Leonard Ellis of Florence touts forestry as a crop
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Could hardwood trees on city property be a source of revenue for the city? Leonard Ellis of Florence thinks so.
Ellis was influential in persuading Florence City Council to seek certification of 18.5 acres of trees located within the city limits along the Cottonwood River and Doyle Creek.
Ellis said Florence is the only municipality in Kansas with a certified tree farm under the American Tree Farm System.
The 65-year-old Ellis, who has lived in Florence since 1964, recently was appointed by the city council as project manager.
With the assistance of other volunteers, he has spent the past year and a half clearing brush from forested areas belonging to the city and identifying valuable hardwood trees.
He has a special fondness for black walnut trees, as they are the most valuable of all hardwoods grown in the United States.
"I've made my livelihood off walnut trees," he said. "Walnut is to a man what a diamond is to a woman."
He said many gun stocks are made of walnut.
Ellis has been involved in forestry for 42 years. He buys standing trees from private property owners, hires the trees harvested, and sells the logs to hardwood mills.
"I never have to go look for the wood," he said. "People call me all the time."
He can tell by looking at a tree how valuable it is. He looks for such things as length, diameter, and straightness. The longer the logs, the higher they grade.
The most he has ever paid for a standing walnut tree was $1,277, but the average price is $50-$80.
As project manager for the Florence tree farm, he places an orange band around young walnut trees and walnut seedlings, and provides room for them to grow.
He said if a walnut tree is left alone, it may take 60 to 70 years to grow to harvestable size, but if it is managed well, it will mature in 35 to 40 years. A tree is harvestable when it is 16 inches in diameter.
According to Ellis, a walnut tree needs 12 feet of clearance at the base and two feet of clearance at the crown to grow at its maximum rate. It is not shade tolerant.
The first forested area he worked on at Florence was adjacent to the sewer ponds, where he identified 48 walnut trees. They range from four to 14 inches in diameter.
Clearing out the brush and excess growth in that area served another purpose. It provides more airflow over the sewer ponds, thus providing more evaporation.
After clearing the south side of the sewer ponds, he and his men are working on the east side of the Cottonwood River, and next will work the west bank.
With Ellis' assistance, the city applied for a grant to purchase 2,000 black walnut seedlings. The grant will come from the National Lumber Hardwood Association.
The seedlings will be planted in open spaces adjacent to forested areas and also between the trees wherever space warrants.
Ellis and his men will spend the fall and winter preparing the sites. The seedlings will be planted in the spring.
Within 38 to 40 years, Ellis contends, the city ought to be able to sell walnut wood.
Ellis has purchased wood from across the state. He said even western Kansas has 5- to 10-acre groves of trees. Under the Homestead Act, the federal government granted additional land to homesteaders who planted trees.
Ellis said landowners often don't see walnut as a marketable crop. He encourages farmers with trees on their property to consider certifying them and managing them as a crop. He said they also should consider planting walnut tree seedlings as a crop to be harvested in future generations.
The NRCS administers the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which provides cost-sharing for forestry management. EQIP covers 50 percent of the cost landowners incur to thin out undesirable trees and replant or prune desirable ones to help ensure better forest lands for the future.
The Conservation Reserve Program encourages farmers to voluntarily plant permanent areas of trees to protect land from erosion and provide habitat for wildlife.
Local extension agents and Kansas Forest Service provide information to farmers and ranchers about potential benefits from woodlands.
Ellis is vice president of the Kansas Forest Products Association, which holds field days every year and publishes information on practicing sustainable forestry.
He also is chairman of the Kansas Tree Farm Association. The goal of the association is "to promote the growing of renewable forest resources on private lands
"There are 116 certified tree farms in Kansas, but there should be 400-500," Ellis said. "Everybody with 10 acres or more should be certified."
"Timber is America's only renewable resource that will renew in a person's lifetime," he added. "Timber in Kansas is renewing itself twice as fast as it is being harvested."
Ellis is a retired military man, having served 23 years in the National Guard. He loves his work in forestry and hopes a younger person will step in to fill his shoes when he no longer can manage Florence Tree Farm.
That time may be a long way off as he doesn't plan to quit anytime soon.
"I'll die in the trees," he said.
