Randy & Koral Clum from Ohio

What makes them outstanding?

When you think of Forestry in Ohio, it’s hard not to think of Randy and Koral Clum.  While they are professional Foresters by love and profession, they are generous educators at heart.  You can hardly get into a conversation with them without learning something wonderful about our forests.  The countless hours they spend donating their time to help teach others about our forests is remarkable.  Their Hepatica Falls Tree Farm has not only become a place to show their clients what their property can look like, but also a unique destination for hundreds of others to enjoy and learn more about the impressive capability that our forests have to provide timber, wildlife habitat, water quality, wildflowers, exercise, food, land-use history and many other things.  The Clum's holistic approach to forest management is crowned by the fact that even though they have done 5 timber harvests in the 25 years they have owned the property, they have more volume growing and larger trees than when they acquired the land.

Tree Farmer story

Randy and Koral feel very honored and humbled to have been chosen as Ohio’s Tree Farm of the Year and join the ranks of those who have been selected before them: many of whom they know or knew well and hold dear. I would like to tell you about who the Clums are and what has been going on at their Tree Farm for the past 25 years.

At the beginning of their life together, Randy and Koral spent four years as foresters on the 63,700 acre Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio, with Koral being the first ever female forester on an Ohio State Forest! They entertained themselves during field work with a friendly competition in wildflower identification. One of their favorite plants was hepatica. Although the leaves last a long time and stay green throughout the winter, the flower’s time is brief and you must put forth effort to find and enjoy it. Hepatica flowers are a delight when you get to experience them. This ephemeral nature captures how they feel about woodland ownership, which is the reason they eventually chose the name Hepatica Falls Tree Farm.

In 1985, they became ODNR Service Foresters in east central Ohio, each covering three counties. Every day, they marked timber, or advised folks about tree planting, erosion control, thinning, wildlife, or forest health. Every day, they wondered if the cooperators they walked with would have the time, energy, or interest to follow through on their suggestions. Thus, began the search for a property to call their own, where they could do their best to practice what they preached. Randy started coming home from work saying, “I saw this wonderful property today,” followed by lots of details. Koral quickly learned that her first question should be, “Is it for sale?”

Fast forward to September, 1993: Because of circumstances too lengthy to explain, in the middle of the pre-tour work day for Carl and Alice Wooding’s Tree Farm of the Year Tour, Randy and Koral snuck away and signed the contract to buy their 149 acres in Harrison County. What a time! As Wooding’s Nominating Forester, Koral enjoyed helping them share their property with others during their tour, but they also ached to go set their feet on their new land. They wish every forest owner could find as much joy in tree farming as they have!

Randy and Koral will tell you that owning this land has definitely made them better foresters, more empathetic, more realistic, more educated, and more passionate. They would be remiss in talking about tree farming if they did not mention ECOFA (East Central Ohio Forestry Association), the local landowner group where they have met and worked with so many great folks over the years.

In 1997, Randy knew that working for the government was no longer his calling, so he walked away from the security of public employment and hung out a shingle as Clum Forestry Consultants. Koral had no intention of joining him, but she did notice that he was enjoying the new challenges. Three years later, she jumped in as well. As their job duties changed, Hepatica Falls Tree Farm became a place where they could show clients how their land might look if they had a harvest.

The timber production part of their ownership has been surprising to Koral. As a forester, she doesn’t want to admit to this surprise, but she knows it’s true. And it is certainly correct that, “If you cut it, it will grow!”

The Clums have divided their land into nine management units, from 3 acres up to 52 acres in size. Recent inventory work revealed that their growing stock is between 650,000 and 700,000 board feet (BF) for the entire property. Historically, 96 acres were always in forest cover, although disturbed in places by old sandstone quarries. Fifty-six acres were in agricultural fields or pasture. Fifty acres of this open ground were planted to Austrian pine, Scotch pine, and holly in the 1950s, while six acres naturally reverted to hardwood forest. Five timber harvests have been done from single-tree selection harvests, to ash salvage harvests to pine clearcuts.  505,614 BF of hardwood from 1,929 trees, and 1,478 tons of pine pulpwood have been sold to date.

A wide variety of slopes, soils, aspects, and previous stand conditions have provided a diversity that has been fun to manage. One of their goals has been to keep an undisturbed area to provide a comparison between managed and unmanaged forests. Four acres are isolated by geography, so that section was a natural place to display an unharvested stand.

On October 21, 2017, a most beautiful day, they got to share their property with approximately 600 other people.  Tours were led by 40 forester friends sharing over 700 years of forestry knowledge. It was a good day to recover from nature deficit disorder. The Clum’s goal as consulting foresters is to promote science-based forest management in Ohio’s forests. It is obvious that this objective carries over to their land, their life, their recreation and their health, along with having a log truck load of fun along the way.

While Randy and Koral are foresters, their love for the woods and forest management touches every part of their life.  They are not involved in the Tree Farm System because of their profession, they are involved because they believe in the good the program provides to other landowners and for the good of the future of our forests.

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

Wood: You can often find Randy down at the farm on the weekend, getting some "chainsaw therapy" and "helping the best trees grow better"!  I do not think I have been on a property so well managed. The growth of the trees and their improvement in quality over their ownership is astounding.  To have harvested over a half million board feet and have more than that growing on the property today is a testament and educational opportunity.  They have sold or given away firewood, sold hardwood and pine pulpwood, hardwood sawlogs, and even made a few decorations from the holly.  When the emerald ash borer started killing their ash trees, it brought up another opportunity to salvage those trees before they lost their value.  It was bittersweet though as the property held some uncommon for the area black ash that succumbed to the insect.  They have developed great relationships with the loggers who have cut their timber.  Choosing the trees for the first selective harvest was time consuming.  They will tell you that they discussed every stinkin’ tree! And had fun doing it!  We have a saying in Ohio, “If you have two Foresters in the woods, you will probably have three opinions.”

Summary of Timber Harvests since 1993:  1994, Hipp Lumber, 184,300 bdft, 673 trees, 97 acres.  2004, Yoder Lumber, 122,954 bdft, 420 trees, 80 acres.  2011 Berlin Lumber, 1,478 tons, Pine clearcut 10.3 acres & thinning 6.5 acres.  2013 Hillcrest Lumber, 146,600 bdft, 580 trees, 103 acres.  2016 Hillcrest Lumber, 51,760 bdft, 256 trees, 64 acres.  Totals for 4 hardwood sales: 505,614 bdft, 1.929 trees, 344 acres.

Water: The property is bordered by the Stillwater Creek for close to a mile. Somewhat fitting in name, the stream was dredged over 80 years ago for either flood management or to transport sandstone from the quarries on the property and surrounding areas.  The purpose is not clear.  But this stream is important and healthy.  So much in fact that early in their ownerships, the Clum's got to watch the reintroduced river otters playing in the creek.  Randy and Koral take great pride in their efforts to construct BMP's to control erosion and keep the soil where it belongs and is most productive.  During a heavy rain event, water coming off of the Tree Farm is clear, whereas the water coming off the adjacent land is laden with silt.  The Hepatica Farm water dilutes the compromised water, so when the water arrives at the Stillwater, it is clear. 

The best part about water at Hepatica Falls are the three waterfalls.  The geology in this part of Ohio makes falls of six to twenty-five feet fairly common.  The fact that two of the falls are in succession creates an isolated area along the stream, where deer, and most other critters, cannot travel.  The flowers are even more plentiful here than they are on the rest of the property.  Species include hepatica, trillium, toadshade, Dutchman’s breeches, trout lily, anemone, bloodroot, wingstem, false mermaid, phlox, and bluebells, and walking fern.

If you’ve noticed that the acreage of the property is sometimes 149 and sometimes 152, it is because in 2015, Clums acquired 2.8 acres of orphaned land, along a side drainage called Rush’s Run.  They hated to see this pie-shaped piece that joined the main stream be developed by some other owner, so they purchased this adjacent parcel.

Wildlife including threatened and endangered species: The Clum's take a holistic approach to managing their property. They also take into consideration trees for diversity of hard mast, as well as trees and shrubs that provide soft mast.  If a tree has the capacity to provide a den for wildlife, they are very happy to let it remain instead of harvesting it.  They have a vernal pool on the property which is protected by keeping equipment out of it and also making sure it has appropriate canopy cover.  River otters have been watched playing in the creek.  They also allow hunting on the property to share their hard work with others.  Some of the loggers that have harvested their trees have become friends and now turkey and deer hunt on the property.  They have also made the property available for the Ohio Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation to use for their youth hunt.

Wildlife species found at Hepatica Falls include bobcat, coyote, river otter, deer, spring peepers, treefrogs, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, wood duck, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, pileated woodpecker, woodcock, barred owl, kingfisher, wren, towhee, scarlet tanager, goldfinch, hummingbird, and Louisiana water thrush.

Recreation and Aesthetics including special sites: Randy refers to the property as his Health Club.  Koral would spend her days beating Randy in wildflower identification contests.  As much as they have forestry and sawdust in their blood, they love the outdoors and the beauty and opportunity the property provides. Three gorgeous waterfalls, a long, wide meandering stream, a former railroad bed that once hauled coal through the property and sandstone off the property, the railroad tunnel just across the creek, the beautiful hepatica flower, hiking the trails, walking the creeks, learning about history in the sandstone quarry, it’s all an amazing part of how much more the property can provide than just growing timber.

We call them family forests because Certified Tree Farms are such a wonderful place to build memories as a family. The Clum’s journey has included stick-forts, a tree swing, mushroom hunting, meals around the campfire, sledding, and exploring the three water falls. Daughter Casey was six years old when they bought the land. For those who remember her being carried on Koral’s hip or Randy’s shoulders at field trips near and far, Casey is 31 years old now. She would probably list some of her most memorable times as watching river otters and discovering bobcat tracks. They are happy that they could share their enthusiasm for the outdoors with her.

One of the things that Randy and Koral find to be aesthetic at their farm is the diversity of tree species, both natural and planted.  At Hepatica Falls, you can find Ash, Aspen, Beech, American chestnut, Black cherry, Black walnut, Buckeye, Butternut, Cottonwood, Cucumber, Elm, Hackberry, Hickory, Ironwood, Hard maple, Red maple, Musclewood, Black oak, Pin oak, Red oak, Scarlet oak, White oak, Swamp white oak, Yellow poplar, Sassafras, Serviceberry, Sumac, Sycamore, Boxelder, Holly, Austrian pine, Scotch pine, and Larch.