By Patty Cormier
PHILLIPS – On a brisk winter day last month at the “Thinning Your Woodlot” workshop held on Scot and Jon Bubier’s woodlot in Phillips, I was reminded how valuable these small woodlots are to us all, and even more so, how impressive the caretakers are of these lots. I’m hoping the 41 loggers, foresters and landowners in attendance thought so, too.
As a society, only good comes from encouraging good woodland stewards. The lot we were on has been in the family for five generations. It was palpable the strong attachment that Scot and his son Ryan have for the land. As they were describing all the good tending they have done through the years, references to the family connections always came up.
Scot and Ryan love the work they have done on the lot so much, they recently started their own business called Forest Improvement Services. They have been working for other woodlot owners since starting their business, mostly on thinning and pruning projects that other landowners are doing through the Natural Resource Conservation Service, or NRCS.
The Bubiers have also done many of these NRCS projects on their own land such as pruning, mast tree release, pre-commercial thinning of hardwood, trails, a forest road, and wildlife habitat practices; which we all got to see. They realize that they are just long-range gardeners, except their garden grows over many years, not months. I walk with many landowners to hopefully help them realize what an asset they have on their woodlots, and it is always refreshing to walk with those who are already ahead of the game.
Patty Cormier is the state’s District Forester for this area.
Small landowners and the timber produced from their woodlots is the back bone of Maine’s economy. Think about it, clean water, wildlife habitat, in most cases free recreational opportunities (hiking, bird watching, hunting, snowmobiling, etc.), forest products including timber, maple syrup, wood pellets, etc.. We all benefit from a vibrant forest products industry that allows small landowners like Scot to manage their forests and keep the land in the family. Great job Scot! and Ryan!! Keep up the good work!
Great to see this type of work continuing at all different scales.
Nice story about Scot and Ryan, nice to see fathers and sons working together like that. Hope your new venture works out well for you.
Great story……….family businesses are the backbone of many small area communities.
Great work guy’s!
Maine is known for her fresh air, clean water, and great outdoor recreation. Maine is also the most heavily forested state in the US, with Franklin County being the most heavily forested county, about 90% covered with trees.
Do you think there is a connection here?
Thanks to Scot and Ryan for a great job. What they are doing is happening on many woodlots, un-noticed. We tend in our hurried travels to see the extremes; heavy cutting, development, forest mining, etc. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of well managed woodlots, lurking in plain sight.
For landowners like Scot and Ryan, Every Day is Earthday!
As a wodlot owner myself, I call the work woods therapy. What is better than the physical labor that results in a long term legacy for the land? Cheaper than counseling. These guys are awesome