Row Pines Improvement - Opinions Please

We have these row pines on our land. roughly 7-10 acres of them and the problem we have is that no animals can live in this habitat. There is no growth underneath, nothing to browse, and no cover. In terms of hunting it is a waste of property. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions or knowledge with what we can do to utilize and maximize this part of our property to help deer and turkey habitat. Very sandy soil as well.

The only solution I can think of is thinning it out to remove some trees and planting some underbrush trees underneath?

Any suggestions will help! Thanks!

 

Clear cut some of that or set them on fire!! That will take care of it.
I would cut some down and go from there at least.

 

Cut them down or at least enough to open big holes. I had one row of pines on the back of my property. The ground under them was bare. I cut them down and did nothing else and it is now the thickest grass in the yard. Pines are terrible for soil.

 

After you cut them down this a lot of lime down. Lime is really cheap. Will help lower the acidity in the soil.

I have some pines neighboring my property. I buy lime at Lowes by the bagful.

A 40lb bag is like $5.

 

Would a logging company pay us for these trees?

 

More than likely would be able to get something for them.

 

Pines usually sell by the ton. Find a logger, sawmill, or a wood fiber facility. Ask what they're going price is, usually they will send somebody to cruise your timber and make an offer. Make sure you have it sold before you log it. So it doesn't sit and dry out. Loggers will cut it on shares. Just make sure you get in writing what exactly you want done and mark your boundaries.

 

Row pines like that were planted with the intention that they be thinned, the trees will grow bigger and better if thinned. Contact a local DNR forester for help with contacts to loggers. I would say remove every other tree or every 3rd tree. Be on site to watch the work, loggers are notorius for taking more than they agreed to. It will take a tons of lime to get the soil to where anything will grow.

 

You need to go in and just thin them out. I wouldn't clear cut it, just thin it. Then implement a prescribed fire.

 

In pines with over cast needles and the wrong conditions is a recipe for disaster, prescribed burns are for hardwoods not pines.

 

We will be thinning them out but no way am I burning. There is thousands of acres of these pines in the area and only some on our land. They would all be gone.

 

That is absolutely un true. We burn our pines every 4-6 years and it yields great results. You have to know what you're doing and create good fire breaks. To say that burns are only for hardwoods is ludicrous.

 

With a thick layer of pine straw, no new growth will be able to come through without either burning or disking. If you are not experienced in burning, then that may not be the best option for you. However, burning would be the best thing you could do for it.

 

I spent 17 years catching fires that people lit with the best intentions. The guy is going to have it logged so there will be timber litter and slash present burning it would not be a good idea, flame duration and intensity would also harm some of the standing trees.

 

We will most likely log it out and find a professional to burn. I have zero experience with prescribed fires so I will not do it. But for the right price and trustworthy people, fire is probably the best option.

 

Everyone has some good points in my opinion. I don't have any experience with pine stands but have read a lot about management done for them. My understanding has always been that RX fire in pines will de-thatch the litter but do nothing to thin the stand and that stand is way too thick. RX fire in hardwoods is generally intended to eat up the old dead crap and the young saplings and underbrush to promote broader canopy openings.

Looks to me like every third row of those needs left and take out the middle two and thin the remaining rows by every other tree. I'm not sure they're big enough for logs but probably are usable for other stuff. We don't have pines down here, our problem specie here is cedar. They do the same thing naturally and it might as well be a desert in those stands. I have about 80 acres completely covered with big ones that I need to bulldoze out.

 

Grant woods just did a clients that had row pines. Might check it out.
Do you want to turn it into a sanctuary or kill plot?

 

If mine, I'd at minimum log every other row....possibly only leave every 3rd row. Pines don't provide much but in the winter that thermal cover is a beneficial but you thicken up around all the better. Instead of rows you could leave small squares of like 8 or so trees and thus creating islands of them.

 

As of now I'm not sure. I guess sanctuary. Just something deer don't want to just run through.

 

If Sanctuary, I'd say every other tree and every other row possibly. Let the under brush grow up thick.

Kill plot possibly clear cut a middle section. 30-40 yards wide 80 long. Thin out the close surrounding rows to let under growth thicken. Clear cut lanes to allow safe paths for the deer to walk to plot from where you think they are bedding.

It could make a killer plot if you plan it out. Either way you need to thin it for it's health. That was the intention of its design, once it hit a certain age it would be thinned to allow the other trees to benefit.