Thinning the CREP Acres on 1/16/2018

We got the go ahead to thin our CREP acres this year. Our neighbor Forrest Shetler is cutting the trees. It is such tight spacing that the trees don't fall down, so we use the Jr Arch to pull them down, then limb and cut to firewood length. The trees are big for their age and not yet shutting down, so perfect timing for thinning. They were planted at 440 trees per acre and we have the OK to thin to 300 trees per acre. That should give them lots of room to grow. We just signed the new CREP contract. Old one for 15 years completed in 2016, which makes the trees 16 years in the ground. We did have a few planted by Boy Scouts a couple of years into the project, so some of these trees are a bit younger. The first stand that we are thinning is in the upper field. A beautiful stand of trees. The cedar are amazing due to Eve's diligence in protecting them from the elk.