Forestry experts are working to bring back native trees and ecosystems in southern Illinois forests by letting in the sunshine. It’s not too often you hear the sound of chainsaws inside Trail of Tears State Forest in Union County, Illinois. But Tuesday was an exception.
“Conservationists normally plant trees, not cut them down,” said Ben Snyder, district forester with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. He, along with other area leaders and forestry experts, was in the forest Tuesday, keeping an eye on the progress to alterations in the forest canopy there.
They’re there, not to weed out invasive populations, but to better protect the forest’s native oak trees and the wildlife that needs them for food and shelter. Snyder says the oaks need plenty of sunshine, and they support pollinators, raccoons and deer, along with about 100 other species in the forest. He says the IDNR needs to protect the oaks now before big changes happen.
“Without management, the Illinois Ozarks may be the first forest in central North America to completely convert form oak, hickory to beech, maple forests,” Snyder said.
Where they’ve been thinning the midstory of the forest for the past two years, you can see more oak trees, more sunlight and a more open environment that can support more animals. But, on the other side where they haven’t been doing anything, you can see it’s darker, more dense, with less sunlight to support wildlife in the area.
From WPSD 6 News: https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/story/33317349/idnr-revitalizing-forests-by-cutting-down-trees