A Landowner's Guide to Managing Your Woods: How to Maintain a Small Acreage for Long-Term Health, Biodiversity, and High-Quality Timber Production

by Anne Larkin Hansen

Whether you have a few acres of trees in the suburbs or a small commercial forest, you can encourage a healthy and sustainable ecosystem through proper woodland management. This introductory guide shows you how to identify the type, health, and quality of your trees and suggests strategies for keeping your woodland thriving.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Reference, Agriculture, Gardening

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Mark Gowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I recently bought a property with app. 25 acres of wooded land. This book is being reviewed that that being the primary thought in mind.

Managing your Woods is a good, basic book on some of the necessities involved if one desires to "manage" nature to the extent that it is possible to do so. This book does offer the new landowners insights into possible avenues depending on those goals. But it seems to come from a perspective that land must be managed. Of course, the title assumes management to be the goal.

The management skills are varied depending on the goals that are strived for. One of the more helpful aspects of the book is the time frame in which certain wood should and should not be cut for various reasons. As a new landowner I found the book to be extremely helpful in that it included many tips and tricks probably known to more seasoned owners of property. On the other hand, I think the book was a bit heavy-handed on the lumberjack perspective.

I would recommend the book to new landowners and naturalists interested in knowing more about the nature around them but with the caveat that it is important to remember that nature cannot really be managed at all.

[Dave Hoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for this Woodland owner who has been involved with his tree farm for 78 yrs of his 87 years. It is a Must Read book for anyone who has recently purchased Woodland, or intends to, or a Want-to-Be woodland owner. Written by a Forester who has managed, in some form, our Tree Farm for 45 years, a Logger who is highly respected and a very knowledgeable Woodland Owner.

[Geoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice introductory book on how to manage your property for tree farming. While I do not have anywhere near the acreage, nor the aspirations to raise trees for farming, I still found this book beneficial for general information on individual tree and forest health. I also very much enjoyed all the profiles (1 to 2 per chapter) of how selected individuals have chosen to care for their forests. I found those profiles very informative. While it appears that the forestry service is making some environmental progress in recent years, after reading this book however, I got the general impression that if the only tool in your chest is a saw, then the only questions left then is when and how much to cut. If you are looking to care for your trees using any other tools other than a saw, you'll need to look elsewhere.

[Michael LeClair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great read and an excellent primer for when I finally do realize my dream having my own woodlands to manage. If that never happens, at least I can make an informed assessment of other's woodlot management practices.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introductory overview for the uninitiated.

[Will G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hot sexy woods action.

[Cory McArtor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good if you have an interest in this sort of thing. For everyone else, it would probably be boring.

[Victoria Mall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very general overview. This is definitely written for someone who plans to hire a forester or logger.

[oreveth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't own land. I read this book as a guide to being able to read the woods as a whole text, so to speak. "A Landowner's Guide" teaches you how to evaluate the health of a wooded area and how to look for interactions between the things growing there, and further, begin to evaluate those interactions and their impact.

The book gives you an eye for seeing present information as history; with trees, the "now" can reveal interesting growing conditions in the past. It also speaks frankly and freshly about what constitutes health for a wooded area and why. This was important for me because quite often what is good for a forest is not aesthetically pleasing to humans, and/or is usually depicted as frightening or bad in media.

I recommend this book for anyone who would like to develop a feel for what's going on in the woods, beyond the health or characteristics of individual trees.

[Joe Drogos · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's important to note that this is an introductory guide, useful for someone new to forestry management. Explains basic principals and walks you through all the stages of planning and maintaining a healthy forest designed for harvest. Good first book, but-- as the authors repeatedly point out-- filling in the gaps requires a lot of local knowledge via area guides, neighborhood chit-chat, conversations with local loggers, conservation groups, extension services, etc. It's an inspiring place to start.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty great manual on sustainable forest management, with an emphasis on harvesting lumber in such a way as to promote a healthy ecosystem.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it the first time on 12/18/13. Still good.