News

Fall Update 2018

We are wrapping up a rather busy season of Invasive control in Northern Indiana; the leaves are dropping so it's time to park the sprayer until spring.  We appreciate everyone who worked with us this year to rid their forests of the exotic shrubs, thornbushes and vines that are negatively impacting our ecosystems.  We will be taking up the good fight again in May 2019.  To that end, please keep in mind:

EQIP is a 3 year program, if you treated this year or hired someone to do so, you likely need to evaluate the forest again in the spring and apply another treatment.  We will contact all of our EQIP landowners in early spring to schedule re-evaluations and provide cost proposals for 2019 work.

If you are not familiar with EQIP:  Your local Natural Resource Conservation Service offices are accepting applications for Conservation Activity Plans, and the cutoff date is coming up on November 13th, 2018.  This is the first step, to identify an issue that needs to be addressed in your woodland and apply for cost-share assistance, such as invasive brush control or timber stand improvement.  Alternatively, you can apply for a Conservation Stewardship Plan, which pays you for high quality forest management in the past and allows you to continue improving your woodland with more treatments.

We will be in your area marking timber sales and doing timber stand improvement work until spring, give us a call!

 

Invasive control season is here

If you have been working with us on an invasive control quote yet for 2018 and have yet to sign a work proposal, time is likely running out to get it on the calendar. We have finished a few small projects so far, and a couple of larger ones are well underway. We seem to have picked up more invasive work than we expected, and we want to make sure we have time to get it all done. The weather has been cooperating, and we have made good progress.

This also means we are in the woods every day for many hours, sometimes with poor cell phone reception, or dealing with noisy equipment. If you are trying to reach us, please be patient and leave a message and we will get back with you. We are also trying to make appointments for woodland inspections, particularly for those wanting timber sales in the fall.

Purple Paint Law in Indiana Starts July 1st!

If you're tired of posting and replacing no-tresspassing signs that are weathered or vandalized just to keep people out of your woodlands and limit your liability from trespassing injuries, a new law has been passed to help you.

Here is a link to a recent article about it:  https://www.theindychannel.com/news/state-news/purple-paint-law-goes-into-effect-july-1

The rules are fairly simple regarding how to mark your boundaries, however I would not proceed until I was very sure of the boundary locations, either by an official survey or known land markers, etc.  Often your farm manager/forester is well aware of these boundaries, at least unofficially, and can help you locate them.  GPS can help, but in woodlands is spotty and only accurate using high precision instruments.

I have already received a request to mark the boundaries of a large property, and we are available if you decide to ditch the signs and go with purple paint to mark your property boundaries.  Just give us a call!  If you decide this is a DIY project, I recommend contacting our local tree paint manufacturer, BarkMark, in Niles, MI.

Spring is here, let’s take a hike…

I know this winter has dragged on for many of us, but the spring peepers down the road at North Chain Lake are singing a different tune. It's time to go out and look for those early spring wildflowers that appear and vanish in just a few days. Maybe you need to go stake out your favorite mushroom spots, or scout new prospects. It's also time to evaluate your woodlands for exotic invasives and decide what areas you might want to tackle this year, because they always leaf out first. For many of you, it may be time to seriously consider if your woods is ready for a harvest and when you want to start that process. If you live in an area of sandy soils, spring is actually a great time to sell timber, and you can fetch a premium price just because your woods can be logged this time of year.

If you want some company on your next spring hike, feel free to give us a call!