by Seth Finkel, RGS & AWS Western U.P. Public Lands Project Coordinator
In the Great Lakes region, it’s difficult to understate the importance of young aspen for ruffed grouse and American woodcock as well as a multitude of other non-game species. For decades we could count on the timber industry’s hunger for pulp to keep aspen cut on rotation and keep habitat on the landscape. Unfortunately, this situation is no longer the case. There are tens of thousands of acres of rapidly aging aspen forest that will never be commercially harvested, typically due to terrain that makes operating equipment dangerous or the size and location of the stand making timber operations economically unviable due to increasing fuel costs and declining pulp prices. Foresters, biologists and upland gamebird hunters alike would love to see these stands cut and sent to mills, but the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze, so to speak.
If we can’t get into these stands to harvest the trees commercially, what if we cut the trees by hand and let them lie? The suggestion alone makes people shiver. Enter non-commercial aspen regeneration, where aspen is felled and left on the ground. I recoiled at the thought of cutting a stand of trees down and letting them decompose. But before beginning my campaign against this management action, I took a moment to consider the alternative.
Above is a typical over-mature aspen stand on the Ottawa National Forest that urgently needs management action if it’s to be retained. Notice the sea of sugar maple in the understory that will replace the stand in short order. In our neck of the woods, when aspen begins to decline it’s replaced by shade-tolerant species like red maple, sugar maple and balsam fir. Once aspen is lost, it’s often challenging to get it back on the landscape. Non-commercial aspen regeneration is an excellent method for keeping acres of aspen on the ground that would never have been touched otherwise, equating to aspen acreage lost to shade-tolerant trees that don’t convey the same benefits to ruffed grouse. The downed wood also isn’t exactly wasted, per se. Course woody debris provides food and habitat for a huge variety of insects, small mammals and birds. The debris contains carbon, much of which is sequestered into the soil by fungi and other wood-consuming organisms. It also helps halt erosion by slowing the downslope movement of water, allowing soil to stay in place while increasing groundwater infiltration.
The benefits of course woody debris are apparent, but still people have expressed concern to me about how it will impact regeneration. If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that aspen will vigorously regenerate when cut, regardless of obstacles. The above photo is of an aspen stand on the Hiawatha National Forest that was non-commercially regenerated last year. Clearly the saplings don’t mind an obstacle or two. While non-commercial aspen regeneration will never be the tool in our toolbelt that a commercial timber sale can be, it’s an excellent way to manage acres that would otherwise be left to age and disappear.
Learn more about the Eastern Great Lakes and Western Great Lakes habitat projects.
