Preparing Your Management Plan

This text is an excerpt from Getting the Most from Your Woodland by Jeff Martin (February 1990, Forestry Facts series, No. 48 (PDF). University of Wisconsin-Extension with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Forestry (School of Natural Resources)).

One step foresters use when collecting information for a plan is to determine the age of trees by removing a core of wood and counting the rings.

For this step, several tools are needed: a pencil, fresh paper, your list of goals and a map or aerial photo of your property. It is also extremely important to have a forester, such as a DNR service forester or one of the the DNR's cooperating foresters, assisting you.

Now that you have set you goals, develop your plan by:

• Determining your present forest condition (Point A)
• Identifying the forest conditions needed to achieve your goals (Point B)
• Determining the management activities required. In other words, how to get from Point A to Point B.
• Putting the plan on paper. Describe what you will do and when you will do it.

To determine present conditions, you will need an inventory of your woodlot, or a "cruise." Your forester should do this for you. The cruise will be a detailed description of the species you have, as well as their volumes, sizes, qualities, site capabilities, etc. This will be done for each of your woodlot stands. You will also want to mark stand boundaries on your map or photo, and tentatively locate proposed roads or trails. The cruise information will show the current status of your woodlot; for example, those stands that are overstocked and may need a thinning, those stands having mature trees calling for a harvest cut, the areas in need of planting, and the stands to leave alone for the time being.

When you discuss your goals with a forester, you will learn what future stand conditions are needed. For example, more grouse habitat may require young aspen stands on part of the property, or a need for more income in 10 years may require a certain volume of marketable sawlogs in other stands. As these discussions take place, your forester will also indicate what is possible or feasible on your property, both from a biological and economic standpoint. For example, your desire to raise walnut may be impractical because of sandy soil conditions. Or, your desire to prune every red pine in your plantation may be a poor financial move.

You and your forester will need to identify the management activities necessary to obtain those desired future conditions. Perhaps some small clearcuts will be needed to obtain the young aspen stands, or a thinning may be needed to maintain the growth rate of your potential sawlog trees. Maybe you will need to prepare a bare field before planting it to red pine. Perhaps the young trees will require an herbicide application in a couple of years to release them from weed and grass competition. In addition to deciding what to do, you will need to decide when to do it. This schedule of activities and proposed timing will form the heart of your written management plan.

The road to getting the most from your woodlot can be quite straightforward, but considerable thought is needed to avoid a wrong turn. Before working in your woodlot, make sure you:

• Decide what you want and list specific goals.
• Get a forester to help you.
• Evaluate your current forest conditions.
• Identify the conditions needed to achieve your goals.
• Find out what is feasible for you and your land.
• Decide what management activities will be needed.
• Prepare your written management plan.

And finally, remember to use your plan as you conduct management activities. Don't keep it on the shelf! You should also keep good records about things you have accomplished, and update the plan if changes are need. For more help with management planning, contact a forester.