Forest Management: What Would You Do With 144-Acres of Forest Land?

THE SCENARIO:

Congratulations! You have inheriteda tract of forestland from your long-lost Aunt Shirley. Your property is 144 acres in size, is perfectly square in shape, and has the lovely Dragonfly Creek running through it. Along the banks of the river are beautiful hardwood trees. The rest of the property is covered in mature pine forest. Many wildlife species live in your forest. It is now up to you to decide what to do with your land.

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS:

You are responsible for coming up with a management plan for your property.

  1. The first thing that you need to do is to decide on what land uses you want to have on your property.
  1. Next, you need to decide on how many acres you want to dedicate for each land use. You may use your entire forest for one management activity or you may divide up the property and use it for multiple uses. It is entirely up to you.
  1. Once you decide upon your land usesand how many acres you want to use for each, color in the appropriate number of acres on the map using the appropriate key to designate where the activities will take place. Please use the colors listed below for each land use on your map.

LAND USE ACTIVITY OPTIONS:

TIMBER MANAGEMENTYou may practice timber management in your forest by harvesting some or all of the mature timber and then regenerating the forest using artificial regeneration(Clearcut System)or natural regeneration methods (Seedtree or Shelterwood System).

MAP COLOR: GREEN

WILDLIFE MANAGEMENTYou may manage your woods for game (deer, turkey, quail, dove)and use those acres for hunting. You may also manage for non-game species (birds, butterflies, etc.) of wildlife and enjoy them through activities like bird watching.

MAP COLOR: ORANGE

RECREATIONYou can use your woods for non-motorizedrecreational uses such as: camping, fishing, paint ball, etc. You may also use your woods for motorized recreation uses such as ATVs.

MAP COLOR: YELLOW

AGRICULTUREYou may convert your land from forest to agricultural land and grow row crops (cotton, corn, peanuts, vegetables, blueberries) or raise livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens).

MAP COLOR: BROWN

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTYou may want toconstruct residential developments on your propertyin the form of single homes or multiple homes.

MAP COLOR: PURPLE

RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTYou may want to constructlow-density housing developments, medium-density housing developments, or high-density housing developments.

MAP COLOR: RED

STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENTYou may want to have structural development on your property in the form of permanent, non-enclosed building structures (bridges, docks decks, or piers) or permanent, enclosed structures (barns, outbuildings garages, or shops).

MAP COLOR: BLACK

ROAD BUILDING:You may want to build some unpaved roads or pavedroads on your property for vehicle access. Currently, there are no roads on your property.

MAP COLOR: BLACK or BROWN

Names:

144-ACRE WOODS MANAGEMENT COST/REVENUE WORKSHEET

Now that you have made your land management decisions, let’s see how you did in terms of economics. Fill in the blanks on the worksheet below to see if your property management decisions are making you money or costing you money.

Management Activity Cost/Revenue Per Acre # of AcresTotal

  1. REVENUES

Timber Harvest(All Green, Brown, and Red)+ $1,200 per acreX=$+

Hunting Club Revenue(Orange- Game Only)+ $10 per acreX=$+

Bird Watching Revenues (Orange- Non-Game Only)+ $1per acreX= $+

Recreation Use Revenue(All Yellow)+ $10 per acreX=$+

Agriculture Revenue (All Brown)+ $50 per acreX=$+

Total Revenues =$+

  1. COSTS

Replanting Trees(Green- Artificial Regen. Only)- $200 per acreX=$ -

Land Conversion Costs (All Brown and Red)- $500 per acreX=$ -

Wildlife Management Activities(All Orange)- $5 per acreX= $ -

Recreation Construction Costs(All Yellow)- $300 per acreX=$-

**Trail Construction Costs(Unpaved Roads)- $20 per acre**X=$-

**Road Construction Costs(Paved Roads)- $200 per acre**X=$-

Taxes on Developed Land Uses (AllPurple, Red, Black)- $500 per acreX=$ -

Taxes on Conservation Land Uses (Green, Orange, Yellow, Brown)- $4 per acreX=$ -

**For every acre your road or trail passes through

Total Costs=$-

  1. TOTAL FOR PROPERTY

Total Revenues $+ (-)minusTotal Costs $+ = $ +/ -