Tornado Damage

Andrew LaChance
January 18th 2011
Blowdown: Tamara Dean

This article, published in American Scholar in Autumn 2010 describes in detail the extent of damage a tornado can cause to a Wisconsin mixed hardwood forest and the forest owners emotional state. Weighing the possibility of either letting the splintered forest go to regenerate itself or log it and manage the wind damaged site back to a healthy producing stand of trees is more directly the question to consider. The article also describes assessing timber value from a damaged woodlot and finding a logger to come carry-out a harvest on a difficult site.

As the author first explores the devastation that she once called a forest, she is completely moved by the appearance of her trees that now lay on their side. Thinking that she may be brought to tears upon first sight she finds herself amazed by the power of the storm. In her mind Dean likens the power of tornados that often rip across the Wisconsin landscape to the power of a hurricane in coastal areas; specifically, Hurricane Katrina that attacked New Orleans just days after. I can definitely picture the aftermath in my mind that Dean first saw as she drove up to her once woods as I experienced first-hand the power of a blowdown in the Boundry Waters Canoe Area back in 1999. After that storm, sometimes finding a campsite was very difficult even near the water’s edge.

After the initial shock value of viewing a destroyed forest subsides, Dean moves on and decides she better decide what to do with the downed wood; if anything at all. Though trees snapped off or blown-down in such a storm are worth typically far less than they would if cut standing, there still is some value to the timber. The next step is then having a forester come and assess the stands value. The final estimate given by the forester will reflect to the best of his or her knowledge the current market value for certain species as well as an educated guess of the timber’s grade. In the situation of a blown-down forest, that estimate will be a fraction of what the timber WOULD be worth had it been cut prior to the storm. A forester will probably urge a landowner in Dean’s situation, to have the area logged so some money can be generated from the timber, cleaning up the forest floor allows for better regeneration and major disturbances invite pioneering (often invasive species) to dominate.

Dean decides that she will have the downed trees removed and sold by a local logger. Finding the right logging firm for the job was not an easy task. Occasionally, there is a stand of trees that because of the terrain on which they grow is so uneven and insecure logging becomes dangerous and many firms will not take the project on. Interestingly enough, I am involved in managing a 28-acre stand of mixed hardwoods much like Dean describes and though all (ok, most) trees still stand, not on logging firm has been able to offer the landowner a fair price for his timber. There exist other disadvantages to a logger now; however the difficulty is mostly attributed to the terrain.

Dean describes in detail how she felt the entire time the trees were being harvested that she may be doing the wrong thing or that somehow she was losing a part of her woods. The fact is she is literally losing part of her woods. The way I look at it though, she is just doing her part to be a good steward of the land, providing better opportunity for regeneration as well as taking what life deals and making the best of it.