Thread: White river refuge

Hopefully they will keep select cutting the refuge. Select cuts are essential for wildlife habitat. My brother and I own land that joins the refuge in Ethel and I also belong to a club at Jack's Bay. We select cut our land and so does the camp that I'm in at Jack's Bay. Most camps along the refuge select cut timber, plant food plots and run feeders. I guess that is why so many refuge hunters will walk 2 miles to get close to one of our property lines. We have cover, browse and food sources that the refuge doesn't provide due to mature timber without browse, mast and cover.

If you don't think cutting timber helps wildlife habitat take a drive to Jack's Bay during bow hunting season. A tornado cut a path across the refuge a few years ago, almost every hunter lines up along the tornado damaged timber area. There is tons of browse, cover and mast in the path of the tornado. This holds deer like crazy, smaller trees put on heavy mast trying to reforest the tornado damaged area.

The refuge purcashed all the land that is north of highway 1 (now know as WRNR North Unit) from Potlach Timber Company several years ago. Potlach almost clear cut the land before they sold it. This land has held some of the biggest deer on the entire refuge due to cover, browse and mast crop. This land also needs to be select cut again it has huge trees that are not producing the mast crop that they would with a select cut. I have also also been in a deer lease that part was owned by Anderson-Tully and Chicago Mill owned some of the lease. Anderson-Tully kept their land harvested, Chicago Mill wouldn't harvest their timber. Chicago Mill timber was beatiful but their was no cover. Larger trees were competing against each other and seldom produced mast. I had a stand on Chicago Mill but it didn't take long for me to wise up and move onto Anderson Tully where the browse, cover and mast held the deer and turkeys.

If I'm hunting public land show me where the 1 year old select cut is and I'm in heaven. It amazes me, folks get mad, will move stands and leave an area when the timber is harvested, I'm always grateful that they move because I'm moving in after the cut. The government let the timber go to long before they started harvesting. Washington finally let the Jeff start harvesting after trying for years to do select cuts but the trees are now huge. Hunters look at this and complain about it being clear cut. It is not clear cut but appears to be a hard cut because when they harvest the big trees it leaves a huge open areas. The larger timber keep the young tress from from growing and producing mast. Browse and cover can't grow because sunlight can't reach the forest floor.

I was fortunate enough to grew up hunting and fishing the WRNR, I still live about 13 miles from the Smoke House Hill entrance. I don't like how the government waste tax dollars however $20.00 is a cheap price to pay for what the WRNR has to offer. I would challenge you to find a 160,000 acre lease to hunt and fish for $20.00. You sure can't buy land for that either, we have been offered $4,500.00 dollars per acre for timber land that we own that joins the refuge line. $20.00 won't go far on a land payment for hunting land costing $4,500.00!

I seldom hunt or fish on the refuge now but I will gladly pay $20.00 for that privilege. It is worth that just to be able ride through and enjoy true bottomland habitat.

I think select cutting is very good for the refuge and I don't really mind paying 20$ . I just wished they spent that money on improvements on the refuge like food plots , boat ramps, roads , camping areas and free maps that show designated four wheeler trails .