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Cutting Forests to Benefit Wildlife 

Moosehorn manages its land primarily to provide habitat for the American woodcock.  A small shorebird evolved to live in the forest, woodcock are rather picky about their habitat requirements.

Woodcock need:  

Clearings for roosting and courtship.

Dense, alder thickets for foraging for earthworms.

Young, hardwood forests for nesting and brooding.  

Timber HarvesterClear-cuts are great courtship grounds for the woodcock.  Therefore, Moosehorn's forests are managed on a 40-year cut cycle.  The forests are cut in five-acre sections so that several different forest ages grow in the same area.  Local timber harvesters are selected for the jobs through a lottery.  The harvesters pay for the timber based on a fixed stumpage schedule.  Much of this revenue is returned to the local community in lieu of property taxes.

Harvesters must leave a few trees standing.  These trees provide seeds for the new forest and habitat for certain wildlife, including woodpeckers and perches for bald eagles and other birds of prey.

Prescribed Fires

Controlled BurnControlled fires greatly benefit Moosehorn's habitat.  After a clear-cut, slash - extra branches and timber left on the ground - is burned.  Burning the slash minimizes the chance of wildfire by removing fuel, returns nutrients to the ground, and controls plant diseases and pests.

Blueberry and grassy fields are also occasionally burned to stop shrubs and trees from overgrowing the fields.

Of course, the firefighters are very careful, only lighting a fire when the conditions will allow the fire to be controlled.  

Moosehorn's clear-cuts and prescribed fires mimic historic cycles created by wildfires and farming.

America's National Wildlife Refuges - where wildlife comes naturally!

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More Information:
 Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge
RR 1 Box 202 Suite 1
Baring, ME 04694
Phone: (207) 454 - 7161    Fax: (207) 454 - 2550
fw5rw_mhnwr@fws.gov

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