August 2006

Hysop’s Habitat

I’ve always felt lucky to get so much from nature that I want to put something back.” These sentiments led Bob Hysop, a Killarney-area landowner, to use agroforestry principles to expand wildlife habitat on his family’s farm.

“I noticed every year that the number of songbirds was going down and the number of deer in the yard was going up,” said Hysop, a local building consultant and contractor.

Converting 320 acres (129 hectares) to wildlife habitat doesn’t happen overnight. Hysop began by seeding cultivated lands to forage. He then started a shelterbelt program, which really took off when the Manitoba Agro Woodlot Program came along. He has added multiple-row plantings and small blocks of trees and shrubs all through his haylands – more than 50,000 seedlings so far.

With technical and financial assistance from the Manitoba Agro Woodlot Program, he planted seven tree species: green ash, Scots pine, spruce, bur oak, white cedar, Walker poplar and basswood. While Hysop’s main interest is wildlife, these trees offer potential for an alternative timber crop.

His shrub list is a who’s who of wildlife-friendly species: dogwood, cranberry, sea-buckthorn, hazelnut, hedge rose and buffaloberry. When added to the tree mix, they provide cover and a food source for many birds and mammals.

While his plantings have been designed with wildlife in mind, the alley crop design allows him to harvest alfalfa hay if he chooses. The combination of forage stands and tree rows ensures a good snow catch and an extra shot of moisture for all of his plantings each spring.

“The timing of the Agro Woodlot Program has been great,” said Hysop. There is still lots of hard work ahead, but the family is accomplishing their long-term goal of giving something in return for all the pleasure nature has provided over the years.

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