Timber Harvesting with Birds in Mind Woods Tour
On Saturday, January 26, 2013, Audubon Vermont and the
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation will be hosting
a woods tour of an active logging job that demonstrates concepts and practices
developed through a unique and innovative partnership between the two
organizations: the Foresters for theBirds project. The tour will take
place at the 255-acre Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, Vermont
where a timber harvest designed to improve timber and forest songbird habitat
for species including wood thrush and black-throated blue warbler is underway. The
tour is open to the public and press, and will run from 9:00 am to noon. Space is limited; pre-registration is
required. Forest landowners, municipal
volunteers and officials, foresters, and other natural resource professionals
with an interest in applying similar practices on land they manage are
especially encouraged to attend. Featured
highlights of the event will be meeting with the foresters, biologists,
landowner, logger, and other leaders who are all working together on this
harvest, and seeing the logger and his equipment in action.
The harvest at the Audubon Center is one of nine being done
across Vermont and New Hampshire as part of the Foresters for the Birds project to test and demonstrate how timber
management can be used as a tool to improve bird habitat while also generating
income from forest products to offset land holding costs and keep forests
forests. The tour will be led by VT
FP&R county foresters and Audubon Vermont biologists. VT FP&R Commissioner, Michael Snyder, and
Agency of Natural Resources Secretary, Deb Markowitz, will also discuss how the
Foresters for the Birds project is
making a positive difference for forest stewardship, forest health, and the
forest-based economy in Vermont.
The tour will begin with a brief introduction at the Birds
of Vermont Museum located at 900 Sherman Hollow Road in Huntington. The group will then take a short walk to the
harvest area at the Audubon Center to see how forestry practices such as
thinnings, crop tree management, and selection harvests are being used to
benefit birds and other wildlife as well as the long-term vigor and growth of
the forest. Participants will learn about
services and resources available to landowners interested in doing a similar
harvest on their own land. Logistics
and financial considerations, including Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS) incentive programs, will also be discussed.
Contact:
Kristen Sharpless, Audubon Vermont, 802-363-5470 or ksharpless@audubon.org
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