The Place You TheCall Home: Place You About This Guide The Place You Call Home: A Guide to Caring for Your Land in New York is an “owner’s manual” for people who own land in the Empire State. It has been produced by the staff of Northern Woodlands magazine with the generous support of the organizations listed inside the back cover. Its intended audience includes anyone in New York who owns 10 or more acres of land, and anyone who believes that, with careful stewardship, the A Guide to Land Caring in for New Your York landscape that makes this state so special can support and sustain us for many generations to come. For more information, or to request additional copies of this guide, visit www.pych.org The Place You A Northern Woodlands Publication A Northern Woodlands Call Home A Guide to Caring for Your Land in New York A Northern Woodlands Publication Welcome Once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker. In my first three decades, I lived in four different counties – Onondaga, Hamilton, Cattaraugus, and New York County, otherwise known as Manhattan. That means I’ve been blessed with experience in both urban and rural New York. Hamilton, in the heart of the Adirondack Park, is the least populated county in the state. That bifurcated background has helped me edit this publication, which springs from a recognition that many people who now own land in rural reaches of New York come from The Place You Call Home: backgrounds that are more urban or suburban. The Place You Call Home: Although I no longer live in New York – my wife and I live on 95 acres of forest and A Guide to Caring for Your Land in New York A Guide to Caring for pastureland in central Vermont – I share your interest in tending the land. And while I’ve Your Land in New York spent the last 17 years writing about the Northeast’s forests, I was a true novice when we © April 2011 was made possible through the generous funding and support of the following partners: bought our land. The first time my wife and I had logging work done on our land, we made all the classic Editor mistakes: we were away when the work was done; we had no signed contract with the logger; New York Forest Owners Association Stephen Long and we didn’t have a forester mark the pines to be cut. Design When we returned the following summer, we were very discouraged, not having been American Tree Farm System, New York Tree Farm Liquid Studio / Lisa Cadieux prepared for what it would look like. Our sole consolation at the time was that we had shipped Sustainable Forestry Initiative, New York Implementation Committee some of the white pine to a sawmill to be sawn and planed for our own use, and as we built our house, we used the pine for wainscoting, window trim, and our living room floor. Contributors Easter Foundation I’ve learned a lot about our woods over the years – the plants and animals in it, its history, Joseph Adams, Marian Atkinson, and its potential for wildlife habitat, recreation, and producing income – but the one essential International Paper Company Foundation Virginia Barlow, David Beers, lesson was realizing that we needed the services of a forester. Our land now has a forest man- Jim Block, Madeline Bodin, agement plan, developed by a consulting forester who spent the time to walk in the woods Robert Barnes Betsy Brigham, Hugh Canham, with us and discuss strategies for creating grouse habitat in one stand and growing nice sugar Tovar Cerulli, Kindra Clineff, Society of American Foresters, New York Chapter Andrew Crosier, John Douglas/ maple in another. Under his supervision, we have since had three more timber harvests, with a Flying Squirrel, Ecophotography, fine logger working under the forester’s guidance, and we have been thrilled with what’s been Finch Paper, LLC Steve Faccio, Castle Freeman, accomplished. We’ve made some money, even though most of the trees that have been cut Blake Gardner, Mike Greason, have been those of poorer quality, giving the better trees more room to grow. Because we have Forecon Bob Henke, Ben Hudson, diversified the structure of the forest, we now see – or at least hear – all sorts of new songbirds: Roger Irwin, Kathryn Lund Johnson, wood thrush, scarlet tanager, song sparrow, and chestnut-sided warbler, to name a few. LandVest Henry Kernan, Victor S. Lamoureux, It’s been a great learning experience, and along the way I have benefited greatly from Mike Greason Gale Lawrence, Gerry Lemmo, the expertise of extension specialists in agriculture and forestry. But I would have been Annette Lorraine, Dave Mance III, further ahead faster if there had been a publication like this one available to me. The Place Cornell University Cooperative Extension MBC Design, Eben McLane, You Call Home: A Guide to Caring for Your Land in New York is a collection of stories that Krista Muller, Elinor Osborn, will provide the information you need about your land and the role it plays in the ecology, Bryan Pfeiffer, Roy W. Pilcher, Potter Lumber economy, and culture of the region. Carrie Sandin, Jeff Schneidermann, Robert H. Wentorf Foundation Michael Snyder, John Sullivan, Even the most committed and effective tenders of the land are not born with a sense of Ned Therrien, Mary Thill, stewardship, which only comes from spending lots of time on a piece of ground. By getting NYFOA, Southern Adirondack Chapter Adelaide Tyrol, Charles H. Willey, to know the woods in all seasons and in all weather, by walking the trails and tromping off Chuck Wooster between them, we develop an appreciation for the land’s many gifts. NYFOA, Allegany Foothills Chapter It’s very easy to look at land simply as real estate, a certain number of acres, plus or minus, that surround the house. But land is so much more than that – it is a tremendous asset not only Cornell University Cooperative Extension, Chenango County to the owner but also to the community. Forestland helps filter and store water so the supply of it remains plentiful and clean. It provides habitat for a stunning array of wildlife species. It Center for Northern Woodlands Education serves as the backdrop for our dazzling views. And it provides a supply of wood, the processing Northern Woodlands Magazine, 1776 Center Road, of which employs thousands of people in rural communities across the Empire State. P.O. Box 471, Corinth, VT 05039-0471 As more and more people are attracted to the woods, the land is at increasing risk of Tel (802) 439-6292 Fax (802) 439-6296 [email protected] being chopped up into house lots, making it more suburban than rural. Town and state www.northernwoodlands.org regulations and planning efforts play a role in directing the development to the most POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Northern appropriate places. But in truth, the future of New York’s forests is in the hands of the Woodlands Magazine, P.O. Box 471, Corinth, VT 05039- 0471 or to [email protected]. thousands of individuals who now call that land home. The future is in the hands of people All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part just like you. — STEPHEN LONG without the written consent of the publisher is prohibited. For Northern Woodlands subscription information call (800) 290-5232 This publication comes to you through the help and support of a number of organizations and Printed on paper with 10 percent businesses, all of which are listed on the inside back cover. Their financial backing has been post-consumer recycled content. instrumental in making this publication a reality. We thank them all. Contents A Our Home in New York Forests CROSIER NDREW Hugh Canham 2 Forgotten Fruit: Apple Trees in the Wild Michael Snyder 6 What Do Animals Need? And Do Your Woods Provide It? Stephen Long 10 Property Tax Reduction for Woodland Owners: A Look at Section 480-a Mike Greason 17 A Celebration of Dead Trees Gale Lawrence 19 Consulting Foresters: What They Do and Why You Need One NOR Eben McLane 22 th WOODLANDS ERN Certification Comes to New York’s Family Forests Tovar Cerulli 26 Fields Among the Forests: Keeping Open Land Open Chuck Wooster 32 Can Your Woods Be Too Tidy? Michael Snyder 35 The Gift of a Forest Henry Kernan 36 Working the Small Woodlot John Sullivan 40 NOR Building Better Forest Roads th WOODLANDS ERN Madeline Bodin 44 Woodland Invasives: Doing Battle with Non-Native Plants Mary Thill 47 Healthy Rivers are Made in the Shade Stephen Long 52 Smart Planning: Preparing for the Eventual Transfer of Your Land Eben McLane & Annette Lorraine 56 Earning Its Keep: Finding Sources of Income from the Land Stephen Long 60 Tree Girdling Can Improve Your Forest David Beers BEN 63 H UDSON Red Oak, Black Cherry, and Great Blue Herons Bob Henke 66 A Forest in Fragments: Smaller Parcels Can Cause Large Problems Joseph Adams 70 Deadly Insects: Early Detection Can Save Thousands of Trees 73 Birds in the Brush: The Lowdown on Ground-Nesters Bryan Pfeiffer 74 Resource Guide 78 A Place in Mind Castle Freeman 80 Northern Woodlands / The Place You Call Home Northern Woodlands / The Place You Call Home MARIAN J. MARIAN J. At KINSON Northern Woodlands / The Place You Call Home Our Home in New York Forests By Hugh O. Canham he soft whisper of pines as skiers take to the open spaces. This is the area where forest regrowth following the trails; a fine cherry cabinet adding character decline of farming has been most prominent.