Dead Snag Mgmt 101

A couple of weeks back I fell a tree on The Ranch. It was a great standing dead snag but it was hidden amongst living pines. Woodpeckers and Nuthatches weren’t finding it as the living pines were so dense surrounding it. We manage our pines on The Ranch, first for fire prevention then for habitat. I wanted the top third of the tree (great standing dead lumber) for some shop projects and the bottom third for dead snag management (an actual college forestry discipline). I bucked a bit of the wood for the fire pit and with that, the dead snag was ready to go. The truck yanked it up the hill to were we wanted to “plant” it but there was no way Sharon & I were going to be able to stand it up in place. That’s where having a great neighbor with the best toys tools makes the task real easy. Shawn was over in a snap and with the ease used his Bobcat to push the dead snag into place. It was no sooner in place then the birds started to find the new perch. Now for the woodpeckers / nuthatches to find it. We have planted three dead snags now, the previous two are homes to nesting nutchatchs this season. So we’re excited to see what comes of our new offering. The goal is the Pileated, having a youngster from last years nearby nest busily checking out our forest this year. With the help of a great neighbor, we’re putting into practice what I learned in dead snag mgmt 101.