Consulting Forester in PA WV OH and NY - Appalachian Forest Consultants is a full service forest management company offering the best timber sale services in PA
AFC Recent and On-going Projects
Follow along "in the field" as Appalachian Forest Consultants provides forest management services to forest owners near
you. Each picture or series of pictures represents a forest management strategy. If you have any questions about any of
these strategies, feel free to contact us at foresters or (814) six59-128zero. This project page is designed to provide a brief
but interesting look into the profession of forest management. Each of our client's forest owner objectives are different. Also,
there is great variety in the forest types of our clients. AFC's strategies must be sound, flexible and creative to be successful.
Small (patch) clearcuts are planned for a client's
forest this year. The harvest will release these nice
oak seedlings and establish wildlife food and cover.
Our pre-harvest estimates of seedling density is over
50,000 seedlings/acre!
Black Knot of Cherry can be a real problem to the
health of individual trees and the forest in general.
These black knot cankers shown here weaken the
trees - causing breakage and loss of value. A
sanitation harvest is planned for these cherry trees on
a client's forest. Additionally, we will be harvesting
other trees that are unhealthy or losing value.
Deer are a wonderful part of our Pennsylvania woods.
Many of our clients have a goal of increasing their
forest's capacity to feed and house deer. However,
when the deer population exceeds the ability of the
land to support them, great damage to seedlings and
forests can occur. Often, it is necessary to temporarily
decrease deer numbers in order for the forest to
recover from this damage. In this picture is a greatly
damaged beech seedling. Deer have been eating its
buds for many consecutive years. This client's forest
is very unhealthy due to a historically large deer
population. When the goal is to grow a new forest, we
often  find it necessary to utilize fencing (to temporarily
exclude deer) around a harvest area.
Managing for  healthy wildlife means managing
forests for healthy wildlife habitat. You can improve
wildlife and hunting by improving the way your forest
is managed. This buck, a 9 point, was 3.5 years old
and weighed over 215 pounds. The grinning face on
this 15 year old hunter testifies to the thrill of hunting
healthy animals - a product of a healthy forest. Learn
more about "Better Deer - Better Deer Hunting" at
www.qdma.com.  
Appalachian Forest Consultants, LLC
Projects
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of good oak regeneration. AFC specializes in forest management!
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of black cherry stand with black knot. Black Knot on Black Cherry can really degrade and devalue trees. Also, if left alone, the black knot will spread to more cherry trees.
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of severely browsed seedling. Deer are a wonderful asset to Pennsylvania's forests, but they can also cause extreme damage to the environment when their population levels are out of balance with their habitat.
Seed tree groups were left in this 2007 harvest. Seed
trees should be large, well-formed trees. We leave
them in groups to reduce wind damage. These seed
trees will be left for a period of 5 to 10 years while a
new forest is developing on this site.
We had an 8 foot high fence built around this 30 acre
harvest area in 2007. The fence will keep deer from
entering the harvest area while seedlings begin to
grow on the site. These protected seedlings will
become the new forest.
Logging machinery can cause long-term damage to
trees and the forest. Salvage cutting is planned for
this client - to remove trees that were damaged years
ago and salvage any value that remains. This type of
damage can be and should be eliminated from
harvest sites with proper planning and proper control
of skid trails and haul roads. We lay out our harvest
sites to minimize any forest damage.
This client's property is under attack! These soft, tan
blobs on this tree's bark are gypsy moth egg masses!
This forest was defoliated last year by gypsy moth
larvae. We helped organize a spray program this
spring to protect this forest from a second defoliation
and probable death.
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of seed trees in a regeneration harvest area. This harvest area was also fenced.
Apppalchian Forest Consultants picture of new deer fence project. Posts are in, but fence is not yet erected in this picture. The 8 foot fence will keep deer out of this new forest.
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of gypsy moth egg masses on oak tree.
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of tree with a rotten base. This damage was caused by past logging job where logging equipment was not controlled properly.
Appalachian Forest Consultants picture of bear scratched white oak. We share our woods with many a critter.
Our forests are home to other wildlife as well. This
white oak tree has been freshly scratched by a black
bear. Male bears will mark their territory like this. One
of our foresters had a close encounter with this bear,
just minutes after this tree was marked. Bears,
grouse, woodcock, turkey, rabbits, songbirds, turtles,
snakes, insects, and plants all share a home in the
forest. Our forest management services can meet all
of your ownership needs and objectives.
Appalachian Forest Consultant picture of 15 year old hunter who harvested 3.5 year old buck from a healthy forest in 2007. AFC provides forest management and wildlife management services.
Forestry education plays a major role in forest stewardship. Join a woodland association, like WOSA, today.
Mike Wolf presented "Wildlife Values of
Pre-Commercial Thinning" at the Woodland Owners
of the Southern Alleghenies (WOSA) 11th Annual
Landowner Conference on February 16th 2008. For
more information on WOSA, go to
www.orgsites.com/pa/wosa.
The Laurel Highlands Branch of the Quality Deer
Management Association (QDMA) held its 2nd Annual
Sportsmen's Banquet on March 29th at Ace's in
Johnstown (316 Chestnut Street). For more
information about QDMA, see www.qdma.com. For a
local QDMA contact, call Mike Wolf at 814-659-1280.
This property owner is very interested in Quality Deer
Management as well as managing his property for
timber and other wildlife. This spring, we are
constructing a 1 acre food plot on this 180 acre
forestland. We'll update this photo as the growing
season progresses.
Forest management in PA means different things to different people. Each forest landowner is unique and has unique goals. This forest is being managed for timber and wildlife. Wildlife foodplots can be an important food supplement for deer and turkey.
A Forest Stewardship Plan is a working document for
active forest landowners. Appalachian Forest
Consultants can create a forest management plan for
your property by collecting field data, mapping your
property and its individual forest stands, learning
about your forest goals and writing management
strategies for you and your property that will help you
achieve your goals. With the plan, you will receive a
10-year activity schedule to keep your management
efforts focused on your goals. Shown here is a
property map that documents individual management
units (stands) within a property.
This property map contains small management units within the property. Appalachian Forest Consultants recently completed a forest management plan for this 150 acre PA forest.
There are many advantages to spending a lot of time
in the woods, as foresters do. Seeing lots of wildlife
is just one benefit. This particular week, we saw 1
bear, many deer, a black racer snake, a porcupine
and this lazy raccoon. Can't see this from an office!
Good forest management can include creating opportunities for forest landowners to see an abundance of wildlife in and near their forest.
Foresters are interested in more than just timber and timber sales. We specialize in forest management and are concerned with recreation, wildlife, timber and water resources.