The Nature Conservancy is aiming to demonstrate it can both preserve one of the jewels of the Bad River Watershed and responsibly log it at the same time.
At Caroline Lake, this means loggers cannot cut down every tree in sight but must save some for ecological reasons.
For example, an aspen tree tucked between some balsam firs might be prime for cutting, but its forked-shape top is also ideal for a goshawk nest. And so a forester marked it and the balsams to be left alone. Around these trees, though, is evidence of others being cut down.
Despite saving this aspen and others like it on a case-by-case basis, the Conservancy aims to ultimately reduce aspen numbers and bring back other hardwoods and conifers that once thrived in the area, said the project's forester, Charly Ray, general manager for the Living Forest Cooperative.
This shift will also change how the Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that buys land to protect it, logs the area. Aspen is primarily used to make paper products and is often harvested all at once. Other hardwoods made into lumber take longer to mature, and profit is realized over time, Ray said.
"You're not managing to make the most money today," he said. "Hopefully, you're managing for the economics down the road."
When the Nature Conservancy purchased nearly 1,023 acres surrounding Caroline Lake from the Georgia-Pacific Paper Co. in 1997, the property was listed under the state's managed forest law. This law provides tax benefits to owners that manage the property for timber harvesting, and the Conservancy decided to maintain the property's managed forest status, according to Becky Sapper of the Conservancy.
Along with developing a plan to timber harvest, the Conservancy pursued legal protection for 326 acres around Caroline Lake. The Conservancy considered the protection, called articles of dedication, important because the lake is Bad River's headwaters. The land also encompasses parts of East and West Lakes.
The articles of dedication left the Conservancy to log within 697 acres, and its current project involves about 200 acres, Sapper said. Within the 200 acres, the Conservancy marked wetland areas with pink flags to warn the project's logger, Terrence Peters of Mellen. The Conservancy is also only undertaking the project during the winter months to minimize damage to the soils.
Within the forest are rotting stumps of white pines and other conifers, evidence of the forest's composition many years ago. With aspen dominant today, managing the forest to look like it did many years ago will take time, Ray said.
Clear cutting typically leads to an increase in aspen because the species thrives on sunlight, Ray said. When a hardwood forest is cleared, hardwoods and conifers, such as yellow birch, sugar maple, white spruce and white pine, will decline in numbers.
And while the Conservancy is interested in reducing aspen numbers, it cannot cut them down all at once, or more aspen will simply take their place, Ray said. The shade created by leaving some trees discourages aspen from growing and gives others a chance, he said. Some species, such as white pine, are so rare that seedlings will likely have to be brought in for planting, he said.
The Conservancy's goal is to maintain 90 percent of the forest canopy in areas with hardwoods other than aspen. In those areas, the Conservancy marks some of the unhealthiest trees for cutting. The idea is that, over time, the quality of the trees will improve, Ray said.
"It's very much a worst first harvest," Ray said.
Sapper said one of the Conservancy's goals is to demonstrate to property owners that they can make money by harvesting timber and still provide protections for the environment.
"You can keep your forest productive over the long term," she said, "and not just do a one-time cut and run."Ashland Daily Press
