Harvesting Harmony: Balancing Nature and Logging Operations

As we look to meet growing needs for timber and other forest products and clearing land for homesites, the balance between conservation and exploitation becomes more crucial. Miller Farms, a logging operation on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, takes several steps to help maintain a balance between logging operations and nature, including skidding out logging trails with minimum impact on the land. You'll be happy to learn that we can log your property and keep trees and forest fauna for wildlife. In fact, you'll see more wildlife once we finish logging.

Most people don't think logging and conservation go together. However, you can't have conservation without cleaning up the forests of dense underbrush and trees that will eventually die on their own. Logging provides the raw material for timber, paper, and other forest products, and it can be done without exploiting forests or destroying wildlife habitats.

When you, as a landowner, understand the relationship between nature and logging, you'll have more informed approaches to forest management – even the small piece of forest around your home. The balance between logging and nature is actually an essential part of creating a wildlife habitat and minimizing the risk of wildfire. 

Balancing nature and logging operations allows landowners to create a balance between nature and creating a beautiful homesite. The landowner isn't the only one who benefits. Loggers haul cut trees to mills, where the trees are made into timber to build homes or, in the case of smaller trees that must come out to make room for your home, to a paper mill.

In most cases, landowners only want the homesite and an acre clearcut. Otherwise, if they are clearing a larger piece of property, Miller Farms recommends select cutting. When a logger clear cuts, he removes every tree. Select cutting is the practice of removing only trees that are mature. They must be a certain size for a lumber mill to accept them.

In addition to knowing which trees to cut and leaving others, a logger who is concerned about nature avoids damaging creeks and streams, hills, and more. They also use the same logging trails so as not to tear up the land with their equipment. 

Loggers use proactive approaches to mitigate the ecological impact of logging activities, which promotes harmony between nature and the logging industry. While it's important to remove only trees that are mature when select cutting, it's imperative to ensure the ecosystem is kept safe.

When logging a property, we look for zones that should not be logged, such as alongside a creek or if you have an area where many birds, such as owls, nest. If your property grows certain plants you don't want to be destroyed, such as Mountain Laurel, ginseng, ferns and other plants, we can avoid that area.

We also consider topography, hydrology and wildlife movement patterns to minimize the impact on the surrounding habitat. Often, wildlife cannot make its way through thick undergrowth. Older trees block the sun from younger trees. Birds do not like thick forests.

Logging removes the older trees, allowing new trees to grow properly – instead of being stunted or growing too tall for the species. A tree that is too tall won't make it through windstorms or heavy ice storms.

Select-cut logging also clears a lot of the underbrush, which allows deer and other wild animals to navigate the forest more easily. It also attracts birds as new plant life grows on the forest floor. New plant life brings bugs, grubs, worms and other small insects and animals, which help fertilize the soil for the younger trees.

Finally, select-cut logging leaves younger trees, which store more carbon, according to earth.com. 

Once the loggers are done, your job is just beginning. Depending on the size of your property, you can choose to keep the logging trails cleared for hiking and riding off-road vehicles. Most small loggers also leave the tree tops lying on the ground. They make excellent hiding places for rabbits, squirrels and other small animals. You can choose to leave some or all or cut some of the larger sections for firewood.

You can also choose to pile them up out of sight for more hiding places for small animals, snakes and reptiles, or you can burn them if you want to clear all of the area in the trees. When you clear the area in the trees, you significantly minimize the risk of wildfire by keeping the area mowed or bush-hogged. You also encourage tender grasses and other plant life that wild animals depend on for food.

When you only clear-cut the area around the house site and select cut the rest of your property, you create a haven for wildlife, especially if your property includes a cave, abri, stream, creek or river. 

If you are ready to log a piece of raw land to build your dream home, contact Miller Farms in Overton County, TN. We'll come out and walk your property with you and let you know if you have marketable timber. We'll also make suggestions of which trees to leave and areas where we shouldn't log.