Tag: foresters

Wasp Kills Pines

  • The Sirex woodwasp is killing pinetrees in New York, Pennsylvania and parts of Ontario and seems to be spreading. (Photo by Lester Graham)

Foresters are worried about a wasp that’s killing pine trees. The insect is
spreading through pine forests in northern states. Steve Carmody reports:

Transcript

Foresters are worried about a wasp that’s killing pine trees. The insect is
spreading through pine forests in northern states. Steve Carmody reports:


The female Sirex woodwasp injects a combination of a toxic mucus and a
fungus while laying her eggs in pine trees. The mixture feeds the eggs, but
kills tree cells, often further weakening stressed pines.


In the three years since it first appeared in upstate New York, the Sirex
woodwasp has spread to 25 New York counties, and two counties in
Pennsylvania and part of Ontario.


Bob Heyd, with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, says the Sirex
woodwasp is spreading:


“The wasp is actually very strong fliers. They can fly 70 or 100 miles, so what it
is here… it will disperse very quickly.”


In other countries, forestry officials have found an imported predatory
nematode from the wasp’s home range in Europe has been an effective
biological control. It’s unclear if officials in the US will try the same
tactic.


For the Environment Report, I’m Steve Carmody.

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Companies Push for Forest Certification

  • Magazine publishers and other companies are thinking ahead and getting their paper from forests that have been certified. But what does this really mean? (Photo by Stanley Elliott)

Officials in the Midwest want to prove they’re not damaging their state forests. States that sell timber to paper companies are spending thousands of dollars to earn a certificate that says they’re managing the forests in a sustainable way. Paper producers are demanding that state foresters earn certification because officials want to stave off protests from consumers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:

Transcript

Officials in the Midwest want to prove they’re not damaging their state forests. States that sell timber to paper companies are spending thousand of dollars to earn a certificate that says they’re managing the forests in a sustainable way. Paper producers are demanding that state foresters earn certification because officials want to stave off protests from consumers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:


It’s lunchtime and employees on break from Compuware in downtown Detroit are browisng through the magazine racks at Borders. Melody Kranz says she reads three different magazines every month. She says she is an avid recycler and an impassioned environmentalist, but never considered what kind of paper was going into her magazines.


“I don’t know why I haven’t thought about it, I just haven’t. I will now. Because I’m a gardening nut, I love to garden. So yeah, I just never really thought about it.”


But executive David Refkin is betting that Franz and others like her would think twice before picking up Time Magazine if they thought a forest was demolished to make the paper. Refkin is the Director of Sustainable Development for Time Incorporated. He says he’s noticed a strong surge in environmental awareness over the past two or three years.


“We don’t want people looking at a magazine and feeling guilty that a stream has been damaged and the fish are dying in there, or that habitats aren’t being protected because people are practicing bad forestry practices.”


Refkin says his company wants to take action now, before consumer groups decide to boycott its magazines over ecological issues. Time uses more coated paper for its publications than any other company in the U.S. The company is asking that 80 percent of all paper products Time buys be certified by 2006.


To the average consumer, that may not seem like big news. But for paper producers and foresters, it’s earth shattering. Larry Pedersen is with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Pedersen says getting certified means years of work for state employees. The government has to prove to investigators that its management standards take into account issues such as biodiversity, water quality, soil erosion and wildlife habitat. Pedersen says the state is also required to provide records for each tree from the moments it’s planted or inventoried to the time it’s cut down and then made into planks or paper. But he says it’s worth the effort.


“A number of wood and paper-using companies brought it to our attention that they needed to have certified products because their consumers were demanding those. And with us having four-million acres of state forestlands, we saw the writing on the wall that we needed to jump on this.”


State forests in the region generate a lot of revenue. Wisconsin’s forests earn two and a half million dollars from timber sales and Ohio pulls in almost three million. Michigan’s forests bring in 30 million dollars annually. Earlier this year, Michigan’s Governor Jennifer Granholm announced that all state forests will be certified by January 1st of 2006. And the Great Lakes State is not alone… New York, Wisconsin, and Maine are also pursuing certification and Ohio and other states are considering it.


Andrew Shalit, with the environmental activist group Ecopledge, says he’s glad Time Warner is encouraging paper companies and state governments to get certified. But he says that doesn’t necessarily mean the paper is produced in an environmentally friendly way.


“It’s great to say that they’re going to get all of their paper from certified forests. The question is, who is certifying? And in the case of Time Warner, a lot of the forests are certified by a group called SFI, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and their standards are so weak as to be almost meaningless.”


There’s a heated debate over just what certification means. There are currently two groups that certify forests in the U.S. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, was originally founded by the timber industry but is now an independent body. The Forest Stewardship council, or FSC, came out of the environmental movement… or more specifically, out of the effort to protect South American rainforests. Shalit says he doesn’t think SFI certification is as rigorous or as comprehensive as FSC.


“It really is a problem for the consumer because you see something in the store and it has a little green label on it with a picture of a tree and it says sustainably certified, and you think you’re buying something good. It’s hard for the individual consumer to keep up with that.”


Shalit says several states, like Michigan, have solved the dilemma of rival certification programs by getting dual certification. he says although the system has flaws, it will improve if consumers demand more stringent forestry regulations.


Executives at Time Warner hope they can avoid boycotts and pickets by taking action preemptively. The company is leading the push for forest certification in the U.S., and environmentalists say the federal government may have to bow to pressure eventually and get the national forests certified as well.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.

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Clear-Cut Demonstration Angers Forest’s Neighbors

  • Stands of pine like this have been clear-cut to demonstrate an option that forest owners can take to manage their property. (Photo by Keran McKenzie)

Most forests in the Great Lakes region are privately owned. That concerns the U.S. Forest Service because the agency says many forest owners don’t know how to properly manage their woodlands. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports that a new education project that demonstrates tree-harvesting techniques has angered some residents:

Transcript

Most forests in the Great Lakes region are privately owned. That concerns the U.S.
Forest Service because the agency says many forest owners don’t know how to properly
manage their woodlands. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports that a
new education project that demonstrates tree-harvesting techniques has angered some residents:


(sound of chain saws)


Workers are cutting down trees in a fifty-year-old pine crop. At the same time, state
foresters are leading a botanist, a private tree farmer, and a reporter through this forest
education site. One of the foresters, Rick Miller, is directing the chain saws to show what
needs to be cut for what’s called a “crop tree release.”


“This one here we selected out with the orange flags, the trees that show the best form and
dominance in the crown. They have a nice big healthy crown. And then what we’re doing is removing
any trees that are touching the crowns of those ones that are orange, and just opening it up
to give the crown more room up there to spread out and possibly increase their growth and their
vigor.”


A forest owner who wants to make money off his pine stand might do a crop tree release to
improve the quality of the remaining timber. The bigger the tree, the more money it’s worth
to a logging company.


Heading deeper in, a crop of pine trees lined up like soldiers trails to our right, and wilder
hardwoods shade us from the left. There are signs to demarcate different timbering techniques:
improvement cut, understory removal, selective cut. Project manager Frank Corona stops at one
section of oaks, maples and cherries.


“You have small trees, medium trees, some larger trees. Trees are probably selectively
harvested in here and you have all different ages of trees in this stand…”


The cool shaded path abruptly opens up. The lush canopy is replaced by harsh sunlight.


GRANT: “Oh wow, so this is the clear-cut…”


CORONA: “This is the clear-cut.”


The forest is gone… cut to the ground. All that remains are the 120 hardwood stumps on
the torn-up dirt. Botanist Steve McKee suports construction of the demonstration site.
But he also loves trees.


GRANT: “What do you think when you see that clear-cut?”


MCKEE: “Well, clear-cuts are never pretty, ya know? So, uh, I think the most shocking thing
for me is I’ve walked in this my whole life and it was surprising. But I knew it
was coming too, so…”


But some people in the community say they didn’t know the demonstration project would include
clear-cutting older trees. Anne McCormack hikes the Mohican nearly every day, clearing trails,
cleaning garbage, or enjoying the woods. The education site has been roped off from the public
during construction. But she found out there was a clear-cut demonstration in an old growth
section of the forest.


“So, I just was… I was just shocked. I mean I can’t say anything more. I just felt
terrible for… I felt terrible for the trees that stood there since before white settlers
were even in Mohican. And there they just were bulldozed and chain cut for education.
I mean, it doesn’t add up.”


McCormack’s not the only one who’s upset. A lot of people didn’t realize this is what
the Forest Service had in mind. Back at the clear-cut site, Corona says many trees suffer
from disease when they mature to 120 years. He says it’s a good age for private land owners
to consider the clear-cut option.


“This was a time where before they would rot out or anything and we see more damage, more
susceptibility health-wise in the entire stand, we could make a harvest in here and utilize
those trees and start this whole new cycle of growth in here.”


The foresters and forest owners say clear-cutting is a viable option, and just one of the
many examples at the demonstration project in the Mohican forest.


Tree farmer Scott Galloway says people need to understand that owning a forest is another
form of family farming. For instance, he got a call recently from a man who inherited 30
acres and needed money right away. He doesn’t know how to manage his tree crop.


“Where does he go? How do you make the right decisions quickly? The faster he can make
decisions, in his lifetime with his forest, the sooner he’ll be able to enjoy the benefits
of those decisions. It’s all about forestry, wildlife, natural resources. So the more education he
can get, the better those decisions will be and the better off all of us are environmentally because of it.”


The Forest Service says a demonstration project is needed because forest acreage is getting
cut up into smaller and smaller parcels. That means the forests are owned by more and more
people who need to know how to manage their timber. The Forest Service hopes this project
will help them make better decisions.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Julie Grant.

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The Challenge of Managing Fragmented Forests

In the Great Lakes states, many of the original forests were cut down. They were cleared for homesteading, farming, and for the wood that fueled the age of steam. But over the past several decades, some of the forests have been growing back. Many of the new forests are confined to small patches or woodlots surrounded by farm fields. These woodlots are small havens for animals. But some foresters, biologists, and environmental groups are concerned that those forests are simply too small and too fragmented. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cristina Rumbaitis-del Rio prepared this report:

Transcript

In the Great Lakes States, many of the original forests were cut down. They were cleared for
homesteading, farming, and for the wood that fueled the age of steam. But over the past several
decades, some of the forests have been growing back. Many of the new forests are confined to
small patches or woodlots surrounded by farm fields. These woodlots are small havens for many
animals. But some foresters, biologists, and environmental groups are concerned that those
forests are simply too small and too fragmented. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cristina
Rumbaitis(rum-bite-us)-del rio (del-rhee-o) prepared this report:


(Natural sounds – walking through leaves underneath) & Thomas Grubb talking:
“This little woodlot is large enough to house one pair of downy woodpeckers and one pair of
white breasted nuthatches.”


Thomas Grubb is a Biology Professor at Ohio State University. Instead of lecturing to a classroom
today, he’s strolling through a small, private woodlot next to a cornfield in central Ohio. This is
one of the study sites where he looks at how forest fragmentation affects woodland bird species.


He says just as in many areas of the Midwest, Ohio’s forests are highly fragmented because
instead of having the forest concentrated in one big area, the forests are carved up into small
patches, scattered throughout a largely agricultural landscape. While 90% of Ohio was covered
with forest before European settlement, now less than a third of the state is considered forested.
And according to Grubb, this part of Ohio has even less forest.


“This plot is about 3% forested and that’s not much forest. This landscape is probably as little
forested as any you’re likely to find.”


Grubb and his students are working with woodlot owners to see if the size of a woodlot affects
the number of birds living there and their survival. He says bird survival is better in larger
woodlots than in smaller ones.


“One of the things we think is happening in these small woodlots, these permanent resident birds
that are there all winter- they can’t get out of the wind, and so they have tremendously high
metabolic rates trying to stay warm.”


Smaller woodlots may be colder than larger ones because there’s fewer trees to block the wind.
Smaller woodlots also have less food for birds, and in the winter birds may starve trying to get
enough food to stay warm.


(Natural sounds of leaves and birds)


“Oh that’s a Carolina Wren.”


Forestry officials, scientists, and environmental groups agree forest fragmentation is one of the
most serious problems facing Ohio’s forests. Fragmentation is a problem for a number of reasons
beyond the fact that it represents a loss of forest habitat. According to Ohio State University
Ecologist, Ralph Boerner, the smaller a forest patch is, the fewer number of species that can live
there.


“The smaller a forest patch, the less diverse it is. And you particularly lose species that need
large areas in which to gather food.”


Boerner says smaller patches may also have a harder time recovering from disturbances – like an
insect outbreak or a tornado.


“We also believe there is a link between how diverse an ecosystem is and how stable it is in the face of disturbnace, so when you lose diversity there’s the potential to lose stability, lose the ability to bounce back
from disturbance.”


Breaking up the forest into patches also isolates animal and bird species that can’t or won’t cross
agricultural fields to get from one forest patch to another, and that means less genetic diversity
because they can’t mate with animals outside of their forest patch. So some woodlots are just too
small for certain species to survive.


Fragmentation also makes managing forest land more difficult. Most of Ohio’s forested land is
privately owned. Ohio Division of Forestry official, Tom Berger, says this makes managing
almost an impossible task.


Well, you’ll have 10 people and they’ll have 10 different views on how to manage it or what’s
valuable to them and they all have that right.”


Division of Forestry officials can give landowners advice, but they can’t tell a landowner what
their priorities should be. Berger says this often means neighboring patches of forest are managed
for completely different interests. Berger wishes he had more tools at his disposal to get land
owners to manage their land collectively.


“I wish we could put together some programs or some incentives, monies available through the
state or federal government that would really encourage landowners to work together to form
blocks or units that would be managed in the same way.”


Managing isn’t the only challenge. Berger says keeping the land at least partially forested is
becoming a problem as people choose to build homes in woodlots, particularly in areas near
cities.


“Not only is the woods scattered that we have fragmented, but a lot of them continue to
disappear too, especially in the urbanized areas in Columbus and around the state.”


Ohio State University Biologist, Thomas Grubb, says there are may reasons for protecting
woodlots, but his favorite reason is because it’s a pocket of nature in a sea of developed land.


“This is worth preserving just because it’s like it is and we ought to just leave it alone. This enriches our lives.”


The average woodlot size in Ohio is 20 acres, and it changes hands frequently – every seven years on average. The small size and the quick turnover make it nearly impossible for the state to
encourage owners to establish any kind of useful management practices. That means there’s little
to be done to help keep the forests from further deterioration.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cristina Rumbaitis-del Rio.

Tackling an Invasive Beetle

Foresters think they might be on the verge of eradicating a pest that destroys trees. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Foresters think they might be on the verge of eradicating a pest that destroys trees. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.


The Asian long horned beetle attacks maples and elms. The bug first appeared in 1996, after wood crates infested with the beetle were shipped to New York from China. A second infestation appeared in the Chicago area in 1998. Stan Smith is a manager of the tree nursery program for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. He says the Asian long horned beetle might be under control around Chicago.


“Our population, we feel, is small enough that it might be getting to the point where it might not be able to reproduce very well. Hopefully within four to five years we’ll have everything pretty well cleaned up. At least that’s what we think can happen.”


The beetle is more widespread in New York, but fortunately the insect can’t fly very far. That means it can’t spread quickly, giving foresters a better chance at eliminating the pest.