Overall Property Description
This 40 acre property is located just west of Pellston on the south side of Robinson Road. It contains a combination of red pine on one portion, a mixed aspen/hardwood sapling stand in the middle, and a northern hardwood stand in the southern third. It was harvested in 2018 to thin the red pine stand. Some hardwoods were selectively harvested in other portions of the site. With an over-population of deer throughout the years, their selective browsing (especially in the red pine stands) has removed the more desirable hardwood species and left an established understory of beech and ironwood seedlings/saplings.
2025 Update
The epic 28-20 March 2025 ice storm that devastated large regions of northern lower Michigan did not spare this property from significant damage. Thanks to timely responses from Bill Cook (initial assessment), the MFA Executive Director and Board of Directors, Dean Reid (consulting forester), and Shephard Forestry (logger), a salvage harvest was initiated in May.
The following is an excerpt from Mr. Bill Cook’s initial damage assessment:
I visited the Robinson Road property on 9 April 2025. The 28-30 March ice storm did massive damage in the red pine sawtimber stand and considerable damage in the middle-aged aspen stand. The hardwood stand has little damage. I cannot overemphasize the need to act quickly in order to make the best of a bad situation.
The red pine sawtimber stand is largely destroyed, about 12 acres, maybe less as I didn’t look carefully at the southern portion of the stand.
Significant damage to the 13-acre aspen stand south of the red pine stand.
Alternatives include “do nothing” and “conversion to hardwoods”. Doing nothing poses a high risk of bark beetle epidemics, possibly wildfire risk. The remaining red pine would likely blow over. The stand would naturally convert to hardwoods, especially red maple, although density would be spotty. Conversion to hardwoods may be difficult due to insufficient advance regeneration. However, the downed red pine would likely serve as an effective barrier against deer depredation.
Other observations:
The harvested hardwood stand sustained little damage.
The two-track into the property blocked by windfall.
I bucked-up the fallen trees but did not remove the debris.
The gate lock continues to work well.
Skeet shooters have been active in the former log landing.
Harvest photos from 2018
