Ron
Johnson
By
Armin Behr
Posted July 12, 2001
When
he retired in the fall of 1996, Ron Johnson and his wife Mary acquired
247 acres in Manns Choice (Bedford County). By spring of 1997, the
Johnsons were already working with a service forester and consulting
forester to develop a Forest Stewardship Plan for their property.
Later that year Ron enrolled in VIP-COVERTS training, and the plan
was complete by fall of 1998.
Since then, Ron has been busy implementing practices. He planted hundreds of seedlings including white pines, oaks, maples, dogwoods, and loblolly-pitch pine crosses. He also planted 1800 seeds produced from crosses between American and Chinese chestnut trees. He has done timber stand improvement and salvage cutting, removed grapevines, and made his own lumber with a portable sawmill. To prevent damage to trails and roads, Ron uses a special homemade cart to haul logs.
The Johnsons create habitat to welcome wildlife to their land. They planted 10 apple trees to produce food for wildlife in addition to those planted for human consumption. They also planted other trees that provide wildlife food including dogwood and rugosa rose for fruits, honey locust for seedpods, and aspen for buds and leaves.
Ron created a 3-acre opening by clearing over 300 stumps with a stump pull he designed. He seeded half of the area with bird's-foot trefoil and alsike clover - favorite food plants for deer, rabbits, and many species of birds. He seeded the other half with switchgrass and big bluestem, both of which grow tall to provide cover for nesting birds and other animals. This year, Ron planted three plots (a total of 4.5 acres) with corn, sorghum, and sunflowers to feed wildlife. He says that the variety and number of birds on his land seem to have increased in recent years.
Remarkably, the consulting forester who wrote their Forest Stewardship Plan is the only person the Johnsons have hired to help them manage their forestlands. Ron is an expert logger, farmer, and builder, enabling him to implement the Plan's recommendations.
In addition to working on his own property, Ron actively promotes forest stewardship in the community. He is president of the Woodland Owners of the Southern Alleghenies, which has nearly 100 members. Since 1998, the group has sponsored annual daylong forestry and wildlife workshops to reach out to private forest landowners, government professionals, consultants, loggers, farmers, and other community residents. Ron also is chair of the Bedford County Farm Bureau's Forestry Committee, vice-chair of the state VIP-Coverts Steering Committee, and Director of the Bedford County Conservation District, where he is active on the deer damage committee.
Ron works with friends and neighboring landowners to promote sustainable forestry practices. He recently enlisted the help of his service forester to persuade a farmer to halt an unsustainable timber cut. Ron also organizes and promotes chainsaw safety workshops.
Ron believes in using natural resources but not destroying them and in always leaving the land better than he found it. He enjoys walking in the woods, cutting timber, observing birds, and hunting deer, turkey, bear, and rabbit.
Ron Johnson's long-range hope is that the next owner of his property will take an interest in forest stewardship and continue to manage the land to benefit wildlife and future generations.
