Summer 1999 Volume 8, Number 3

A FEW THOUGHTS ON TREE FARMING

by Bill Sigman, Jefferson County Tree Farmer

I’m often asked questions by interested business friends and peers as to why I got into Tree Farming and what I hope to get out of it. Actually, I welcome the queries since they allow me an opportunity to partially educate others on a segment of nature and our environment that is immeasurably important to all of us. I believe that in education lies the genesis in a path that will correct many of the misunderstandings we experience today. Why is our topsoil washing away? Why are vast areas of our world's tropical rain forests being scalped and burned with minimal utilization of product? Why are many who should know better advocating management practices for public forest land that are not in the best interests of our woodlands, our wood using industries, or our country in general? How close are these well meaning, but uninformed groups, from imposing their goals for no forest management on those of us with private woodlands?

I believe that "he who knows better must say so" -thus those of us who have enjoyed the challenge of working in concert with nature need pass that information on to our own generation as well as to that of our children and our children's children. This all boils down to education, and it's that educational process that I believe has been at the root source of my own forestry experience and what believe I need contribute to others. I see my tree farm as a classroom, an outdoor laboratory, where I can work with nature in reforesting a finite area of the world so as to allow others to see that good management pays dividends. I have no doubt that our efforts in effective planting of proper species in proper soil types, effective control of competitive growth, proper pruning, and control of boundaries from cattle grazing will produce a marketable product in a time span for less than had a scatter gun approach been attempted. I look at areas where TSI has allowed high quality hardwoods to put on growth levels never possible before management. I see acres of once eroded land that had been stabilized a generation ago with Virginia Pine now being opened up for commercial growth of productive hardwoods (oak, ash, and tulip)in the understory through the management tool of TSI in killing out that Virginia Pine.

Most certainly there have been experiences that I could have allowed to pass by had I been given a choice and yet most of them have been educational. I believe that if we don't learn from our foibles, we have wasted a great deal of valuable time. I want to tell those who come to visit that 'I may not be able to tell you how to do everything properly, but I'll guarantee that I can tell you dozens of things not to do.' I'd do more exact soil testing before planting, I'd be less apt to think walnut will grow in an area just because there are a few stray walnuts in the periphery, and I'd do more consistent inter-planting earlier. Then there's the tulip scale, fusarium fungus, pine aphids, and the damnable casebearers on my walnuts. I hate them all, but they taught me lessons. Even the cicadas who took the leaders out of so many young stems showed me how the vigorous species reformed and shot up new growth.

So why did I go tree farming? Well, by now you might have guessed that I do love nature, the environment, and life in general, and I needed to better educate myself. So, well, I went tree farming, and I'm now seeing progress -trees are beginning to fill in voids, bluebirds are using my shelter boxes every year, quail are finding cover to propagate, deer find all the conditions they need for food and shelter, and now wild turkeys are seen. But, I'm not trying to keep my enjoyment and lessons learned quiet. I want to share them with all who will listen. I've had conservation field day groups, Boy Scouts. Sunday School classes as well as family, friends, and professional associates who just wonder why I go 'to the farm' virtually every week-end, winter, summer, rain, snow, or whatever. They all must pay the price to listen to me, listen to my hopes and dreams fora better day for nature and how I believe that we all have a responsibility to manage our woodlands for the betterment of our society.

Then there's the question of what I hope to achieve with all of it. That's simple - I hope I can educate a few to follow where I've been and leave it better than I found it. Perhaps an old Persian proverb says it best:

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool - shun him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a child- teach him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep -wake him.

He who knows and knows that he knows is wise - follow him

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