Caledonia Argus

DNR offers options for private landowners

Posted: 2/3/04

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

The scratches on Duwayne Oakesí hands and arms were almost healed, but you could still see the battle he had waged with multiflora rose.

Oakes, a private forester from Spring Grove, showed me his arms as we rode toward a piece of property northeast of Houston on January 23.

Behind the wheel was Valiree Green, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources program forester for private forest management.

Multiflora rose is a huge problem, Green said. It has thorns like the claws on a cat. When you try to pull away from it, the claws dig in.

Multiflora rose was actually promoted by land management ìexpertsî to serve as a living fence for cows, Green said. But the fence is now out of control, and it brings out the dander in people like her and Oakes and other area foresters who care a lot about the forest.

Green had agreed to let me ride along on a field trip she was making to look at some land which was part of a cost share contract. (The application process is complicated, and involves a point system based on environmental benefits and a timeframe for implementing it.)

She wanted to walk the parcel to get a feel for what would be involved, such as the condition of the woodlot and how many trees would be cut.

Duwayne, or ìDuganî as everyone calls him, came along at the request of the landowner. Dugan will try to strike a deal with the landowner to do the work.

The benefit to the landowner is that there may be federal and state money available to pay for half of the improvement. Thatís where Green comes in: she works with the landowner on the improvement projects, and writes or implements the specifications for the ìstewardship planî of what needs to be done.

Among other things, she plans how many and what kinds of trees to plant, makes sure they are planted, and authorizes payment, which is usually a cost share of 50-50. Sometimes consultant forester Tim Amberg writes the stewardship plans

Both Valiree and Dugan were excited about the trip in the woods that chilly Friday morning. As Dugan had told me before we left Valireeís office, ìI think itís like farming. It gets in your blood. You canít stay out of the woods.î He had paused, then added, ìA day in the woods is a good day.î

Back in the truck, Dugan started looking at a copy of the practice plan for the land that we were going to look at. The 214 acres were divided into 11 parts based on type of land and vegetation.

While he studied it, Valiree told me a bit more about her job. She works with a lot of different agencies, like the Natural Resource Conservation Service, or the Root River Soil and Water Conservation District.

Itís nice that they are all located in the same building in Caledonia at 603 North Sprague Street, Valiree said. She thinks of it as one-stop shopping.

A fulfilling job

We drove past a hillside on the west side of Highway 76 that bristled with hundreds of pine and spruce trees. Dugan said he had planted them with a landowner who used a Reinvest In Minnesota (RIM) contract. Conditions had not been ideal ó too dry, he recalled. Yet the trees had mostly survived.

Thatís the kind of thing that makes Duganís job fulfilling. He wonít see the trees reach maturity in his lifetime ó heís well past the half-century mark ó and thatís a little frustrating. But like he said, heís a farmer, and he likes to see things grow. Itís a different mindset than what he had earlier in his life as a logger. Then he mostly saw dollar signs when he walked through the woods.

There are many other vendors like Duwayne Oakes available. There may be cost sharing money too. The one thing Valiree Green doesnít have a surplus of is time. ìI canít fit any more people in,î she said.

Some people donít like government workers anyway, she said, then added, ìThatís fine. Theyíre still being good stewards. Theyíre still accomplishing their goal.î

That goal, she said, is to provide healthy and diverse wildlife habitat and grow high-quality hardwood trees.

After driving through Houston, we headed up Looney Valley on County Road 21, then north on Storer Valley Road until we came to the property. Valiree drove slowly up the steep, tilted driveway. Dugan said it looked like a bobsled course. They peered up the hillside to the left, looking for a fence that would mark the property line. No fence there.

At the top of the mile-long driveway, we left the truck and walked along the ridge until we came to a barbed wire fence. For the next two hours, we followed the fence line through ravines, along steep banks, and on ridgetops. Dugan and Valiree assessed the woods as they went. They didnít talk a lot, which seems the norm when you walk in the woods. The idea is to let the woods talk to you.

Dugan tied orange tape around a tree every so often to clearly mark the boundary. Valiree had to use her compass a few times when the barbed wire completely disappeared.

Releasing the trees

Dugan tied blue tape around a few trees that he would ìreleaseî if he came back to do the job. He and Valiree called these trees crop trees. Releasing a crop tree involves cutting nearby trees that arenít as valuable, like elm or box elder, to let sunlight in. The blue tape disintegrates in a year.

The woods had lots of shagbark hickory and elm, Dugan noted. Thereís plenty of stems per acre, he said, and he liked the red oak and hickory.

The reason for all the oak trees is that the area had a history of fire, and oaks can withstand fire better than most trees, Valiree said. But fires in woods are a thing of the past. ìSo you look at other ways of creating a lot of sunlight,î she said. Thatís where people like Dugan come in, and the notion of releasing certain trees.

Valiree pointed out a cherry tree that was four inches in diameter. She figured it was about 25 years old.

It could be harvested in another 50 years, Dugan said. ìIíd cut down these two elm and that cherry behind it,î he said.

That crooked cherry tree could yield some saw logs, Valiree said, or it could be left there to throw seeds. Itís a dilemma, she said.

ìItís an opportunity,î Dugan said with a smile.

He looked at a huge red oak. ìThatís a dandy,î he said. He would recommend harvesting it if there were enough sawlogs on the property to warrant some logging. On the other hand, it produces a lot of nuts. ìHopefully turkeys and deer donít eat all the acorns,î he said.

Thatís a relatively new phenomenon, Dugan said. Forty years ago there were no turkeys and not that many deer. There were a lot more young oak trees to choose from then.

The more we walked, the more good things Valiree and Dugan said about the woods. ìHeís got some potential here,î Valiree said.

She pointed out some buckthorn. Part of the plan would be to kill them. ìDie, buckthorn scum,î she had said earlier in her office when joking with Dugan about those fine invasive species.

ìI saw a lot of oak seedlings on the hillside,î Dugan said.

The fence line finally disappeared as we slid down a steep hillside toward the driveway. Only a few inches of snow lay on the ground, and it was a slippery walk. Dugan made part of it on his backside, and not on purpose, but he was smiling as he bumped along.

Valiree had a contented look too as we ambled back up the long driveway to the truck. The two foresters had what they came for: a good feel for the woods, and for what needed to be done. Valiree would put the finishing touches on her practice plan, and Dugan would make a pitch to do the work. The landowner would benefit, and most importantly to all the people involved, so would the land.

Valiree Green can be reached by calling 507-724-5261, ext. 5; or e-mailing valiree.green@dnr.state.-mn.us

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