Forest products are one of the biggest industries in the Ozarks region, and private landowners have plenty of opportunity to participate. In Arkansas alone, 58 percent of the 18.78 million acres of forestland is in private hands; far from being depleted, the states afforested area – already 56 percent of the land base – has increased by 6.5 percent since 1988.
Many private landowners actively manage their forest lands but more should, according to Dr. Jon Barry, a University of Arkansas Extension forester stationed at the Southwest Research Station at Hope, Ark. Barry told Ozarks Farm & Neighbor, “In my experience, most of them really don’t realize that they can manage that timber and gain an income from it. They seem to look at it as something they have and a place to hunt, but that’s about it. I wish we could get more landowners to realize that they can manage that, and produce an income with it.”
For an agricultural producer or other landowner who wants to accomplish that goal, the first step would be to hire a consulting forester. “There’s so much variation in one stand to another in species composition and the site that it’s on that a blanket prescription is not possible,” Barry said. A consulting forester can evaluate the site, make recommendations based on the owner’s goals for the land, and help arrange the bidding process for buyers of the timber and loggers to harvest it.
The consulting forester can also help the landowner decide what to cut. “Some species are more productive and more merchantable than others,” Barry said. “One of the issues that we run into, especially in north Arkansas, is that in the past a lot of the higher value species have been cut out and what’s left, because of improper management, is a lot of things that aren’t all that merchantable, either because of poor stem form (the rate of taper) or because they’re just the wrong species.” Among the most valuable hardwood species are walnut, oak, ash, cherry and maple.
Under the consulting forester’s supervision, there are actions the landowner can take to manage the property. An herbicide application can remove unmarketable trees or small, understory brush (small trees and other plants that grow in the shade of the taller trees). Mowing can also remove brush. Although these steps may not improve timber productivity, they can enhance wildlife habitat, which is what many landowners really want out of the land that they have.”
