Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 26, 1990 TAG: 9007260389
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID REED
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 11 million acres owned by about 120,000 individuals and non-industrial companies accounts for 75 percent of the state's forest land, said Peter Bromley, a wildlife extension specialist at Virginia Tech.
Many of them are land poor - people who get no income from a large piece of property and have to pay taxes every year, he said. "They sometimes get backed into a corner and feel they either have to sell it or log it without knowing the proper way to go about it," he said.
The primary message in "A Landowner's Guide to Wildlife Abundance Through Forestry" published this summer is that the best way to get a diversity of wildlife is to provide a diversity of habitat - from grasses and weeds growing in clear-cut areas to mature timber.
Environmentalists, meantime, are fighting with George Washington National Forest administrators over the proposed use of clear cutting in which logging sites are denuded of all trees.
Jim Loesel of the Citizens Task Force on National Forest Management said Wednesday there's nothing wrong with limited clear cutting on private lands. "It depends on what kind of wildlife you want," he said.
The booklet published this summer said quail must have seeds from weedy plants that grow in clear-cut areas, while pileated woodpeckers depend on dead and rotting mature trees for their food and nest sites.
It said most kinds of wildlife prosper in a mix of tree stands of various ages and some open areas.
In the fall and winter, wild turkeys need mature timber stands for food and roost sites. In the spring and summer, young turkeys need openings in the forest where insects are abundant. Deer need the cover provided by thickets, but will feed extensively on acorns found under mature trees.
Bromley said 13,000 of the free booklets were sent to county extension agents and offices of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Department of Forestry. "After just a couple of months, they're almost gone. It's unbelievable," he said.
The state agencies and the extension service worked together to develop the slick, 28-page booklet because landowners were getting mixed messages from the agencies and environmentalists about manipulating woodlands.
"Some people feel trees shouldn't be cut," Bromley said, adding that he has gotten only one phone call from someone mad at him for advocating clear cutting.
"The wildlife have no negative feelings toward clear cuts, if they are managed properly. People do," he said. The booklet said clear-cut areas should have irregular shapes and be no larger than 40 acres. Trees along streams should be left alone to prevent silting.
Bromley called the difference in the points of view more semantic than substantial.
"I think once we get beyond the name calling, what we are all talking about is keeping the wildlife abundant on the property and returning a reasonable profit on your land and maybe passing it on to the next generation in better condition than when you had it," he said.
by CNB