James Madison’s Montpelier

Behind the Trees and off the Beaten Path

It’s been just a few months since the Montpelier Demonstration Forest Trail opened. So, just what lurks behind all of those trees and winding trails? Anything?

One of the great things about a trail like this is it allows us to see very distinct types of plants and their growth patterns . For example, the field of sunny yellow Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), seeded in the summer of 2009, is now home to partridge pea, milkweed, Appalachian beard tongue, showy tick trefoil, wild bergamot, blazing star, and blue asters nestled among native grasses (big and little bluestem as well as indiangrass).

Photo by The Montpelier Foundation

The wildlife meadow is still in its infant stages, but it is already showing a lot of progress. Our staff has noted that it is quickly becoming a popular source of food and shelter for birds, insects, and other animals at Montpelier.

We will continue to post updates on the Demonstration Forest Trail’s progress. The next time you are here, be sure to take a walk on the trail. We guarantee you’ll never have the same walk or see the same things twice!

If you are interested in developing your own wildlife meadow, contact your local branch of the Natural Resources Conservation Service or your local Virginia extension service.

Can You Tell the Forest from the Trees?

The new Montpelier Demonstration Forest Trail is finally open and ready for visitors! As we mentioned in previous posts, the trail, is a one-mile loop that extends from the James Madison Landmark Forest. The trail has four sites that show the best ways to manage a healthy forest:

• Wildlife Meadow (an open space with lots of wildflowers and grasses)
Offers an abundance of food and shelter thanks to its vibrant wildflowers and grasses. It’s an ideal place for birds such as turkey and quail to look for food or hide from larger predators that live in the surrounding woods. Continue Reading…

Former U.S. Senator John Warner to Open New Trail

We have been talking about it for a year and it’s almost ready… Montpelier’s Demonstration Forest Trail will finally open on April 17! The Trail is an outdoor exhibit that shows the best ways to manage a healthy, sustainable forest through “demonstration sites” along the trail. The Montpelier Demonstration Forest Trail runs along a one-mile loops that extends from the James Madison Landmark Forest.

To celebrate, Montpelier will host a day of family fun with trail tours, an opening ceremony with Former U.S. Senator John Warner, reception, and barbeque dinner. The mansion and new Children’s Getaway will stay open until 7:00 p.m.

In addition to his career as a U.S. Senator, Warner also served as an assistant U.S. attorney, Undersecretary of the Navy, and Secretary of the Navy. He has also supported numerous conservation measures. The National Wildlife Federation named him its 2009 Conservationist of the Year.

Admission to Montpelier, the opening ceremony, and reception will be $16 for adults; $8 for children 6-14; $10 for Virginia Garden Club Tour Ticketholders with tickets; and free for Children 5 and under and Friends of Montpelier. The barbeque dinner will be $25 for adults and $10 for children 14 and under. For more information, please visit the Montpelier Web site.

We hope lots of old and new friends will join us for a great day of outdoor fun! Next week, we will post an insider’s view of the new forest, so stay tuned!

Building Bridges

The new demonstration trail is finally complete and we are eagerly anticipating its opening. The final step was to build a bridge to link the new trail to Poplar Run Loop, a portion of the existing nature trail.

First, the crew dug footers on either bank of the creek. Next the footers were filled with gravel and leveled.

We prepared six 20 foot-long oak boards from trees harvested on Montpelier. The crew drilled through the boards so that when in position, rods could be inserted to ensure the stability of the finished bridge.

Then, Erik Filep and Ed Furlow along with other dedicated foresters and Montpelier staff transported the boards more than a half-mile through the woods to the bridge site. The boards, each weighing close to 1000 pounds, were carried over one at a time. A log arch was used to reduce the impact to the ground and to ease the passage of the heavy beams.

Once at the site, five of the boards were set in place and rods were inserted through them. An extra board has been left at the site to be made into a bench in the near future. Railings were also constructed. The boards for the railings are from the same Montpelier oaks that were originally felled for the bridge.

With the completion of the bridge, efforts are now underway to produce signage and a brochure that will enhance the visitor experience to the demonstration trail. We eagerly await the official opening of this new trail on Arbor Day, April 30th.

Montpelier Blazes New Trail

Progress on Montpelier’s new Demonstration Trail is moving quickly. The trail was cleared over the summer. The staff is anxious to add the final touches to prepare the trail for a spring opening.

The new Demonstration Trail, a part of Montpelier’s Landmark Forest, will be a resource for forestry best practices. The trail will feature several demonstration sites that will show visitors how different aspects of a properly managed forest should look. Visitors will see an open meadow for a wildlife habitat, a pine forest, a recently timbered area ready for crop release management, an older forest site, and a tract that shows oak regeneration management. Continue Reading…

Trail Construction Begins at Montpelier’s Demonstration Forest

Montpelier staff with the assistance of the Virginia Department of Forestry, county extension officers, and other related organizations and interested individuals, is continuing progress of the new demonstration trail project.

On August 16th, Charlie Dundas, President of Tri-State Company, and his crew began construction of the previously marked trail that extends through the Landmark Forest.  A seemingly straightforward task is anything but that.  The trail construction starts with manually cutting all shrubs and trees from the intended trail.  Then all remaining stumps are either pushed over or pulled out with the use of a small excavator.   The newly exposed trail is scraped clear of debris before grinding takes place with a Gravely commercial tiller.  Once this process is completed, any newly exposed roots are snipped off and the upper bank is “back sloped”.  Back sloping helps to firm the sides of the trail and serves to curtail erosion, thus insuring the integrity of the trail for years to come.  Finally, the trail is dressed by manual raking.

It is expected that 400 feet of trail will be finished per day.  By the end of August 19th, the trail that extends through the Landmark Forest will be completely finished and the trail crew will be entering the wildlife meadow portion of the trail.  Their plan is to have this section completed before the weekend.  At that time, approximately half of the trail will be finished.  However, this first half is relatively easy, especially since much of it extends through the wildlife meadow site that has already been cleared of all trees and shrubs, graded and seeded.  Trail construction in the meadow will entail trail grinding, snipping off exposed roots and firming the banks.  Next Monday (August 24), work will commence through the crop tree release, thinning and oak regeneration sites of the demonstration forest.  Stay tuned for our continuing progress!

Timbering Complete at Demonstration Forest

We just recently completed the second of a new set of timber cuts here on the Montpelier property.  Working with Ches Goodall (our consulting forester) we contracted with the Jeff Dowell to cut a plot of hardwoods located on the ridge behind the Constitutional Center housing.  The Dowells completed their cut in the area of the Demonstration Forest above the Constitutional Center earlier this spring.  While they began the cut in the early winter of 2008, wet weather prevented them from returning to complete their work and remove the trees.  In the end, the Dowells hailed 566 tons of pulpwood  and 130,000 board feet of hardwood sawtimber out of the tract.

The Dowells set up a loading deck in a field behind the Schooling Barn in a location that archaeologists cleared of any sites.  It was from this site that all the trunks were hauled, the remaining limbs removed, cut to log length, and loaded on the truck.  Early on in the process, an access road was cut up to the top of the ridge where the timbering took place–most of which was located in older fields that had grown up between the 1910s through the 1950s.

One of the major operations was the creation of an upland meadow for wildlife diversity.  This 12-acre area was clearcut with a few large trees remaining in place for diversity.  This week the remaining stumps are being grubbed out and the area completely cleared in anticipation of seeding for grasses.  The area selected for an upland meadow was in an early stage of reforestation following abandonment of fields in the 1950s.  Prior to the cut, the area was dominated by greenbriar, spicebush, and was an impenetrable thicket.

Most other areas were selectively cut with choices for tree harvest being made by Ches Goodall.  Trees were selected for cutting based on crowding of prime trees, presence of disease or rot, and poor growth patterns (such as crooked trunks or lean) that would lead to early wind-throw of trees.

The next stage in the evolution of the demonstration forest is the construction of the trail that will lead visitors through the various sections of the interpretive stops.  We are also working on positioning an area for oak regeneration to avoid impacting a set of Civil War camps that were located by archaeologists in the Spring of 2008.  The trail will feature interpretive signs and a kiosk at the trail head to the Landmark Forest trail system.   This new trail will be linked with the Landmark Forest trails and will allow visitors access to the new trail system year round.

Welcome to the Forestry ‘blog

The essence of the forest management plan at Montpelier is using the timber stands as a sustainable and renewable resource such that the Montpelier Foundation can take equal advantage of the cultural, natural, and timber resources in promoting Madisons’ legacy to the public.  The promotion of Madison’s legacy is carried out through public interpretation and outreach.  In the case of the woodlots at Montpelier, the most effective means for this outreach is creating multiple-use areas that are accessible to the public.  The timber resources provide a monetary resource in this promotion and preservation.  To allow this cycle to be carried out in perpetuity, it is critical that these three resources (cultural, natural, and timber) are properly used in the present and preserved as a resource for the future.

This blog is meant to provide a window into how we are carrying out our timber management plan by documenting our timbering activities.  The first step in this blog will be to document our progress in creating a “demonstration forest”.   The Demonstration Forest is a wooded area containing interpretive trails and signs that will describe forest management options for different forest types including immature hardwood stands, overstocked poplar stands, deteriorating red oak stands, and old field sites overtaken by invasive species. The demonstration forest will be selectively harvested in October of 2008. Once the harvesting is completed, portions of the old field will be converted to a wildlife meadow and work on the trail will begin. By the Summer of 2009, we hope to complete the trail so it links this forest with the Landmark Forest trails, leading visitors through a series of forest types, with signs that describe the manner in which forests can be managed for multiple-uses. Our opening entry provides the practical framework for the stages in enacting the plan.

How we have found a balance between the natural, cultural, and timber resources is through assembling the Forestry Subcommittee that is composed of staff and outside advisors who have expertise in all three of these resource areas.  The Forestry Subcommittee reports to the Montpelier Foundation’s Property committee, who in turn reports to the Montpelier Foundation Board.  The Forestry Subcommittee has developed a staged approach for any of the timber cuts that are carried out.

Overarching guidance for these stages has been set out in our Forest Management Plan.  This plan describes the existing forests and organizes them into lots or “stands” for management.  When we first decided which areas to harvest, we excluded those areas where timbering was either not permitted (such as the Landmark Forest) or where the negative impacts would exceed the benefits (such as highly visible viewsheds, riparian zones or sites of historical significance).  Once these areas were eliminated from consideration, we focused on timber stands (pine and hardwood) that could be improved from a thinning.  These included stands whose growth has stagnated due to excessive crowding and competition; low grade stands that contain an overabundance of invasive species and diseased, defective and suppressed trees; stands that were severely damaged by the previous harvest operation 15-20 years ago; overmature stands that are beginning to disintegrate; and immature stands full of quality hardwood saplings that need to be released (because overstory trees are retarding their growth).   Though our silvicultural (”culture of trees”) methods for managing these stands will vary from site to site, the primary long-term emphasis will be to improve their overall quality by making them healthier and more productive, by promoting superior trees, and by encouraging the growth of native species that thrive on Montpelier soils.  To preserve the proper balance between forest and non-forest resources and our multiple-use objectives, all harvesting activity will be cognizant of the non-timber resources that share these woods and vigilant about preserving soil and streamwater quality.

Once timber lots have been selected for cutting, the second stage is to identify any archaeological sites present in these woodlots so they can be avoided.   Identification of archaeological sites is carried out through surveys using metal detectors and walk-over surveys.  The idea behind these surveys is to identify any near-surface sites that would be damaged by logging activities.  Since the woodlots at Montpelier have not been plowed since the early 19th century, surface remains from Civil War camps are still present and are at risk from timbering activities. Cutting and removal of timbers require large equipment that impacts the subtle surface features (hearth mounds, trash pits, etc) present at these sites.  The easiest method of preserving these sites, once identified, is either limited movement in these areas or avoidance.  Loading deck operations are placed in areas of previous disturbance thereby negating any need for more intensive surveys of deeper (non-surface) archaeological remains.  Key to preserving these sites during timbering operations is discussions between the archaeologist, forester, and timber operators.  This provides the basis for the Cultural Resource Management Plan.

With archaeological surveys complete, selection of timber area to be cut can proceed.  A second factor to be taken into consideration is how the woodlot will be utilized following the timber cut.  In the case of the demonstration forest above the Constitution Center, the decision was made to put in place an interpretive trail that highlights timber management practices (demonstration forest trail).  This guides how the cuts will take place and what degree of thinning and tree removal will occur.  Following the establishment of the cultural resource plan and the interpretive plan, timbering can take place.   Following timbering, any interpretive plans will be enacted to make the wood lot accessible to the public.

One important aspect of the timbering, is the income derived from this activity is used for funding both the archaeological surveys and part of the interpretive programs.  Other grants have been awarded for both of these activities (Ballyshannon Fund and American Battlefield Protection Program) and the two combined provide matches for each other.

Thus far, in creating the demonstration forest, we have already created our timber management plan, carried out surveys documenting the sites present in the woodlot, and are now at the stage of selecting trees to cut.  Future entries will document the selection of trees for cutting based on interpretive planning and preserving archaeological sites, the thinning process, the results of timber sales, and the establishment of trails through the area.  In addition, we will also provide updates on other areas of our forestry research and management.  As we make plans for other timber cuts and sales, these will be described in blog entries.