Trego's Mountain Ear

As I look at the trees, I see bending from the snow loads. Some have snapped, while others have gone over at the roots. It isn’t a complex decision – I’m about to re-block and re-level the sawmill, and the stuff that is too small to make a log will make next winter’s firewood. Douglas Fir tends to roll over as the roots fail, while the tap roots of the Ponderosa Pine leave them susceptible to snapping. Western larch seems to be (at my elevation) immune to the snow loads.

The midge spread diseases show a lot fewer whitetail deer browsing on the downed Fir trees. Last winter, if I started a chainsaw, a dozen or more deer would show up for the potential buffet. Now, many fewer deer. I suspect that the increased number of coyotes will likely also have problems by the time Spring rolls around again.

The ponds are frozen – our next influx of waterfowl will be in the Spring – yet the decrease in feral cats has led to a great increase in the little squirrels. At the house, my aging dog is almost totally deaf. She seems to be compensating for not hearing by barking more. I’m not sure how that works out.

As I look at the downed trees, I recall the idea that a properly thinned forest will produce the maximum timber and 80% of the grazing. My challenge is to get the cleanup and salvage moving along – not for me, but for the next generation. I have always planted fruit trees where i lived – someone will harvest the fruit, just as I have harvested the fruit from trees that landowners before me have planted.

It is winter – but soon Spring will return, with the fawns, the ducklings and the goslings. And I will putter indoors until Spring comes north again.