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Black River Back 40

New forest management strategies at Black River Preserve

“Our goal is to learn how well these new forest management techniques work and, hopefully, create a healthy, self-sustaining forest with a rich diversity of plant and animal species.”

Most people never make it all the way to the far southern end of Black River Preserve. It’s not that it’s a long difficult hike – it’s just that this beautiful preserve has so many other cool things to explore along the way!
Visitors that do hike all the way to the back will discover a grove that’s thick with skinny maples of about the same age and size. The ground is raised in vague parallel lines, hints that the area was once an open, plowed field. So hard to picture now! Young red maples swarmed up all at once when the farming stopped and their winged seeds blew in, jostling for access to the sun – and getting tall in their race towards the sky.
Visitors that do hike all the way to the back will discover a grove that’s thick with skinny maples of about the same age and size.
This maple grove isn’t hurting anything . . . but it only offers “all-things-maple” to the ecosystem, especially compared to the woods all around it. Oaks, beeches, and hemlocks in the surrounding woods grow alongside older maples, offering a smorgasbord of food, shelter, and nesting possibilities to insects, birds, and other wildlife. And variety seems like the wisest way to confront the issues forests now face, with a changing climate, a fragmented natural world, and new insect pests and diseases.

 

That’s why SWMLC and our conservation partners were delighted and grateful to receive grant funding from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund (which is generously supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), which is allowing us to explore new ways to keep forests healthy. Knowing that groves of single-species trees are vulnerable, we wanted to see what would happen if we thinned out that maple grove and planted new and diverse tree species that have more southern roots.
SWMLC’s Stewardship Director, Mitch Lettow looked into “southern” trees and shrubs with natural ranges that extend just into southwest Michigan or fall a little south of it – as well as familiar Michigan tree species whose ancestors and genetics come from trees that are more southern. He came up with a list of possible candidates, taking into account shade tolerance, soil and moisture preference, resistance to pests and diseases, and how likely it is that deer will munch them. Though the list is still being fine-tuned, it could include trees like northern hackberry, black gum, American basswood, and Shumard’s oak. The idea is that, as southwest Michigan’s climate gets warmer, it could begin to look more like that of central Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio – and trees that thrive in those climates should have a bright future here, despite the impacts of climate change.
Leaves of some of the "southern" trees that may be planted at Black River Preserve.
Mitch and Stewardship Specialist Dave Brown came up with a hybrid approach that honors the “buy local” concept while still preparing for change. They strategically located three half-acre plots within the 10-acre area that are near mature “parent” trees of other species. Thinning the young maples in these areas will give the mature trees a fighting chance to seed a new generation and ensures that local genetics continue in the forest. The other 8.5 acres will be thinned, then planted with young saplings from native tree nurseries that represent the new southern species and genotypes.
Three half-acre plots were strategically located near mature “parent” trees, like these handsome shagbark hickories.

Last year, the hugely dedicated Black River Stewards (volunteers Ed Crotte, Kevin Haight, Mark Hamburg, Bob Krupiarz, John Mitchell, Chuck Moore, and Karla VanderRoest) began the tough work of thinning the maple grove.

( Thanks, you guys! ♥ )

Last year, the hugely dedicated, all-volunteer Black River Stewards began the tough work of thinning the maple grove.
Thinning the young maples in these areas will give the mature trees of other species a fighting chance to seed a new generation.
They cut some of the smaller maples that varied in diameter from the size of a quarter to approximately 3 inches across and stacked them into big piles that will decay and fortify the soil. They girdled some larger maples by sawing into their trunks, which will create habitat for everything from woodpeckers to fungi as they slowly decay . Dozens of hours were spent by The Stewards, and hundreds of trees were cut – most of which would have never made it to maturity anyway because thousands of trees were growing too close together. Their work opened the forest floor to the sky’s light so those future seedling trees will have access to the sun.
Mitch and Dave counted about 15 rings on most of the maples that were cut, but some were wildly different in size, indicating how much trees need light to really grow (hence our thinning).
They girdled some larger maples by sawing into their trunks
They cut some of the smaller maples that varied in diameter from the size of a quarter to approximately 3 inches across.
They cut some of the smaller maples and stacked them into big piles that will decay and fortify the soil.
There’s still more thinning to do and there will be an opportunity for the public to help plant these hopeful seedlings this March (find details for this Saturday Volunteer Workday by clicking the picture below).
Their work opened the forest floor to the sky’s light so those future seedling trees will have access to the sun.

Then, we will plant those baby “southern” trees in among the remaining maples and watch how well they do. Will they survive . . . maybe even thrive? We’re not sure, but our goal is to learn how well these new forest management techniques work and, hopefully, create a healthy, self-sustaining forest with a rich diversity of plant and animal species.

Check the forest’s progress for yourself by taking that hike all the way to the beautiful, far end of Black River Preserve where the orange and white trails meet.

 

Story by Amelia Hansen (SWMLC Communications Specialist) and Mitch Lettow (SWMLC Stewardshp Director)

Photos by Mitch and Amelia

The black oval and arrow point out the approximate location where the maple grove thinning project is taking place.
The black oval and arrow point out the approximate location where the maple grove thinning project is taking place.

Check the forest’s progress for yourself by taking that hike all the way to the beautiful, far end of Black River Preserve where the orange and white trails meet.

 

Story by Amelia Hansen (SWMLC Communications Specialist) and Mitch Lettow (SWMLC Stewardshp Director)

Photos by Mitch and Amelia

Learn more about this huge, on-going SWMLC project taking place at several of our preserves (funded by Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Grant) by reading these stories:

 

SWMLC and Partners Receive National Grant
Keeping forests healthy in the face of climate change.
Making Omelets
Removing non-native Douglas fir trees at Wau-Ke-Na, WE Smith Preserve.
Hemlocks for the Holidays
Highlighting the work that SWMLC and our project partners are doing locally to stop Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, a devastating forest pest.
Tree Planting with a Twist
Page 6, Protecting Nature, Autumn 2020, Vol. 29, No. 3