LONDON – Lee Beers said he saw low-impact logging, lots of it, when living in Maine during graduate school.
He says it can work in Ohio, too.
“I was surprised at the lack of awareness about this practice in Ohio,” said Beers, who moved here in January to start his job as an educator with Ohio State University Extension in Trumbull County. “This is a common logging practice in New England, and it would have value with Ohio forests.”
Compared with full-scale logging, low-impact logging uses smaller and more specialized equipment, he said. The practice has several goals: less erosion and compaction of the soil, less damage to surrounding trees and land, and a smooth start toward healthy regeneration of the forest.
“Low-impact logging can be applied at any scale,” said Beers, whose expertise is in agriculture and natural resources. “But it’s better-suited for smaller woodlots as it’s not the most efficient method for removing large volumes of timber.”
Sept. 21 talk at Farm Science Review
He’ll shed light on the practice at the Sept. 20-22 Farm Science Review trade show, which is in London, about 25 miles west of Columbus. He’ll present “Low-Impact Logging: Is It Right for You?” from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Sept. 21 in the Review’s 67-acre Gwynne Conservation Area.
“If you have a smaller woodlot that you’re thinking about logging, this would be a nice introduction to the practice as an alternative to full-scale logging,” Beers said. “Anyone with an interest in forest health would find this talk useful.”
3 dozen other conservation talks too
Also useful should be some three dozen other talks set for the Gwynne area during the Review, all on natural-resource topics, from trees to bees to fish to wildlife. A complete schedule of the talks is at go.osu.edu/2016Gwynne.
All the Gwynne talks are free with admission to the Review, which is $7 in advance, $10 at the gate, and free for children 5 and younger. Free, continuously running wagon shuttles will run from the west end of the Review’s main grounds to the nearby Gwynne site.
In all, the Review will have more than 600 mostly agriculture-related exhibitors with more than 4,000 product lines. Organizers expect total attendance to top 110,000. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 20-21 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22. Details are at fsr.osu.edu.
Sponsoring the event is the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. Beers’ employer, OSU Extension, is the college’s statewide outreach arm.
