Owning woodland is different from owning a yard, pasture, or crop field. A forest changes slowly, and decisions made today can affect its timber value, wildlife habitat, health, and appearance for decades.
That is why one of the most useful tools a woodland owner can have is a Forest Management Plan.
A Forest Management Plan is a written roadmap for your woods. It documents existing forest conditions, identifies opportunities and problems, considers your goals as the landowner, and lays out recommended management practices for the years ahead. For Ohio woodland owners, a management plan can also be a prerequisite or important piece of documentation for forestry programs such as NRCS EQIP, Ohio Forest Tax Law (OFTL), and CAUV.
At Feicht Forestry, our Forest Management Plans are designed to provide landowners with a practical 10- year management roadmap for their property.
What Does a Forester Look at When Developing a Management Plan?
A Forest Management Plan begins in the woods.
A forester walks the property and evaluates the forest rather than making recommendations based only on an aerial photograph or parcel map. Depending on the property, this evaluation may include:
Tree species, size, quality, and condition
Forest stocking and competition
Timber maturity and future management opportunities
Invasive plants
Grapevines
Forest health concerns
Existing regeneration and young trees
Wildlife habitat
Forest openings
Roads, trails, and access
Property boundaries
Soils, slopes, and site productivity
Streams, drainage, and water-quality concerns
Evidence of previous timber harvests or other land use
The objective is to understand what is happening in the woods now before deciding what should happen next.
Your Woods May Contain Several Different Forest Stands
One of the most important parts of forest management is recognizing that an entire property should not necessarily be managed the same way.
A single woodland might contain mature oak and hickory on one hillside, younger yellow-poplar and maple on another, an old pasture returning to forest, and a bottomland stand containing walnut, sycamore, or cherry.
These areas may differ in age, species composition, stocking, timber quality, soils, past management, invasive-species pressure, and wildlife value.
Foresters commonly divide these areas into forest stands. Each stand can then be evaluated and managed according to its own conditions.
That prevents the common mistake of treating 50 or 100 acres of woodland as though every acre needs the same thing.
A Forest Management Plan Starts With Your Goals
There isn’t one correct way to manage every woodland.
One landowner may be interested primarily in growing high-quality timber. Another may want better deer and turkey habitat. Someone else may be concerned about invasive species, maintaining their property for their children, improving access, or determining whether their timber is ready to harvest.
Many landowners have several of these objectives at the same time.
A good Forest Management Plan considers those goals alongside the biological condition of the forest and develops recommendations that make sense for both.
A Forest Management Plan May Be the First Step Toward Forestry Programs
For many Ohio woodland owners, a Forest Management Plan is more than a guide for managing the property. It is also an important - and in some programs required - first step before participating in forestry tax and financial-assistance programs.
NRCS EQIP Forestry Practices
If you are interested in receiving financial assistance through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to complete forestry practices, forest planning comes first.
A Forest Management Plan identifies resource concerns on the property, establishes management objectives, and recommends appropriate conservation practices. NRCS describes Forest Management Plans as site-specific plans used where forestry-related conservation activities or practices will be planned and applied, and notes that these plans can lay out practices for program assistance.
Future practices may include work such as forest stand improvement, invasive-species management, wildlife habitat improvements, tree planting, and other eligible conservation practices, depending on the property and current program requirements.
Feicht Forestry is an NRCS-certified Technical Service Provider (TSP) and can prepare qualifying NRCS Forest Management Plans for landowners who receive funding for forest planning.
Ohio Forest Tax Law (OFTL)
A Forest Management Plan is a requirement for enrollment and continued participation in Ohio Forest Tax Law.
Ohio rules require qualifying forest land to have a Forest Management Plan and to be managed according to a plan approved by the Chief of the Ohio Division of Forestry. The plan establishes management objectives, describes forest stands, identifies recommended practices, and includes a work schedule for the property.
For a woodland owner considering OFTL, developing an appropriate Forest Management Plan is therefore a fundamental part of the enrollment process - not simply an optional management tool.
CAUV and Commercial Woodland
Forest Management Plans are also commonly used by Ohio woodland owners seeking to document the active management of commercial timberland for CAUV.
CAUV is administered through the county auditor, and the documentation expected for commercial woodland can vary with the property and county. In many cases, a professionally prepared Forest Management Plan provides the clearest way to document existing forest conditions, commercial timber-management objectives, recommended practices, and a schedule of management activities.
Because CAUV requirements and documentation are administered at the county level, landowners should verify the specific documentation their county auditor requires.
More Than a Program Requirement
Even when a landowner initially needs a Forest Management Plan for EQIP, OFTL, or CAUV, the plan should be more than paperwork needed to participate in a program.
A well-developed plan should help answer the larger questions about the property: What do I have? What problems need addressed? What should I do first? What can wait? And where should these woods be 10 years from now?
That is why Feicht Forestry approaches a Forest Management Plan as a 10-year roadmap for the woodland, not simply a document needed to satisfy a program requirement.
What Recommendations Might Be Included?
Recommendations depend entirely on the property. A Forest Management Plan does not mean that timber needs to be harvested.
In some woods, a timber harvest may be appropriate. In others, the best recommendation may be to leave the overstory alone and address other problems first.
Management recommendations could include controlling invasive species, cutting grapevines, releasing desirable crop trees, removing poor-quality competing trees, maintaining roads and trails, improving wildlife habitat, creating forest openings, protecting young regeneration, marking property boundaries, or monitoring a stand until future management is appropriate.
The important question isn't simply, “What can we do in these woods?” It is, “What should we do first?”
That distinction matters. For example, opening the canopy may increase sunlight and stimulate desirable regeneration - but it can also give established invasive plants an opportunity to spread rapidly. On a property with a serious invasive-species problem, controlling those plants before disturbing the overstory may be the better sequence.
A management plan helps put those decisions in the proper order.
Does a Forest Management Plan Tell Me When to Harvest Timber?
It can help answer that question.
Tree diameter alone does not determine whether a tree - or an entire stand - is ready to harvest. Species, quality, health, vigor, financial maturity, stand condition, regeneration, landowner objectives, and the effect of removing a tree on the remaining forest should all be considered.
A management plan can identify stands that may be candidates for a timber harvest as well as stands that would benefit from additional years of growth.
It can also establish management objectives before a timber buyer or logger becomes involved.
That gives the landowner a much better foundation for making decisions about one of the most valuable assets on the property.
What About Invasive Species?
Invasive plants have become one of the most common management concerns in Ohio woodlands.
Species such as tree of heaven, autumn olive, multiflora rose, Japanese barberry, bush honeysuckle, privet, and Japanese honeysuckle can interfere with forest regeneration and compete with desirable native vegetation.
A Forest Management Plan can document which invasive species are present, where the most significant problems occur, and which species should receive priority.
This is particularly important when other forest management work is being considered. In many situations, invasive-species control should occur before a timber harvest, thinning, or other activity that increases sunlight reaching the forest floor.
What About Wildlife?
Good forest management and good wildlife habitat frequently overlap.
Wildlife needs more than large trees. Different species use different combinations of mature timber, young forest, openings, dense cover, mast-producing trees, understory vegetation, water, snags, and downed woody material.
A management plan can look at the property as a whole and identify opportunities to improve habitat while still accomplishing timber and forest-health objectives.
The goal isn't necessarily to make every acre look the same. In many cases, having a diversity of forest conditions across the property provides greater habitat value.
Forest Roads, Trails, and Access Matter Too
Roads and trails are easy to overlook when thinking about forest management, but they can affect nearly every future activity on the property.
Good access can make invasive-species treatment, timber management, hunting, recreation, and future timber harvesting easier. Poorly located or poorly drained roads can create erosion and water-quality problems.
A management plan can identify existing access issues and recommend where maintenance or improvements should be considered.
Property Boundaries Are Part of Forest Management
Knowing where your property ends is especially important before completing timber management or other forestry work.
A management plan can document the condition of existing boundary markings and recommend locating, flagging, painting, or surveying lines where appropriate.
Clearly identifiable boundaries help landowners, foresters, contractors, and future timber buyers understand the limits of the property and reduce the chance of management activities extending onto neighboring land.
A Plan Should Be Useful, Not Just Paperwork
A Forest Management Plan shouldn't be something that gets put in a drawer and forgotten.
When you finish reading it, you should have a better understanding of:
What you have. What species and forest conditions are present?
What problems need attention. Are invasive species, grapevines, poor access, overcrowding, declining trees, or other issues limiting the property?
What opportunities exist. Could the property produce better timber, wildlife habitat, recreation, or other benefits?
What should happen first. Which projects are priorities, and which can wait?
Where the woods are headed. What management decisions should be considered over the next decade?
That is ultimately the purpose of a Forest Management Plan.
Do I Need a Forest Management Plan?
If you own woodland and aren't sure what you should be doing with it, a management plan is often a good place to start.
It can be particularly useful if you are asking questions such as:
Is my timber ready to harvest?
What invasive species do I have?
How can I improve my woods for wildlife?
Which trees should I be favoring?
Should I be doing timber stand improvement?
How should I maintain my roads and trails?
What should I work on first?
You don't need to already know the answers. Figuring out those answers is part of the planning process.
Forest Management Planning With Feicht Forestry
Feicht Forestry develops 10-year Forest Management Plans for Ohio woodland owners based on the conditions of the property and the landowner's objectives.
The process begins with an on-site evaluation of the woodland. The property is divided into appropriate forest stands, existing conditions are documented, management opportunities are identified, and recommendations are developed into a practical schedule for the years ahead.
Whether your primary interest is timber, wildlife, forest health, property taxes, conservation programs, or simply taking better care of your land, the goal is the same:
Understand your woods first. Then make informed decisions about what comes next.
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