The Forest Management Plan - Develop a Master Plan

As you walk through your property and take inventory, sketch tree-covered areas, treeless areas, unique features like rock outcrops, streams, ponds, swamps, wet spots, stone fences, and colorful foliage, roads, trails, house, other structures, and yard. Be sure to walk your boundary lines, and if they are not evident, locate them and mark them.

Sketch out variations in your woods due to changes in elevation, proximity to water, differences in soil, and activities of previous landowners. These areas usually show up as distinct tree types, sizes, or tree groupings. For example, you might identify medium-sized broadleaf trees that are evenly spaced, a crowded patch of small conifers or a group of large conifers and broadleaf trees widely spaced. Label these "types" as shown in the USFS illustration.

Record tree conditions and clues to wildlife uses for each patch you identify. Look for full healthy foliage or discolored or shredded leaves, caterpillars on trees, dead branches in the tops of trees, odd growths on stems or branches, or dead trees. Clues to wildlife use could be a nest in a tree, a den, beaver pond, animal tracks, or dead tree with a large hole in the trunk.

Walking your property and reviewing your map and descriptions at different times of the year will help you identify seasonal features like wet spots, channels that carry water periodically, flowering plants, and colorful foliage.