- check back for details on the webinars 15 sept 2021 and 17 nov 2021

Garmin GLO 2 https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/645104 ;

Painting Our Way Out of a Corner

It’s normal to tune out all the Chicken Littles (such as yours truly) who run around squawking about this or that invasive forest pest or disease that pose a threat to trees. I mean, how many times can the sky fall, anyway? But the real danger is when we feel so overwhelmed that we throw up our hands. Thinking we can’t make a difference could result in more harm to forests than the pests themselves.

There’s a pithy fable about a child who…

Like a B-grade horror film sequel, the aliens have awakened once again. Perhaps we felt a glimmer of hope at the end of the 2020 version when an entire generation of ruthless monsters died off in droves and left us in peace. But remember that closing shot of their disgusting, furry egg-mass blobs cleverly hidden out of sight? Well they’re hatching now.

If you missed last year’s gypsy moth performance, you have a better chance of catching it this season. Unfortunately. Based on…

Over the past 2 years, many counties across NYS have experienced gypsy moth outbreaks and based on the density of egg masses recorded in some areas of the state, it might very well be another high population year. Calls and emails have already started coming in from concerned individuals who experienced tree defoliation last year or have noticed egg masses lining the branches of their trees. Over the weekend, I was weeding along the side of my house and thought I saw ants crawling along the…

Do Nothing about Invasive Plants

Paul Hetzler, ISA Ceritfied Arborist

Until recently, ignoring problems in hopes they’ll go away hasn’t served me well. However, a decade-long study done by Cornell University researchers has clearly shown that avoidance is the best way to manage garlic mustard (Allaria petiolata), a pernicious exotic plant. Evidently I’ve been doing a great job in the fight against this aggressive and troublesome invader.

Native to most of Europe…

Tree Buds: Honest Friends

How to distinguish one leaf-bereft hardwood from another in winter is more of a challenge than summer tree ID, but there are practical reasons – and a few offbeat incentives – to tell one species from another in the dormant season. Hikers and skiers can benefit from such a skill, and in survival situations, hydration and warmth may depend on it. And if you’re among those who adore wintertime camping, you can have more fun when you know common woody…

On March 11, 2021 we had the pleasure of working with colleagues from Yale School of Forestry (Dr. Joe Orefice) and a private consultant (Jeff Jourdain) to zoom with natural resource professional of the NY Soil and Water Conservation District Annual meeting.  The session we offered was titled "Restoring Ecological Function and Production to Woodlands." This blog is our way to share documents mentioned during that training or otherwise of interest to participants and practitioners in…

Sapsuckers and Other Insults

Icebreaker exercises are apparently meant to help awkward group events like staff development days feel even less comfortable. I recall a workplace training where we had to inform the group what animal best represented our personality. I was going to say “squirrel” but got distracted by something out the window, and forgot. In retrospect I should have chosen the yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), since I spent much of that same event…

Wooden You Know

As a card-carrying, registered tree hugger, I have long touted the benefits of trees such as carbon storage, energy savings and improved mental health. And beyond the familiar tree-related blessings such as maple syrup, lumber and firewood, I’ve written about some obscure things like birch-based candy that fights tooth decay, and health-promoting chaga tea derived from a birch fungus. Then there’s basswood bark for fiber, elm bark for baskets, and pine bark for lunch.…

Wooden You Know

As a card-carrying, registered tree hugger, I have long touted the benefits of trees such as carbon storage, energy savings and improved mental health. And beyond the familiar tree-related blessings such as maple syrup, lumber and firewood, I’ve written about some obscure things like birch-based candy that fights tooth decay, and health-promoting chaga tea derived from a birch fungus. Then there’s basswood bark for fiber, elm bark for baskets, and pine bark for lunch.…

The 2020 webinar season started and ended with presentations about pollinators. 

I'll add to this blog over the next few days. Check back as I gather more information to share.

The February webinar was by Dr. Sheldon Owen of West Virginia University. The archive is linked here.

Habitat needs and management for the Monarch…

There is no shortage of evidence to document that deer negatively impact the forest 

regeneration process. A presentation on 12/8/2020 for Penn State University Cooperative Extension addressed the basic strategies to limit deer impacts and some tactics within the deer exclusion strategy.

Slides 2 and 3 include several resources that relate to the topic, include links to scientific papers that are publicly accessible.  

The presentation here as a pdf. …

Pining for the Good Old Days

Children around the globe will be disappointed on Christmas if the World Health Organization doesn’t exempt Santa from COVID-19 restrictions. But I’m sure they will. Due to the pandemic, many authorities advise that we celebrate in our respective households this year; no visitors. Yikes! Looks like we’ll have to rely on past memories for the holidays in 2020, which is bad news for those of us who can’t keep track of our car keys for two…

Messengers, Not Miscreants

If you get bad news about one of your trees, kindly don’t blame the messenger. Even if – especially if – they vandalize that very tree. It could save a lot of trouble, and possibly your life, to heed their memo.

Although it’s captivating to watch a big prehistoric-looking woodpecker chisel away at a rotten snag in the forest, the same performance loses its charm when it jack-hammers a hole in your perfectly good tree. The thing is, no matter how…

With the close of 2020, and the 4th year of the sugarbush thinning project at 

Cornell's Arnot Forest, I preparing for a variety of "maple schools" that will happen. With the pressures of covid, most of these will be online. 

Some people will benefit from a printed copy of my presentation, which I share here.  I'll make updates as necessary.

Link to the most current version of the sugarbush thinning presentation.

(full slides) …

Fall Color Conspiracy

Conspiracy hypotheses (or theories, as we like to call them, since “hypotheses” cannot be uttered without a lisp) seem to multiply unfettered these days, so I feel awkward birthing yet another. But you may be intrigued to learn that the wide spectrum of color in the region’s fall foliage is largely the result of a Depression-era project implemented by the Hoover Administration.

We live in one of the few places on Earth where trees produce such a…

Pine Whisperers

The term psithurism (sith-er-izm) doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s not meant to. The word, from the Greek psithuros (whisper), indicates the melody that rolls off pine needles in a gentle wind. It also means the sound of “proper” leaves shaking in the treetops. Obviously, we need another word, because these two things – whispering pines and rustling leaves – may both soothe us, but they sound quite different.

In our little home in the…

Tree Protection

Paul Hetzler, ISA Certified Arborist

As someone whose job it is to help preserve trees, I find it ironic that in nearly every case I am saving them from us. We injure their root systems, whack them with mowers and weed-eaters, plant them too deeply, and do many other things which jeopardize their health. It would be terrifying if they could fight back in the manner of Tolkien’s magical Fangorn Forest. For one thing, tree work would be a lot more dangerous than…

Maples on the Move

Unless trees are wondrously furtive, I’m pretty sure they don’t travel. But their species ranges can. A report from the US Forest Service’s Northern Research Station indicates that due to climate change, 70% of Eastern tree species have already begun to shift their ranges to the north. The authors admit this is not a new trend, but rather the hastening of an old one:

“Tree ranges in ancient times certainly shifted according to changing climates, but the…