Tree harvest planned for Lamson Woods

FAIRFIELD — The City of Fairfield’s Arbor Committee has announced that 102 trees will be harvested from Lamson Woods this winter, which the committee hopes will improve the health of the forest.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources District Forester Cassidy Robinson said the plan was put forward by the arbor committee and approved by the city council earlier this year, and the arbor committee has organized a public meeting for Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Fairfield Public Library to educate the public about the impending harvest.

Robinson said the 102 trees that will be removed constitute a modest harvest, though she and the members of the Arbor Committee hope it will be enough to noticeably improve the timber.

The committee wants to promote the growth of oak and hickory trees, but there’s a problem. They can’t get enough sunlight to grow because the understory — the forest floor — is full of less desirable plants such as hackberries, elms and buckeyes.

“Oaks are shade intolerant, so they need a lot of sunlight to grow,” Robinson said.

Due to the heavy machinery that will be necessary to cut the trees, and the fact the harvest is occurring so close to the trail running through Lamson Woods, the park will be closed during the harvest. Robinson said she wasn’t sure how long it would take the logging company to finish.

The logging company that harvests the trees will own them, and Robinson said oaks are often made into furniture, or into pallet wood if it is of low quality.

“A nice tree might be turned into a whiskey or wine barrel,” she said.

Robinson said the money from the harvest will go back into improving Lamson Woods such as a controlled burn.

The 102 trees to be removed were selected because they are either poorly formed or are too close to another mature tree. Robinson said there is a great acorn crop this year for oaks, so she’s hoping that the harvest will give those oak seedlings space to germinate in the understory and grow next spring.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com