{"id":18613,"date":"2021-11-22T09:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T13:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=18613"},"modified":"2025-07-31T12:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:56:06","slug":"htirc-exclusion-fencing-practices-available-through-usda-to-enhance-tree-regeneration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/htirc-exclusion-fencing-practices-available-through-usda-to-enhance-tree-regeneration\/","title":{"rendered":"HTIRC: Exclusion Fencing Practices Available Through USDA to Enhance Tree Regeneration"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Plastic<\/a>Hardwood Tree Improvement & Regeneration Center (HTIRC) Newsletter:<\/em><\/a> USDA conservation programs provide technical and financial incentives for landowners to install and maintain conservation practices, including tree plantations. They are an important tool to help encourage landowners to make an investment in long-term activities like planting hardwood trees. Research across the eastern US, including work done by the HTIRC, demonstrates that deer browse can be one of the most significant barriers to establishment of a successful tree plantings. Deer may increase mortality, but more often they are preventing planted or naturally regenerating trees from growing in height due to repeated browsing. This damage can also deform trees, resulting in poor stem form and lower potential log quality. Plantations where deer selectively browse desirable species may lose important species like oaks due to overtopping by less favored, and therefore less browsed, species that become free to grow. Reducing the damage done by deer browse is an important, and in many locations the most critical step in successful tree planting establishment in many areas across the eastern US.<\/p>\n

One of the primary purposes for these conservation tree plantings is developing forest wildlife habitat, but to successfully establish that habitat may require excluding deer for a few years, until the trees are tall enough to continue growing past the deer browse damage. Fortunately, many state Natural Resource Conservation Service offices are recognizing the impact that deer browse is having on establishing successful conservation tree plantings. To address this barrier to successfully establishing tree plantings and natural regeneration, new scenarios are being added to the Tree and Shrub Establishment practice:<\/p>\n