PLANNING

1) Goal Definition

You should clearly define what you want from your woodlot before doing any activities; otherwise, you may regret the actions you take. To form your goals, ask the questions: Why to I own my woodlot? and What do I value on my woodlot? There are as many values as there are people. The US Forest Service offers an excellent forest planning and inventory software. Check out the US Forest Service web site where you can download free software. Especially useful is the Forest Stewardship Planning Guide software.

Examples of Values:

• Timber
• Recreation
• Wildlife
• Water Resources
• Sugaring
• Christmas Trees
• Homesite
• Fuelwood
• Pure Satisfaction

   

2) Secure Property

Make sure you have a legal deed and that your boundaries are clearly marked and surveyed.

3) Inventory

Find out what you have: timber, wildlife, recreation, water, soils, forest health, access.... Create maps and divide the property into stands. Each stand will have limited capabilities for meeting your goals. Create obtainable objectives for each stand. See the US Forest Service web site.

4) Plan

Decide upon activities to be done, if any. Know when and where activities are to be done. Also know the when and where of things that need to be done to get ready for scheduled activities. Have a professional forester put this all down on paper to create peace of mind.

(Yankee Woodlot #10)

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