Rydell National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) will be offering woodcutting permits to the area public for the time period of mid-October 2019 through January 2020. Earlier this year, staff began removing conifers (pines and spruce) from a roughly 1-acre portion of the headquarters/visitor entrance area of the Refuge.
When homesteaders settled in what is now Rydell NWR, many of the trees were cleared for farming. Later, when landowners replanted trees, they planted several small conifer plantations. Historically, woody habitats on the Refuge included aspen parklands, dogwood-willow swamp, bur oak savanna and woodland, and maple-basswood forest. Conifers are not part of the natural habitat at Rydell NWR.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff are responsible for maintaining and improving the biological integrity of the lands they manage. For this reason, we are removing these non-native conifers and plan to inter-seed this site with a diverse mix of prairie grasses and forbs. After the reestablishment of the understory, we’ll allow Mother Nature (succession) to continue to recreate native habitats at this site, which will likely consist of a combination of grasses, forbs, shrubs, and deciduous trees.
Cut trees have been placed into three piles in a large gravel parking area just north of the Refuge headquarters and visitor center. One pile consists of 15-20 cords of large timbers that range from 13” to 18” in diameter, and are roughly 18 feet in length. The other two piles consist largely of slash, but include some useable firewood, up to 6” in diameter. Permittees will be allowed to cut up and take these downed trees on a first-come, first-served basis. The use of chainsaws will be allowed. Wood may be taken for personal use only. No sale of the wood will be allowed under these permits.
For more information on this opportunity or if you want to get a permit, contact Gregg Knutsen, Refuge Manager, at 218-687-2229 x16 or gregg_knutsen@fws.gov. You can also stop in at the Rydell NWR Headquarters at 17788 349th St. SE, Erskine, MN 56535.
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