Woods Walks - The New York Forest Owners Association

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~orest wner
A PUBLICATION
OF THE NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS
Federal Taxation
You said you wanted something
more definitive relative to the
small woodlar.d owner and
federal tax codes, since most
materials seem to be written for
the large forestry business.
On my 150 acres, had I not been
able to deduct expenses (vs.
capitalization, as proposed), it
would have been all outgo and no
income, just comparing sales with
expenses the way the big companies do. 1980 included a $1,000
timber sale and 1984 inluded a
$500 firewood sale. Figures on my
chart are taken from the partnership tax returns and capital gains
do not even enter the picture.
While I did not have a net profit,
the fact that I could deduct my
share of theloss from my personal
income makes it seem like a profit.
Association Officers
ASSOCIATION
Richard E. Garrett, President
1261 Apulia Road, Lafayette, NY
13084
Norman E. Richards, 1st Vice
President
156 Westminster Ave., Syracuse,
NY 13210
Harold Petrie, 2nd Vice President
RD 1, Box 117, Parish, NY 13131
Robert M. Sand, Secretary
Cotton Hanlon, Inc., Cayuta, NY
14824
Stuart McCarty, Treasurer
4300 East Avenue, Rochester, NY
14618
Howard O. Ward, Assistant
IN THE
... le t t e r s posted
MAILBOX
&
passed
...
along
- Frank Lesniewski
Northeost Market Manager
Southern Forest Products Assoc.
242 May Ave.,
Schenectedy,NY
12303
518-355-4455
2
240 Owego Street, Candor, NY 13743
George Mitchell, Membership
Secretary
Box 69, Old Forge, NY 13420
Thomas A. Conklin, Director
10 Artillery Lane,
·Baldwinsville, NY 13027
- Howard O. Ward
Candor, NY
More on Penta
I noticed in the August issue a
question about an alternative to
Pentachlorophenol and use of
treated wood for foundations.
The sale of Chromated Copper
Arsenate (CCA)treated wood has
been booming across New York
State, sold under the brand names
of Osmose, Wolmanized, Oxcel,
Greenwood, Supatimber, to mention a few. Uses of treated wood
are limitless, save for countertops,
cutting boards andbee hives. The
chemical used to preserve the
wood is non-leachable; however,
please keep in mind that scraps
should not be burned, but disposed of via trash collection or burial.
Due to the lack of competitive
block suppliers and masons in
rural New York State, coupled
with the desire of rural New
Yorkers to do their own carpentry (eliminating the masonry
trade),we've seen a boom in Permanent Wood Foundation sales.
This treated lumber and plywood
foundation system is approved by
the New York State Building Code
and requires only carpentry labor
to build.
For more information, please
write me...
Treasurer
Richard J. Fox, Director
RD 3, Dresserville Road
Moravia, NY 13118
Vacuum Flow
For several years, the Miner Institute at Chazy, New York, has
cooperated in a research project
comparing gravity flow sap collection to one which operates on
vacuum. Once again in 1985 the
vacuum operated system outperformed the non-vacuum syste
to a considerable degree. We
averaged 20.9 gallons of sap per
tap on the vacuum system and
10.6 gallons on the gravity system.
Sugar content was somewhat
higher with the vacuum system,
too.
cumulated growing degree days
from May 1 through August 16
were 1,327 for 1985; 1,480 for
1984;1,490 for 1983;and 1,504for
the ten year average.
- Loren Parker
Ev Thomas
William H. Miner Agricultural
Research Institure
Chazy, NY
Horse Logging
A seven-day advanced course in
timber harvesting for people with
some background in forestry
andlor draft horses will be held
Sunday October 20 through Saturday October 26 in Massachusetts.
The $300 registration fee pays for
sessions on woodlot-management
felling, skidding and decking with
horses, scaling, marketing, use
and maintenance of chainsaws
and hand tools, selecting and
training horses, and safety. It also
covers room and board and all
necessary
equipment
and
transportation. The progrm is
limited to ten people.
Seed Handbook
We do have the book entitled
Seeds of Woody Plants in the
United States, USDA Handbook
Number 450 (Forest Service)Stock
Number
001-000-02902-9,
however it costs $24 and advance
payment is required.
-Superintendent of Documents
US Govt. Printing Office
Washington, DC
Growing Degree Days
We continue to remain about 200
growing degree days behind the
long term average at Ithaca. Ac-
- Joseph C. Dell, Jr.
Regional Extension Specialist
Ithaca, NY
[Editor's note: I wonder what this
means to oaks, hemlocks,
ragweed or even mourning doves
or deer.]
- Toby Bashaw
Cabot Farm
110 Larch Row
Wenham, Mass
01984
(tel. 617-468-2310)
John H. Hamel
Box L, 3805 Sweet Road
Jamesville, NY 13078
J. Morgan Heussler, Director
900 Porterville Road
East Aurora, NY 14052
Allen F. Horn, Director
3978 Pompey Center Road
Manlius, NY 13104
William H. Lynch, [r., Director
100 Whitestone Drive
Syracuse, NY 13215
Earl Pfarner, Director
Allen Road, Chaffee, NY 14030
Alec C. Proskine, Director
9370 Congress Road
Trumansburg, NY 14886
A.W. Roberts, [r., Director
981 Route 222, Cortland, NY 13045
Evelyn Stock, Director
Ike Dixon Road
Camillus, NY 13031
Lloyd C. Strombeck, Director
57 Main Street, Owego, NY 13827
Wesley E. Suhr, Director
Ranger School. Wanakena, NY 13695
Materials submitted for publication
should be addressed to: Alan Knight,
Editor, ny Forest Owner, 96 Targosh
Road, Candor, NY 13743. Written
materials, photos, and art work are invited. Please address all membership
and change of address requests to
membership secretary.
n.y. Forest Owner
EDITORIAL
A fine, old tree has fallen in the
forest. Dave Hanaburgh is dead.
It seems like only yesterday that
he and I shared hotel rooms in the
Alpine countries of Europe and
hiked the streets
of Munich,
searching for souvenirs for friends
back home.
It was then that I learned one of
his first clients as a consulting
forester had been the Roosevelts
of Hyde Park. It was then that I
learned he had suffered the horrors
of the Anzio beach invasion. He
didn't talk about those things
much. You had to be around him
awhile so that it could come out
gradually.
NYFOA
tour
to the United
Kingdom. Dave Hanaburgh gave
that to us, just a year ago.
Indeed, Dave Hanaburgh gave us
NYFOA.
He was one of its
founders, twice president,
ever
involved.
There are those who lately say
that NYFOA must become more
than a social club if it is to ever
achieve its potential of stimulating
private
forest management.
I,
myself, have been one to say that.
But the
passing
of Dave
Hanaburgh is a sad reminder that
NYFOA is and must always be to
some degree a social club, bound
tight by the vines of friendship.
and woodcock ("Alder Ground") are
available and would make fine companions on your wall.
Prices include first class postage
Order Form
Yes, please send me ...
[ 1 print
of "Bitternut
Ridge"
$65
OUR COVER
David
H.
Hanaburgh
That is, of course, one of the chief
values of the New York Forest
Owners Association: taking time to
be with those who share your interest in forests. Without NYFOA,
I would never have known Dave
Hanaburgh.
Without
NYFOA,
there would be no scrapbook on
the table commemorating
the
If Stephen R. Smith isn't as
famous as John James Audubon or
Roger Tory Peterson, just wait. He
will be.
Readers of the Forest Owner can
order prints of this other works by
the talented Mr. Smith by using the
coupon below.
Here are the details: 'Bitternut
Ridge,' (this illustration
of the
turkeys), signed and numbered, 20'
by 26', is $65. A 'remarked' print,
retouched to give it a one-of-a-kind
characteristic, is $115. Add $80 for
optional mounting and framing.
Equally excellent paintings of
ruffed grouse ("May-Apple Prince")
[1a
"remarked" print of
"Bitternut Ridge"
... $115
[ 1 Please
have my print
mounted and framed
...$80 extra
Total amount
included ... $
_
[ 1 please send me information
about your other wildlife paintings.
Send your check, payable to Stephen
R. Smith,
to 47 Ellis Avenue,
Jamestown, NY 14701
Name
_
Phone
Address
_
City
State/Zip
OCTOBER
1985
3
A report from Evan and Betty James ...
Notice
We must announce that the
NYFOA tour to New Zealand
must be postponed. We had
no idea that Halley's comet
would cause New Zealand's
hotels and airlines to fill so.
We will notify all members
and especially those who have
indicated their interest just as
soon as new plans jell.
-Alan and Nancy Knight
Woods Walks 'Something New
at Each One'
Thirty-nine
enthusiastic
woods
walkers gathered at our tree farm on
July 20th, 1985, for the third NYFOA
woods walk of the year. The delegation was headed by then-president
Mary McCarty, Treasurer
Stuart
McCarty, and Directors Morgan
Heussler and Earl Pfarner.
Bruce Robinson, a private forestry
consultant and former DEC woodlot
management specialist, led the morning walk through plantation stands
of spruce, red pine and Scotch pine.
Although acknowledging that the
Scotch pine plantings
originally
recommnded
by the State were a
mistake, he said that such plantations could still have a beneficial
result, for as the Scotch pines give
out, they furnish an ideal starting
ground for black cherry and maple,
the 'home' trees of western New
York.
In the afternoon, Bruce led the walk
into hardwood
stands of maple,
beech, and ash, pointing out the
need for wise woodlot management:
the removal of wolf trees to afford
sunlight and air to new growth; the
selective thinning of clump trees to
expand and grow; the encouragement that can be given to future
4
growth while reaping the benefits
now of timber
and firewood
harvests;
or to secure
greater
wildlife abundance.
Those attending this woods walk, in
addition to those already mentioned,
were Ed Slocum, Don and Ruth
Munson, Bill and Jane Bernatovich,
Art and Bessie Kibbe, Jean and Rich
Fishburn, Pat Schuse, Tom Graber,
Dick Fletcher, J.Y Hamilton, John
Knight,
Paul Manning,
Oliver
Williams, LaVern Frey, Sandy and
Judy Vreeland,
Edwin
Smith,
George Blackburn, Rita Hammond,
John and Anne Hojnacki, Rose Anne
Hojnacki,
Terry Thomas,
Norm
Gilbert, and four unidentified woods
walkers who left at the lunch break
before signing in.
The woods walk is a valuable tool
of the New York Forest Owners
Association, and as Mary McCarty
expressed it, 'Even though we have
been on a dozen woods walks, we
have learned something new from
each one.'
In addition, there are new faces at
each walk, new conditions, and lots
of great outdoors! .:.
Forest Owner Signs
Now Available
These rugged metal signs are ideal
for tacking on your barn door or on
gate posts by your tree farm driveway.
They are twelve inches by twelve inches, bright yellow with green lettering.
Cost is $2 apiece, plus handling.
Send
your check,
payable
to
NYFOA, to Stuart McCarty, 4300 East
Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618.
Please send me
signs.
Enclosed
is my check
for
$
. (Number of signs
times $2, plus $1.75 for postage
and handling)
Name
Street
Town/City
_
Zip
_
n.y. Forest Owner
Markets Report
lbmorrow's Forests
BegIn Here.
This is the sign of the future for
American Forestry. It indicates one of
the more than 50,000 Tree Farms being managed by private landowners
for the growing and harvesting of
forest crops.
A Tree Farm is not just a matter of
planting trees, or having 10 acres or
more of woodland. Tree Farmers actively manage their forests
growing and harvesting crops of trees; protecting the land from fire, insects,
disease and destructive grazing. They
provide watershed protection,
better
food and habitat for wildlife, and opportunities for outdoor recreation.
And it is the Tree Farmer who will
make possible
the lumber,
wood
fiber
and other natural resources
Am~rica
needs
for tomorrow's
growth.
If you have 10 acres or more of
woodland, why not send for information on this valuable program? Tree
Farms payoff for their owners and for
our country.
r-----------------,
Alan Scouten, Chm.
c/o Georqia-Pacific Corp.
Center Street, Box 338
Lyons Falls, NY 13368
I am interested in additional information on
how I can manage my woodlands to meet Tree
Farm Standards.
Address
I
City
Miriam C. Rider
Albany, NY
Francis Benton
Cato, NY
Troy Ramage
Masonville, NY
Charles Hatfield
Freeville, NY
Esther Becker
Holland, NY
Murray Wagner
Colden, NY
Glenn Morse
Auburn, NY
Dennis Perham
Schenectedy, NY
John and Marie Hojnacki
Buffalo, NY
Phil Munson
Croton, NY
John Weissinger
Etna, NY
Robert Bevier
Moravia, NY
Camp Director
YMCA Auburn,
Jim Sollick
Locke, NY
Keith Hatfield
Scipio Center, NY
John Schramm
Moravia, NY
Wagner Millwork
Owego, NY
Gary Hill
Whitehall,
NY
NY
George Lawrence,
Groton, NY
_
best advice for those who have
marketable timber may be to wait.'
Since red oak seems to be the
barometric species, here is a range
of prices reportedly paid.
Vermont, June: a low of $75 a thousand (International
Rule); most
prices in the $100 to $200 range; a
few as high as $240, $348, and even
$425.
New York, July, quoting International rule, and only the most common prices: a low of $120 in the
Herkimer County area; not much
better in the belt from Steuben County north to Lake Ontario; $200
through Tug Hill and north to St.
Lawrence County; strongest ($248)
in extreme western New York.
Forecon consulting forestry company reports 1985 averages (in Doyle
Rule)of $100 for red oak in western
New York, $250 in central and northern Pennsylvania, and $150 in central and northern
New York.
Forecon's
figures
show much
stronger prices for black cherry in
1985.
The Catskill Forestry Association
quoted
red oak prices
in its
September newsletter,
in International rule, of $225 to $325 for
sawlogs and $475 to $625 for logs going for veneer. +
New Members
David Palmer
Union Springs,
Name
Phone
After a late spring and summer of
sluggish
demand,
timber prices
seem to have been picking up again
by late September. Forestry consultant Carl Bauer, who maintains offices in several locations in western,
central, and northern NY, as well as
in PA indicated that 'recent Forecon
timber sales demonstrated a renewed interest for stumpage ... Red oak
was the largest export item in both
sawlogs
and lumber.
The ash
market, which generally follows red
oak trends,
stagnated
due to a
tremendous
amount
of logs
available. An upward trend in demand
and price
of timber
is
expected.'
Nonetheless, an August report from
the University of Vermont says, 'The
trend of pessimism that began a year
ago continues.
Nearly half those
buyers and consultants who offered
an opinion of the future say that
prices will likely decline this fall
Why? No one seems to know exactly, although
a strong dollar on
foreign markets, Canadian imports,
and a stalled economy have been implicated. Although it is likely things
will pick up somewhat this fall due
to seasonal demand, the view of
those who know the market is particularly bleak in spite of this. The
Jr.
Farms
Bruce E. Robinson
Jamestown, NY
-----------
L~~~~
OCTOBER
1985
J
5
NY
WOOD CHIPS
Can Heat,
Earn More
for Farmers
by Alan Knight
Tree farmers might be dollars ahead
if they burned wood chips instead of
cordwood. And if Rainer Langstedt
has his way one day, they will be
selling chips profitably, too.
Of course, Langstedt wants to sell
more of his Finnish Valby chippers.
He runs Northeast Implement Corporation in Spencer, New York. But
even if you take away the sales pitch,
the idea is intriguing.
According
to Finnish research
reports translated
by Langstedt,
wood chips burn at 65% - 70% efficiency while cordwood burns at only 50% efficiency.
Some boiler
manufacturers claim as high as 80%
efficiency for chips. This higher efficiency rating is due to the increased surface area, says Langstedt.
Efficiency in burning isn't half the
story. The real gain may lie in the
ease with which wood burning with
chips can be mechanized.
The
Langstedt home has a new chip-fired
boiler mechanically
fueled by an
auger.
Every
12
hours
the
Langstedts fill the 30 cubic foot bin,
burning as little as 130 pounds of
chips per day in mild weather, about
200 pounds in cold weather. The fire
will actually go for 18 hours on one
binful.
II
__
;;.!'.,,'
Rainer Langstedt says small
chips from this chipper can
burn more efficiently than
cordwood and can be mechanized. too.
A thermostat tells the auger when
to feed the boiler more chips, while
a timer switch stands ready to override every five minutes with a small
dash of chip fuel, just enough to keep
the fire burning if the thermostat
hasn't called for more chips.
Another auger or conveyor through
the exterior wall of the building can
be used to load the chip bin, again
with the idea of mechanizing
the
wood handling as much as possible.
Langstedt says it takes two people
about three hours to chip one
month's supply of chips from slabwood. The Valby chipper will take
chips down to a size of slightly less
than one-half inch and blow them into his old roof-covered dump truck.
Then he parks his truck outside his
boiler room. These small chips are
best for the auger, he says.
The Valby chipper is what is called
a disk chipper, as opposed to the
more common drum chipper. Wood
is rammed against the face of the
disk, rather than the circumference.
'It is the same difference as that between a disk sander and the cutting
edge of a table saw. The drum chipper cuts chips that are curved banana shaped, Longstedt calls them
- and prone to bridging in the bin,
causing flow problems.
What excites Rainer Langstedt so
much about a woodchip burning
system is that farmers are uniquely
suited to it, in his opinion. They
have woodlots. They have tractors
and many have self-unloading
wagons.
Many people who now balk at fiddling with wood stoves and having
sooty living rooms, burn-scarred
knuckles and splinters might take a
new look at wood fuel that is neat
and mechanized.
He envisions a group of about ten
farmers getting together to buy one
chipper. Each farmer would have
his own set of chipper
knives,
though, to use and care for. The
farmers could produce their easilymechanized
chip fuel in this way
and even sell chips to nonfarm
neighbors and small businesses.
The imported boiler (a Topi Pamppi, from Valmistaja, 27100 Eurajoki,
Finland) cost Rainer Langstedt about
$2,000, but he thinks equally good
and cheaper ones could be made
here. He has another $300 invested
in electronic
controls
it could
cost $4,500 for the chipper. That's
not cheap, but the chipper is not intended to sit around. It is intended
to work and earn money for the
farm.
,"""o~:'", The chip bin and auger can be rolled back
to allow for servicing or cleaning.
6
n.y. Forest Owner
Administration's
Tax Axe
Unpopular With
Many Forestry Officials
It Is Not Enough
To Own a Forest.
from the Forest Industries Committee
on Taxation ...
For timber growers the Administration's tax proposal is neither fair nor
simple. And rather than encouraging growth, it would result in a
decline
in our nation's
timber
resources.
The proposal would change current
law, which permits a taxpayer to
deduct annually
the costs of (1)
management
of timber after the
seedlings are established, (2) property taxes, and (3) interest, to require
the capitalization
of all such costs.
Further, it would repeal capital gain
treatment
for timber,
which for
more than the last 40 years has been
available
to timber
growers
regardless
of how they dispose of
their timber. Finally, it would repeal
a current law provision that permits
small timber owners to amortize
over 84 months up to $10,000 of
reforestation expenses annually and
to claim a 10% investment tax credit
thereon. These proposals ignore the
'For the smaller
timber owner,
records and computations would
increase
exponentially. '
historic response
that the timber
supply has shown federal tax policy.
Prior to 1944, the year in which the
capital gain provisions that the Administration
is now proposing
to
repeal were enacted,
the annual
supply of timber was decreasing annually. Since that time, however, the
nation's
inventory
of standing
timber has increased by more than
195 billion cubic feet, with new planOCTOBER
1985
ting now in the hundreds
each year.
of millions
It is ironic that the Administration's
proposal would restore the tax treatment of timber to that which existed
prior to 1944 at a time when our nation's timber needs are increasing.
Indeed, the United States Forest Service has projected a shortage beginning in the late 1980s that by 2030
will increase to 3.9 billion cubic feet.
Additionally,
adoption of the tax
proposals would further jeopardize
the role that forest products play in
international
trade and our balance
of payments. Historically, timber has
been one of our nation's leading exports. By making investments
in
timber less attractive, the proposals
would further jeopardize this role.
It is difficult to attract capital investment to timber ($15 billion are needed) because of the low rate of return
and the unique risks involved. The
proposals would make it even more
difficult. And the proposal is unfair
to the hundreds
of thousnds
of
timber owners who planted timber
relying on capital gain treatment
upon its harvest.
Requiring
the capitalization
of
timber management
expenses and
carrying costs unfairly singles out
investments
in timber
from investments in all assets for onerous
treatment.
Finally, the Administration's
proposal does not promote simplicity.
Especially
for the smaller timber
owner, the required
records and
computations
would
increase
exponentially.
Therefore, we recommend retaining
the existing timber capital gains
treatment, the present treatment of
timber management
expenses and
carrying costs, and the present incentives for reforestation.
-:.
The challenge is to nurture it, to fulfilla
destiny of beauty, productivity, and family
pride ... while turning enough dollars over
to hang on to it. But how?
There are no easy answers, only ideas to
ponder by the woodstove. That's what
NYFOA is all about: ideas, family pride in
forest management,
and sharing of
dreams.
Through regular issues of The Forest
Owner magazine, frequent seminars and
woods walks in one another's woodlots,
and extended tours to extend the
fellowship and learning in foreign lands,
members of the New York Forest Owners
Association are growing as surely as the
trees in their woodlots.
loin!
_
Check your preferred
membership
option:
[ 1 Regular - $10
[ 1 Family - $15
[ 1 Contributing - $16-100
[ 1 Supporting - over $101
Send checks payable to:
New York Forest Owners
Association
Post Office Box 69,
Old Forge, New York
1342()-()()69
Yes, I'd like to learn more about The
New York Forest Owners Association
and how to get more out of my woodlands.
Name
_
Phone
Address
_
Oty
State/Zip
7
,-.-
Ben Franklin's Favorite
Hollywood is a long way from the
hills of New York's southern tier.
Maybe that explains how the wild
turkey came to be such a derisive
term for a fool. Norman Lear and the
sitcom writers of California never
tried to stalk Meleagris gallop avo on
Cross country skis. Alan AIda must
never have drawn a bead on a Tom
as he rocketed through the beeches
of Shindagin Hollow. Indeed, a day
of pitting the human mind against
Ben Franklin's choice for the national bird, and the choice of words
becomes laughable.
Call me a turkey and I shall thank
you for the compliment for I must be
handsome, cunning, and adaptable.
GLISTENING
I remember well the day I finally
overtook a flock on my skis. Three
miles from home, beyond the last
cornfield unharvested in clay soil,
my tracks crossed theirs. It looked
like ten or it looked like fifty. The
way their tracks crisscrossed one
another like those of chickens in
a pen, these birds had been roosting
here in the white pine. Their droppings gave that away, and their tracks
seemed to go nowhere but in circles.
I circled, too, in a spiralling circle
from the pines, trying to find a route
they had taken away from their yard.
By trial and error, by guess and by
gosh, I zigzagged through the second growth aspens and thornapples to the slope that ran up through
the oaks and beeches to the higher
hay field.
The flash was as bright as the noon
sun on the pond, jerking my eye up
the logging road to where they were
browsing. Sunlight flickered, showing off the most beautiful blacks,
blues, and purples I will ever see.
The turkey has to be smart to survive with those flashing feathers. He
is quick, too. Before I could even
whisper to the dog, they were gone,
silently trotting through the heavy,
wet snow and out of danger. The
dog, her eyes four feet lower than
mine, hasn't seen them yet. My feet,
two feet slower than hers, hasn't
8
caught them yet.
HISTORY
The department
of natural
resources at Cornell University says
the eastern wild turkey ranged
throughout New York State south of
the Adirondack Mountains in early
colonial times. It was eliminated by
the
mid-1800s
because
of
agricultural developmet, extensive
logging of hardwoods, introduction
of domestic poultry diseases, and
unlimited hunting.
As agriculture developed and gave
land back to forest, especially across
the New York - Pennsylvania border,
turkey habitat regrew. Turkeys first
reappeared in Cattauraugus County
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New
Jersey, and New Hampshire. These
birds have done remarkably well,
with birds becoming well established in what had been considered
maginal habitats.
Wild turkeys are now firmly
established in every county south of
the New York thruway from Buffalo
to Albany and east of the Hudson
River from Washington to Putnam
County.
HABITAT
Forestland owners will want to
know something about habitat. What
sort of woodland environment
favors the wild turkey?
The Turkey
in the late 1940s, natural immigrants
from Pennsylvania.
The New York Conservation
Department released over 3,000
birds in the 1950s, but this effort was
later considered a failure. The birds
were reared in captivity and seemed unable to cope with the wild environment. Since then, another
1,325 wild turkeys have been trapped in the wild and moved to potential ranged in New York, Vermont,
The adaptability of wild turkey to
a wide range of conditions in New
York was unexpected. Until recently, wildlife biologists assumed that
turkeys could only survive in extensive stands of fully mature hardwood. Now it seems turkeys can expand into range that is only 30%
forest. Hardwood stands need only
be mature enough to supply nuts
(mast, biologists like to call it) and
have a closed canopy that shades out
n.y. Forest Owner
most ground cover. Turkeys will
avoid ground cover.
At least 10% of the total range may
need to consist of forest openings
that can provide insect food for
young birds, Grasses and clovers
also can produce nutritious shoots,
flowers,
and
seeds.
Active
agricultural land can be an important component of turkey range.
Unharvested corn and fruits are
readily eaten during winter shortages of natural foods.
Turkeys will eat a wide assortment
of mast foods, and a wide variety is
also desirable from the standpoint of
insuring against a crop failure of any
one species.
MANAGEMENT
Certain land use practices can improve or maintain good turkey
range. Selective logging is not harmful to turkeys if enough young, mastproducing trees remain. Clear cutting small blocs of timber within
large stands can be good by providing forest openings where poults
can find insect foods. Thinning
dense, pole-size stands opens up the
understory which increases visibility and promotes faster maturity of
remaining mast trees.
Trails, abandoned roads, utility
rights-of-way, and logging headers
can provide enough open habitat in
many cases. Where practical, mowing these clearings every three to
five years will set backsuccesssion
and promote the growth of perenials
that provide seeds and berries.
When necessary, new clearings
should be a least a half acre and
round or square in shape to allow
maximum sun penetration. Sites
with disturbed
ground
cover
generally must be limed and fertilized before planting grasses of clovers.
Hens like to nest within a few hundred yards of clearings, so widely
dispersed clearings reduce competi-
tion for nesting sites.
Authors of the Cornell University
pamphlet on the wild turkey write,
'A strutting tom pompously displaying for the attention of hens is one
of the most thrilling and beautiful
performances found in nature. The
setting; a quiet, mature hardwood
stand; the season: mid spring, as the
forest stirs back to life after a long
winter; the time: early morning on
a mild, calm day. It is a truly
memorable experience for all who
witness it.'
As forest owners, you own the
stage, and you've already paid for
the tickets. Nature provides the
actors.
Hope you enjoy the show! +!+
Adapted by Alan Knight in part
from The Eastern Wild Turkey by
Cornell University staff members
Gary Goff, Daniel Decker, John
Kelley, and Ronald Howard.
POSTED
HUNTING, FISHING
OR
TRESPASSING
FOR ANY PURPOSE
STRICTLY FORBIDDEN
VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED
YOUR NAME
Signs are 11" x 12". Printing guaranteed not to rub off.
Call or write for free sample.
Colonial Poster Company
620 So. Columbus Ave. Dept. FO
914-668-5647
DURABLE VINYL
POSTED SIGNS
at reasonable prices
Mt. Vernon, N.Y. 10550
OCTOBER 1985
9
Drafthorsernen
Learn Logging
by Gary Sargent
On June 1 and 2, 1985, a logging
workshop was held at the Arnot
Forest, near Ithaca, New York, as a
joint venture of Cornell University's
Department
of Natural Resources
and the New York State Draft Horse
Club. The Arnot Forest is a 4,000acre teaching and research facility.
Different areas of forest are managed to demonstrate different things:
woodland
management,
wildlife,
sugarbush, and timber management,
as well as soil conservation. Located
at the site are a lodge and cabins
where students, faculty, and 4-H
youngsters may stay for seminars.
Several members of the Draft Horse
Club had expressed an interest in
having
a hands-on
session
to
demonstrate
the feasibility
and
limitations of using draft horses in
the woods. A suitable place had to
be found that could accommodate
the horses and the people, and the
Arnot facility proved to be ideal, pro-
vi ding the terrain
Northeast.
so typical of the
The prime mover in organizing the
event was Bill Tutton, of Lansing,
NY, and his friend and logging partner Dierk TerLouw.
SMALL GROUP
The group, limited to 15 students to
allow
adequate
hands-on
experience, met Friday night, May 31,
to register and to get acquainted.
Saturday morning, after a 7 a.m.
breakfast ably provided by Bob Conley and family (as were all our
meals), we assembled to see in the
forest the equipment we would be
using - two wagons,
a sled, a
forecart, a logging cart, and several
types of hooks and chains. As an example, our instructors use a choker
chain, a 1/4 inch high-test chain
about 7 feet long with a 2 inch ring
at one end and a 1/4 inch rod about
8 inches long at the other end, acting
like a needle to spear the ring. The
rod pushes under the log easier than
a hook. Female links or grab hooks
are attached to the evener; the chain
is set into the grabhook on the
evener after being wrapped around
the log.
BELGIANS
There were two teams of Belgians,
one provided by Bill Tutton and the
other by Loran Waite; three Percherons owned by Dierk TerLouw
that were used as a pair by Dierk and
as a single by Omar Gleason. Three
mules were provided by Tom Hewitt
and driven singly or as a team by
him and a helper, Jim Sollie. Two or
three students were assigned to an
instructor and his horses. David Parmiter also assisted the teamsters.
We worked two different locations
during the workshop. One area was
a 50 year old stand of red pine that
Veterinarian
Jeff Jamison
from
Guelph, Ontario, skidding a red pine
log with Dierk TerLouw's Percheron.
10
,--
Tom Hewitt with his mules and
Loran Waite and his Belgians pulling
a 41 foot ash log weighing approximately 4,400 lb. up a 15% grade.
had been thinned twice in recent
years. This spring, high winds and
an ice storm uprooted most of the
pines in a five acre area. Our job
was to skid the logs out to a yarding
area for later loading. The terrain
was relatively level or a slight
downhill skid. However, there was
a tangle of trees and slash, so part of
the training was to devise the best
way to skid logs out of the jumbled
mess. Under normal horse logging,
the cutters would have felled the
trees in a better pattern for skidding.
The other area we worked was a
typical hardwood
stand of ash,
maple,
basswood,
beech,
and
hickory in which some blowdowns
had occurred with some additional
thinning. The terrain here was more
hilly, with the skid road on a 20
degree of greater up-grade.
To obtain diverse instruction, the
students were rotated through the
different teams and instructors. We
were able to note the differences between the teams in their manners
and ability to maneuver the logs.
Saturday morning, Beth Rose and
I worked the mules in the red pines
and in the afternoon we worked the
Belgian and Percheron teams in the
hardwoods. We were instructed on
proper harnessing and driving, proper ways to approach and prepare
the logs to be skidded, and then the
actual hooking and skidding, always
with the idea of safety foremost. We
were shown how to assess which
side of the log to stand on when skidding and to constantly be looking
ahead for obstacles and problems in
order to remain on top of the situation. We loaded ash and maple logs
on the wagon and then used four
horses to pull the wagon up the
grade. Logs were skidded using a
sled, a logging cart, and on the
ground to demonstrate
the differences in power needed to skid
logs each way.
EVENINGS
Saturday night after dinner, Glen
Izard, the president of the New York
Draft Horse Club, welcomed the logging students and several other
speakers who preceded
a panel
discussion with a briefing on the
role of Cornell Cooperative Extention and Arnot Forest.
During the panel discussion, many
of the questions had to do with conformation of draft horses, proper
feeding, costs involved in starting a
horse-logging
business,
and the
economics of logging with horses.
The concensus of the panel was that
horse logging would only pay if skidding were kept to less than 1,000 feet
and done in conjunction
with
mechanical
skidders
for longer
hauls. Horses could work in the
woods, skidding to the logging
roads, where mechanical skidders
could take over.
Next day, after more training sessions, some of us with Loren Waite's
Belgians and Tom Hewitt's three
mules in tandem pulled out an ash
log that had been blown over but had
hung up in some other trees. We cut
the tree through at the base. With the
animals hooked to it, it was pulled
free of the stump, but it went into the
ground about a foot. We cut it
through again. With the three mules
in the lead (about 800 pounds each)
and the Belgians behind (1,800
pounds each), the log was pulled
down, kidded out to the skid road,
and then pulled up a grade to the
landing. The ash tree was 41 feet
long,
averaged
18 inches
in
diameter, and was calculated to
weigh 4,400 pounds!
By the way, a 28 minute video tape
showing all the horses and equipment working at the various areas of
this training session is available by
contacting Jim Baldwin, Morrison
Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
14853, telephone 607-256-4503 .• !.
n.y. Forest Owner
OCTOBER
1985
11
Dick
Fox on Cayuga
Chapter
Chapter and Verse -
tion a humans can muster regardless
of the person's rank or file.
Therefore, any comment to this
topic will be gratefully acknowledged, if forwarded to: NYFOA, Inc.
Cayuga Chapter
Box 1107, Moravia
NY 13118
Att: TreesnBeesnWe
And then there's -
Some Smoke
From Boonville
The Greeting
A short time ago the Migrants
displaced the Natives from the
forests by the use of civilizing
Ownerisms of Aryan retempered
Mediterranean genesis. The strange
homina enthusiastically
saved
Native souls from spiritual and
natural wildernesses by cover sing
and convincing with magical and
powerful sights and sounds. The
Natives vacated their ancient estates
or tried to make the apparitions go
away, or learned.
By way of re-versing and with a
thought to the third alternative, the
ny Forest Owner may be of service:
Humanoids and trees have fared
well together in water and fire harmony from some icy beginning on
this latitude/longitude of the planet.
Natives have become Owners, and
Owners have become Natives, and
both are welcomed into NYFOA's
learning and economic community.
Currently, the terrestrial description
of New York includes much strange
stone and many new grasses at the
expnse of the forests. Extreme variation in combinations of ecological
parameters could in short or long
time yield all sand or all trees or ...?
The most urgent and difficult topic
of conversation is the civil planetary
balance of new and old, plants and
animals, chemical magic, spiritual
conceptions, time, place, and us.
The complexity of this equation
demands as much communal atten-
12
We talked about the smoke, shoveling snow from the funny sidewalks,
what kind of wood fueled the fires,
too many dancing elbows, the price
of saw chain, the girl's age and other
data, the town's friendliness, the
best man and/or machine, hurting
heads in the late morning sun, a
dead logger too young for many
Boonvilles, and thoughts of ancient
campfires too much for speech.
The campfires, Saturday Nite,
layered the Boonville Fairgrounds
with a heavy haze of smoke despite
the gentle breezes. No matter what
carcinogens may be discovered in
the combustible tree, our ancestors
inhaled the tree spirits all their lives.
I declare, therefore my genes are
well programmed to tolerate some
smoke. I'm not sure about mice.
That programming
does not
necessarily include 20th century
chemistry, and, of course, we live
longer, some of us.
Statistically, the question is moot,
when we discount the value of
modern medicine and appreciate the
value of human neurosis. Chemistry
kills some, saves others; spirits we
drink or breathe will get us or won't
sooner or later and, on balance, ... ?
Many natives and owners were
there from all over the place, even
a farmer, just for Sunday, in between
milkings. Wonder what spirit moves
him to drive five hours every year?
Thank you, Boonville. (I bet you're
also glad it's only once a year.) ••.
FORESTRY • RECREATION
CONSERVATION
ECOLOGY
SERVICES
OFFERED
BY
FORECON'NC.
•.• Timber Management Plans for
the forest
•.• Timber appraisals
•.• Timber inventory
•.• Timber marking
•.• Timber marketing and sales
•.• Capitol gains assistance an
timber sales
•.• Tree planting
•.• Recreational development
•.• Assistance with timber trespass
•.• Boundary marking
•.• Christmas tree management
•.• Silviculture and timber stand
improvement
•.• Logging engineering and
harvesting
•.• Cost and economic studies of
forest operations
•.• Environmental impact studies
Offices
• 5 Genesee Street
Avon, New York 14414
716/226-8330
• Rm. 311, Cortland Savings Bank
Cortland, New York 13045
6071753-3113
• 109 Erie Street
Edinboro, Pennsylvania
814/734-7051
• Crown Building
100 E. Second Street
Jamestown, New York
716/664-5602
16412
14701
• 229 State Street
Lowville, New York 13367
315/376-7758
• P.O. Box 48
8 Bridge Street
Towanda, Pennsylvania
717/265-7055
18848
NEW IN THE WOODLOT
Polaris ATVs
Now an American manufacturer has entered the battle for
the hearts and pocketbooks of
the American ATV enthusiast.
Polaris Industries, Inc., usually
thought of as a snowmobile
manufacturer, has now created
a different concept in ATVs: the
PVT, the Polaris
Variable
Transmission.
Polaris says the PVT also gives
its ATVs faster acceleration than
any other all-purpose
250cc
ATV and more pulling power
for hill climbing and utility
chores such as pulling a trailer,
sprayer, or cut logs.
For more details, write to
Polaris at 1225 North County
Road 18, Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55441.
New Off-Road
Truck
It is called the 'Shrunkette' and
this unusual vehicle is designed
for off-road recreational
use,
greenskeeping, and general utility. The interesting feature for
farmers may be that this 4WD
(option) vehicle has soft tires like
an all-terrain-vehile.
It is only
four feet wide and has a 68 inch
wheelbase.
The Shrunkette is available as
a fully assembled and ready to
roll vehicle. The standard model
has a fully enclosed cab which
seats two adults.
The Shrunkette costs between
$2,500 to $3,800, depending on
the configuration. The company
suggests calling or writing to obtain their complete technical
literature and pricing information. Contact MFC Inc.,10 Pleasant Street, New Rochelle, NY
1801. Telephone 914-636-3834.
FMC Small Spray Booms
FMC introduces six new spray
booms for its line of small
engine driven and PTO drive DP
sprayers. Four of these booms
are horizontal, each in five sections, with lengths of 20', 26',
32', and 39'. The brass nozzles
discharge spray material in a fat,
fan-shaped pattern, providing
excellent coverage for such row
crops as Christmas trees.
The other two are vertical cane
and trellis booms, also ideal for
spraying grapevines, dwarf and
semi-dwarf
fruit trees and
nursery stock.
To get full details, contact FMC
Corportaion,
5601
East
Highland
Drive,
Jonesboro
Arkansas
12401. Telephone
501-935-1970.
OCTOBER
1985
13
Classified Advertisements:
There is a simple formula
for placing
a classified
advertisement
in the NY
Forest Owner. Write or,
preferably,
type
your
advertisement.
Count the
words (this ad is 52 words),
multiply by $.25 per word,
and send a check payable to
NYFOA to: Editor,
NY
Forest Owner, 96 Targosh
Road, Candor, NY 13743.
Display
advertisements:
They cost $5 per column
inch, flat rate. There are
three lO-inch columns per
page. Ads should be submitted camera-ready or in
negative form. Ads can be
designed and laid out for
you at a flat rate of $25. Any
black and white glossy
photo in the ad will cost
$10. Please inquire for circulation and demographic
information.
Contact the
editor at 96 Targosh Road,
Candor, New York 13743.
Telephone
607-659-5275
evenings.
For sale:
22 acres
of
forestland near Oxford, NY.
Much merchantable timber.
Borders trout stream, some
road frontage but private,
very close to state lands.
Sugar bush. $14,500 with
terms. Contact Jerry Cibelli,
Box 258, RD 1, Middetown,
NY
10940.
Telephone
914-386-5394.
For sale: 3,644 acres of
forest, 85% hardwood, 15%
conifers.
Twenty
miles
southwest
of Plattsburgh,
NY. Carefully managed by
forester-owner. Asking $343
per acre: Contact Roy Perry,
P.O. Box 155, Peru, NY
12972.
Telephone
518-563-350.
14
For sale: Christmas trees
are a good cash crop. We
have the planting stock. We
also have deciduous shrubs,
ground covers, and trees, including nut trees. We do
planting in nearby counties.
Booking orders for spring,
1986. W.C. Cottell, 5577
South Geneva Road, Sodus,
NY
14451.
Telephone
315-483-9684.
For
sale:
Forest-All
Firewood
Processor,
5
slasher saws 54', 40' Cornell
belt conveyor;
firewood
shaker/screener (6' x 7') with
20' belt conveyor, 3 strand
40' live deck; Cornell 60'
barn cleaner. Also, Ideal Arc
250 Lincoln arc welder Gary
Haines,
Bridgeport
Hydraulic, 835 Main Street,
Bridgeport,
CT 06601.
Telephone 203-367-6621.
For sale: Christmas
tree
seedlings.
Special
5-8'
woods plants, $95 per thousand.
Superior
Balsam
woodsplants 8-15', $200 per
thousand.
Balsam
woodsplants
8-15'
transplanted
in trenches at
least one year and fertilized,
$400 per thousand. Contact
Walker's Tree Farms, East
Burke, VT 05832. Telephone
802-626-5276.
For sale:
Three
black
walnut trees: 24 inches, 17.5
inches, and 17 inches d.b.h.
Six feet, eight inches, eight
feet, and fifteen feet, respectively, to first limb. Also, six
smaller ones. Virginia H.
Keith, 166 Harding Place,
Syr acusn
NY
13205.
Telephone 315-469-6533 or
315-432-4205.
For sale: Red pine standing
timber suitable for cabin
logs. Alternate rows marked
for harvest on seven-acre
tract.
987 marked
trees
averaging 10.5 inches d.b.h.,
for a total of 26,384 linear
feet to a 7 inch top. Contact
W.C.Craig, R 1, Sherburne,
NY
13460.
Telephone
607-674-4845.
Wanted:
Hardwood
sawlogs, highest prices paid
for logs delivered to Newfoundland,
PA, on Route
191. Jim Vitale, Cadosia
Valley Lumber Co., Inc.,
Box 297, Newfoundland, PA
18445.
Telephone
717-676-3400.
Wanted:
Need unlimited
quantities of prime veneer
logs: red and white oak,
cherry, walnut, and hard
maple. Brad Ferman, United
Pacific Trading, Box 151,
East Smethport, PA 16730.
Telephone 814-887-5405.
For sale: LaFont Wood processor, model SSMI00. Used 18 months. $20,000. Zoning forces sale. Contact Paul
Baratier, RD 1, Parish, NY
13131.
Telephone
315-963-8410.
For sale: Wooden crates for
boxing
small
firewood
bundles or other products
for sale. Call for sizes and
prices. 315-265-3549.
Got a question?
ASK A
FORESTER
I s it possible to
plant seeds or seedlings
of valuable species in a
forest after a TSI operation or after a timber
sale where trees have
been removed? Iask this
because it seems to me
to be an ideal way of
transforming
a rundown forest to one with
good species and with
good genes.
-Iames N. Martin
Muenster , West
Germany
Your suggestion of
planting seedlings
after a timber harvest
has been tried experimentally, but
natural sprouting and
seeding overwhelms
the planted seedlings
and smothers them
out.
-A.W.Roberts, Jr.
Retired DEC forester
Haiku
So for
Spider
Hangs
At the
Of the
so long
silk
leaf and time
edge
eyp..
Wayne Oakes
n.y. Forest Owner
All Your Forestry Needs Under
One Roof
Count on Agway for great values on all your forestry needs. We also specialize
in farm supplies, lawn and garden products, patio accessories, pool care supplies,
power equipment and more. So count on Agway for sound advice and solid
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• Homelite Chain Saws
• Didier Log Splitters
• Made in America axes, splitting mauls, sledge hammers, peavies,
log jacks, etc.
• String Trimmerlbrush
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Proven Quality Fencing
• Snow Fencing
• Heavy gauge woven wire fencing
• Welded wire fencing
• Electric Fence Supplies
Fertilizers, Insecticides and Weed Controls
Available in convenient commercial sizes
PllYATE PROPERTY
IU.,... FISIIIIIG. TlAPPlIIG 01
TIESPASSIIIG FOR AI' PUlPOSE
IS STIICTl' FOR_I
VIOLATORS WIll.
PIOSECunD
• Insect and disease sprays
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..•...
• Weed killers and growth inhibitors
And More
• Tree Wrap • Full line of pruning supplies.
POSTED
Tree Guards.
Rope • Power sprayers • Posted signs
an Agway Store
Non profit org.
bulk rate
U.S POSTAGE
PA!D
Camillus, NY
13031
Permit No. 57
Dtt\l 1:0 !,J
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methods such as grain augers to be used. The
chip size is continuously adjustable between 114
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diameter for roundwood. Three knives on a 41"
disk do the cutting. The Valby chippers can be
supplied with V-belt pulleys for electric motor
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The Farmi 1800 is the loader that firewood
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job done. The loader can be mounted directly on
most Farmi winches and other frames, The winch
loader combination is a universal machine which
can be used for a multitude of jobs. Pre bunching, forwarding, loading of pulpwood and
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Send us your name and address. We will send you the FARMI TREE HARVESTING METHOD
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