Currently there are some ares of NY (and the NE) where the emerald ash borer (EAB) impact has resulted in significant mortality of ash, yet other areas without evidence of mortality. The unfortunate reality is that EAB will almost certainly infest all acres of NY woodlands that have ash, and the result will be widespread mortality. 

There are efforts at finding biocontrol agents, and we can remain optimistic that those will prove effective. These scientists are suggesting that while…

Crabby Apples and Other Complaints

We waited a long time for summer to arrive this year, so it is unfair that some flowering crabapples are turning yellow and brown and shedding their leaves already. Mountain-ash, serviceberry, and hawthorn are also affected by the same disorder. Here and there a few maples and other species are also dropping random leaves, which are for the most part still green, often with patches of black or brown. The latter situation has a different origin, but…

The role of sustainably managed forests in climate change mitigation.

Steven Ruddell R. Sampson Matt Smith R. Giffen James Cathcart John Hagan Daniel Sosland John Godbee John Heissenbuttel Stephen Lovett ... Show more

Journal of Forestry, Volume 105, Issue 6, September 2007, Pages 314–319, https://doi.org/10.1093/jof/105.6.314

Published: 01 September 2007

See the pdf in the link.

An early paper on managing forests for…

Oak Wilt

It’s hard to be cheerful in a job where I am expected to keep up on each newly arrived or imminent threat from invasive insects, novel plant diseases, and worrisome trends in the environment. Although I typically deflate everyone’s happy-bubble when I give a talk, I’ve discovered we need not fret that the sky is going to fall.

The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) is a joint effort of research institutions, government agencies and nonprofit groups; their…

Fish Forestry

As many anglers know, trees and fish are closely related. Really; it goes way beyond basswood. The relationship is not in the sense of phylum or family, of course. And it's not like the way in which tomatoes and fish were briefly married in a 1996 experiment at Oakland, California-based DNA Plant Technology in an attempt to get a frost-tolerant tomato (or possibly a saucy fish). If it weren’t for tree cover, cold-water fish species would not survive in most of the…

Maple Motion Sickness

No one wants to be told they have a weathered complexion, but many trees this summer, especially maples, are looking a bit worse for the wear as a result of conditions earlier in the season. “Leaf tatter” is a term used to describe foliage which may be torn and bedraggled-looking, distorted, sometimes with blackened spots or zones. It can easily look like a disease or mysterious pest is ravaging the tree.

As tree buds open and young leaves begin to unfurl,…

The attached was provided at the New England Society of American Foresters meeting in Burlington, VT.

• CITATION: Smallidge, P.J. and B.J. Chedzoy. 2019. Slash walls to protect forest regeneration: contracts, costs and preliminary effectiveness. Presentation on 3/28/2019 to the New England Society of American Foresters, Burlington, VT. Images and narration residing at http://CornellForestConnect.ning.com…

(N)ice Meadows

Now that the weather has finally warmed up, we can appreciate ice a little more. Among other things, ice greatly improves summertime drinks, and an icy watermelon is hands-down better than a warm one. And in this part of the world, ice also provides us with unique wildflower meadows. Along stretches of riverbank in the southern Adirondacks, rare Arctic-type flowers are blooming now in the fragile slices of native grasslands that are meticulously groomed each year by the…

Grown in Britain support for Committee on Climate Change Report

"The report recommends:

• Afforestation of around 30,000 hectares per year (increasing woodland cover from the current 13% of UK land area to 17%), combining this with an increase in active woodland management, increases the net forestry…

NYFOA's WFL chapter F4C initiative received a nice load of split and debarked ash from Wagner Hardwood this week.  Volunteer watch your e-mails for the dates and times of upcoming workdays. 

Most Things in Moderation

As a teenager, my son had a saying, whether original or borrowed I don’t know (the saying, that is), which went something like “All things in moderation. Especially moderation.” It would seem Mother Nature took that to heart, and dispensed with moderate rainfall and snow melt this spring. If not her, then maybe it was Creepy Uncle Climate Change. At any rate, the resultant flooding has been heartbreaking to observe.

While I am of course sensitive to…

A New Silent Spring: Where Are the Turkeys?

"That habitat is declining, including on our national forests. The acreage of timber harvested on federal land has fallen dramatically in the last 30 years, thanks mostly to environmentalists. The mere mention of cutting a tree in a national forest is often met with a lawsuit, even though timber harvest ultimately results in outstanding wildlife habitat. Even private landowners are cutting fewer trees.

Those that do often replace…

Plant a Legacy on Arbor Day

Muskrat Week. Velcro Month. Arbor Day. You know it’s an obscure event when the greeting-card trade hasn’t bothered to capitalize on it. While not the best-known observance, Arbor Day has a respectable history, as well as a local connection.

Rooted in northern NY, Arbor Day is observed on the last Friday in April. J. Sterling Morton of Adams, NY germinated the concept in 1872 to highlight the need to conserve topsoil and increase timber in his adopted…

Geographical Sciences researchers develop new system to map MD forests’ potential to store carbon in the future

Developing an Understanding of Carbon Sequestration-Northeastern Woodlands

It was suggested by Brett Chedzoy that I develop a blog on the issue of carbon sequestration as it applied to forests and forest management decisions. Much of the emerging forestry science on the subject is counter-intuitive and perhaps that is what leads to the confusion. The other confusing issues are  that carbon production/release, carbon sequestration, and climate change are…

Carbon sequestration: Managing forests in uncertain times. Valentin Bellassen & Sebastiaan Luyssaert…

If anyone needs DEC pesticide Credits, this course was just approved for NYSDEC Pesticide Credits as follows:

5.50 in Categories 2, 3a, 9 and 10;

4.50 in Category 25;

3.00 in 6a;

1.00 in 1a.

ISA CEU Credit also pre-approved.

See sidebar under Upcoming Events for details.

• Sample Location: Swamps near Dodge Pond in Lyman
• Scientific Name: Prunus serotina

The black cherry tree is widely distributed in the eastern half of North America.  It grows everywhere in the United States east of the Mississippi River, except for the lower portion of that river valley itself, far northern Maine, and south of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.  It can also be found in the Canadian Maritimes, the Midwest as far west as eastern Kansas and…

Unnatural Selection

Paul Hetzler

After a winter fraught with temperature swings, ice and near-record cold such as this past one, being able to finally plant things outdoors is especially welcome. While flowers can be dug up and replanted around the yard much like arranging the lawn furniture, it is different with trees.

Consider that the act of planting a tree is in many ways a transcendent one. Sure, a new tree will give us shade, beauty, energy savings and increased…