Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

IP Helps Environment

International Paper Co. is doing its part to save the environment, according to Craig Viscardis, wildlife biologist who works for IP.

People are concerned about the environment, he said, and there's a long way to go. IP, he said, works with forest management.

Protecting the environment, he continued, enhances wildlife habitat, which makes hunting better for the state's outdoorsmen.

In order to enhance wildlife habitat, Viscardis said IP has gotten away from block configuration clear cutting. While the company still clear cuts, it now lets the land dictate how the cutting is done.

This, he said, leaves a more natural edge for the forest and makes it better for the animals.

Where clear cutting is done, he said, no more than 100 acres are cut at any one time. Last year IP's clear cuts were less than 100 acres on average.

And, Viscardis said, this acreage is replanted with more trees than was taken. He said IP doesn't cut around this area for five years, and the company has a seven-year age diversity between its stands.

IP, he said, is working for a healthy animal population for recreational purposes. The company primarily focuses on improving the land for deer, because deer is the only big game in Arkansas, for the most part.

Because of the work done for deer, the turkey population is also growing and improving, Viscardis said. Though turkey is not a big game, it is a popular bird for hunters to seek.

Viscardis said all of IP's land is not pine timber. There is plenty of wetlands, he told the club. The wetlands allow the company to work with other species, such as wood ducks.

IP has placed waxed boxes in wetland areas as nesting places for the ducks.

Bluebirds are also aided by IP, he said. The company purchases bluebird houses which are then either given away to the public or placed in the wild.

While IP is working with the red cockheaded woodpecker, there is not much the company can do.

According to Viscardis, these woodpeckers need trees that are 60 to 70 years old. IP has few trees this old.

The trees must also be in an open area and suffer from a disease called heart rot. Viscardis said it will come to the point where the U.S. Forestry Service will have to work with these birds on public lands.

In addition to working with hunters and leasing out its properties, IP works with groups such as Ducks Unlimited to promote environmental issues and conservation.