On a chilly March Saturday morning, John
Byrd, Shimek Forster, met with Ann Bennett, Ray & Lora Conrad,
Bob & Marsha Achenbach, Tom Pollpeter, Denise Schieffer, Linda
Fiordelise, Judy & Art Duke, Donnie & Marilyn Harris, Neal
Hartman, Ringo Covert, Doug & Bonnie Moothart and Debbie Miller.
Accompanying John and entertaining the
attendees were John's children, 2nd grader Avery and 6th
grader Adam. John had agreed to educate us about his role and
overall forest management at Shimek.
John began the program with an
announcement that the Iowa Horse Council had given $1,000 to DNR,
with $500 designated for Shimek and $500 designated for Stephens
Forest. He provided everyone with the new Shimek Forest brochure.
John clarified that he and his two full
time personnel are responsible for the Shimek Forest Units in Van
Buren and Lee that include not only the Lick Creek unit with trails
and campgrounds but the other forest units in the area, and the
Keosauqua Unit adjacent to Lacey-Keosauqua Park with forest land near
Lake Sugema....a total of about 9,500 acres. He thus has
accountability to three different Bureaus with different priorities.
These are the Wildlife Bureau whose number 1 priority is wildlife,
the State Recreation Bureau whose priority is camping and
recreational uses and the Forestry Bureau whose number one priority
is showing sustainable forest management. He is responsible for the
buildings, about 80 barricades in all these areas, 8.2 miles of
gravel roads (with help from DOT), several miles of fencing, 28 miles
of horse trails in the Lick Creek unit, 22 miles of hiking and/or
snow mobile trails, and four campgrounds (two equestrian), He and
his crew must manage for timber stand improvement 300 to 500 acres
each year, harvest timber from 60 to 65 acres each year, manage 35
acres of prairie, plant about 20 acres per year, maintain 5 ponds, as
well as the necessary communications with the public, field days,
conferences, and personnel training. Since he can not do much
cutting after April 15th due to the protected status of
the Indiana bat, it is at that time that his attention turns to the
equestrian trails.
[Whew! What a list! So let's be
patient when he can't get to something quite as quick as we hoped.
No wonder we need to volunteer to help with the trails.]
We drove a car caravan to an area where
crop tree release was being conducted for Forest Stand Improvement.
John explained that he is trying to restore oak and other native
species. One of the major forest management tasks is that since oak
requires sunlight to grow, he and his crew cut trees to open up
enough to grow oak. White oaks are on a growth rotation cycle of 120
years, starting with planting and concluding with harvesting a mature
tree. Some of the other trees have a shorter growth cycle.
The management technique used is call
“crop tree release”
which means he clears around the desired
tree, even if this means clearing out (thinning) other desirable
trees. This permits the desired tree to grow faster and to develop a
larger canopy. Thus the tree will produce more acorns. It takes 3 or
4 years to see any impact from the thinning. After ten years, they
must check the area again and re-thin as needed. So, they have to
manage about 1000 acres each year. Thinning of trees too small or
unsuitable for lumber is done by girdling as this is safer for the
operator and for adjacent trees than cutting them down. They cut one
inch below the bark, all the way around, making two cuts. His major
“Crop” trees are any oak but not shingle oak (the ones with the
galls). Hard maple, ash, and elm will grow in the shade so will
crowd out oak. Hickory is a secondary crop tree. One of the reasons
that Iowa must restore oak forests is that in the 1920's, almost all
oaks in Iowa were cut for railroad ties. Fire prevention activity
has also worked against the growth of oaks as fire thins out more of
the other trees and leaves more oaks due to their thick bark.
Moreover, there are several diseases of concern for oaks. One is oak
wilt which hits red oak the hardest. During drought periods, wilt
will also hit the white oaks. In the wetter areas of Shimek, there
are bur oaks and swamp white oaks. In the wettest areas, you will
find cottonwood, sycamore and silver maple.
which means he clears around the desired
tree, even if this means clearing out (thinning) other desirable
trees. This permits the desired tree to grow faster and to develop a
larger canopy. Thus the tree will produce more acorns. It takes 3 or
4 years to see any impact from the thinning. After ten years, they
must check the area again and re-thin as needed. So, they have to
manage about 1000 acres each year. Thinning of trees too small or
unsuitable for lumber is done by girdling as this is safer for the
operator and for adjacent trees than cutting them down. They cut one
inch below the bark, all the way around, making two cuts. His major
“Crop” trees are any oak but not shingle oak (the ones with the
galls). Hard maple, ash, and elm will grow in the shade so will
crowd out oak. Hickory is a secondary crop tree. One of the reasons
that Iowa must restore oak forests is that in the 1920's, almost all
oaks in Iowa were cut for railroad ties. Fire prevention activity
has also worked against the growth of oaks as fire thins out more of
the other trees and leaves more oaks due to their thick bark.
Moreover, there are several diseases of concern for oaks. One is oak
wilt which hits red oak the hardest. During drought periods, wilt
will also hit the white oaks. In the wetter areas of Shimek, there
are bur oaks and swamp white oaks. In the wettest areas, you will
find cottonwood, sycamore and silver maple.
The Indiana bat which is an endangered
species is very small and nests under the bark of shagbark hickory
and silver maple. They are migratory, going to caves in southern
Illinois and Indiana in the winter and coming here from about April
15 until September 15. As a result, foresters can not cut loose
barked tress during this time.
Next, we visited a pre-harvest area.
This is an area approaching final harvest in size. A contractor
under supervision will cut anything less than 12 inches in diameter,
using the wood primarily for firewood. They will cut first any
trees with double stems or damage. This lets in enough light that
five years later, they return and do a “shelter wood” harvest.
This means to harvest about 40% of the remaining trees. During this
time period, new oak seedlings are emerging due to the increased
light.
After ten more years, they clear cut the remaining large
trees.
The full sunlight encourages the oak seedlings to regenerate
the forest. John's goal is to have between 2,000 and 20,000 oak
seedlings per acre using this multi-step cutting technique to promote
natural regeneration rather than planting or setting out trees after
a single clear cut. Light is so important to oak growth that it is
much more a determinant of size than is age.
Revenue from timber sales are returned
to Shimek. John would like to use those funds to correct/catchup on
forest management but budget cuts have been so severe that he has had
to use the revenue for daily operations instead. His goal is
sustainability. He is working toward being able to clear cut 65
acres each year ---forever. This rejuvenates forest stands and helps
birds and wildlife by providing habitat needed that does not exist if
the entire forest is of a single age---the more mature forests stands
have very little undergrowth for wildlife, for example.
In areas where the understory becomes
too dense for tree growth, he uses a prescribed burn. This is useful
in controlling prickly ash, for example. All it takes is a
temperature of 180 degrees to kill trees. Oak bark is thick and
withstands more fire heat than other trees.
The next site visited was clear-cut in
2005. 
It is covered with lots of young trees and underbrush. He estimates about 2,000 oaks per acre. There is also some cherry, ash, and elm. He contrasted it with nearby area where it was clear-cut in 1986, but without using the multi-cut method he described.
As a
result there is not nearly as much oak as he would prefer. This
area, after 25 years, is now ready for its first thinning. In
discussing the use of different trees, he pointed out that while
black cherry is a wood that is in demand, that often the trees rot
inside. Shagbark brings only about a third as much money as red oak
plus wildlife feed more on acorns than hickory nuts. The
thinning/cutting management process reduces the number of young oaks
from about 2,000 per acre initially to only about 60 full sized trees
when its time to clear cut. He and his crew of two other men will do
the thinning on 300-400 acres each year.
It is covered with lots of young trees and underbrush. He estimates about 2,000 oaks per acre. There is also some cherry, ash, and elm. He contrasted it with nearby area where it was clear-cut in 1986, but without using the multi-cut method he described.
As a
result there is not nearly as much oak as he would prefer. This
area, after 25 years, is now ready for its first thinning. In
discussing the use of different trees, he pointed out that while
black cherry is a wood that is in demand, that often the trees rot
inside. Shagbark brings only about a third as much money as red oak
plus wildlife feed more on acorns than hickory nuts. The
thinning/cutting management process reduces the number of young oaks
from about 2,000 per acre initially to only about 60 full sized trees
when its time to clear cut. He and his crew of two other men will do
the thinning on 300-400 acres each year.
We then visited one of the pine sections planted
Large piles of chips remain that they will spread over
the clear-cut area as mulch before replanting with hardwoods. He
prefers white oak and swamp white oak but does try to keep some
diversity in the forest. John said the wildlife prefer the white
oak. Black locust is an invasive tree species and very hard to keep
from re-establishing the site.
Lastly, we all stopped by a small area
being restored as prairie. There are only 34 acres total in prairie in Shimek State Forest. The project we saw was one that John began when he arrived in 2005. The area had nothing on it at that time. They burned it four times and let nature reseed and restore it. So far, it has developed Indian grass and bird's-foot trefoil. All forestry employees must take training in how to conduct a fire burn. Anyone interested in developing prairie on their place might want to talk to Kevin Anderson, IDNR Private Lands Biologist for the area, based in Fairfield.
Addendum: For comprehensive information on Shimek Forest Management, download the complete plan prepared by John Byrd. It is a PDF document at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/forestry/shimek_managementplan.pdf
Note that this is a lengthy
document---307 pages. However, it provides a detailed explanation of
the forest management activities planned from 2010 through 2029, with
each Unit broken down into Section compartments and Stands with
parcels as small as an acre. The Lick Creek Unit plan is contained
on pages 79 through 101.
