11-07-2003, 01:25 AM
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Update: Replanting question
In article ,
(John Ponder) wrote:
We're planting to FS specs because we're in the FIP program. Our local
SWCD supervisors all signed up, because all of us had dead timber, and
wanted to see if this program could/should be recommended to cooperators
and area landowners. The FS guys seems to finally be getting on step,
figuring out how to administer this program. It's been a shakey start.
I used to work around Mexican crews who were pruning wine grapes and
apple trees. Those guys are flat incredible. I've done a lot of large home
apple orchards, and there's *no way* I could ever approach the speed
and accuracy of their work.
We groomed our little woodlot with a brush rake on a farm tractor and
with the root rake on our old stringblade D-7 before planting. It helped a
lot to gather the slash into burn piles, so we had pretty clear
planting areas.
(The guys had tremendous burn piles lit, while they logged with a big
excavator. Stacked the trees & slash as they went.)
Gee, just hearing the term "high lead" makes me tired these days.
Jan
FIP were discontinued or renamed might be the better word to FPP at
least way down here in Dixie. Is your FIP a 50% cost share? That is
the way ours used to work with a max on $60/acre for site prep and $40
/acre for seedling planting. Did yall jujst write the bill to yourself
to get all the cost share available. That is the way I do it when I do
the work myself. We have a Federal program down here called a WHIP and
it pays 75% of planting cost. It s awesome. Our establishment of trees
under those programs were under $40/acre out of pocket. There is
really some good programs out there to help individuals plant their
land
What does FPP stand for? I think we're still in the FIP program. We signed
up early. I know details in the program have changed in the last year, but
I'm under the impression that we're using that program.
We paid $125/hour for a 375 Cat hoe to do the logging (most of the trees
were windfalls or standing dead -- he pulled stumps, too), and pile them to
burn. The logging cost us $4600 out of pocket, not counting our own equipment,
diesel or labor.
We skidded the saw logs out with the D-7, while Don was logging.
(I'm the choker setter... *sigh* as I can't run the string-blade without
either puking all the cable out on the ground and running over it, or
two-blocking it -- I grew up on hydraulic dozers; my SO grew up on
stringblades. I can run it slowly. He can run it full-tilt.)
WHIP is wildlife incentive, int'it? The folks have kept large areas of this
property in wildlife habitat, since proving up on the homestead (1951),
mostly because they couldn't afford to feed the family beef, so they ate
moose and sold their beef. We're sort of rotation-logging the property,
because we winter loads of cow moose. They need timber to hide in for
shelter and hidey-holes for calving. (The black bears come in to eat the
fuzzy little moose calves, as soon as they hit the ground.) There's no
market for this dead timber anymore (we got $3/ton for saw logs
about 5 years ago and $2/bdu for chips). The moose are worth *way*
more than the timber, to us, at the moment.
As soon as you open up the canopy, the baby trees grow in huge leaps
and bounds here. It's amazing, considering our cold soil temps and short
growing season. I guess the long daylight and good summer rainfall is
the kicker.
Jan
Jan
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