PROPERTY DESCRIPTION

The overall history of this property is typical of most woodlands in the province, with the area closest to the road farmed and then abandoned and the land further back left in forest. There are unploughed areas and forests growing on old fields. This property has a large amount of older conifer plantations - red pine, white pine, Scots pine, Norway spruce and Japanese larch - some of which are starting to break up. The challenge will be to find a market for these products and to harvest them as they reach the end of their life cycle. Several of the original red pine plantings on this property, carried out in the 1950's, started to die and were clearcut and one has been replanted in Japanese larch. Another large area was clearcut and replanted in white pine, while other blocks were clearcut and never replanted. Towards the back of the property, there is an excellent area of mixed hardwoods. Though young, they are of high quality and should provide good value in the future.

The land is well-drained and obviously capable of growing high-quality trees. Some of the hardwoods are of very good quality, while the white pine, Norway spruce and Japanese larch have grown into quite large-diameter trees.

The swale at the eastern end of the property was once a seasonal stream and probably continues to carry water in the spring. After a clearcut, it grew up in a mix of early successional species, but along the stream-bed there is a large number of beaked hazelnut. Riparian zones even of seasonal streams, are among the most productive habitats on Prince Edward Island for both plants and animals and much better stewardship should be displayed in these areas.

The roadway running the length of the property also offers a great opportunity to add large numbers of native plants that are especially-attractive for wildlife. The edges along both sides of the roadway have more sunlight over a longer period and allow greater fruiting and flowering of plants such as American mountain ash, serviceberry, high-bush cranberry, beaked hazelnut, hawthorn and the elderberries.

Special notes: As with most of the public forest land, there are piles of wood that have been left beside the road. There are also older garbage piles along the road and some newer dumps as well.

Priorities:

• As early as possible, carry out enrichment plantings along the roadway and in any existing openings, to get a jump on future restoration work.
• Remove older Japanese larch in plantation closest to the road and plant the holes with a mixture of yellow birch, red oak, red spruce and eastern hemlock.
• The Scots pine are a problem species on this site as they are of very poor form, have little value and are starting to seed in to surrounding areas. Markets should be found to allow the efficient removal of most of these trees, even if they are just to go for wood chips. The rest can be girdled to create wildlife trees or cut and left on site to provide coarse woody debris.
• Begin removing some of the red pine plantations, creating small pockets that can be planted with a mixture of hardwoods and shrubs that are especially attractive to wildlife, such as serviceberry, red-berried elder, beaked hazelnut and highbush cranberry.
• Work towards diversifying the young white pine plantation (Stand #3), so that it doesn't evolve into a future problem. This will involve pruning some of the weevil-damaged pine and hardwood regeneration and removing competition from selected red maple and white birch. Any openings can be planted with yellow birch, sugar maple, red oak and red spruce and eastern hemlock.

Additional comments:

The Scots pine on this and many other public forest lands are creating problems not only for the health of these properties but also in that they have seeded into neighboring properties. There should be more concern in that the provincial government has created this problem that will be difficult to remedy without the assistance of other property owners. The government of Ontario has created an excellent publication, available on-line, entitled Scots pine in Ontario. The introduction states that "Although now widely naturalized, Scots pine is an exotic (non-native) tree species that also has invasive tendencies. Its susceptibility to a range of insects and diseases can make it a source for the transfer of some pests to valued native tree species, which can often complicate management decisions. The management of Scots pine can be further complicated by low commercial value, by a localized lack of product markets, and by the limited number of forestry contractors dealing with Scots pine on a consistent basis as is often the case where more desirable species such as red pine is in abundant supply. As such, Scots pine has often been viewed as problematic by many landowners, forest managers, and forest contractors in Ontario."

Once the woody plantings are done, add wildflowers and ferns that will help make the property more diverse and more attractive to wildlife.

To read the rest of this document, to see individual stand treatments, please download the PDF by clicking here.