Forest workers on the Netzenberg do tabula rasa this week.
The Schwabsoier have to say goodbye to their spruce and ash forest, which is on the edge of an area of 2.3 hectares.
Schwabsoien - It will take decades before a new mixed oak forest with hornbeam, winter linden and bird cherry has established itself instead of the spruce and ash.
Nevertheless, the intervention on the Netzenberg is considered to be ecologically sensible and valuable.
The municipality of Schwabsoien receives plenty of eco-points for the forest conversion.
Citizens' anger is gone
What did ex-town hall chief Siegfried Neumann not have to hear from his citizens two years ago when the community's plans were announced, which are now being implemented with considerable delay.
"I did not expect that community forest management would make these waves," Neumann admitted at the end of a memorable information event.
In that one had seen the Schwabsoier as angry as seldom before.
“I don't care about those damn dirty eco points,” rumbled a lady who was afraid that one day a whole slope of the Netzenberg might come towards her.
Other Schwabsoier also rebelled and were about to initiate a referendum until the Dienhausen district forester Bernhard Schäfer jumped to the side of the community.
At the assembly in the town hall he introduced himself as a “new citizen” of Schwabsoien and brought objectivity to the discussion.
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Ex-town hall chief Siegfried Neumann got a lot of trouble with the citizens two years ago because of the planned forest conversion.
The minds have calmed down.
© Jörg von Rohland
Two years later, the outrage has long since subsided.
Nor was she the reason it took so long before the chainsaws howl.
Because of the unfavorable weather, the work had to be postponed time and time again.
For example, in 2020 the winter was too mild and the autumn too wet.
The machines would have caused too much damage to the corridor.
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The district road to Dienhausen is expected to remain closed to traffic during the entire working week.
© Hans-Helmut Herold
Now the cold spell we had hoped for finally seemed to come.
The responsible forest inspector Silvia Thien looked on Monday with concern at the temperatures that were already rising again.
Thien reported that when the decision was made to start the work, the cold would last for a long time.
"It's a bit of a shame, but I hope it works anyway," said the specialist, looking at a possible interruption.
Road to Dienhausen closed all week during the day
In any case, it started on Saturday as planned.
A wood harvester began to cut the spruce and ash on the mountain, and this week the workers will work their way down to the county road with their chainsaws.
The connection from Schwabsoien to Dienhausen is closed daily between 6.30 a.m. and 6 p.m., traffic is diverted via the B17.
Not all trees fall on the Netzenberg
Silvia Thien emphasizes once again that not all trees fall on the Netzenberg.
The pine forest remains on a partial area to the south.
Sheep will graze in it in the future.
That is also part of the eco-account, explains Thien.
In the future, the municipality of Schwabsoien will collect so-called eco-points on the account, with which it can in turn compensate for its building land designations without compensation areas.
If too many of the newly planted trees are eaten, the hunter must act
According to Thien, sporadic pines and deciduous trees remain on the other areas of the Netzenberg.
They are then joined by around 6,800 small trees in April that are planted.
So that these are not immediately eaten up by the deer, they are coated with bite protection agents.
According to Thien, fencing of the site is not planned.
The chief forestry inspector rather makes the hunters responsible, who have to shoot more game if too much browsing.
“You don't put a rabbit in your vegetable garden,” she explains.
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