The first thinning of the approximately 50 year old Red Pine plantation at GLC’s Bammert Farm was completed in November. Monocultures, such as this 39 acre Red Pine stand, where only one species of tree is present do not support a varied community of wildlife or herbaceous plants. Forester Jim Sweeting prepared a sustainable forestry management plan for Bammert Farm which prescribed how to thin the red pine in two cycles.
Photo Courtesy of Keweenaw
County Historical Society,
Margaret Hoffenbecker Collection
Tree marking, road and culvert permitting and contracting, volume estimates, and logger selection for the first thinning cycle was conducted by Keweenaw Community Forest Company with support from MTU.
MTU Forestry students, under the guidance of forester Jim Rivard marked the trees for harvest and assisted in the process. The students will prepare a final report on the Red Pine Project in December.
Photographer's Assistant
Through a competitive bidding process, Rich Oja of Bear Lake Forest Products was selected to harvest the Red Pine. The following photos show Rich's processor in action.
The 2006 Reading the Landscape education series will be focused on forests and forestry. A field trip visiting Bammert Farm is planned. Look for more information in the Spring Water’s Edge.
The logging unit shown here is an impressive machine. It secures, cuts, and lowers the tree. It then is used to lift the tree and strip the small branches as it cuts the long trunk into manageable sections. The entire process is very fast. Within the half hour or so during which these photos were taken, a number of trees were processed.
Gina's Nicholas's Powerpoint presentation (originally 110 MB) including numerous photos of the property
can be downloaded in smaller pdf or Quicktime formats below. Download presentation as a pdf file (6.8 MB)
