5-Acre Plainfield Sand Forest Management Demonstration Area 1999 to 2024

By Bruce Wakeland

The most common soil types in Starke County Indiana are Plainfield Sand and Brems Sand. Together they make up 28% of Starke County and include 56,264 acres. These deep yellow brown sand soils were formed by rushing water flowing away from melting glaciers and are also known as outwash sands. They are also common in surrounding counties including, Pulaski, Jasper, Newton, and LaPorte. These soils are not the most productive for row crops, so many acres were not cleared and farmed, and were instead left as woodlands. Starke county is the most forested county in northern Indiana being 14% forested totaling over 28,000 acres of woods. The main species is black oak which often produce low quality pallet grade timber because of a history of fires, livestock grazing, over stocking and high-grade harvesting. Because black oak on Plainfield sand makes up our most common local forest type, our RC&D forestry committee, in 1999, establish a 5-acre area of woodland on Plainfield and Brems Sand soils as a study and demonstration area. We wanted to know more about how to best manage these sites for timber production, and what the dollar value of that production would be.

I bought my home property in 1973 which included a 13-acre woods where the 5-acre demonstration plot is located. The woods was put into Classified Forest in 1974 and later became part of the 129 acres I donated to Starke County to create the Starke County Forest in 2011. In 1973 about 2 acres on the west side of the woods had older mature black oak, but the remainder of the 13 acres had been clear cut harvested just prior to World War II. By 1973 this younger area was an over stocked even aged stand of mostly 6- to10-inch DBH black oak, with some white oak, black cherry, scarlet oak and pin oak mixed in. In 1974 I did timber stand improvement work in this younger even aged part of the woods. That work was done by cutting down trees for crop tree release so that the best quality trees had more room to grow. Over the next 30 years I did crop tree release work by cutting trees for firewood to heat my home.

In 1974 I bought an old sawmill and began logging the older over mature black oak from the west side of the woods to saw into construction lumber for the building of my first barn and house. While doing so I had an opportunity that few ever get—I would see the tree in the woods before I harvested it, and then I would see the lumber from that same tree as I sawed it and stacked it to dry. Many of those trees produced the low-quality lumber one might expect from an unmanaged Plainfield sand woods, including black streaks, grub holes, ingrown bark, knots, and rot. However, every now and then I would saw a log that produced beautiful furniture grade black oak lumber. Because I knew where in the woods each of those logs came from and, what that tree looked like standing, I began trying to determine why those few trees were so good. It turned out that they were all near the edge of the woods where they got more sunlight. My conclusion was that because they had larger crowns than the interior trees, they grew faster and were more vigorous. They were therefore better able to fend off attacks from insects and diseases that created many of the wood defects. Plainfield sand can get very dry late in the summer and insects and diseases can better take advantage of a suppressed tree, but a vigorous tree can better escape attack. A faster growing tree is also there for fewer years before reaching harvest size giving problems fewer years to happen. Because of the above findings, I have always managed this younger part of the woods, which includes the 5-acre demonstration area, at a lower basal area than I would on higher quality less drouthy soil types. I have managed this woods at a basal area of 80, which is about 20% less dense than normal.     After 50 years of management at a basal area of 80 I think it has greatly improved the tree vigor and timber quality in this woods and the 5-acre demonstration area.Residual stand of mostly black oak.

In 2017 a timber sale was conducted in this woods with the idea that the next sale would be in 10 to 15 years. The 2017 sale in the 5-acre demonstration area included 58 mature trees, which were mostly 22 to 26 inches DBH and had a total of 18,653 bdft. The harvest also created a few small openings that are now well regenerated to sapling sized white oak, black oak, and black cherry. Based on our inventory and growth data that 18,653 bdft of harvested timber volume will be replaced by new growth by the time of our next harvest, which is now planned for 15 years after that 2017 harvest.

Small opening from the 2017 harvest with white oak, black oak, and black cherry regeneration.

On December 16, 2024, we put together a crew of the 6 people, who are the most involved in the future management of the Starke County Forest, to do the 25-year inventory of the 5 acre demonstration area. The crew included Ami Flora, Starke County Parks superintendent, IDNR district foresters James Potthoff, and Ben Wilson, Consulting Foresters Micheal Denmon and Andrew Suseland, and myself, Bruce Wakeland Regeneration 7 years after harvest. retired consulting forester. It was great just getting us all together for that afternoon. IDNR District Forester Steve Winicker and I had led the crews that did the previous 5 inventories. Because the foresters doing the volume estimations were consistent over the 25 years, I think the volume estimates used to determine growth were also consistent.

Inventory crew (left to right) of Mike Denman, Andrew Suseland, Bruce Wakeland, Ben Wilson, and James Potthoff. Photo taken in December 2024 by Starke County Park Superintendent, Ami Flora.

The following is a table showing the results of the 1999 and 2024 inventories.
Table 1. Number of trees and timber volumes by year and species for the total 5 acre:

The timber volume, basal area, average size of trees, and the standing timber value all increased from 1999 through 2024. This growth occurred while removing trees during a 2017 timber harvest and some crop tree release.

Timber Volume

1999 Timber Volume per acre: 7,060 bdft

2017 Timber Volume harvested per acre: 3,731 bdft

2017 Timber Sale on 5 acres: 58 trees, 18,653 bdft

2024 Timber Volume per acre: 10,297 bdft

Basal Area

1999 Basal Area: BA 78, average DBH per tree 15.6 inches 2024 Basal Area: BA 94, average DBH per tree 18.3 inches

Economic Value

1999 Timber Value Per acre: $1,412

2017 Timber Sale Per acre value harvested: $1,306

2024 Timber value Per acre: $4,325

Estimated Current productivity per acre per year: $94

1999 to 2024 average annual per acre timber volume growth: 279 bdft

Current farm rental rate for adjoining crop ground: $115/acre/year

Conclusions

I calculated the current growth rate for the demonstration area over the last 10 years to be 224 board feet per acre per year. This is less than the 279 board-foot per acre per year average for the entire 25 years because of the 2017 harvest which included 58 trees from the 5 acres. Over the next few years this board foot volume growth rate will continue to increase toward the long-term average of 279 bdft/ac/yr as the harvested areas respond to the added sun light created by the harvest.

Because of the timber stand improvement work done and the selectivity of the harvest, the number of white oak crop trees increased from 26 in 1999 to 51 in 2024. This has increased the per acre value of this tract considerably because white oak has a higher value than black oak.

To calculate a dollar value of timber produced per acre per year I use the 224 board feet per acre per year of timber volume currently being grown knowing that that will improve between now and the next harvest. I used a 2024 per board foot stumpage timber value for my calculation derived almost entirely from the timber sale we had on an adjoining tract of the Starke County Forest just this year. This comparable sale was very good except the 5 acres has a higher percentage of white oak. This value per board foot used was slightly adjusted to account for the Increase in white oak found in this 5-acres compared to the comparable sale. Based on these comparable data I used a value of $0.42 per board foot times 224 board feet per acre per year to come up with $94/ac/yr of timber produced at this time. If you add $20 per acre per year paid for a hunting lease, that would make $114/ac/yr. being produced at this time. An adjoining landowner cash rents his Plainfield sand crop land to an area farmer for $115 per acre per year in 2024.

I feel really good about this 5-acre demonstration area, I think I have learned a lot about timber management, timber growth rates and the economic values of timber on these sandy soils. Add to my estimate of $114/acre/yr the values of improved water quality, improved air quality, wildlife habitat, a beautiful place to take a walk, and carbon sequestration, and I think we have strong justification for the management of Starke County Plainfield sand woodlands.

Bruce Wakeland ACF, CF is a professional forester with more than 50 years’ experience managing Indiana woodlands.