA) primarily addresses clearcutting, with rules on their sizes and percentage of nonclearcut that must be retained. By FPA definition the minimum size to be a regulated clearcut is five acres. Clearcutting is unlikely on this woodlot in the foreseeable future. FPA also includes standards requiring certain stocking levels for regeneration within five years, regardless of the type of cut. Compliance is seldom an issue, since our forests regenerate so prolifically on their own. The FPA further requires a notification and reporting of all commercial harvests. A Forest Operations Notification must be sent to the Maine Forest Service. (The exception is when the wood is to be used solely for personal use.) At the end of each year in which harvesting occurs, a report must be filed with the MFS on quantities and products of timber sold, with the stumpage prices received, if applicable. Each Notification runs for two years. ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS Review of State databases indicates no species or resources of concern. However, this region of Aroostook County has been rated as important habitat for the "Threatened" Canada lynx. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has recently made a decision that all of Maine is potential habitat for the "threatened" long-eared bat. The Town of New Sweden has adopted the Statewide Standards for timber harvesting within Shoreland Zones. The brook and beaver ponds have not been mapped for special protection. Bear in mind that even small, intermittent streams have to be protected against disturbances. Do not allow the channel to be disturbed, blocked or diverted. Machinery may not cross them except when frozen over. Temporary crossings for timber harvesting are permissible if done in accordance with BMPs. To install any new permanent, year-round crossing you must first submit a "Permit-By-Rule" application to the DEP. The work has to be done to their standards detailed in the NRPA. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 3

5 Forest Resources Management YOUNG POPLAR (PO3B); 12 ACRES Former potato fields at the front reforested naturally to the poplar species (quaking aspens). It was quite dense with trees from 4 to 10 inches diameter breast height (DBH), occasionally larger. Only a small percentage of softwoods (fir or spruce), or hardwoods (birch or maple) are among them. The logger worked throughout the sites, doing a moderate cut. Stocking is now light to moderate. It has a well distributed stand of dominant quaking aspen, averaging about 6 inches DBH. Due to the opening of the canopy you re starting to get an abundance of new aspen regeneration from sprouts and seed. Management Recommendations The sites are properly stocked for rapid growth. Simply leave them to continue to develop on their own over the coming decade. Poplar is a fast-growing tree, especially in open, lightly stocked stands. Another good opportunity for a harvest should present itself in 10 to 12 years. OLD FIELD SPRUCE-FIR (OF-S3B); 3½ ACRES Also former agricultural land, this one reforested by fir and spruce seed. Although extremely thick they grew quite well over the past 40 years or so. Composition was at least 65-70% balsam fir, along with white spruce. Then there were lesser amounts of white birch and poplar; the occasional pine and tamarack. Also a moderate harvest was done in here. Conditions were over-crowded. The goal was to open up the stand leaving a decent residual stock that would be able to sustain productivity. It was successful and, so far, there have been few blowdowns among the remaining trees. That is always a concern when thinning within dense fir stands. So it bears watching through periodic inspections. Other than that, leave it alone for another 10 to 15 years. MIXEDWOOD STANDS (M3B); 41 ACRES Mixed forest types are most prevalent. In the northeast corner portions looked like old pasture land, but then there are very swampy parts that I m sure were never cleared. The majority of the Mixedwoods are natural forests which were never in agriculture. The lower wetter portions, notably close to the beaver ponds, are heavy to coniferous species: fir, spruce, cedar. Large poplar were dispersed among them. The drier upland portions contain more hardwoods: maples, yellow birch, ash. Nice, large spruce are present, though not in great numbers. Our loggers did the same partial harvest. However, in pockets we determined heavier removals were necessary. Balsam fir were the problem, with internal rot and blowdown. We salvaged as much as we could. The worst spots were near the northeast corner, plus more spots west of the brook. Spruce were left as much as reasonable, to continue adding size, plus supply seed for regeneration. In other sites, they are still rather well stocked with cedar or hardwoods. Tentatively, just leave these sites alone for 10 years. But it should be watched. The concern will be the continuing risk of blowdowns among even the smaller fir and the spruce that we left. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 4

6 HARDWOOD STANDS (H3B); 20½ ACRES Good quality stands of mixed hardwoods, on well drained sites. They contained timber of all sizes and quality. The harvest yielded over 300 cords of firewood, but only a small amount of sawtimber. The management intention was to encourage good future sawlog material. It s where your greatest value accrues. Yellow birch and sugar maple are two of our highest valued trees in north Maine for sawlogs and veneer. So we left some of the smaller and mid-size log-grade trees. The firewood consisted of extracting inferior trees or those that will never produce sawtimber, notably the beech and hornbeam, along with the poplars. There was also quite a bit of old balsam fir intermingled with these hardwoods. Stocking is now light to moderate, so expect robust growth on the residual trees. Hardwoods tend to be windfirm, and less prone to blowdown. Still, it is always advisable to examine the stands periodically. There could be storm damages, insects or diseases. Barring such issues I wouldn t anticipate additional harvesting from these stands for closer to 15 years. BALSAM FIR - CEDAR (BF-CE3A); 18½ ACRES The thickest portion of your forest is on these flats to the west of the brook. They are dominated by the coniferous species in younger age classes. In fact, the site gives the appearance that it was clearcut perhaps 50 or 60 years ago. The old logging trails can still be discerned. And subsequent natural re-seeding was prolific. The forest was extremely dense with trees of small to mid-sized stems. It is almost a pure blend of fir and cedar. But closer to the beaver ponds it is higher in cedar where soils are even wetter. Black spruce and red spruce are in small amounts. There were also pockets of the poplars or white birch. Our recent harvest worked throughout the stand in a patchy distribution. But overall I would rate it as a light cut. A few patches were opened up, particularly if you had a lot of larger cedar or poplar. Then we cut strips and trails to extract the larger fir. Management Recommendations Growth will be relatively slower here, on account of the thin, wet soils. But because of the partial cut it helped to reduce the over-crowding. That will improve productivity. Future timber prospects are quite good. But I wouldn t expect the next harvest before 15 years or longer. Otherwise, you will be cutting into it pre-maturely, when the trees ought to be allowed to accrue significant size and value as they get larger. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 5

7 Glossary Basal Area: A means of measuring the density, or stocking, in a stand. The Basal Area of a single tree is the crosssectional area, in square feet, measured at its DBH. Basal Area per acre is the cumulative square feet of all trees within an acre. Bole: The main stem (trunk) of the tree. Canopy: The overstory in a forest stand, formed by the crowns of all the trees. Crown: The top portion of the tree consisting of its live limbs, leaves, and stem. Crown Class: A means of expressing relative height of a tree, or its position in the canopy. Dominants and Codominants: These are the tallest trees having their crowns up in the main canopy. They are receiving full direct sunlight, and will show the best growth. Intermediates: Somewhat shorter trees, they are getting only limited direct sunlight. Suppressed: These trees are the shortest, with crowns entirely beneath the main canopy. Direct sunlight does not reach them. These trees will eventually die out. Diameter Breast Height: (DBH) Diameter of the tree at 4.5 feet above the ground. Forest (Timber) Stand: A forest area with uniform age class and species composition. Forest Type: Refers to the specific mixture of tree species in an area, such as Northern Hardwoods, or Spruce-Fir. Leader: On conifers such as fir, spruce, and pine, the terminal shoot above the highest layer, or whorl, of lateral branches. Pruning: Cutting off the lower limbs of young trees, close to their boles, to enable logs to form with clear, knot-free lumber. Pre-commercial Thinning: (PCT) Early thinnings done in young seedlings and saplings, such as spacing or weeding Timber Stand Improvement: (TSI) A management practice of thinning a stand by removing trees of poor quality to enhance the growth of the most valuable trees. Most often done in pole-size (4 to 8 inch DBH), and sapling size (under 4 inch DBH) stands. Whorl: On conifers (fir, spruce, and pine) the horizontal layers of branches formed each year. Yield: Harvestable volume, in cords or boardfeet, anticipated from recommended logging. Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 6

8 Forest Type Map Codes S: Softwood (conifers) predominantly; 75% M: Mixedwood, neither hardwood nor softwood predominates H: Hardwood (broadleaf species) predominantly; 75% BF: Ce: Wet: Po: Balsam Fir Cedar, northern white Wetlands, beaver flowage Poplars, balm-of-gilead (balsam poplar) 1: Seedlings & Saplings 2: Young timber 3: Mid-sized timber 4: Mature/over-mature timber A: Fully stocked B: Moderately stocked C: Lightly stocked D: Sparsely stocked Woodlot Mgt. Services Elwood Farm, Forestry Plan, Page 7