Thanks for the info to all of you.

BSK - our land is old farmland that was not worked since 1961 (except for 2 feilds - 15 acres total - that we reclaimed 4-5 years ago)

The "blocks" of different stages of cover are old feilds, and pasture of different ages. No block is larger than 15 acres. We are currently falling 30+ yr old poplars in 100 ft x 100 ft irregular sections where they exist to open the canopy and provide "islands" of cover and thick growth as the light will now reach the floor. In your experience, will patchwork clearcutting like this be as beneficial as 2 acre clearcutting? Our intention is to increase the diverity of these "same age" blocks by creating new growth, through these selective clearcuts. Some of these sections also contain 8-10" maples/ash/cherry that we are leaving standing as we drop the aspen around them to provide seed trees and possibly be available for logging at a later date.

Anyone's thoughts are appreciated.