A Hydro-Ax is operated by heavy equipment operator Bill Jones to set back forest succession and improve habitat for migratory birds at Moosehorn NWR, January 2007. (Photo by Andy Weik, USFWS)

Under the direction of refuge biologist Andy Weik, Moosehorn maintenance staff conducted shrub-sapling regeneration cuts during December 2006 and January 2007.  Alder and other shrub-sapling stands are improved or maintained to provide habitat for woodcock, chestnut-sided warblers and other wildlife that use early successional forest by clear-cutting strips 66 feet (20 m) wide up to 1320 feet (400 m) long, on a 20-year rotation.  In any given year, strip cuts are separated by about 264 feet (80 m), and new strips in a stand are cut every 4 years.  Most alder and shrub-sapling stands at Moosehorn that have been actively managed according to the refuge's Forest Management Plan (which began in 1980) are in at least their second rotation.

In December, heavy equipment operator Bill Jones operated the regional Hydro-Ax to set back regeneration on 21 strips, approximating 14 acres in the Vose Pond Management Unit.  Maintenance mechanic Mike Krug used the Brontosaurus to clear two additional half-acre strips in the Charlotte Road Management Unit before transporting the Hydro-Ax to Rhode Island.

Also in December 2006, contractors harvested 40 acres of timber in the South Trail Management Unit by clear-cutting as prescribed by refuge staff to provide habitat for early successional forest species and to diversify forest age classes. These South Trail timber harvests were originally scheduled for fiscal year 2006, but had to be postponed until this winter due to warm weather last winter that would have resulted in excessive soil disturbance and compaction.

Clearcutting to produce new stands of hardwoods and mixed stands is done during the "leaf off" period (fall through early spring) when the trees are dormant and the sap is stored in the roots, as this results in a new stand of saplings within one growing season through vigorous sprouting of stumps and roots.  Fine woody material (twigs, leaves and small branches) left from a harvest operation breaks down quickly and releases nutrients back to the soil. Larger branches and trunks (also known as coarse woody material) take longer to decompose, and provide cover for insects, small mammals (voles and mice), and salamanders, and drumming logs for ruffed grouse.