Stand 3

Acreage: 10 acres

General Description: This stand is an area of low ground with a mixture of pole-sized black ash, soft maple, cedar, hemlock, and scattered white pine. The soil type is muck over sandy loam. It is a wet site with several springs that drain into Cedar Creek.

Objective: The objective is for wildlife cover and to protect the water quality.

Recommended Practices: A light selective thinning should be completed by 2004 and again by 2017.

The trees to favor would be the longer-lived species such as cedar, hemlock, pine, oak, and maple. Trees to remove would include aspen, white birch, and defective black ash. Thinning around the evergreen trees will result in denser foliage, improving the thermal cover for wildlife in the winter. Due to the wet site and low quality of volume of trees to be removed, this will likely be a non-commercial activity. Cost-share funds may be available to accomplish this.

To maintain the water quality, any equipment operation should be limited to when the soil is frozen. The non-commercial trees that are removed could be piled to create a variety of ground cover.

To improve the quality and amount of habitat for fish in the creek, the recommended practice is to narrow and deepen the moving water. This can be done in several ways, including rock placement or by using what are called “brush bundles.” The brush bundles are constructed by cutting the brush along the stream and piling it criss-cross on the bank. As the stream floods, sediment will collect on the brush bundles. Grasses naturally seed in on the bundles and narrow the streambed, resulting in deeper and faster water. A more specific description of this practice is available from the local Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fish biologist.

Sample stewardship plan introduction | Home