New York Department Of Environmental Conservation
To enhance the softwood young forest habitat to support sensitive, forest-dependent species, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation contracted Davey Resource Group to plant 15,000 seedlings on approximately 16.2 acres of previously clear-cutted forest blocks.
Project Narrative:
Situated in the Happy Valley State Wildlife Management Area in Albion, New York, the project site began as the barren remains of a previously harvested stand of timber—slash-covered and unconducive to a thriving population of young fauna. The goal of the project, then, was to enhance the softwood young forest habitat to support those young, forest-dependent species, such as the snowshoe hare.
Building Back The Forest
To accomplish this, Davey Resource Group, Inc. (DRG) was contracted by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to plant 15,000 seedlings on approximately 16.2 acres of previously clear-cutted blocks.
DRG secured and planted the requested amounts of Pinus strobus (white pine), Picea abies (Norway spruce), Picea glauca (white spruce), and Abies balsamea (balsam fir). Using hand tools, the DRG team placed each tree at the desired spacing and planted them to the proper depth.
Additionally, the NYSDEC Nursery provided extra trees in their bundles to account for possible seedling mortality. To exceed expectations, DRG planted all the trees in each bundle, thus providing the client with a number of trees surpassing their requested total.