FORESTRY management

To make sure that we were managing the beautiful woods we're committed to preserving the Omena Woods Association, in 2004, contracted with Forester Rick Moore to provide us with a natural resource management plan to make sure we were properly managing our 110 acres of beautiful woods.

In this report Moore looked at four key issues for any woodlot - forest health, diversity for wildlife, recreation and timber production.  By working with a professional forester we were able to have the property assessed and a management direction set to make Omena Woods even more beautiful and serene place to be.

Moore divided the Omena Woods property into seven management units.  You'll find a link to his full report on this page but here's a brief summary of the different areas he identified and the management objective for each one:

  1. An abandoned gravel pit which needed site restoration to a more natural environment through the planting of native grasses, shrubs and trees.

  2. An upland field with a variety of tree species on the property.  This area, which covers 20.5 acres, is to be managed for wildlife habitat, recreation and diversity.

  3. An area of aspen and oak with some sugar and red maple, hemlock, white pinie, white ash and choke cherry.  Also several understory tree species are growing here including balsam fir, maple leaf viburnum and dogwood.  The plan for this unit focuses on forest health and diversity.

  4. An area of dense aspen, both saplings and pole timber with some white pine, white ash, choke cherry and sugar maple this area needs to be managed for aesthetics -- it's at a road intersection and for erosion control on the steep site.   A good site for wildlife habitat, especially ruffed grouse.

  5. This area is filled with lowland conifers with hemlock dominating.  Since the site is along the road the aesthetics of the area are a primary concern.   Identified as a unique site because of the hemlocks which are disappearing in some parts of Michigan.

  6. Fifty-eight acres comprise this section of the forestry management plan.  It's an area full of northern hardwood trees including white ash, aspen, basswood, beech, black cherry, sugar maple, ironwood, red oak, hemlock and white pine. 

  7. A stand of aspen and mixed hardwood on a steep slope along the west side of Omena Point Road.  Trillium and other wildflowers also grow here.  

Click on this link to read the initial correspondence from forester Rick Moore.   To read his full report click here.  For a summary of the Forestry Management Plan with comments from the OWA Board Meeting in August 2007 follow this link.

Updated Forestry Management Plan for 2020 available here.