Woodland Custodianship

[Laurentius]

Great thread! Maybe should be a sticky as i've learned useful stuff already, and so early on in these discussions. I aspire but not in a position to aquire or assist much just yet.

There's a small piece of public land near me that developers are trying to buy so we needed to occupy it whilst it all goes throught the courts as the council keep trying to get control of it. We (i say we, but i didn't actually help build the loos, i just occupy on occassion as to the rota) built two huts with a separating drain and handfuls of sawdust... Is it necessary to burn the paper? I thought it was biodegradable, much like the sawdust?

That is the way to go, the land I occupy is owned by the Council, but they don't have any control over it, they are not even sure of the boundaries unfortunatly for me it is too small an area to get anything for free from the Woodland trust as you need a minimum of half a hectare, and my small area does not amount to an acre.

 

[Laurentius]

After long discussions with solicitors and insurers it appears that insurance very much depends on the use of the wood. If it is in any way a commercial enterprise (i.e. a business) you will need insurance as for any business that covers people that work in there under your instruction (employees) even if they are temporary (employees liability insurance). If you get self-employed in, make sure they are insured because checking is your responsibility. If there is a public right of way you (theoretically) must have public liability insurance (and must ensure it is safe for people to use). However, as has been said above, we apparently owe a duty of care to trespassers as well so insurance is advisable even if there is no public right of way.

However, having said all that (and it's not clear by any means), most people seem to ignore it

Please be aware that this is my interpretation of what I have been told.

I am chairman of our allotment association for my sins, and until fairly recently insurance was never an issue or anything to worry about but now, driven both by the insurance industry and the litigious culture we live in we are advised by the National Allotment Society to take out ever more costly insurance. Nobody in the life time of the association has ever made a claim for injury and I am sure that many have had accidents of one kind or another, but the danger is that if one person ever did that and we were not insured that would not only mean curtains for the allotment but individual liability for committee members, therefore we err on the side of caution. Crazy though it is we have to insure against trespassers being injured!

 

[Chalkflint]

Just been making a winter to do list:-
Finish off fencing the frontage.
Tree Bog.
Do some brash fencing inside the wood to separate the old quarry from the footpath.
Maintain the footpaths and make them more obvious.
Make a few tracks into the denser parts of the wood.

Things to think about (any advice is very welcome).
General long term plan.
What to do with area under the power lines.
Develop existing ride so it can be used by a vehicle. Choice is either proper hard track for two wheel drive or simpler track and buy a four wheel drive.

Chalkflint

 

[slowworm]

Things to think about (any advice is very welcome).
General long term plan.
What to do with area under the power lines.

What's the problem with the area under the lines? I have some lines crossing my woodland and the local power company cleared the area under them with my consent. It just looks like a coppice really, I may make it a bit more of a clearing or just leave it for them to cut back again when the growth gets too high.

 

[Chalkflint]

Slowworm
Sorry did not explain properly.
The area under the lines has no trees. Coincidently the power company were in last week trimming the trees back either side.
Its more how the land underneath might be utilised. I thought about clearing the brambles etc and growing something but the power company seem to bring in machinery to cut back the trees so what ever I plant the majority might get flattened. I just wondered what others did.
Chalkflint

 

[Broch]

It may depend on the voltage but they can't just cut everything down. There are quite clear definitions of what must be cut (I only know about low voltage 415v) such as no growth within 2m of the line etc. I looked up the regulations on the website some time ago. You can also elect to clear it yourself if you'd rather. So, coppiced hazel is possible or, depending on the woodland, willow etc.

 

[Chalkflint]

Mine is 110KV with twin telegraph poles so height to cables is about 15m. The power company cut the conifer branches back to at least 3m clearance either side. They were very careful but as they had to bring in four wheel drives and it was only vegetation under the lines they were probably not too worried about trampling stuff which would soon recover.
Its not an issue to just leave it as it is as its a lovely view down the valley. I am just looking at all suggestions.
Chalkflint

 

[Broch]

Just been making a winter to do list:-
Finish off fencing the frontage.
Tree Bog.
Do some brash fencing inside the wood to separate the old quarry from the footpath.
Maintain the footpaths and make them more obvious.
Make a few tracks into the denser parts of the wood.

Things to think about (any advice is very welcome).
General long term plan.
What to do with area under the power lines.
Develop existing ride so it can be used by a vehicle. Choice is either proper hard track for two wheel drive or simpler track and buy a four wheel drive.

Chalkflint

My original management plan has slipped a little but we have made progress.

We've made a good start on the bio-diversity survey but it's going to be an ongoing process rather than a 'blitz' and the long term plan requires us to know what's there before we do too much. I've built a tree bog and put in a permanent camp area so there's only one place for a fire etc. I've cleared the overgrown rides and made the canopy above them safe(ish). The rides are only 4x4 friendly anyway as they're slopping but to get in and out all year round I've bought a second hand side-by-side ATV (the type gamekeepers use).

The main priority at the moment is to get the thirty odd sheep out and the fencing done to keep them out. I'm not even sure the fence that needs doing is my responsibility (it's over 200m long and on a steep incline) but if I wait for the farmer to do it I don't think it will ever get done. The sheep have completely removed all this year's coppiced hazel growth and I want them excluded long before next year's bluebells. I can't really get on with anything else until that's done.

I know we're all widely dispersed but if anyone is passing this way and wants a 'tour' just let me know

 

[BJJJ]

My original management plan has slipped a little but we have made progress.

We've made a good start on the bio-diversity survey but it's going to be an ongoing process rather than a 'blitz' and the long term plan requires us to know what's there before we do too much. I've built a tree bog and put in a permanent camp area so there's only one place for a fire etc. I've cleared the overgrown rides and made the canopy above them safe(ish). The rides are only 4x4 friendly anyway as they're slopping but to get in and out all year round I've bought a second hand side-by-side ATV (the type gamekeepers use).

The main priority at the moment is to get the thirty odd sheep out and the fencing done to keep them out. I'm not even sure the fence that needs doing is my responsibility (it's over 200m long and on a steep incline) but if I wait for the farmer to do it I don't think it will ever get done. The sheep have completely removed all this year's coppiced hazel growth and I want them excluded long before next year's bluebells. I can't really get on with anything else until that's done.

I know we're all widely dispersed but if anyone is passing this way and wants a 'tour' just let me know

I might well take you up on the tour offer and it is always good to put a face to a name

 

[Laurentius]

I have to go back a few years when my mum, my brother and I were looking at woodlands to purchase around the country. We identified one in Scotland we were interested in. We passed it by but a year or so later we discovered (because I had a go at it) that somebody was running 4WD courses there. Well I felt a bit conflicted because if we had purchased the land we would have evicted them.

 

[Chalkflint]

Broch
I am heeding your earlier advice of not rushing into things. Every time I go there it seems different.
Last year a local conversation charity provided an expert (FOC) to come and advise on managing the wood.
We walked around the wood for about 2 hours and he pointed out things and produced a report giving me advice and ideas of what I could do.
The wood is Semi Natural Ancient Woodland and the country estate I bought it off have managed it for hundreds of years. Its mainly Beech with a small mixture of other native trees.
I would like to increase the bio diversity to try and increase more wildlife but I am also very cautious that being ancient woodland it has unique flora. Its amazing how much variety there is already when you start looking closely. My wife photographs every different fungus she sees. I think we are up to 10 different sorts already
I have a long road frontage and I am looking at possibility of hedging it. This would also act as a wildlife corridor connecting the ancient woodland with the newer conifer plantation.
I must sort out a few pictures to post
Chalkflint

 

[Broch]

Exciting isn't it? - in a slow ponderous sort of way

My wife and I have been on a couple of courses (me fungi identification and her woodland plants) and what I have really learnt is the subjects are huge!

I have one smaller piece of woodland I have owned for 24 years that I have experimented with (some would say neglected). It had been grazed by sheep for a very long time - maybe a hundred years or more. It had no understory at all and all the trees were the same age but it did include some large areas of primrose and wood anemone. It was bordered on two sides by grazed rough grass. The first thing I did was exclude the sheep. Then I planted trees each side on the grass to blend the environments a little. Since then, other than some gentle management it's been left. The result after 24 years is strong growth of understory, hazel, holly, young trees etc. Plenty of self-seeded cherry, birch, ash and oak. We now get small areas of bluebell that were missing before. But... no primroses!!

My point being that, although I have increased the habitat range, I may not have increased the biodiversity.

However, both the small wood and the new wood (we've had for just over a year) are rich in fungi, ferns, mosses and liverworts as well as an unfathomable number of invertebrate species that I have no chance of recording in my lifetime - who knows what I would be destroying if I 'opened the canopy'. So, my plan is to identify the major habitat areas, leave alone what cannot be improved and gently manage any improvement elsewhere. By recording change I remain accountable

It's probably important to point out that my plan for the woods is entirely for conservation albeit I'll be taking some windfall fuel and craft materials out of it. If the plan was for a resource-productive wood my priorities would be slightly different.

 

[Broch]

I might well take you up on the tour offer and it is always good to put a face to a name

You're very welcome. To give you a better idea of distance we're 15 miles South-West of Oswestry. PM me; if the weather's good you could even camp out

 

[slowworm]

How much deer damage does everyone suffer? I also have had the odd intrusion of sheep and indeed the odd cow, but they've not done as much damage as deer. Strangely even though we can get a large number of red deer in winter it's the one or two roe that do the most damage nibbling out the tops of trees.

Basically, even though we only have a few deer most low new tree growth needs to be protected for it to survive.

 

[Broch]

Maybe I'm lucky with the sheep then; there are no deer around here. There have been reports of Muntjac the other side of the valley but I've not heard them barking so I suspect they're not there. I had an article on small woodland deer control recently; I'll try and find it.

 

[slowworm]

Control isn't really a problem for me although I'm not sure the numbers of roe in the area warrant culling. What puzzles me is that such a small number of roe in my woodland and my small holding seem to do so much damage. I've even had them a few feet away from the house nibbling my veg patch.

I've certainly heard people say deer will avoid sheep, and I don't recall seeing sheep and deer in the same field.

 

[Broch]

I've certainly heard people say deer will avoid sheep, and I don't recall seeing sheep and deer in the same field.

I read an article based on a study in Scotland that said Red Deer and Sheep would graze together but only where the right mix of food overlapped (something to do with the heather/grass mix I think). So it appears to be more to do with subtle differences in preferred food. But, I agree, I have witnessed deer in a specific field on many occasions but as soon as the farmer puts his sheep in to graze the deer are gone!

 

[BJJJ]

You're very welcome. To give you a better idea of distance we're 15 miles South-West of Oswestry. PM me; if the weather's good you could even camp out

Will do, Not to far for me, I am in North Shropshire.

 

[Chalkflint]

Deer and rabbits seem to be the main pests for me.
My wood forms part of a large expanse of woodlands so they can move freely.
I often spot new growth that has been eaten. The local gamekeepers keep the numbers in check so its not too bad.
I am not planning on doing any major planting yet but I might have to fence off the odd small area.
Chalkflint

 

[Tony Morel]

Do any of you leave a first aid kit in the wood?
At the moment I don’t have vehicle access so everything has to be carried in and out.

I’m assuming that even if we double bagged it in a drybag then plasters etc would lose their stickiness but what about bandages etc. Is it still worth keeping something stored there ?