Dr. Susan Stout (USFS, retired, Research Forester Emerita) presented a ForestConnect webinar on June 21 that explained the history and utility of relative density.  Dr. Stout explained relative density in the context of "stand density index", "tree-area ration" and ultimately the stand stocking charts as developed by Gingrich. All these designed to provide a metric to understand competition among trees and improve production per acre.

The link to the webinar archive is…

(I haven't seen this type of project before, and thought it interesting and worth sharing here.  See contacts below if you have questions. Peter)

The Village of Hastings on Hudson herby invites the submission of proposals

for:

email for information:  Aaron Podhurst <apodhurst@hastingsgov.org>

Hillside Woods and Park Restoration Project Management and

Other Landscaping and Horticultural Services:

Village of Hastings-on-Hudson…

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…

- 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 ;

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…

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. …

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) …

This blog is a link to the webinar on this topic on Wednesday March 18, 2020.  

Best Practices on a Small Wooded Acreage.

Many woodland owners have parcels that are “small” compared to other owners. These parcels are endearing to the owners, and provide many opportunities for activities to ensure they remain healthy and support the owner’s interests.…

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…

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…

Many woodland owners harvest timber, yet wonder how to handle (optimize) the tax liability.  The "go to" website is www.timbertax.org

Another resource is from the USFS Timber Tax team and their annual timber tax "tips" attached here  TaxTips2018.pdf

If you enjoy working in your woodlot and struggle with the undesirable trees that you may not have time and skill to safely fell, this study is designed to find a solution for you.

Many woodland owners have a large number of undesirable trees, or large trees, they would like to kill, yet they lack the skill or time to safely fell these trees. Felling also may not be desirable because of the risk of damage to nearby…

Cornell's ForestConnect program is facilitating a network of forest vegetation practitioners to identify research needs and collectively build knowledge of safe and effective techniques. This network will focus on vegetation management in forest and woodlot environments using herbicide, mechanical or livestock methods. 

   You can help this network and identify needs…

Almost 3 million acres of forest in the Northeast is poorly stocked from some combination of exploitive harvesting, poor soils, disease, or insect infestation. An additional 7.5 million acres is one poorly executed harvest away from being of degraded condition. Exploitive harvesting, also known as selective cutting, high-grading or diameter-limit cutting, is a destructive and…

The title of this blog is that of the recent webinar by Dr. Ralph Nyland, presented on June 21, 2017.  The webinar is archived at www.youtube.com/ForestConnect and there is a direct link below.

Ralph focused his presentation on three topics. 

1. How much residual basal area (relative density) should you leave during a thinning? The short answer is 60% relative density, allowing regrowth to 80% before thinning again.…

Sugarbush management is an important part of the responsibility of maple producers to ensure healthy and productive trees.  Like all the duties of a maple producer, learning how to manage your sugarbush will take some time, involve learning new skills, benefit with assistance from others who are more knowledgeable, and take some time to achieve mastery.

An article…

Google Earth and Web Soil Survey

Google Earth Pro is free software that allows the user to visualize specific locations any place on 

earth.  Google Earth Pro (GEP) is available free to download from this web URL  https://www.google.com/earth/download/gep/agree.html

Woodland owners can obtain useful data from GEP.  GEP allows the user to draw property boundaries, locate positions…

I just came across a new Forest Science Fact Sheet publication by Dave Jackson of PSU on the ecology and management of ferns.  If you're dealing with ferns, this is a great resource.  I've pasted the first paragraph below, and linked to the full publication. The publication is developed in the context of Pennsylvania's forests, but the message and content has application…

Roadside trees present special considerations for management given their crown may have an imbalance of sunlight and thus crown architecture, and because if the tree fails the consequences may impact transportation or public utility

rights-of way.…