A margin is the outside of the crop zone of a field, but inside the woodlot. Under USDA rules, a farmer is not supposed to till soil right to the wood line, but rather leave a strip of grass around the tilled ground so that grass will grow and prevent soil erosion. A lot of times this grows up with encroachment (saplings) especially in Maine; the most heavily forested state in the nation. Kind of like how the margins work on a written document. No, crows are not big enough to attack sheep, but they can, and have picked the guts out of lambs, killing them.
Keeping trails clear of brush and growth makes for much nicer trails.Nothing like having good trails and roads. Trail maintenance is a never ending story, but having these trails will keep you out in your woods to enjoy hiking and just spending time. Whether you're cutting vines, brush or looking at what tree's to cut trails and roads are so important. The openings in the canopy will get some new grasses growing and different plants which is good for the birds and wildlife. This is the main reason for what I do in my woodlots.
Don't get discouraged, it takes time. If you can start a small trail around your property, trails and roads are so important, if you have a good trail you will enjoy your woodlot so much more. If you have a little time here and there start a trail. Some of my woods was so thick with blow downs I would tie ribbons on the tree's for a distance of say 100' and then cut everything in between the ribbons. It takes time and in my case (A LOT OF BEER) it is work, but something I enjoy. This is one of my last roads that's about 300 -400 yards long. Remember start small and enjoy your woodlot.
I have never heard it called a margin before, funny how regional differences use different words. Down here, fields are tilled as tight to woods as they can be, where we have streams or culverts are typically enrolled in CRP programs and they pay you not to till it for watershed protection.
I own almost 70 acres (40 acre woodlot and 30 acres of tillable) and have been working on managing it for 40 years. It is never ending. The edges of the fields and hedgerows are being taken over by honeysuckle, I have been working on grubbing it out with the Kubota, push it in a pile and will burn it sometime this winter. My woodlot is about 40% swamp the rest is open hardwoods and has some good trails and I keep expanding them someday they will connect. It is enjoyable just being out in nature.
JCMC, your absolutely right it is never ending, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just got a new grapple with my tractor, don't know how I survived without it. Now I can pick up my brush piles and place them right where I want them without all the handling. Works great for lifting and loading logs
If ypur wanting to manage for wildlife and your destroying honeysuckle your doing the exact opposite. All the critters like honeysuckle... I also see people talking about destroying vines.. Green briar for instance is a top browse for deer, they love it.
Good to hear you like that grapple. I borrowed my uncle's this summer and have been wondering which style would work best for me.
No one said anything about (destroying vines or honeysuckle) just keeping it in check is what I do. Our lawns are great for wildlife too if we let them grow, but we cut them and maintain them so they don't get out of control. The other thing to keep in mind when cutting is fire hazards in the woods. I can tell you first hand what it's like dragging a forestry line through the woods in mid summer trying to get through vines and blow downs.
I have cut thousands of grape vines from my woods. Neighbor: "Squirrels aren't going to like that." I have more squirrel now than I can ever remember. They use the vines to nest because they are convenient, not because they cannot survive without them. I don't kill greenbriar as it rarely climbs the trees here. I leave multiflora alone for the most part also for habitat reasons. My practices are intended to improve timber and wildlife. These two objectives are not always compatible with each other. I tend to only go after listed invasives. Vines are nearly conquered. Now I'm into Privett and Ailanthus. I have found a small amount of olive recently, so I guess I will be fighting it soon as well.
I am supposed to manage for invasive species according to my Forestry Plan, and my forester's are forever getting after me for not doing so, or at least to their fulfillment. I will grub it out if I see it while out and about on my bulldozer or skidder, but I have too many other things to do to prioritize just doing that.
Vines can be a very different thing depending where you are. On my property in WNC the vines had gotten so thick due to the laziness of the previous owner that it was completely choking out the trees, understory and anything else in many sections. No air moved through the woods either, damp north facing cove, which kept everything covered in various molds and fungus. I'm fortunate enough to have a couple friends that have managed lands for the forestry and park services. When I run something on my property by them and they respond with, "Kill it!", that is what I do. However, if someone feels that their woods would benefit from being choked out by Oriental Bittersweet and Poison Ivy, I'll be happy to send them all they want. I think my neighbor down the branch has Japanese Bamboo and Kudzu if there is any interest in that as well.
It’s a scientific term that is pretty well universally accepted in ecological management.. Field Margins, Foraging Distances and Their Impacts on Nesting Pollinator Success
You should advise your foresters that they too are invasive species and that you will be working to manage them off of your woodlot...
I have to disagree with your thoughts on "foresters". The ones I have dealt with seemed genuinely interested in my woodlots, and any recommendations for managing my woodlots for growth and wildlife were appreciated. One other point these foresters were invited onto my property by me, they didn't just wonder in and start telling me what I should or shouldn't do with my property.
I have a great respect for foresters, we just disagree on a few priorities. They are writing a forestry plan for my farm, so there is a micro-lens so to speak. I only have 120 acres in fields, so I have a limited number of acres in margins, but I know how my neighbors manage their forests and fields and know there is ample habitat for wildlife. It takes a lot of work, and constant work to keep the margins cleaned back, so I understand why they do not, but a forester writing a forestry plan for my farm is not allowed to get the 30,000 foot view so to speak; they can only write what is best for my farm. Another point that one of my foresters is adamant about is getting logging slash cut low. She wants me to chop up my limbs and tops with a chainsaw. It looks nice, but I get the same thing but over time, but in a different way. After those limbs and tops have dried out, they are extremely brittle so driving over them with a bulldozer or skidder crushes them down. It takes a year, and is not an instant, clean look, but she is used to loggers making a harvest, and having it cleaned up after they are done. For me, harvesting never stops and so I have the luxury of time. I have a working forest, not a park, so I can wait for that brush to get brittle, crush down and then rot into soil. If I get back there and can mash it down with my skidder or bulldozer, I will, but in time it breaks down anyway. She is not wrong, and neither am I, she is just used to an instant look because most loggers work and area and move on, where as for me, my farm is always being logged. I would say this particular forester is the best in our state, but even she admits that I am hard to work with because I am a landowner/logger. I have a 18 acre stand that she had no recommendation for, and I was surprised as it was pretty thick, so when we looked it over she said, "I forget that you cut your own wood so its not worth the effort to come here and log it, but doing so for yourself changes everything." And really it is. Guys (and gals) I am a dying breed in Maine; landowners who cut their own woodlots just are a dying breed. As a side note: this is Maine so we have no vines for invasive species here. My invasive species are shrubs.
