COVER ORGANIZATION 



621 



there is seldom a good reason why they cannot be so managed as to produce, also, periodic 

 crops of pulpwood, mine props, acid wood, cordwood or timber. Thus one may help to defray 

 the costs of the improvements here described and of forest stand improvement practices as 

 well. Specific suggestions as to how both objectives may be met are given further on in this 

 chapter. 



Clear-cut Units 



In extensive forest areas where summer and fall food or winter shelter are deficient, one 

 practical way of improving the situation is to cut a few small slashings here and there. These 

 units may often be worked into the covert design so as to fulfill more than one objective. 

 One small slashing may furnish first a supply of wood and later a rich source of food. 

 Where winter shelter for grouse is notably deficient, the tangle of briers, sprouts and vines 



^. 



'^■. 



AN OCCASIONAL SMALL SLASHI^G \L\KKS E\TE.\S1\ K W I » H II. \ M).s MOKK ATTKACTIVE TO GROUSE 



which often springs up on cut-over lands may provide a quick though temporary substitute 

 for the conifers and broad-leaved evergreens that normally meet this need. 



In planning such areas, the possibility of disposing of the wood may often determine 

 whether the unit is to be re-cut at the end of ten to fifteen years to preserve the characteristic 

 slashing vegetation or whether it will be cut in rotation with several similar units. The latter 

 practice is desirable where a market for the smaller sizes of wood is available. 



Units to be cut in rotation are usually laid out close by one another so as to provide food 

 and shelter year after year. In figure 69 the three divisions of slashing S 1 would be cut in 

 rotation, while S 2 and S 3 would be recut as soon as sprout growth drove out herbs and 

 berries. 



Repetition of cutting at intervals over the same unit can be continued as long as grass and 

 sedges do not replace the normal herb and shrub cover. 



The suggestions here outlined covering the character, size, shape, location and rotation of 

 clear-cut units are still too tentative to be called rules. In connection with the multiple pur- 

 poses to be served by the area as a whole and the individual characteristics of the slashing 



