Ready for Harvest: Clearcutting in the Southern Appalachians available now

Añadido: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]About 16 years ago, state forester Ralph Winkworth decided he wanted local people to help find out how to plant hardwoods.

[00:00:07]And he was a good friend of mine, and I agreed that we would plant here three species. We would plant uh black walnut and uh black cherry and hickory, one of my favorite species. We have trees now that are up to 8 in in diameter. Now, you'll notice also there's some green Fraser fir Christmas trees. And that's the way a forester can afford to think about rotation ages of 40 or 50 years, have interim crops that bring you in a cash flow during this period of growth.

[00:00:38]I'm going to harvest the first of these trees for saw timber about 2025.

[00:00:44]I'd like you to come back and help me.

[00:00:48]We've had many other walnut plantations in the area, but mine is the only hickory plantation I know of in North Carolina. I'm very proud of that.