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Introduction
For 25 years, the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has assisted landowners in protecting natural areas—woodlands, wetlands and prairies—and the wildlife that inhabit those wild places.
As we've met and worked with Iowa woodland owners, we've discovered that—while there is a wealth of information available to them about managing forests for timber production—there is little that focuses primarily on managing woodlands to maintain or improve their overall health and diversity.
This booklet is a response to that need. It brings together an array of information on several issues related to woodland health. It both introduces the topic and suggests a few stewardship options to promote health.
Single copies of this booklet are available free by request. To get your free copy by mail, contact the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation office at 515-288-1846 or info@inhf.org. Be sure to tell which book you're ordering and to include your mailing address. Organizations who work with woodland owners can order up to 20 copies at no cost. Additional copies are 50 cents each.
To download the book from this website, click on the Table of Contents below, which links you to the PDF files for each section. Print any/all sections as desired.
Table of Contents
All images are ©Mark Müller
Introduction 4-5
A Glance at Iowa Woodlands
History and Current Status of Iowa Woodlands 6-8
Value of Iowa Woodlands 8-9
Getting to Know Your Woodland 10-11
Some Stewardship Options
Recognizing and Controlling Invasive Plants 12-19
Filling in the Gaps 20-21
Limiting Damage from Livestock and Deer 22-23
Avoiding Further Fragmentation of Woodlands 23-24
Permanently Protecting Your Woodland 25-27
If You Want to Know or Do More
Resources 28-31
Back Cover 32
Acknowledgements
reformatted from pages 2-3 and 32
Our thanks to the following individuals:
Our thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to, and their comments on, this preliminary management guide. We will continue to work together to identify additional research needs and management tools that will contribute to the enhanced health of Iowa forests.
