Clearing the forest

Here on our new (to us) home, about two acres are in woods on a steep hillside.

This area was covered in brush and fairly unusable except by passing deer. The underbrush was such that very little grazing grew. Clearing these acres, we knew, would be a long and laborious process, and it fell verrrry low on our priority list.

But last year we caught wind of a county project in which approved applicants would have the underbrush cleared out for them by contractors for purposes of fire mitigation. At first we were skeptical – it seemed too good to be true – but after careful research, we learned it was, in fact, legitimate. Sign us up!

Still, we had no idea what to expect as far as how the final result would look. Then, during our daily walk up a nearby road, we saw some acreage where this county program had taken place.

Here is an example of the tangled brush and scrub plum trees on this roadside property (these photos were taken in March, so still snow on the ground):

With brush this thick, you can understand the concerns of the fire personnel. Now here's what the property looked like after clearing it:

We were impressed by how open and park-like the result was. The goal, we were told by the county, is to clear away "ladder" brush – things that could catch fire and send the flames into trees via the "ladder" of burning brush.

Applying for this program was a slow process, though the county official was very nice and helpful. Last March, she called and told us the contractors would be arriving the next day to view our property and make bids.

Sure enough, early the next morning, our lower driveway was full of vehicles.

After everyone left, Don and I took some flagging tape and a couple of Sharpies, and went through the property to flag anything we did NOT want cut.

However it wasn't until late May when we got word the contractors would be arriving. I took a few "before" photos.

Aside from the predictable array of chainsaws and other tools, the contractors were armed with some impressive and intimidating equipment designed to chew up anything and everything in its path.

Logs, brush, debris ... anything on the ground was ground up and spat out to make, essentially, mulch.

These men were working hard and working fast, so we stayed out of their way as much as possible. But when we peeked our heads in and took a look, we were impressed!

Not only did they remove the underbrush, but they also trimmed tree branches to a height of eight feet from the ground.

I happened to see this one displaced and very frightened robin. Doubtless she lost her nest, something I was very sorry to see.

The contractors also worked on some trees and brush along the road.

It was easier to see what they were doing during this process. They removed wild rose bushes, blackberry canes, and trimmed all the tree branches to eight feet.

Everything was fed into a chipper.

The result was a very clean area along the road.

They even chewed up the pile of black hawthorn brush from where I spent days trimming out the grove a few months ago.

As a final flourish, after the contractors had completely cleaned up, they even used a leaf blower to clean the road so neighbors would not be inconvenienced by any remaining debris.

"Wow, they're a full-service organization," I exclaimed when I saw this.

"Do you suppose they'll leave a mint on the pillow?" Don inquired.

We couldn't be more pleased with the result of this activity. Clearing out that brush opened up that section of property. We can seed it with grass and our future cows will be able to use it for shade.

And – not incidentally – it's safer for fire conditions. Win win.