Today's (20april2022) ForestConnect webinar was by Steve Roberge of UNH, NH state extension forester.  Steve was presenting from work done at UNH about tactics that loggers and foresters use, voluntarily, to stabilize their logging site and ensure they can continue to access and work their job during extreme weather events. Winters are often without snow or freezing and ground conditions might limit production. This…

Some foods give us gas, but gas is what ultimately gives us maple syrup. If not for gas bubbles in the wood, sap wouldn’t flow. Who knew maple trees were CO₂ powered?

A mere two decades ago, arborists were at a loss to explain what caused maple sap run. We'd typically mumble something about transpirational vacuum in the canopy before changing the subject. Everyone knows sap runs when warm days follow freezing nights. But it wasn’t until recently that the mechanism behind…

Looking for a way to enhance property value, save energy costs, boost mental health, and help the planet in one simple, low-cost step? Yeah, me too. Let me know if you think of something.

Seriously, though, a few well-placed trees in one’s yard typically add at least 5% to a property’s value. Having large older specimens (of trees, I mean) around the house can push that figure close to 20%. In terms of energy savings, deciduous trees on the southern and western sides of a house tend…

Beech Gone Wild: Raging Hormones

The American beech (Fagus grandifolia) has been slowly dying out for the last 140 years. As a result, beech saplings have overrun many woodlots, making them less diverse, less vigorous, and less valuable.

That’s right – beech decline has led to a beech proliferation so extreme that in some places they are a barrier to forest regeneration. I’d call this an oxymoron, but don’t want to insult the bovine community. Strategies do exist to…

Where There’s Smoke

An upswing in woodstove use might sound yawn-worthy, but recent findings about the dire health effects of wood smoke might mean the long-term future of wood as a heating fuel is in question.

As someone who grew up with wood heat, I assumed  it was hands-down one of the most sustainable, eco-positive fuels for home heating. Like many other widely shared conventions, it turns out the veracity of that assumption depends on a lot of things.

How many…

Lips and Walls: Digging into Tree Decay

When clients call about decay in large older trees, every so often it’s necessary to respond that I’m not interested in hearing any lip from them. I do this respectfully of course.

It’s a frequent misconception that the roll of callus tissue or “lip” that trees produce at the margins of a wound will cause, or at least accelerate, trunk rot by catching and holding a small amount of rainwater. It makes perfect sense to us that if an open…

- 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…