Shawnee TSI and Tree Planting
Oakwood Bottoms |
In February of 2009 Long Forestry was
awarded a federal contract to perform a 300
acre TSI
and to plant 9,000 trees on 370 acres in
Oakwood Bottoms, along the levee of the Big
Muddy River. Our task was create
openings in the forest with chainsaws to
allow light to reach the forest floor and to
plant the trees in th e
openings. We planted 3,900
containerized pin oak and swamp white oak
trees, followed by 5,000 bare root seedlings
of Bald Cypress, Pin Oak, Bur Oak and
Overcup Oak.
To the right is a
picture of Oakwood Bottoms in early Spring,
before the mosquitoes thrive and the poison
ivy blooms.
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These containerized trees sit behind the
forest service building waiting to be
planted. Everyday we watched this pile
of trees slowly shrink as we planted them.
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Mike carries some trees into the woods
to be planted. It was a logistical
challenge to move and position these larger
trees.
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Keeping
the root systems wet, these bare root Bur
Oaks wait to be planted. If the root
systems would dry out these trees may not
survive the planting. |
Long
Forestry employee Kory Garrie pulls a tree
from his tree bag to plant a cleared unit in
the Oakwood Bottoms project. You can
see the trees on the ground, mostly maple,
elm, and ash. The removal of these
trees creates an opening in the forest
canopy, allowing sunlight to nourish the
newly planted oak trees. |
We
used dibble bars on this project because of
the high probability of hitting a root.
the dibble bars do not require swinging,
making it the safer and correct tool to use
on this job. |
Nearly 4,000 containers await transport
to Anna Nursery for re-use. |
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During these tough economic times our
project in Oakwoods Bottoms was given media
attention in the Southern Illinoisan and
WSIU News. The stories focused on job
creation, and discussed management in the Shawnee.
We have placed a
link to the Southern Illinoisan website and
created PDF documents of the story.
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Documents/SouthernIllinoisanArticle.pdf
Documents/SouthernIllinoisanPicture.pdf
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Click on the link below to read the Southern
Illinoisan story on their website.
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2009/03/28/business/28811028.txt |
