THE DATENA TREE FARM
By Robert Koenig, Consulting Forester
The story I want to talk about today is about one of my old bosses who was a state
forester.
This is a very brief history of the John Datena property that was acquired in 1964. I
will read a letter he wrote me to give me its history - "Dear Bob, finally found time
in my busy schedule to send you information on our farm in Green Co. We bought the 170
farm in 1964. Judging by the 1937 photo I loaned you, at least 100 acres of it had been
cleared and formed beginning in the 1840's when the original grant had been issued.
The 1937 photo clearly shows you that poor farming practices allowed extreme erosion to
take place which was the result of questionable row-crop farming of the 1920's. Gullies 6
to 8 feet deep and 20 feet wide are noticeable even though all now have a cover of
vegetation. Fortunately in 1937 and 1938 ,30 to 40 acres were planted with black locust
under the CCC program. I completed the stabilization on what gullies remained on 15 to 25
acres after we purchased the place. All of the land is under cover. In 1965 we cruised it
and estimated there were about 86 acres having some merchantable timber. Cut and leave
inventory indicated that the stand consisted of 1975 board feet per acre of good growing
stock and 928 board feet of harvest or mature material. Rate of growth was estimated about
150 board feet per acre, per year, (about average for stands in my old district at the
time) total volume 172,000 board feet of good growing stock and about 81,000 board feet of
harvest which - if added up would be a little over 250,000 board feet on that 86 acres.
Following the cruise we marked through the 86 acres, picking up about 75,000 board
feet. The trees marked consisted of low quality fire scarred and other defective trees (An
improvement cut).I call this a general cleaning of the stand. We followed this with TSI
removing all old beech along with some release work (giving crop trees room to grow).
During the first 3 to 4 years after buying the property we hired a local bulldozer
operator to clear and grade some of the semi-open areas. These are now grasslands and
patches of Christmas trees which are now being converted to stands of white pine and
wildlife food patches.
In 1976 we had another sale of 40,000 board feet, although the volume was about half of
the 1966 sale the grade was considerably better which was reflected in the higher price
per board foot. The price being paid per board foot more than doubled in 10 years. I also
followed the cut with TSI (Timber Standing Improvement Work).
In 1978 we reinventoried this 86 acres and found that there was 220,000 board feet of good growing stock, and 43,000 board feet in harvest stock. The rate of growth was estimated at
approximately 230 board feet per acre per year, the stand was building. In 1988, we selected another small block to harvest. We marked 52,000 board feet. The price per board feet had more than tripled in the 12 years between sales. Of course the grade continued to improve.
A storm destroyed about 5 acres in the spring of 1990 most of the 5 acres blown down
consisted of nearly a pure stand of beech, with intermingling of white oak and red oak. My
plan for this area was to maintain the beech grove, the beech were 14 to 24 inches in
diameter at breast height and in excellent condition. I guess the good Lord didn't want us
to preserve this area and practiced his own method of clear-cutting. We managed to salvage
about 25,000 board feet, several thousand board feet were beyond salvage and we took a
loss.
In 1993 we made our third inventory, we estimated that another 10 to 15 acres not previously inventoried had reached a merchantable stand condition or size. This brought the total acreage that could be included in the inventory to 100 acres. The inventory showed approximately 3900 board feet of good growing stock and 2200 board feet of harvest volume per acre, for a total of 6,100 board feet per acre. An interesting comparison could be made at this point. The stocking for the woods had increased from approximately 250,000 board feet in 1965 to 610,000 board feet in 1993. Estimated rate of growth annually was between 230 and 250 per acre per year in 1993. Along the way we had harvested 200,000 board feet for sale and 17,000 board feet for home use.
In 1994 and 1997 we had 2 more sales. Selling about 64,000 board feet in 1994 and 30,000 board feet in 1997. Perhaps the most surprising thing (beyond all expectations) is the increase price per board foot. My first sale in 1966 brought approximately 3 cents per board foot (that was quite common at that time). The sale in 1997 brought approximately 50 cents per board foot.
We foresters have always had confidence in the future with expectations that there would always be a market for good grade timber that has some size. Practicing what we preach pays off, with forestry a bird in hand is not worth 2 in the bush. All in all, Bob, we are pretty well
satisfied with the condition and the accomplishments on the form. The woods are healthy
and growing. The logging roads are clear, graded, and stabilized, and the grassland and
other open and semi-open areas are stabilized with good permanent cover. The wildlife
turkey, squirrel, deer, and grouse flourish.
We feel well satisfied that we will leave a little piece of the world in better
condition than we got it. After all, that is one of the reasons we were put here on earth.
Each sale was followed by timber stand improvement work. Over the years we have planted
several hundred oak seedlings in some woods openings in hope that some would make it.'
Below are a few tables showing the changes that have occurred in the Datena Forest
Property over the post 34 years. These tables are based on data from four inventories
taken in 1965, 1978, 1993 and 1998.
BRIEF HISTORY OF DATENA FOREST
Time Event
1964 Purchased 170 acre farm
1965 First timber inventory (estimated 86 acres contained merchantable trees)
1966 Marked 75 MBF on 86 acres and sold same(improvement cut - better quality than first cut)Followed by more TSI
1978 Re-inventoried 86 acres - growth rate up - stand building 1988 Selected another small area to harvest - marked 52 MBF Much better quality; price tripled since lost sale. Followed up with light amount of TSI.
1990 Storm destroyed about 5 acres of mostly Beech with a few good White and Red Oak (Mother Nature's clearcut) Salvaged about 25 MBF but lost almost as much to breakage and natural deterioration.
1993 Did third inventory and picked up another 10 to 15 acres of area which had grown into a merchantable size. Over all volume is 2.08 times as great as when originally inventoried in 1965. Stand still building.
1994 Sold 60 MBF from 42 acres - price still increasing -followed up with TSI in 1995
1997 Sold 30 MBF from approximately 30 acres (70+ or -trees of extremely good sawlog quality - brought approximately $0.50/BF)
1998 John and I made a final inventory in January to complete this story.