Forest Management Plan

prepared for

Michigan Forest Association 15851 S. US 27

Lansing, MI 48906

for

Woodlands on

SE ¼ of NW 1/4

Section 6

T16N R5W

Gilmore Township

Isabella County

Michigan

by

Bill Botti

Clinton Trail Forestry Consultants 6120 S. Clinton Trail

Eaton Rapids, MI 48827

July, 2018

Executive Summary

The subject property is a 40-acre parcel in the northwest corner of Isabella County. It has

quite a high volume of red oak and bigtooth aspen, averaging about 12,000 board feet per acre.

Public access needs to be worked out in order to maintain listing in the Commercial

Forest Program.

Timber sales should be planned in the near future. I have recommended 2023 as the year

to conduct sales. That is in hope of balancing cutting with other MFA properties and with lands

in other ownerships surrounding this parcel.

The boundary lines are not well marked. We should consider hiring a surveyor to mark

points on the lines that we can preserve with steel posts and/or blazes.

Several thoughts are presented in the Stand Descriptions section on use of volunteers in

educational and silvicultural projects (see pages __ - __).

Introduction

This report is written for the approximately 40 -acre property described as the SE ¼ of

the NW ¼ of Sec. 6,T16N R5W, Gilmore Township, Isabella County. Forest cover represents

essentially 100%, i.e. the entire 40 acres. I visited the site on June 5, 2015 with MFA president

Dave Wright and local forester and MFA member Dan Keane, on May 30, 2018 with Lisa Parker

and Georgia Peterson and alone on July 13, 2018. During the first visit, we just walked around

and looked at the timber and the land. On May 30, we cruised the timber and mapped the trail

roads; on July 13 I measured site index. On both trips in 2018 I met owners of neighboring

property: Lowel Counts, and Scott Stinson.

Trees are often referred to as hardwoods or softwoods. Simply put, hardwoods are the

ones with leaves; softwoods have needles. Our native woodlands in southern Michigan are

essentially all hardwoods. Hardwoods are used primarily for furniture, flooring, cabinets and

other uses that require high quality. Thus, quality is a major goal in managing hardwood stands.

A high quality tree for this purpose is one with a straight trunk that is free of branches, knots,

holes or other defects.

In southern Michigan there are five tree species that command a high price. These are:

black walnut, black cherry, red oak, white oak and hard maple. The others – the ash, beech,

hickory, sassafras and more – can be good trees, but their value does not approach that of the

“big five”. So, within reason, management usually aims to steer the woods toward production of

these five important species.

In northern Michigan a wider range of timber markets makes it possible to manage for

aspen and softwoods, where tree quality requirements are more lenient.

The subject property is in a transition zone between southern Lower Michigan and

northern Lower Michigan. Some softwoods are native here, e. g. eastern white pine and northern

white-cedar, and aspen (a kind of 3rd category, as it is not a “softwood”, but is very soft) is an

important commercial species.

A common measure of stand density, or “stocking” is “basal area”. This refers to the

cross-sectional area of the trees and is expressed in square feet per acre. Basal area is relatively

easy to measure and is a useful guide for forest managers. Generally, hardwood stands are

considered to be well-stocked if their basal area is anywhere between 85 and 110 square feet per

acre. When it reaches higher levels, it could benefit from thinning.

Height growth seems to be more closely related to site quality than diameter growth.

Diameter growth is more of an expression of how much lateral space a tree had while growing

up, while tree height is a reflection of the site quality. Site Index is an expression of the

productivity of a given site for a given tree species. For Michigan trees, it is expressed as the

anticipated tree height at age 50 years. Thus, a site index of 50 means trees of that species would

likely be 50 feet tall in 50 years. Site index of 90, such as we measured in this area for red oak

and bigtooth aspen, is unusually high.

The data included in this report were gathered through a series of ten one-fifth-acre

sample plots, representing about 5% of the area.

General Description

This property was gifted to Michigan Forest Association by the non-profit organization

“Forests for the Future”. Forests for the Future was founded by the late Fred Prince, who had

made a sort of a business of acquiring and managing forest lands. He had owned approximately

8,000 acres at one time – most of which he had acquired through purchase at tax sales. Mr.

Prince had a strong interest in forest management and had acquired a strong background of

forestry knowledge through attendance at nearly every possible conference on forestry. It was

sometimes said that, “Everyone in the forestry business in the Lake States and Ontario knew

Fred Prince.” After Fred’s passing in 2011 the board of directors of Forests for the Future

decided to divest themselves of the land, recognizing that several organizations were already

doing what Fred had envisioned i.e. using the land as an educational tool. MFA was one of the

non-profits chosen to receive some properties.

This tract was deeded to Fred Prince in 1957 and was enrolled in Commercial Forest the

following year. We have no records of any timber management activity during the previous 60

years.

The tract is 40 acres in size and contains about 20 acres of mature red oak, 18 acres of

mature aspen/oak and 2 acres of pole-size mixed red maple, cherry and other species in Isabella

County’s Gilmore Township. It is in the northwest part of Isabella County, about at the edge of

the residential development that seems to be spreading out from Clare and Mt. Pleasant. The land

is somewhat rolling in topography, but with no large changes in elevation.

Elevations shown on the topographic map found on the “mytopo” website appear to be

expressed in meters, with a contour interval of 3 meters. This corresponds quite well with

elevations found (but evidently not printable) on the “UStopo” site, which showed elevations in

feet. At any rate, elevation seems to be around 1,000 feet.

Isabella County is located in a transition zone between northern Michigan and southern

Michigan. Prior to European settlement, this part of the county was occupied by northern

hardwood and conifer forest. White pine may well have been part of that forest cover; if so, this

property would likely have played host to some of Michigan’s lumberjacks back in the

Nineteenth Century.

Today the land is part of a large area of several square miles in Isabella and Clare

Counties that supports a growth of mixed oak and aspen. The oak – aspen forest suggests that

the area was open land when these trees

became established. Their age of

approximately 70 years puts their origin

about the time of World War II, when

farming might have been discontinued.

The land then reverted to forest cover.

We can deduce this much about the

history of the land because we know

oaks and aspens don’t grow well in the

shade, and they have grown well on this

site. So, they must have grown up in

full sunlight. Our supposition is

supported by the presence of

a“Centennial Farm” sign in similar

woods on an adjacent parcel on the

This Centennial Farm sign, about a half-mile from the MFA property, suggests the surrounding woods was farmed about 75 years ago.

south side of the same section that is marked with a “Centennial Farm” sign (see photo). It

doesn’t look much like farm land today, as it is deep woods.

The MFA land drains to the northwest about a mile to a small pond called Grass Lake in

Clare County. The North Branch of the Chippewa River starts from Grass Lake, flows northeast

for a half-mile or so, then swings east and then south and eventually joins the Chippewa River

about 2 miles west of Mount Pleasant.

The character of the landscape is one of scattered homes, some farming and a lot of oak-

aspen woods. The Physical Features map on page __ shows several buildings on nearby

properties. Many of these are residences that may have been established as hunting camps

several years ago.

Owners’ objectives

The objectives of the Michigan Forest Association as landowners will be to maintain the

land in productive condition of timber and wildlife and to use the property for educational

purposes. A secondary objective is to maintain enrollment in the Commercial Forest Program.

Boundaries

Boundary lines are not well marked. They can be generally located from old cutting

lines, where timber was harvested from adjacent parcels in previous years.

There is a surveyor’s iron pin at the southwest corner. This corner can easily be found by

following the cutting lines.

At the southeast corner, which would represent the center of the section, we did not find a

surveyor’s corner. There is, however, a dead tree stub about 7 feet high and 10” diameter that is

marked up with old blue and orange paint as if representing the corner.

At the northeast corner there is a surveyor’s iron pin with plastic cap bearing the

registration number “27458”. There is a fairly fresh cutting boundary running west from this

point.

Three years ago, along the cutting line mentioned above, I found a surveyor’s pin bearing

the number “27458” about 7 chains (462’) west of the corner. Next to the pin was a lath marked

“Property Corner”. I did not find that pin in 2018, but the lath may have been knocked down

during the recent logging on adjacent land to the north. Also along the cutting line which

roughly follows the north boundary of the MFA property, I did find a surveyor’s pin about

halfway across the property. This one has the registration number “49107”.

We did not find a convincing corner marker in the northwest corner, although recent

cutting lines made a 90 degree turn in the general vicinity.

While there is evidence of two or three surveyors’ work around the MFA forty, the

boundaries could not be considered well-marked. Hiring a surveyor to locate the missing corners

and mark some points on the lines would seem like a good investment. MFA could mark the

lines with iron posts once they were established.

Access

Currently, there is no legal access to this property.

In talking with an adjoining landowner, Mr. Lowel Counts, I learned that he and Fred

Prince, a former owner of the MFA land, had a reciprocal access agreement, i.e., “you can cross

my land and I can cross yours”. MFA needs a more formal agreement to comply with the

requirements of the Commercial Forest Program; this would seem like a good place to start.

Threatened & Endangered Species

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has indicated there are no records of

threatened or endangered species on or near this property.

Cultural & Historic Features

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has indicated there are no records of

cultural or historic features on or near this property.

Soils

About 99% of this property is underlain by soils in the Remus-Spinks complex. It is a

productive soil and is rated “well suited” for harvest equipment. Soils on adjacent land to the

north have a different soil type and have shown a tendency to develop ruts during a recent

logging there. Logging should be limited to seasons when the ground is very dry or frozen.

Invasive Species

The common exotic and invasive shrubs do not seem to be a big problem here. Most of

the undergrowth is of native species.

We did not see any evidence of the presence of oak wilt disease, but our management

should be designed to avoid logging activity – or any activity that might cause wounds on trees –

during the oak wilt infection season, which is roughly May through July. Some information on

this disease is provided in the appendix to this report on page __.

Wildlife

We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife here. Signs of deer and raccoons are evident,

and signs of pileated woodpeckers working in aspen snags. Maybe we talked too much and too

loudly to expect to see much.

Timber

The timber is a mix of red oak and bigtooth aspen with a little red maple. The maple is

the only one of these three species that does well in shade, and it is colonizing parts of the area.

Management options will include even-aged systems for aspen and oak vs. all-aged systems for

maple, basswood, ash and cherry.

The Atlas of Early Michigan’s Forests, Grasslands, and Wetlands describes this area as

“Sugar Maple-Yellow Birch Forest”. We have deduced that it must have been open land when

the current timber stand established itself – 70 years ago. The designation of sugar maple, or

hard maple found in the atlas suggests that if we hold the land long enough it will succeed to a

hard maple type of cover. Already the red (soft) maple has a good start. There is little hard

maple seed available, but eventually this area seems to be headed in that direction.

The aspen is very tall and is reaching its life expectancy. A harvest with follow-up

treatment to remove remaining trees can be expected to result in a thick and vigorous stand of

young aspen. Such young “sucker” stands of root sprouts form important habitat for ruffed

grouse, woodcock and deer. Aspen regeneration and expansion was an important component of

the DNR’s program to increase the deer herd in the 1960s and ‘70s. “A Million Deer by 1980”

was the program – and it was successful.

Species List

This property has only a slight diversity of species. Following is a list of tree species observed.

There are probably others.

Table 1. Tree Species List

Common name Scientific name Common name Scientific name

Red maple Acer rubrum White oak Quercus alba

American beech Fagus grandifolia Red oak Quercus rubra

White ash Fraxinus Americana

Black cherry Prunus serotina

Cover types

The forested area is divided into 2 stands. These are noted on the map and described in the table

below.

Table 2. Stand summary

Stand

No.

Acres Size class Density Site Quality Description

1 20 Sawtimber High –

BA = 164

High –

Red Oak SI= 95

O9 (Red oak sawtimber)

2 18 Sawtimber High –

BA = 142

High –

Red Oak SI = 95

A9 (aspen sawtimber)

Stand 1 contains some

high quality red oak.

Stand Descriptions

Stand 1, 20 acres. O9 Basal area = 164 sq. ft./ acre

This stand covers roughly the west half of the forty.

It is dominated by red oak sawtimber. The diameter

distribution graph shows most of the red oak is in the 16, 18

and 20-inch diameter classes. These oaks are about 70 years

old, placing their origin around 1947. Basal area averages

164 square feet per acre, ranging from 140 to 200 on five

plots.

Red maple is moving in underneath the oak and,

without some management intervention, will take over the

stand as the oaks gradually die off.

The oaks are quite tall: about 110 feet. At about

70 years of age, this puts their site index at 95. To put this

in perspective, a site index of 50 is often considered a

good average.

Timber volume is unusually high, at an estimated

14,000 board feet per acre. More than 80% of that volume

is red oak. Red maple represents about 15% and aspen is a

little less than 2%.

We noticed some white ash seedlings and saplings

in parts of Stand 1. They show up in the 4” diameter class

in the graph of Trees per Acre on this page. Their future is

not well understood: they may by killed by the Emerald

Ash Borer (EAB) in a few years, or they may live to maturity, finding the EAB levels to be

tolerable.

Educational possibilities

It might be worthwhile to try to manage for oak on part of the stand, and allow the maple

to gain control on the remainder. There are 20 acres in the stand, so half managed for oak and

half for maple seems as if it would be workable. Managing for oak could mean clearcut, or we

could cut the weak-looking ones now, bringing basal area down to 50 or 60, and come back in 10

years to remove the rest. Meanwhile, we should watch for oak seedlings and release them from

vegetative competition and protect them from deer as necessary. MFA members might be

employed on a volunteer basis to do some of the release and protection work.

It would be interesting to mark some of the young ash and follow their development from

year to year. I don’t know of anyone who is tracking that.

Recommendations:

In about 2023, harvest those oaks not expected to survive or improve over the next decade,

bringing basal area down to 50 or 60 square feet per acre. Divide the stand in half – one half to

manage for maple; the other half to encourage oak regeneration. Both halves would be treated the

same way in 2023.

In 2033 harvest the remaining oaks. In one half, use care to avoid damage to the maple;

on the other half, remove as much maple as possible.

0

20

40

Tre

es

pe

r a

cre

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Diameter class

Red oak red maple aspen

Ash Beech

Diameter Distribution

Stand 1

red maple (14.67%)aspen (1.73%)

Red oak (83.60%)

Volume DistributionStand 1

Stand 2, 18 acres A9 This is roughly the east half of the forty. Total

timber volume is 11,500 board feet per acre – not as high as

Stand 1, but still very good. Timber volume is divided

among three species: with about equal parts of red oak and

bigtooth aspen (46% each) – with a little bit of red maple

(9/%) thrown in. As in Stand 1, red maple is invading

underneath the aspens and oaks.

Basal area averages 142 square feet per acre,

indicating the stand is well stocked – probably too well

stocked for good growth. The aspen is reaching its life

expectancy and is ready for harvest.

Educational Possibilities

As in Stand 1, we might be able to manage some

of this stand for maple. Not that it would be much more

valuable than aspen, but it would serve as an example of

how a landowner can steer a stand of trees in one

direction or another. The northwest part of this stand has

a LOT of pole-size red maple; it would be fairly easy to

harvest the aspen; then convert to maple.

Marking the lines between treatment types would

be a very educational process for most people.

Recommendations:

Harvest the aspen in 2023. Leave the young maple where it is dense enough to form a

stand.

Summary of Recommendations

Stand # Cover Type Acres Recommended activity/year Acres

1 O9 red oak sawtimber 20 Light harvest / 2023 20

2 A9 aspen sawtimber 18 Clearcut / 2023 (leave maple poles in

N ½)

18

3 O9 red oak sawtimber 20 Clearcut / 2033 ( manage for red oak

regeneration)

20

0

25

50

75

Tre

es p

er

acre

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28+

Diameter class

Red oak red maple aspen

Diameter Distribution

Stand 2

Red oak (46.29%)aspen (44.69%)

red maple (9.02%)

Volume DistributionStand 2

A P P E N D I X

Data Tables Stand 1 Trees per Acre

Diam. Red oak red maple aspen Ash Totals

4 0 10 0 1.7 11.7

6 0 24 0 24

8 1 23 0 24

10 4 23 0 27

12 9 7 0 16

14 9 7 0 16

16 19 1 1 21

18 25 7 1 33

20 11 1 0 12

22 5 2 0 7

24 2 0 0 2

26 0 0 0

28+ 0 0 0

Totals 85 105 2 1.7 193.7

Stand 1 Board Feet per Acre

Diam. Red oak red maple aspen Totals

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 239 150 0 389

14 428 264 0 692

16 1854 73 117 2044

18 4390 1150 130 5670

20 2890 187 0 3077

22 1394 272 0 1666

24 748 0 0 2414

Totals 11943 2096 247 0 14286

Stand 2 Trees per Acre

Diam. Red oak red maple aspen Totals

4 3.75 55 0 58.75

6 1.25 42.5 0 43.75

8 2.5 21.25 0 23.75

10 1.25 5 0 6.25

12 1.25 0 3.75 5

14 0 2.5 12.5 15

16 6.25 5 6.25 17.5

18 6.25 3.75 6.25 16.25

20 5 7.5 12.5

22 5 1.25 6.25

24 1.25 1.25

26 1.25

28+ 0 0

Totals 35 135 38.75 208.75

Stand 2 Board Feet per Acre

Diam. Red oak red maple aspen Totals

4

6

8

10

12 31 0 110 141

14 0 110 819 929

16 620 346 365 1331

18 992 587 1154 2733

20 1126 1785 2911

22 1530 425 1955

24 425 510 935

26 630 630

28+ 0 0

Totals 5354 1043 5168 11565

Stand no. Acres Tree spp Bd. Ft/Ac. Total BF Price/MBF Value /acre Total Value

1 20 Red Oak 11,943 238,860 $268.52 $3,207 $64,000

1 20 B.T.aspen 247 4,940 128.2 $32 $600

1 20 Red Maple 2096 41,920 147.55 $309 $6,000

Stand totals 14,286 285,720 $3,548 $70,600

2 18 Red Oak 5354 96,372 $268.52 $1,438 $25,800

2 18 B.T.aspen 5168 93,024 128.2 $662 $11,900

2 18 Red Maple 1043 18,774 147.55 $154 $2,700

Stand totals 11,565 208170 $2,254 $40,400

Grand total $111,000