Michael & Patti Johnson - Mt. Carroll, IL
| Michael Johnson, a highly successful professional photographer of Midwest landscapes, has turned his passion for trees into a very successful sawmill and high-quality furniture grade lumber business. Along with his wife Patty, the Johnsons own and operate their Tree Farm which is located in Carroll county in the northwest part of Illinois. Most of the logs for their sawmill and lumber business are supplied from their own Tree Farm. However, some of the more non traditional species (catalpa, American chestnut, mulberry)or trees possessing unusual qualities are also purchased in the local area. Over twenty species of trees have been used in the sawing and lumber retail business.
Michael and Patti originally purchased a 40 acre tract of high-quality oak and black cherry hardwood timber in the late 1970's. They were certified as a Tree Farm in November 1977 after completing a weeding and thinning practice on a couple of acres under the advice of the local District Forester with the IL Department of Natural Resources. Four years later, they entered into a 5 year commitment under the Forestry Incentive Program (FIP) through the US Department of Agriculture in order to complete the removal of undesirable trees and accelerate growth rate of the more desirable crop trees on the remaining acreage. | |
Throughout the last 15 years, Michael has cleared several acres of low quality, undesirable trees and replanted seedlings and seeds of black walnut, white oak, red oak, black cherry, ash, butternut, and American chestnut. His forest is a mosaic of trees in various sizes ranging from seedlings to 4" diameter. Trees that were cleared were sawed in their sawmill, dried in the kiln and sold in the “board room” of their retail lumber business. Each year Michael walks his woodland looking for mature, over-mature or damaged trees that can be selectively harvested to provide material for his sawmill and lumber business. In 1992, five acres of white pine and 1.5 acres of blue spruce were planted on an old field site that was purchased by the Johnsons just east of the original 40 acres. A few years later, an additional twenty five acres were purchased to the south bringing the total Tree Farm acreage up to seventy. A pond was built to control water runoff and provide a recreational area to fish and picnic. Wildlife is an important goal which is met, in part, by leaving den trees and creating brush piles from tree tops after trees are harvested. Communicating forest management concepts and sharing their experiences with others are regular activities on Michael and Patty’s Tree Farm which they find to be very rewarding. Various field days and tours are conducted throughout the year for both school children and other landowners. They have hosted sawmill tours, chainsaw safety programs, wildflower and tree identification workshops. Most recently, they hosted the Northern Illinois Wood Turners Association and demonstrated sawing techniques on how to get the specialty wood that wood turners are seeking. They are very willing to share their knowledge with others about forestry and the sawmill business. ***Michael and Patti are active members of the Northwest Illinois Forestry Association and the Illinois Tree Farm Committee. "We consider tree farming to be an immensely valuable human endeavor that is important to us personally and to the human race as a whole. We love to watch the small trees grow into a healthy forest that provides a perspective on time which is different from the fast pace of contemporary civilization and which subtly alters what one values in the world. We use our Tree Farm to demonstrate the viability of sustainable forestry on a small scale." That is what the Tree Farm Program is all about. Congratulations to Michael and Patti Johnson, Illinois' Outstanding Tree Farmers for 2003! | |
