Went for a walk in one of my Favourite local woods and had a bit of a shock.

[woodsman]

Decided to take the dogs for walk this morning in one of my favourite woods. Haven't been there for a while.
Walking a long a green lane I found these ...

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which was nice , but then when I got to the wood , this what I found !!!

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Very Sad .

[woodsman]

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[jus_young]

The wheels of commerce continue to roll. They have re-laid the logging tracks through the woodland we use for our Scouts so it won't be long before that is in a similar condition.

[Silverback]

cleared ready for a wind turbine ? Like the Clocaenog

[rossbird]

Very similar to one of my local woods:mad2:
Apparently another one is soon to go.
Think someone should remind them, we are the Forest of Rossendale:please:

[Stamp]

There is nothing sad about the felling of non-native spruce, they are a crop which needs to be felled or they will fall over due to their age.

The trend currently is to replant with native broad leaf, or it could be replanted with more spruce. It's a cycle which needs to happen, I know it looks destructive but its not different to a farmers field.

[jus_young]

Everything will be replanted with spruce no doubt. It is not the felling I object to as that is the reason it was planted in the first place, it's just that the Scout Group now have nowhere else to go. More work now trying to find a new woodland home.

[Silverback]

The trend currently is to replant .

......with wind turbines or it is in Steves part of the UK

[rossbird]

There is nothing sad about the felling of non-native spruce, they are a crop which needs to be felled or they will fall over due to their age.

The trend currently is to replant with native broad leaf, or it could be replanted with more spruce. It's a cycle which needs to happen, I know it looks destructive but its not different to a farmers field.
I am happy for non native species to be replaced with broad leaf species, although I would prefer locally grown as apposed to saplings reared on the continent.
However my main gripe is, the amount of felling being done locally at one time.
We will lose several locally rare species of breeding birds in one fell swoop. Not ideal for the bio diversity of the area.

[MadZ]

rough man, never like to see a wood butchered native or not, at least you have a nice supply of wood to craft yourself some garden furniture, that would make you a nice three seater patio sofa, two nice arm chairs and a table, pretty much all you would need is an auger with brace and a saw, oh and not forgetting a large mallet, that also could be made from the fallen tree's

get on it mate, make it live on in some thing you can use and enjoy, i take wood from places that the council go cutting all the time normally because i dont like seeing it go through the chipper plus its free, never been questioned to as why i am taking wood.

cheers

Madz

[woodsman]

It's a private wood Madz. There is a public and permissive path through it, so everyone used to wander all over, but I don't think the owner would tolerate people nicking the wood.

And anyway, the size of them poles, would never fit them in the back of the van ! ;)

[MadZ]

ah i see, might be worth looking if they leave anything when they pull all the machines out, some logs may be left over due to not being of a good quality for what they wanted etc, if you know who owns it could be worth contacting them to see if they need a hand replanting it, could open up some doors that may be of interest, just a thought

[woodsman]

ah i see, might be worth looking if they leave anything when they pull all the machines out, some logs may be left over due to not being of a good quality for what they wanted etc, if you know who owns it could be worth contacting them to see if they need a hand replanting it, could open up some doors that may be of interest, just a thought

Way ahead of ya on the leaving behind front , they're leaving the what little broadleaf they have, so I might stash a few out of the way. As far as the replanting goes, it's a fairly big site, so I would assume the owner would get someone in to do the replanting. To be honest, it's too close to my own bit of wood to be of any use. I just liked walking through there because it was something different. Most of the woodland in walking distance is broadleaf around here. Like most of wales, there are smallish pockets of broadleaf and huge great pine forests. This one was out of character for the local vicinity so was a bit of novelty.

[BJ]

My mind tells me it's a harvested area all ready for re-planting, but my heart tells me it's a massacre. I guess I need to reorganise my thinking a bit :)

[woodsman]

My mind tells me it's a harvested area all ready for re-planting, but my heart tells me it's a massacre. I guess I need to reorganise my thinking a bit :)

You and me both Bill. I hate to see it go , even though it's a cycle. Hopefully they'll replant broadleaf instead, but somehow I doubt it !

[Stamp]

Having studied forestry I can understand the felling people have when they see the trees cleared, it changes the landscape and looks terrible! But in many cases there was a lot of resistance to the trees being planted 70-80 years ago which most of us will not remember. But there is a solution to this problem, its called CCF (Continuous Cover Forestry) which would be my preference. It involves thinning the trees in groups or removing rows, then you allow the natural regeneration of the trees from seed in the ground. In forestry terms this is a new way of thinking and most firms will prefer clear felling. The FC is doing extensive research into CCF and it will become more popular in the future so keep a look out in these plantations.

[FishyFolk]

I am happy for non native species to be replaced with broad leaf species, although I would prefer locally grown as apposed to saplings reared on the continent.
However my main gripe is, the amount of felling being done locally at one time.
We will lose several locally rare species of breeding birds in one fell swoop. Not ideal for the bio diversity of the area.

When it comes to bio-diversity of species, you are fare better off without the spruce. A spruce woodland is like a dessert. It kills the ground, and nothing else will grow. Specially in these tree plantations.

[Stamp]

Yeah, a mono culture is the worst thing for biodiversity. And in my opinion it cultivates disease, destroys habitat and it doesn't even make a lot of money.

[woodsman]

I agree mono-cultures are a bad thing, but I think some trees are better than no trees at all !

[FishyFolk]

let me illustrate. Here I am in a copse of planted spruce, walking into a natural forest.

http://youtu.be/uK2B8lxZUKU?t=22m38s