• Sign In
  • My Wishlist
  • Cart

Raul's Blog | Forever Redwood

Eco-Friendly Outdoor Lifestyles

Forever Redwood Outdoor Furniture
Have Questions? Contact Us At: (866) 332-2403 Email Us
  • Pergolas & Pavilions
  • Tables
  • Seating
  • Planters
  • Swings & Gliders
  • Indoor
  • Kids
  • Accessories

Recreating Old-Growth Forests

October 29, 2009 by Forever Redwood 3 Comments

Spread the love
  • Tweet

Once an old-growth forest is cut down, can it be recreated? After almost all the large trees are gone and the land is cut up by roads? After the soil is exposed to direct sun and rain and erosion has lowered its productivity? After the streams are filled with sediment and the fish populations plummet? Can the forest really be brought back to anything like it was before?

In 1978, the Redwoods National Park in N. California had a large swath of over-logged lands added to the original old-growth park. Congress added the cutover lands with a caveat: All roads should be closed and filled in and the forest had to be restored like the old-growth around it.

With a large budget for restoration, an amazing transformation has taken place over the last 30 years. It is the largest example of full scale restoration in the Redwoods. It can be done.

But even without large budgets, restoration of some or most of the old-growth characteristics of cut over forests can be accomplished in decades—not centuries. Most forests in the U.S. have been cut at least once. For example, 96% of the Redwood forest has been cut.

Old-Growth Again manages 700 acres of average quality forests that had 95% of the Redwood volume cut in the 60’s. By the mid 90’s, the forest had too many hardwoods (uncut when the land was harvested) and endless young trees of average to poor quality. Instead of about 80 to 100 trees per acre of all sizes and ages, we inherited over 1,000 mostly small and suppressed trees per acre just waiting for a fire to set them off. Most were dying or going to die from a lack of growing space.

The roads were leaching soil into the streams. Poorly constructed roads were collapsing in the winter storms. You couldn’t see a foot in front of you because most trees had grown low lying branches that were in your face. It was the furthest thing from the cathedral-like open spaces under an old-growth forest canopy.

We started in 1995 by thinning out the poorest quality trees and the over-represented tree species (mostly hardwoods and some Douglas-fir). It was an acre by acre “hands-on” thinning from below. A couple chain saws, manual loppers and a pole saw is all we used. We fixed the worst erosion problems by adding lots of natural structure to the soil and thinned most of the lower branches away to lower the fire hazard and open up the understory. It took two men 3 1/2 years working 2 days per week to finish the first 40-acre thinning.

When complete in 1999, a strong contrast with neighboring parcels was obvious. The neighbors noticed, the government noticed, our friends noticed. We began to receive requests to work on neighboring lands and modest financial offers to help buy nearby parcels and restore them. A portable mill was purchased to mill some of the downed material and a furniture company was born. In the last 9 years we’ve grown to manage 700 acres and thinned and planted nearly 300 acres to date.

It will take another 5 years to complete the first round of thinning and planting on all the acreage. But, the thinned and planted lands are already significantly transformed. If we never did anything else, the forest will grow back to Old-Growth Again with good spacing, significantly restored species composition, improved tree quality and partially restored soils. The fire hazard has been reduced, wildlife habitat improved and the forest opened from below and closed from above as it should be. (For example, birds can now fly through the forests where before it was mostly an inpenetrable maze of branches and dying trees.)

If the thinning, planting and soil building is repeated two more times over the next couple decades, the forest will return to being multi-canopy and full of large mature trees with the general structure of the prior stand essentially restored. Then the passing decades will add the larger old-growth trees whether or not the land is managed again. And, this is after yielding a modest timber harvest each entry to help pay for the restoration.

It doesn’t take a lot of money to restore forestland if you are willing to do the work yourself. It does take a lifelong commitment to getting it done in balance with nature. If you own a few acres and want to spruce them up a bit or restore them fully, take a look at the links below.

The link below shows a typical regenerating young Redwood grove 30 years after heavy logging and before being thinned. Next to it is another typical young Redwood grove after thinning. Startling before and after. The work in the “after” photo was done by one person in one full day with a chainsaw and a pole saw. A lot can be done on any forestland if the owners want to put the time and energy into it:

http://www.foreverredwood.com/restoration-forestry/before-after

To read more about forest restoration and how to duplicate our results on any land, please visit:

http://www.foreverredwood.com/raulblog/?p=271

Or, our 8-minute video shows the process in action.

As always, thank you for your continuing financial support. If you have questions or comments, please let us know.

Filed Under: Forever Redwood History, Restoration Forestry

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • About our Company
  • Commentary
  • Customer Questions
  • Customer Stories
  • Customize
  • FAQs
  • Forest Fires
  • Forever Redwood History
  • Fun Stuff
  • Gazebo
  • Global Warming
  • Our Furniture
  • Pavilion
  • Pergola
  • Picnic Table
  • Redwood
  • Redwood Furniture Care & Maintenance
  • Restoration Forestry
  • Sales
  • Service
  • Shipping
  • Uncategorized
  • Wooden Planter Boxes

Recent Posts

  • From Border Crisis to Community Care: A Small Church Expands Outreach with a Pavilion
  • International Day of Forests
  • Beautiful Synergy: Pergola’s Design Integrates Nature, People, and History
  • Backyard Escapes | 3 Reasons to Customize Your Pergola or Pavilion
  • Backyard Escapes | 3 shade structures to expand your living space

Archives

  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • October 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2012
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009

About Us

  • About Us
  • Our Clients
  • Customer Comments
  • In The Media
  • Our Mission
  • Videos

Restoration Forestry

  • Overview
  • Before & After
  • Long-term Ecological Goals
  • Eco-Forestry

Redwood Furniture

  • Assembly
  • Care and Finish
  • Warranty
  • Wood Grade
  • Furniture Collections

Customer Service

  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Order Tracking
  • Privacy Policy
  • Shipping Information

Miscellaneous

  • FAQs
  • Product Catalogs
  • Raul's Blog
  • Customer Photo Contest
  • Resources
Forever Redwood
33710 Annapolis Road Annapolis, CA 95412
©1999-2015 Old-Growth Again Restoration Forestry, Inc
Authorize.Net Verified Merchant Forever Redwood BBB Accredited Business Forever Redwood at Houzz

Copyright © 2021 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in