If I were you, I would thin out the seedlings, and plant some red oak, white oak, and sugar maple seedlings. Keep plenty of the tulip poplars (I'm guessing that's what you're referring to), and if you're feeling optimistic, keep the ashes, too. (It is rather sad to see the magnificent White ashes around here being killed by Emerald Ash Borer). A word of caution, though - you can't grow much under sugar maples. If my memory of forest research is correct, you should be in the Eastern Oak region, right? (I am in the heart of the beech-maple forest - truly beautiful! Unfortunately, there isn't many old-growth tracts left - mostly oak and sugar maple with TONS of seedling and sapling beeches in the understory)

Thanks for your input jimbob! Actually there aren't a heck of a lot of oaks around! We are in "rich cove forest" as defined by Spira in "Wildflowers and Plant Communities". Most of the 100+ ft trees are tulip poplars, hickories, ashes. I have come across about 5 very small maples. We have only 5 acres but I haven't seen many maples in the general area either! Now that I know that the ashes are ashes, I will not remove them. The property is plagued by heaven seedlings as I believe the previous owner cut some VERY large trees down and then burned the stumps....probably the worst thing they could have done!

This area is VERY unlike any forest I've ever been in. No evergreens of any description! No pines, cedars, hollies! I am unfamiliar w/the flora so I will take it easy. I think I'll stick to removing heavens and thistles...

Cove hardwoods - what I've been trying to emulate in my woodland! In that case, you can take advantage of rich ground to grow a huge variety of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. the Southern Appalachians, the Great Smoky Mountains in particular, have tons of beautiful cove forests, many of the acidic type, with hemlock, mountain laurel, rhododendron, and others. Sounds like you have the more neutral, rich cove type of central Appalachia. We don't really have true 'cove forests' around here, but we do have mixed mesophytic forests.

For canopy trees:

-Sugar Maple
-Beech
-White Oak
-White Ash
-Butternut
-Basswood
-Red Oak
-Yellow Buckeye

For understory trees:
-Carolina silverbell
-Mountain maple
-Flowering dogwood
-Yellowwood
-sourwood

The amount of shrubs are endless.

Rich cove forest near Chimneys, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
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Acidic cove forest with yellow birch, hemlock & laurel, along Alum Cave Trail in Smokies - taken in Fall
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And don't forget that oaks are rated the highest in supporting entire food web, according to Doug Tallamy. I am thinning out small maples; they suck up all the water around them, and we have had many years of inadequate rainfall here.

Spira's book is a good one for stuyding plant communities. He also delivers a good presentation, so if you need a speaker on this topic, give him a call. Nice man!