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Illegal Birch cutting

Keep your eyes open. Probably not a problem now but when it freezes again it will show up again. Since we are in the woods a lot we can help with this problem, it does impact us.

Birch is expensive when built into furniture. Here is an example from a quote I had done for a bathroom medicine cabinet above the sink. Normal height but about 22 inches wide.

With the birch bark inlay around the door it's not a cheap date....I'm coming in at $625. With a more standard door we'd be right around $375.

Yep. I agree. As Smokey says, keep your eyes open. And then make the call when you see it. We all can help with this. Whether on public or private land, in one way or another, the trees they are cutting belong to us all.

And I always thought birch was garbage wood.... I'm doing some thinning in a few weeks. I'll remember to not cut the remaining birch. Most of it has been lost to some type of disease. 20 years ago it was probably 50% birch, now its mostly oak and maple.

Not too long ago there were advisories on the news (Hayward) that people were damaging maple trees on public land, not sure it is legal to tap them but I guess they were doing it wrong and somehow causing damage to the trees.

If it is legal, there should at least be rules to be followed and permits to be gotten for it.

last fall we found a spot off the road where someone cut a dozen big black spruce. they left the trees but took the stumps w/ root cluster. They dug them up and dragged them out w/ a loader.

Cutting mature Birch in a legal timber sale for harvest is acceptable if done right. It is this illegal cutting of young, small Birch that is the problem; the Birch won't be able to mature and would limit the future of available Birch.

Birch regeneration is not always easy. Drought and disease can be a problem. Prescribed burning is a good way to regenerate but has to be done carefully as it has to be done when wildfires can occur in extreme conditions. Something most managers are not willing to do.

Question for Smokey. I have noticed in old logging landings and anywhere there was a big disturbance there is a huge growth of young birch, why is that? I have found old logging camps (late 1800s & early 1900) with a great amount of birch in and around them.

The best one I found was about 1.5 miles back into the Cheq Forest by Black Lake. A guy had cut 8, 10 cedar trees that were anywhere from 6 to 12" in dia. for baiting deer. I had pointed the area out to the DNR, but not sure whatever became of it. It was back by my one stand and I was nervous about getting busted for it.

Too bad there ain't a market for oak wilt, I'd be willing to turn a blind eye.

MF, my guess is from scarification, ground disturbance for the seed to make good contact.

L2h, not sure who you talked to but we had a guy do that west of Moose Lake. Knew who it was but could never catch him in the stand.

A bunch of info on Paper Birch.

Smokey, This guy had to be coming in from the North of me, because the only other way in would be past me. North of me would be FR 164 which takes you right into Moose lake. Probably the same dude. It was years ago though, I haven't seen it since. I found another stand years ago up there that someone had chainsawed shooting lanes about 8-10 ft wide in multiple directions and then used some of the logs to build a log cabin style blind. pretty ambitious dude, he was back in a ways also. West of Bird lake.

The theft of birch in our county (Washburn) has been an ongoing issue. I have plenty of small birch on my property, but no problem so far. I see tourist every year and also give them hell when I see them digging up wild flowers, small trees, etc. Sometimes it gets into a heated discussion until I let them know I'll be calling the authorities. What is it with these people that think they can steal from public or private property and think it's ok to do so because it's just a plant.

Hoot....right out by the shooting range off of County Rd C....the authorities one day, including Amie, were scouring the roads out there in search of two people raking the wild blueberry plants in the area. Don't know if they caught them or not, but I guess they were doing it for a few days and finally someone reported it.

is raking of blueberries not allowed? Ive heard of people doing that, instead of hand picking the berries.

What they were doing was digging up and taking the whole plant. I don't no if that's politically correct "raking" but that's how raking was explained to me by the officer.

Thanks MF for clearifing that. The raking I was speaking of was a tool to gently "rake" or remove beries from the plant. Sounds like two totally different things. I have often thought about trying it but didnt want to do anything that might be unlawful. I love eating my wild blueberries :)

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