The Silvertip Tree Farm,as it is now called,was originally 520 acres of patented,iron ore mining claims partially owned by my wife Gena's great grandfather.The property lies between 7500'-8600' in elevation in the central Sierra Nevada, not far from Yosemite National Park.It is within this region that some of the largest trees on earth grow.Everyone is familiar with the Giant Sequoia and how big they are but this area is also home to some of the largest Sugar Pine,Yellow Pine,and Red Fir.It is not uncommon for these trees to reach 10' in diameter and 200' tall.While most of these trees are long gone,there are still a few around.Unfortunately there are none left on our property.... only remnants. Although no mining actually took place on the property,in the early stages of exploration all merchantable timber was removed and left the land void of all "old growth"trees.Since we're in the reforestation business,this has left us with a unique situation.We have been given the opportunity to build a forest from the ground up.
The Silvertip Tree Farm consists almost entirely of young Red Fir trees with some of the larger trees being less than 60 years old.After the property was last logged in the early 1950's large areas of brush took over what once was a fully mature Red Fir forest with trees in excess of 8' in diameter.Harsh weather conditions,poor soil conditions,and these large brush fields have made reforestation efforts extremely challanging but quality young red fir, known as "silvertip fir" from the waxy sheen on their dense, dark-green needles, bring top prices as Christmas trees.Since most of these trees are cultured in natural stands where early growth is slower than most species used as Christmas trees, it can take as long as 15 years before the first harvest.Most of the Silvertip Christmas Trees currently being harvested are between 10-15 years old.These trees are cut approximately 4' off the ground so that the lower limbs will form new tops and create the next generation of Christmas trees.The stands of trees that are too large for Christmas trees are being thinned to promote healthy growth for the future with the residual material being marketed as firewood and small poles. The dead, dying,and diseased larger trees are turned into high quality Red fir lumber using a portable sawmill.Our forest management plan indicates our trees are growing at a rate 3-4 times our harvest rate so it looks like we'll be "farming" for many years to come.
