Organic Ranching

Potential Techniques for Carbon Management:

• Planting trees in areas that are marginal agriculture lands or other sites where trees are not currently growing.
• Change from an even age stand to an uneven age stand with selective active management.
• Design planting and harvest rotations for sustainable yield - ecological and social timber management in addition to economic component
• Production of certified wood - decide which certification system (FSC or SFI) meets the land-owners needs
• Thinning based on total wood load - setting a commercial thinning harvest based on maximizing trees in the proper size range. Calculate the minimum profitable volume and thin when removing that percentage of trees is appropriate. 24" - 30" how much wood needed to pay costs?
• Slash left on ground evenly - No burn piles, trim to get clear wood
• Grazing grass management - Run grazing cattle - mules, horses, etc. This will provide exposed shoots for attracting wildlife. This will also reduce fire danger.
• Leave hardwood standing for carbon rather than harvesting as firewood and clearing pastureland. Assess the value as shade tree, and as potential habitat.
• Build homes for birds and bats to protect trees from disease and pests.
• Reforest additional adjacent land after clearcut harvests.
• Choose to manage a mixed wood stand, staggering age and species while looking at growth rates and shade. Seed ponds with shrimp, frogs, and fish - develop a pond biosphere program. Manage the ponds for algae, water lily or cattail production, for use as soil additive and livestock feed.
• Design proper roadways for tree plantations to allow harvest and fire suppression without excessive compaction or other damage. Take advantage of the proper lay of the land.
• Harvest to simulate natural fire damage rather than standard box clearcut
• Run soil analysis and fertilize to meet nutrient demand. Include micronutrients when considering fertilizer, not just NPK
• Consider a plan for erosion control - design systems to build up and hold soil organic carbon.