North Central Finalist: Dale and Cathy Paulson of Wisconsin

What makes them outstanding?

Dale has spent many years in the woods, and his love of it is evident as soon as you meet him. He serves as an excellent ambassador of sound forestry to the public. The fact that he cuts his own timber ties him even more to his property. Dale even used to turn it into lumber back when he worked at a local sawmill. He often says, I just want to leave it better than I found it, leave it in good shape for the next person.  Dale and Cathy’s love for the woods is contagious as it is boundless, and now their son Andrew is beginning to acquire his own properties which he is managing using the guiding principles which were laid down by Dale and Cathy.

With chainsaw in hand Dale has done all the harvesting on his property.  Through winter snows, summer bugs and whatever ailments threatened to stand in the way, Dale has regenerated aspen and red oak and released white pine and mixed hardwood saplings.  Because Dale has cut everything himself the result has been a diverse property with varieties of age classes and structure.  This small-scale harvesting allows for following the natural contours of the property, each cut completely customized to that area and the unique mix of trees that have grown there.  Not only does this provide for excellent wildlife habitat and biological diversity on his property, it helps to protect the fragile and red clay soils that dominate this landscape. 

Tree Farmer Story

Dale once said he began dreaming of owning property while he was on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Japan. After returning to the states, he first acquired a small property with a cabin on it along the Cranberry River, not far from Lake Superior in a remote area in northern Wisconsin in 1985.  He purchased additional property adjoining the original parcel, which he enrolled in the Wisconsin Managed Forest Law program in 1987 and built his house by hand on it. The Paulson’s acquired Tree Farm Status through their enrollment in the Managed Forest Law Program. Dale and Cathy raised their children in their hand-built home in the forest, where they also raise chickens, kept bees, and grew a large garden. Through all this Dale cut an average of 5-8 acres a year on his property, and has continued to log through hip replacements, broken bones, and waist deep (or deeper) snow. In 1989 and 2004 the Paulson’s purchased additional property, for their current total of 131 acres. Dale has worked closely with six different DNR foresters, and left a positive impact on all of them.

Dale’s management strategy can be summed up in a letter he wrote to a DNR forester in 1994. I’ve worked on improving my forestland for the future and providing the best possible habitat for wildlife.  Dale has adapted his management to those areas most in need, responding to storm damage, and finding the areas most at risk.  Always completing his management as planned with the local forester.  The low impact method of hand cutting that Dale uses on his property is especially valuable in customizing his harvesting to exactly what each area and what each tree needs.  With lots of conversations with his local forester Dale has become very good at seeing what trees are ready for harvest and which trees will respond well to being released.  Even in the areas he is promoting aspen regeneration, not every tree is cut. 

The Cranberry River, which Dale is working to help protect and enhance is an extremely important resource.  It is a very clean, cold water river and is designated as a Class I trout stream and an Exceptional Resource Water.  The salmon and trout which spawn in it are part of the economic engine for the local sport and commercial fishery. 

Quality pollinator habitat is another big consideration in Dale’s management.  Luckily the mix of soils on his property sustain the diverse species mix that allows for oak, maple and most importantly basswood.  Where others consider basswood a junk species it is treasured by Dale for his apiaries, supporting the bee hives that produce honey for not only their home use but is also sold at local shops in the area. 

The only aspect of his timber management that Dale has contracted out has been transporting the wood to market.  Working with the foresters over the years Dale has customized the typical broad management recommendations to something that fits better into what he sees the land needs.  He is constantly monitoring the health and condition and has reached out to move up a scheduled harvest if needed or moved to a different area in order to respond to storm damage.  His recent management with regenerating red oak has allowed him to learn and respond to the favorable (or unfavorable) conditions and has been able to time harvest and scarification activities to correspond with good acorn crops.  Dale could easily be managing for aspen, which is typical in the area, but instead had done things in a way to promote diversity in his woodlands.  All this in his free time, while also working in the past at the local saw-mill. 

Within a few miles of the Paulson property there have been attempts at oak regeneration on nonindustrial private, industrial, county, and national forest lands, all of which have been a relative failure compared to Dale’s oak regeneration. Some of this is luck, but most of it is a testament to Dale’s hard work and attention to the land.

The Paulson’s hosted the 2018 Wisconsin Tree Farm Field Day, and I am quite certain every visitor left their property impressed with the Paulson’s hospitality and inspired to take on new challenges on their own properties. Dale is a humble person and does not spend much time talking in front of large groups, but during the field day he spent a lot of time talking to people in small groups with the mission of infecting them with the stewardship bug.

Describe any outreach on behalf of sustainable forestry that the Tree Farmer has done 

Dale has a woodworking studio which is open to the public for tours during local events. During these events Dale shows off his creations from local wood and impresses the value of stewardship to any and all who will listen. The Paulson’s also hosted the 2018 Wisconsin Tree Farm Field Day. The Paulson’s, through their relationship with UW extension, have also offered up their property for different field tours. A plan is currently in the works between UW extension and University of Minnesota Extension to have the Minnesota Master Woodland Owners to the Paulson property this summer for a field tour.

For the following areas describe how the landowner's management addresses it

 Wood: As stated above, Dale does all his own logging. He also does TSI on his property, including a white pine release from a few years ago that is really starting to take off. Dale’s small scale logging has allowed him to create 6 distinct aspen age classes over his property. One very ambitious project he took on was a red oak regeneration harvest, which was started in late 2013 and completed a couple years after. Dale would do scarification with his skidder during the acorn drop in the fall, then begin harvesting once that work was completed. He also did supplemental oak planting in these areas, and some release work. These areas successfully regenerated to oak and are really looking great, with some seed origin oak in the oldest area being nearly waist high. The winter after Dale finished the oak project he completed a small clearcut in a degraded former pasture on his property. This area had heavy, somewhat saturated soils and Dale used extra caution to avoid excessive soil disturbance. This winter Dale is working on a patch clearcut in an oak/northern hardwood stand. Because Dale does all the work himself and is so knowledgeable about his woods, he is able to have some flexibility in his prescriptions and adjust on the fly to tailor his harvesting to fit the needs of the woods.

Water: The Cranberry River is a special feature on the Paulson’s property. It is a clean and coldwater stream that is designated as a Class I trout stream and an Exceptional Resource Water in the state of Wisconsin. It is identified as one of the top 20 priority Brook trout streams for protection and restoration efforts by local fisheries and stream restoration managers in Wisconsin’s portion of the Lake Superior Basin. The Cranberry is an important spawning ground for trout and salmon that feed into the local sport and commercial fishery. During a recent visit to his property, a US Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Biologist found multiple age species of young trout and salmon in a short section of the river on the Paulson property. The biologist also found sculpins and other non-game fish as well as many macroinvertebrates that indicate the Cranberry is a healthy, high quality ecosystem.

All of the work on Dale’s property goes above and beyond the guidelines laid out by Wisconsin Best Management Practices (BMP) for Water Quality Handbook. Dale does most of his logging in the winter, especially in areas of heavy soils or high water tables. He buffers out all water features, including the small draws on his property that do not require buffers by the Wisconsin BMP standards. He has placed erosion controls on the road going down to his cabin on the Cranberry River, and all his skid roads are allowed to re-vegetate after harvesting.

Wildlife including threatened and endangered species: Wildlife, especially game species is a huge driver for the Paulson’s management. By doing all of his own harvesting, Dale has been able to achieve many different age classes across his 131 acres, as well as modifying his sale shapes to get more edge cover or create irregular edge to benefit wildlife species. The main driver behind Dale taking on the additional work in his oak regeneration harvest was for the benefit of wildlife.  Dale’s management philosophy for wildlife is exhibited in an objective from one of his first management plans: I would like to improve wildlife carrying capacity on my property by scheduled harvest of aspen, improve cover (brushpiles, promoting new growth etc.) and improve oak stands by removing scrub trees to increase acorn output.

The American Woodcock (listed as a species of Special Concern in Wisconsin) holds a special place in Dale’s heart. He has worked tirelessly to improve their habitat on his property, and a nest was found in a cut from 2014 during a recent site visit.

Recreation and Aesthetics including special sites: The majority of the Paulson Property is open to the public for non-motorized recreational uses such as fishing, hunting, hiking, birdwatching, cross country skiing, and sightseeing. Dale and his family also hunt, fish, and hike the property, and into the surrounding public lands. The Paulson’s take deliberate actions during their timber sales to limit the visual impact of the harvest; for both the human visitors on town road (which sees heavy ATV/UTV and mountain bike use during the summer, as well as use by passenger vehicles and log trucks during all seasons) and to provide privacy to the wildlife using the young forests.

The majority of the Paulson Property is open to the public for non-motorized recreational uses such as fishing, hunting, hiking, birdwatching, cross country skiing, and sightseeing. Dale and his family also hunt, fish, and hike the property, and into the surrounding public lands. The Paulson’s take deliberate actions during their timber sales to limit the visual impact of the harvest; for both the human visitors on town road (which sees heavy ATV/UTV and mountain bike use during the summer, as well as use by passenger vehicles and log trucks during all seasons) and to provide privacy to the wildlife using the young forests.