Article ArchiveALA Announces Focus 
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STEWARDSHIPForest Management and Birds WorkshopOn July 11 Audubon New York, with support from the Adirondack Landowners Association, held a workshop on Forest Management and Birds. The 27 people who attended included foresters and landowners who in total represented about 650,000 acres of forest land.
At first blush there may be those that assume the best habitat for birds is the untouched forest. What the participants learned from Mike Burger, Audubon New York’s Director of Conservation and Science, is that different suites of birds breed, fledge, and migrate though different forested habitats and that a mix of young and old forests is best for the largest number of bird species. According to Burger, the best situation is an intact forest landscape that includes enough disturbance to create patches of young, dense regenerating forest on about 10% of the area.
Burger’s science was subsequently re-enforced by a presentation from Sean Ross of Lyme Timber Company. Ross pointed out that the forester looks at what exists on the ground and what it is that you want from your forest. In most instances the forest owner wants a variety of species, in a variety of age classes, and a variety of densities so that there is a sustained harvest over time. To accomplish this, some stands will be cut lightly, some moderately, and some heavily. This is the same prescription that will increase the diversity of forest birds. The most detrimental condition is to lose or fragment the forest, followed by having too much of one type of forest, whether young or mature.
The substance of the meeting was supplied by Sean Ross and Mike Burger, but the animated discussion came from the participants. Many were members of the Adirondack Landowners Association who had been invited by Margot Ernst and Ross Whaley who have ties with both Audubon New York and the ALA. Audubon New York’s forestry program is part of Audubon’s Atlantic Flyway Initiative. For more information about this initiative or upcoming workshops, please contact Mike Burger directly at the Cornell Lab or Ornithology, by phone at 607-254-2441 or e-mail. Or, if you are interested in helping support Audubon’s work in the Adirondacks or underwriting an upcoming workshop, please contact Tom O’Handley, Director of Development, by phone at 212-979-3120 or e-mail.
How Patient is Your Forest?Interesting article provided by Roger Dziengeleski |
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© 2011 Adirondack Landowners Association |