They call it a Slash.

 I did some more digging into logging forests and the messes that are left behind. The loggers only take the logs that will earn them money. The tops are cut off and left lay. Other trees are damaged by the logging and are left standing. Trees that are cut and discovered hollow are also just left to lay.

They call it Slash.

The mess can serve a purpose. The logs decay providing nutrients to the soil.  The debris can prevent erosion and will provide cover for animals. 

[To me this didn't seem as though it would prevent erosion...however....]

The tree tops apparently provide food for deer as they are browsers and will eat the ends of the branches.

Yet I keep thinking that the people who own the land are not conservationists. I doubt there will be any replanting of the trees, but one can hope that trees will grow back. Well trees would grow back IF there were seeds left behind or saplings untouched.

The damage done to the oaks may be permanent and spread as Oak Wilt is an issue in our area.

I imagine that in a few years, this forest will produce amazing fungi and slime molds as well as a some sort of transformation. 

Yesterday afternoon I got a text from Glen the Hunter. He leases the part of the forest I photo'd and the woods all the way through the valley. Glen is a bow hunter and only hunts the land for a few weekends a year. He parks often at the edge of our property to hunt. We made an agreeable arrangement for access to the meadow about 6 years ago.

He always texts me to let me know when he is coming to check cameras or when he is hunting. He is from the Kenosha area of Wisconsin where I used to live. He generally stops and visits a bit each year. 

I texted back, asking him to give me his opinion on the logging on the land he'd leased for hunting. At the end of the day I got a text back with an apology for not stopping out to visit. 

"It is a mess!" His ATV broke down while checking on cameras and he said they had a terrible time dragging it out. If one could read through the lines of short texts...he was as shocked as I was. A bit later he texted me back and said that the owner ... said they would 'clean it up'. The emoji sent with it was a figure shrugging. 

I replied that the only cleaning up of that magnitude would be by bulldozer. My opinion.

Glen then asked if I'd keep an eye out for property for sale, as he sold property in Kenosha and was looking for property in our area.

We talked a bit. I'll skip over most of it. Glen then offered to purchase my place and let me live here. Bold move by text, but his heart sounded like it was in it thinking he'd help me out by a huge influx of money.

This was the third time someone had expressed wanting to purchase my place this past week.

I of course wouldn't do such an arrangement. I would be a tenant in my own house and there would be too many variables that could occur.

I think Glen was rather shocked at the condition of the land that he has leased now for the past few years. He leased it because of the amazing forest. I doubt he will lease it after this year.

Last night I was trying to get to sleep and I couldn't help but think about the forest to the east of me.

Can you imagine the fire danger if we have a drought?
Yeah. I should just pretend the forest next to me no longer exists.

Slash can be cleaned up with forest mulchers which are machines with large grinders. It can also be cleaned up with bulldozers which pile the Slash for burning.

I highly doubt that the absentee owner of the land will put that kind of effort and money into cleaning up nearly 500 acres of forest after it is logged.

I learned something new today. 

Slash.

It seems an appropriate word for this kind of logging.

Never thought of it in this manner.

Burdocks and Bows

After spending two hours cleaning tails again, I picked up the loppers and machete and went hunting for burdock in the woods where the mules like to hide out from the weather.

The offending burdock grows in inaccessible areas to machinery. Rocks, logs, an steep inclines keep me from mowing. The only solution is to do the work by hand.

I think I got most of it picked up and piled. Now I have to wait for non windy weather to burn the piles. I ended up with about 4 piles. I make them small and also rake all the dead leaves from around each pile before burning. 

For now, the mules have to stay out of this section until I get things cleaned up. I have to admit that all of my work in this area for the past few years is starting to pay off. It may not look like it, but the burdock has been reduced significantly since I 'took' over the pasture work.

There is another section of woods that I'll address later. I missed the spring clean up of the area and didn't maintain it this summer. It looks like it should be easy to clean up with a skid steer and a brush hog, but the rocks that jut out of the ground would make short work of anyone's blades.

At least I have things to keep me busy, right?

Bow Season is in Full Swing around here and Glen the Hunter who hunts the meadow to the east of us texted that he and his daughter would be bow hunting this weekend. He wanted to know if we would be around as he'd like to drop off venison for us.

Of course!

I told Glen he could come down our driveway and park in the fence line for easier access. After two years, hubby has decided that Glen was an okay guy. I have to give the guy credit as he has made the effort to be friendly to my husband. The meat never hurts either. It is a great bribe to an old deer hunter!

A few years ago, the land owner of the meadow told Glen to just use our driveway to access hunting on their property. Of course having a strange vehicle come down our driveway and park on the edge of our land was concerning to an old veteran with Chronic and Severe PTSD. 

Glen realized that getting to know hubby and befriending him would benefit everyone. Glen and I exchanged phone numbers so he can text us for the two weekends a year that he'd be out roaming near us.

I think that is a great lesson in being neighborly.

The landowner should take a lesson from Glen the Hunter.

Glen and his daughter or son only come for bow hunting as they feel it is the ultimate challenge.

Gun season is for nutcases on the neighbor's land. I bring the mules out of the woods and keep them in the lot near the house.

After all, hunters get Buck Fever. Right?

I've never personally hunted a deer. I've sat with a few people over my life time and found it rather boring. I'd rather sit in my blind with my camera for a few hours and catch a photo of one. Less work.