Scarred for Life

Paul Hetzler, ISA Certified Arborist

It makes sense that dying trees have terminal bud scars. Sounds like an awful condition – my condolences. But the healthiest trees have them, too (terminal scars, not condolences). It’s a good thing, since terminal bud (aka bud-scale) scars provide an excellent way to leaf through a tree’s health records going back 5 to 10 years.

After a woody plant has its full complement of leaves, and they have hardened off, that…

Treeconomics 101: Color-Coded Prosperity

Deciduous trees, lakeside ice-cream stands, and marinas all close down each autumn for the same reason: as daylight dwindles and cold creeps in, their outfits become less and less profitable. At a certain point it makes sense to batten the hatches until the following spring.



Some enterprising holdouts stay open longer; perhaps they have a cost advantage others do not, or have less competition. A few are the opposite, closing shop…

"In addition to cleaning the air and water, forests hold a tremendous amount of sequestered carbon. When trees die and then decay on the forest floor, that carbon is released into the atmosphere, a phenomenon that is one of the drivers of climate change. A first-of-its-kind study by a team that included the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and Purdue University scientists finds that non-native invasive insects and diseases are reducing the amount of…

On Weds, Sep 11 a little over two face cords were cut between 9AM and about 11:30.  David D, Jim M., Greg L. and Dave K. worked the shift.  A neighbor from down the street stopped in and worked for about an hour.

During the break we discussed the need for more volunteers.  Get in touch if you would like to volunteer or get more information.…

Beech Health Update

Paul Hetzler, ISA Certified Arborist

In the early 19^th century, a Prussian diplomat asserted that “when France sneezes, the whole of Europe catches a cold.” Things changed, obviously. For a long while it has been an American financial sneeze able to make the world ill. Though China’s economy is projected to soon zip past ours, other countries still put hankies to their faces when the USA coughs.

Canada has been covering up for some time…

Forest Health Forecast

If you’re tired of hearing about new invasive forest pests, I’m right there with you. Seems they arrive at an ever-increasing pace, and the harm potential ratchets up with each newcomer. At this rate maybe we’ll get a wood-boring beetle whose larvae explode, which would put things in perspective. As distasteful as it is to peer at the cast of ugly new characters, it’s better to know what we’re up against.

Novel pests put everyone on a steep learning…

On August 21st volunteers from NYFOA's WFL Chapter Firewood 4 Charity initiative and Wagner Hardwoods visited Rotary Camp Onseyawa.  The camp benefits from the money raised when the Rotary sells the firewood produced by the initiative.  Wagner Hardwoods delivers donated logs to the work yard where volunteers work year around to produce 40+ face cords. If you would like to learn more or join the group send an E-mail requesting information to …

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…