saintsman54

I know this is a little off topic from the original thread, but I'm involved with the UK Squirrel Accord who are supporting the Contraceptive Drug research, so i thought people may be interested to hear more. The idea is that making GS infertile rather than shooting/trapping, will be more effective at a landscape scale, compared to killing squirrels and their neighbours filling the population vacuum. The project is in year 3 of 5, currently they have got the feeder sorted so it will only deliver to GS and nothing else, they have also undertaken modelling to understand what density the feeders need to be deployed at to be efficient, finally they are still working on the actual drug, but have found 3 possibilities with 1 being especially good. Over the next two years they will be undertaking more trials of the drugs, then looking at field trails and registration of the drug. If you want any more info, check out the UKSA website - UK Squirrel Accord SQUIRRELACCORD.UK

You are right, Woburn have a population of Black Squirrels that are mutated Greys.

Any wiggle room in the spec? you could fence the area instead?

what about a log arch timber trailer? This guy has documented building one - Equipment – Matt Cremona WWW.MATTCREMONA.COM

Don't forget to look at the grant funding options Woodland creation grant: Countryside Stewardship - GOV.UK WWW.GOV.UK Capital grant for farmers and land managers to create woodland: find out about payment rates and the rules for the scheme.

Could you cleave it in to quarters? You would waste a few boards but it might be quicker

A SSSI designation can make it easier to receive some types of grant funding. For example, if you had an un-managed woodland with some rare species still holding on (and your plan was to initiate restoration), then it could be advantageous for it to be designated. Great thread TVI, keep it up ?

@lucan - what he said ?

Something at the National Memorial Arboretum maybe?

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My understanding is that winter coppicing is less stressful to the plant as you aren't removing the canopy mid growing season

@kav from Buryhook might be able to help http://www.buryhook.co.uk/ , based in Wheatley

any Hurley potential in the sticks?

As the Grey Squirrel is a non native invasive species, it is an offence to release a trapped squirrel! I am not sure if a feeder cage counts as a trap though... https://www.rsne.org.uk/squirrels-and-law

A few thoughts: - Good idea to retain the existing hardwoods as seed trees. - Are there many Deer/Rabbits/Hare about? - You could maybe think about planting at a quarter of the final required stocking density, with the expectation that natural regen will fill in the gaps. This will allow you to introduce specific species and from more southerly provenance to protect against climate change variations.

have a look on ESC (Ecological Site Classification), if you input location, soil moisture and a few other factors, it gives the suitability of various hard and softwood species. Its also possible to model how they would fare with climate change predictions. http://www.forestdss.org.uk/geoforestdss/

I bet it still has battery ?

Hi Big J, Sorry I don't think I made it clear in my previous post. The project area is 200 square miles (128000 acres), 25 years ago the woodland cover in the area was at 6% (7680 acres), since then we have increased that to 21% (26880 acres), so we have planted 19200 acres or 5180 hectares. Therefore the average planting density is 453 plants per acre or 1679 plants per hectare. Some areas are parkland, so there will be some a lot lower density and more commercially focused areas with a higher density.

I'm 27, and the project has been running for 25 years, so i hope i last long enough to see some mature woodland! I have only planted a handful, my role is the Woodland Management Officer, so i am more interested in cutting them down in first thinnings!

I work for the National Forest and we’ve transformed 200 square miles of the Midlands through the planting of 8.7 million trees, increasing Forest cover from 6% to more than 20%.

Yeah i use this one https://www.sorbus-intl.co.uk/haglof-factor-gauge but it is the same concept

No complaints at all?! or do you just mean about cold feet ?

If you end up doing the management plan yourself myForest from the Sylva Foundation (https://sylva.org.uk/myforest/home) is a good aid in the written and mapping process.

Same as any other types of woodland, as long as you have a felling licence if it is needed then that would be the only legislative restriction. I guess best practice would be to ensure that the works doesn't have any negative effect on ant features of the ancient woodland, for example, vehicles causing erosion to ancient wood-banks on the boundary of the wood, or fuel spills polluting the soils.

For the species choice, i would have a look at the FC's Ecological Site Classification program https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/forest-planning-and-management-services/ecological-site-classification-decision-support-system-esc-dss/ , It has recommendations based on soil and climate variables, but can also recommend suitability in 50 yrs time when climate change will have had a greater effect.