| chestnut
oak |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Jan
27, 2004 19:41 PST |
ENTS:
Has any work been done to determine how long chestnut oak lives
or how large
its' maximum size is.
In western Massachusetts and southern Vermont where I first
encountered CO is
was mostly a crooked, scrubby tree on very poor sites.
In central West Virginia, left over old growth chestnut oak is a
regular
component in many private woodlands with individuals between 9'
and 12' CBH not
uncommon.
The tree was never favored for timber so it is often the largest
(diameter)
individual tree species encountered on private woodlands.
Because it grows
exceptionally slow, trees as small as 24" in diameter can
be in excess of 230
years old. I have counted the rings on many trees that were over
330 years old.
I have often wondered just how ancient some of the 14-15' CBH
"old warriors"
I have encountered may be.
In some of the better growing sites for chestnut oak the trees
can have 50
feet of clean bole and run up to 110 feet tall. However, if the
CO is 110'
tall, red oak is at least 120' on the same site. The fattest
chestnut oaks are
usually under 90' tall.
Any insights from around the boonies would be appreciated.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/chestnut_oak1.htm
|
| Invasive
Species |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Nov
06, 2003 08:00 PST |
ENTS
I have far too much to say on the subject of invasives and have
read
the past posts with great interest.......maybe I can gather my
thoughts on
invasives at some point but the subject has me so concerned and
worried that I
simply have not figured out how to deal with it. In WV we have a
serious
invasion of Tree of Heaven and royal Pawlonia underway as well
as scattered patches
of kudzu. Right now, our hardwood forests are under assault by
one of the
most serious vegetative invasions ever experienced, Japanese
stilt grass. It
was not discovered in WV until 1990, by 1995 is was in all 55
counties of the
state. It grows into all disturbed land including, game trails,
hiking trails,
highways, power lines, logging roads and stream banks. On land
in Crummies
Creek that was clearcut following the February 2003 ice storm
the stilt grass
grew over 6' tall this year covering all of the tops of
harvested trees and
shaded out (and already killed) the regeneration. Stilt grass
has a thatch that
takes at least three years to decompose (compared to most tree
leaves that are
gone in 18 months) and the dried thatch burns like
gasoline.......not
something you want in the understory or a quality hardwood
forest.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/invasives/invasive_species.htm
|
| Sassafras |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Sep
13, 2003 04:28 PDT |
Bob:
In many areas of WV, especially areas where there was past
farming activity,
sassafras can be a very common pioneer species. It really isn't
favored for
timber...although its lumber has a grain that makes it an
excellent replacement
for American chestnut in old furniture or antique restoration
projects.
Although I never encountered sassafras in MA larger than small
crooked poles,
I have encountered it in the woods of WV up to 30" DBH and
100+ feet
tall....28" DBH is the biggest one at Crummies Creek.
Anyway, it seems like roads and skid trails are always being
built through
patches of sassafras and the smell that exudes from the ground
when a bulldozer
passes through a patch of sassafras is one of the few truly
delicious smells
you are ever likely to encounter on a logging job....I would
rate it along with
the farming equivalent of fresh mowed hay...the only difference
is that the
sassafras smell dissipates in a few minutes while the fresh hay
smell can
linger for a couple hours.
Russ
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/favorite_trees.htm
|
| Re:
sassafras habitat |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Feb
10, 2004 04:28 PST |
Dale:
Sassafras is an extremely common pioneer species in abandoned
farmland in WV
and can be found on nearly all sites and growing conditions. The
shortest,
poorest form and lowest vigor trees are normally found mixed
with Virginia pine
and red maple on moderately sloping soils with a heavy clay
content and the
soils in those cases tend to be acid.
On Mesic soils that were cleared for farming where there is a
combination of
poplar, basswood, slippery elm and cucumber, sassafras can grow
very tall and
rival several other tree species for dominance. On the most
neutral of soils,
sassafras seems to grow to the tallest and largest diameter of
the trees I've
encountered (up to 30" DBH--94" CBH).
In New England, I rarely encountered sassafras much larger that
8" in
diameter and 40' tall.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/sassafras_habitat.htm
|
| Harvest
History |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Jan
27, 2004 15:54 PST |
John:
When a woodlot is highgraded, especially when the process is
repeated, the
retards are generally the ones left to reproduce and the impact
of having the
genetically superior trees removed will rapidly show a decline
in the vigor and
diversity of the species present with noncommercial species
becoming dominant.
A highgraded woods will still look highgraded fifty years after
the fact and
only silvicultural intervention will likely change the course of
such a
dysgenic development.
The best example I can think of is an area on private land near
Hawley State
Forest. In that property there was an exceptionally large old
sugar maple
that had a severe crook and twist in the bole about 25 feet up.
Upon looking the
property over I was encountering sugar maple trees of a variety
of diameters
that displayed the same type of defect. Although the first
thought I had was
ice damage, that theory rapidly died as I ran out of reasons to
explain how
every sugar maple in that area had a crook in a similar height
above the ground.
It really took me back when I came into a nearly pure sugar
maple stand that
ranged from 4" saplings to 20" sawtimber and all the
sugar maples had the
same shaped crook at the same height....none of the ash, red
maple or red oak in
the area had any similar feature.
Finally, in certain ways, highgrading has not been as serious a
threat to the
forests as it has become in the past 35 years. Up until the late
1960s more
timber was cut by portable sawmills that moved onto properties
and basically
cut everything that would make a "buggy whip." Until
that time, many areas had
bridges and roads that could not be traveled by the heavy
"modern" log trucks
with self loaders and the only was to get the material out of
the woods was a
few boards at a time on a one ton farm truck. In those
situations, the
harvesting was nearly always a clearcut (or close to it) and the
forest that
regenerated often developed into some of the best even aged
woodland we have today.
With the eventual arrival of the large stationary sawmills with
permanent
locations, trucking unprocessed logs to the mills became such an
expense that all
sorts of economic decisions were being made in the woods that
never took
place before and all sorts of low value, junky wood that was
formerly utilized
became the foundation many of our current privately owned
forests.
Unfortunately, this trend, as Joe has eloquently described and
ranted on
repeatedly appears to be expanding.
When I participated in Earth Day 1 over a third of a century
ago, there is no
way I would have expected people to gradually become more stupid
towards the
way they treat the forest. It is really unfortunate to say but I
must agree
with Joe in saying that foresters are the greatest threat to
truly sustainable
forestry.
Russ Richardson
----original
post-----
- I am
wondering about the difference between stands on similar
sites, and
similar age profile (last harvest date the same, or
something) but
different past history with respect to type of harvest. My
supposition
is that sites with more frequent high grading would have a
sort of
handicap when it comes to tree growth. I also suppose
factors like seed
life, shade tolerance, browsing and pasturing, erosion, and
yes,
forestry would be components of the effect. But there would
be a certain
probability when it comes to offspring trees succeeding to
the canopy
that would increase with each successive treatment over time
for the
type of trees left behind after a harvest. With high
grading, this site
would have a disadvantage over time, but after how long?
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/mass/mount_peak.htm
|
| black
locust |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Nov
23, 2003 18:01 PST |
Bob:
In all of my travels, I have not seen black locust the likes of
which grow in
the Dummerston and Putney, Vermont area.
The general Putney area is where many western Massachusetts and
southern
Vermont apple growers traditionally got locust posts for the
deer fences they
installed around their orchards.
Given the size of some of the locusts along the road sides, I
can only
imagine what could be back in the woods.
In West Virginia, black locust can be a common pioneer species
but it is
disease prone and often wrecked by grape vines. It is only on
rare sites where
you will see locust over 20" DBH. It is not uncommon for
trees to reach 80 or
90 feet but taller trees are usually only a function of
competetion.
I am reasonably certain that I regularly see older black locust
in New
England as a casual and infrequent visitor than I encounter on
almost daily forays
into the West Virginia woods.
Russ
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/black_locust1.htm
|
| Re:
black locust |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Nov
23, 2003 18:53 PST |
Bob:
In WV Locust is more prized for fence posts and rails than
almost anything
else.
Small sawtimber trees 14-16" DBH are often sawn for
naturally rot resistant
decking lumber.
Hickory is favored for firewood with localized and highly
variable oak
preferences.
In much of the state, Osage orange is not native and quite
scarce and I have
never heard of anyone cutting it for firewood.
Russ
----original
post-----
A question
that comes to mind about the species is: do people in WV use
black locust for fuel and if they do what do they say about its
properties? I have read that from a BTU standpoint, black locust
ranks second only to osage orange, outperforming hickory and
white oak.
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/black_locust1.htm
|
| Salvage
Logging |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Oct
03, 2004 04:58 PDT |
Ernie:
I think that one of the most significant aspects of salvage
logging in
previously undisturbed forest such as an old growth area would
be the introduction
of invasive species of plants that arrive at the site in the mud
and dirt on
the logging equipment. My own best guess is that 30 years after
a major
disturbance in an a virgin or old growth patch of woods is that
some essence of
the "old growth" nature of the place will still be
present (if nothing else
because of the massive stems in a horizontal position) but if it
has been
salvaged it will look like woods that was salvaged 30 years ago. In
all of my
experience with salvage logging only the best or most valuable
trees are
removed and it often a more complete high-grade than Joe Zorzin
could ever imagine.
Salvage logging is for the betterment of the landowner and not
necessarily
for the betterment of the land.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/threads/salvage_logging.htm
|
| Re:
Bees and Trees |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Aug
20, 2003 20:01 PDT |
ENTS:
In the forests of West Virginia we have several tree species
that honey bees
will work hard.
Yellow poplar flowers are large and can be flowerings like we
had this year
can be intense enough to give the canopy of stands a yellowish
white tinge.
Many people in Appalachia place their bee stands in the woods to
coincide
with the flowering of both yellow poplar and basswood.
The basswood flowers are small, but extremely fragrant and the
hum of bees
working a full bloom basswood can easily be heard from more than
100 feet away
from the base of the tree.
The honey produced by basswood has a distinctly different taste
from that of
poplar honey and the variation in the color of the honey from
the different
tree species can be significant.
Serious bee keepers will try to prevent their bees from making
honey when the
oaks are flowering.
Since the arrival of the mites, my encounters with wild honey
bees has
dropped from a weekly experience to now, not at all.
There seem to plenty of native pollinators to pick up the slack
because we
still get lots of seed and mast.
Russ Richardson |
| Re:
Bees and Trees |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Aug
21, 2003 04:27 PDT |
Bob:
It took only two or three years for the mites to pretty much
wipe out the
wild honey bees. At Crummies Creek, we had at least one bee tree
for every 100
acres of forest with the locations of many individual bee trees
specifically
known by local residents who would often cut down the trees for
the bees inside
if the trees died.
We once had a very tall, 46" DBH buckeye that fell down in
a windstorm that
had housed wild bees for the living memory of neighbors in their
60s.
I don't think we ever had a lot of serious competition between
honey bees and
other native wildlife.......if there is one thing we seem to
have plenty of
in WV it is hollow trees and cavities.
Russ
-----original
post------
From the
time you first noticed the decline in honey bee populations
until
you saw them no more was what kind of time period?
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/threads/bees_and_trees.htm
|
| Re:
Buying Standing Timber = Destructive Highgrading & Ripping
Off Landowners |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Sep
09, 2003 05:21 PDT |
ENTS:
In terms of proof of degradation of the forest and lowering of
productivity
by high grading....I have one suggestion from WV that may be
able to be
duplicated in Massachusetts...
During the past 14 years, I have cruised inventoried and
developed Forest
Stewardship Plans for over 120 parcels of property in multiple
WV counties
covering over 20,000 acres.
During that time I have inventoried properties that have not had
any
harvesting for over 100 years......including removal of dead
chestnut and properties
that have been regularly harvested on 20 year cycles. In earlier
harvested
stands, the very best timber quality I have encountered is on
old tracts where
there was a sawmill set and the property was clearcut.
However, I am a stats nut and have found that in older stands
where
harvesting has not taken place since the 1930s, more valuable
species such as red oak
typically represent at least 25% of the basal area, beech is
normally under 2%
and species like red maple represent 3% or less....in older
stands where
hickory is present, hickory is rarely more than 10-15%. Cull
volume in all areas
(excepting those with repeated burns) rarely exceeds 10% of
basal area and
normally runs around 5%....I have encountered dozens of
properties that meet these
criteria.
In nearly all situations and circumstances where logging has
taken place
within the past 25 years....since the advent of self loaders,
larger log trucks,
decent bridges, paved roads and very large, permanent sawmills,
evidence of
forest degradation from severe highgrading is too evident to
ignore. I have
cruised dozens of tracts in this category that have numerous red
oak stumps but an overstory that is typically less than 1% red
oak...with no red oak regen. In these tracts, hickory BA can run
as high as 40%, cull BA is very often 35%+ and beech and red
maple that comprised less than 5% of the preharvest stand
represent up to 60% of the growing stock.
I could go on and on but if someone would like to glean proof or
info from
some of my cruises, I would be willing to copy and send some of
this stuff out.
I am going to be racing to MA for my nieces wedding in Shelburne
and will be
there between 9/19 and 9/21. If there is anyone interested in
some of the BS
I have accumulated....please let me know what sort of info might
be
useful...however, I do not do the fancy computer stuff that Karl
is famous for.....the numbers are obvious as they are. Friday
morning September 19 I could meet with someone to deliver some
of the info I have.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/threads/highgrading.htm
|
| Understory
Plants |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Jan
13, 2004 15:43 PST |
Lisa:
I read with great interest your list of items that you will be
documenting in
relationship to the pine trees at Mohawk Trail State Forest.
I would encourage that you also try to assess the diversity and
vigor of the
understory vegetation on the site as well.
In my work as a forester, I continue to learn about the
identification and
management of medicinal plants found in the forest understory
and many other
intricate aspects of the microclimates and plant communities
that can exist on
the forest floor beneath some of these old forest areas.
In some instances, especially on hardwood sites where logging
has been absent
for over a hundred years...or never harvested at all, there can
be plant
populations and communities that rival the significance of the
trees that tower
above.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity and privilege to walk
through many
fine patches of old timber and have found a serious correlation
between the
health and diversity of understory plants and the trees growing
above. It is
often possible to find large, old healthy looking trees in a
park like setting
where the forest floor is bare. However, an area of old trees
with a heavy
ground cover that consists of multiple fern and moss species,
herbaceous growth
represented by several fertiltiy-loving herbaceous species is
something worth
noting.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/mass_mtsf/mtsf04.htm
|
| Red
Oak |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Oct
20, 2003 06:46 PDT |
Bob:
I can say that I have never actually measured the heights of
some of the
tallest red oak trees I have encountered. I have sold a number
of red oak trees
that had over 100 feet of merchantable height in sawlogs. In a
tree that big
it would likely mean a 14" tip because anything smaller
would normally fracture
and shatter into unmerchantable pieces when it hit the ground!
The largest
red oak I have ever sold had a circumference of approximately
15.2 feet. The
tree had 120 growth rings at stump (ground) level. On that
property, I left
larger and better Legacy trees!
In West Virginia, red oak can grow to proportions I would have
never imagined
when I worked in New England.
I know you remember the patch of red oak at my parents farm in
Shelburne.
That is about the largest and highest quality red oak I have for
comparison to
what I encounter in WV but here follows.
There is great variability in how RO grows in the state with the
very highest
quality and most valuable red oak coming from the mountain
counties of
eastern West Virginia. In those areas, on the very best sites,
red oak will have
what appears to be juvenile bark for up to 80 or possibly 100
years. In those
areas it is very rare to encounter any sawtimber sized red oak
with less than
50 feet (three logs) of very high quality lumber with 65 to 80
feet of quality
logs far more likely. In those areas, stands that are 35 to 40%
red oak can
be found with volumes over 15,000 board feet per acre common for
60-70 year old
stands. Sustained growth rates of 4 rings per inch are common.
In the western and central part of the state where I am the
trees are
different and typically average between 40 and 65 feet of high
quality wood with
56-60 feet (3.5 logs) far more likely. However, in the western
or central part of
the state, diameter growth is normally faster with 3 rings per
inch very
common with dominant red oaks typically growing annual rings
that are .4 inches or
.8" per year diameter growth.
Veneer buyers like the somewhat slower growth of the mountain
red oak and the
price is comparatively higher.
In terms of growing the stuff. There are all sorts of
variations. There are
places where the RO regeneration is fantastic with literally
hundreds of
stems per acre with other places where there are none.......
depends upon how many times it has been high graded.
Russ
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/white_oak_threshold.htm
|
| Black
Walnut |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Oct
01, 2003 08:16 PDT |
Bob:
In central West Virginia, black walnut is relatively common. In
many of the
old farms, the trees were often the only shade trees left in
pastures and they
can be encountered in the woodland of any farm that has decent
growing sites.
Traditionally, the tree was cut so hard that large, high quality
black walnut
trees are difficult to find.
The most significant use for black walnut for decades was in gun
stocks.
There are numerous stories among WV gun collectors that can date
W.W.I era German
weaponry to when the great walnut embargo was in full effect.
There are also
stories of trains loaded with stumps dug from WV pastures for
gun stocks as
part of past patriotic and commercial ventures.
At this time, I am involved with marking a commercial thinning
on fertile
sites where, for a few exceptional acres the residual stand will
consist of
nearly pure 14-22" DBH walnut with scattered cherry and red
oak of similar size
mixed in.
Generally speaking, pure stands of walnut are uncommon but I
have inventoried
properties with cove site stands of over 100 acres in size where
the walnut
proportion has been as large as 38% of basal area. In most such
stands, the
trees were not planted but seeded into situations where the land
was pastured
(for as long as 150 years). A normal/natural black walnut stand
would have as
associated species, red and American elm, basswood, redbud,
hackberry, cherry,
sassafras and persimmon.
Very often, butternut trees in significant numbers and in
varying states of
decline from butternut canker blight can be found associated
with black walnut
stands.
Since the advent of plastic gun stocks, the walnut business has
really fallen
on hard times. Although it is a very beautiful, durable and
extremely easy
wood to work with and is a component of some of the finest
furniture ever
created, I really think the long term use of black walnut for
weaponry helped to
keep the price artificially high for generations.
Black walnut shells have uses in certain industrial polishing
compounds.
My favorite black walnut trait is watching the wood from a
freshly cut tree
change color when it is exposed to the air.
There are variations in the color, texture and acid content in
the fruit and
the best-flavored nuts are now considered to be from the
Missouri area where
commercial black walnut nut production is centered.
The WV Department of Ag used to have a traveling walnut husker
that went to
various areas of the state. In each participating county, for
several days
each autumn, pickup trucks would be lined up with their bodies
loaded with heaps
of sacked up walnuts waiting to get them husked and weighed.
That program
ended when Missouri said they no longer wanted nuts from WV and
Maryland.
Next weekend, October 9-11, the 49th Annual, WV Black Walnut
Festival is
being held in Spencer, WV. Spencer is about 15 miles from
Crummies Creek.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/black_walnuts.htm
|
| Log
Length |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Nov
06, 2003 08:00 PST |
Bob:
I have never actually sat down until just now to toss out some
of those
height numbers. I know a couple of big tree nuts in WV who are
always hunting for
records but there is no one I am aware of measuring maximum tree
heights in WV
with the degree of accuracy of ENTS.
In terms of several species of trees, merchantable height often
is a very
good indication of total tree height. In most cases, especially
dealing with
some of the more valuable hardwoods, merchantable height often
stops where limbs
or branches begin...red oaks and yellow poplars (plus cucumber
and basswood),
black cherry and walnut are the only trees that are regularly
used to a tip
end smaller than 12."
Before I do a chart, taper, relative a couple of measured
examples from past
timber sales....top wood and limb wood above merchantable height
is generally
30 to 50 additional height but can easily be 60' depending upon
utilization
specs or local markets.
black oak 18" DBH.... diameter at 54' (end of clean stem)
16"
yellow poplar 20" DBH.... diameter at 115'
12".......rest of stem shattered
when it fell
I almost never measure total tree height but I can sure tell
when I'm in a
100' woods......it really doesn't have to be that big or old and
it is not that
uncommon.
From past experience......for WV all species except soft
hardwoods
merchantable top diameter is historically 12" (10" in
a very competitive market),
poplars now utilized to 8" but historically 11-12" for
black cherry now 10" (or
smaller to 7")
Maximum log height WV Common MA/NE
Species WV
log height
Red oak 105'
75' 55'
White oak
90' 75' 45'
Black oak
100'
75' 45'
Chestnut oak 90+ 75'
25-30'
Yellow poplar 125+ 100+
40'
(Whately, MA)
Black cherry 105+
(10" tip) 85'
50'
White pine 110-120
(12" tip dia) 100' 100+
Sugar maple 80' 65' 48+
Red maple
90+' 75' 60+
Butternut 78+ n/a 50'
Shagbark hickory 100+ 80' 45+
Sycamore 120+ 110+ 100+
Common merchantable heights are not necessarily typical
merchantable heights.
Typical heights for red oaks are around 60,' typical heights for
poplars are
around 75' and typical heights for sugar maple is between 50 and
55'. As a
general rule (if there is one) typical tree heights are about
75-80% of common
maximum with absolute measured maximum about 125% of common
maximum.
Personally, I have seen very few trees that had a Doyle log
scale greater
than 4,000 board feet but many loggers I have worked with have
told of cutting
poplars with over 8,000 board feet and nearly everyone seems to
have a story
about a 5,000 to 6,000 board foot red oak. I know a forester for
a timber
company that sold an 84" DBH black walnut from company
lands for $25,000.....and the
tree turned out to be a 100+ foot chimney! I have sold timber in
the past to
a sawmill in Ohio that has a special saw to quarter logs that
are greater
than 60" in diameter. The last time I was there, I saw a
yellow poplar butt log
that was nearly 8' in diameter........it had grown along the
banks of the Ohio
River and had multiple years of 1.25" growth rings.
I am currently working on a timber sale on a tract of land that
was heavily
logged about 40-45 years ago. Although many of the trees are not
extremely
large, there are some red oaks and poplars between 30 and
38." Scattered
throughout the tract are scattered Eastern white pine trees that
run between 24 and
30" DBH with most of them hollow and fire-scarred. All of
the white pines I
have tallied so far have had a minimum of 4 16 foot logs....a
couple of culls
would have had 6 logs and a 32" pine tree that has about
6.5 logs of
merchantable wood also sports a very nice hawk nest. The pine
was retained for the
benefit of the hawks. Retained trees immediately surrounding the
hawk pine include
red and white oak, beech and hickory that are all of a similar
size. Hawks
always tend to find the best tree on a 1000 acres of land and
plop their nest
in the middle of it.
I had an earlier sale this year where there were a large number
of oaks,
including, red, white and black oaks in excess of 8' CBH....the
same sale had a
white ash nearly 11' CBH. Almost none of the timber in the sale
was over 90
years old!
I leave the really big ones! I have some very nice 12-15"
CBH red oak and
white oaks that were set asides as legacy areas on past timber
sales. If you
ever make it down to this part of the world, I'll take you to a
place close to
Weston where I had the opportunity to leave some of the largest
and highest
quality trees I have seen for several species.....I also left
some incredible
culls including cucumber, white oak, chestnut oak, black gum and
red oak in
excess of 15' CBH.
It really isn't until I am back in Massachusetts that I realize
how different
our woods really are. I am far more likely to encounter over
sized trees in
WV than I ever expected in New England but the likelihood of
encountering "old
growth" here is rare.......however, I have a close by
neighbor to Crummies
Creek who works for the Nature Conservancy and claims to have
some 150+ year old
forest on their family's 500+ acre farm. The only close by old
growth patch
I know for certain was devastated by an ice storm we had last
February, in
that area, several red oaks and poplars in excess of 10' CBH
were damaged and
killed.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/threads/log_length.htm
|
| Basswoods |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Nov
05, 2003 18:52 PST |
ENTS:
What is the accepted maximum height for basswood. I have a small
(20" DBH)
basswood that is closing in on 130' tall. It is a sample tree
I'm monitoring
for growth.
In central WV I have encountered quite a number of healthy
(until they were
harvested) second growth basswoods over 10' CBH. I am working on
a timber sale
at this time where a number of the basswood are taller than the
more common
yellow poplar.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/basswood.htm
|
| RE:
Basswoods |
Will
Blozan |
| Nov
06, 2003 04:27 PST |
| Experiencing
a Forest |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Aug
20, 2005 15:25 PDT |
Jess:
I think that every type of forest we have is best experienced in
person. It
isn't just the height or girth of the trees although it is never
far from my
mind. The other attributes I try to notice range from song
birds, wildlife
and understory vegetation to the soil fertility and local land
use history.
I'm kinda a fan of woods as a "whole package" and I
enjoy the detail of your
trip descriptions immensely.
Russ
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/musings/forest_experiences.htm
|
| Butternut
in West Virginia |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Aug
10, 2003 13:49 PDT |
Hi
all:
In much of West Virginia, butternut can still commonly be found
but nearly
all trees are badly cankers and dying from butternut canker
blight.
Since being in WV I have found very few butternut trees in
excess of 20" DBH
or more than 90' tall. A few years ago, I had a dead butternut
salvaged from
a sale that sawed out 375 board feet of lumber. That tree was
not large in
diameter but had very little taper as they got 72' of logs to a
10" tip. At
this time, it has become nearly impossible to locate a
completely healthy
butternut tree.
Although we still get some very good seed years....2003 looks
like a real
winner.
In WV, butternut is pretty much considered commercially extinct.
The WV DoF
has a very good price that they pay for butternuts seeds for the
state
nursery.
The only really healthy butternut trees I have encountered in
the past few
years have been Japanese butternuts.
Russ Richardson
http://www.nativetreesociety.org/species/sp_threads/butternut_in_west_virginia.htm
|
| Logging
Activity |
Fores-@aol.com |
| Jul
12, 2006 04:14 PDT |
It
really depends upon where you are as to whether you see much
logging or
trucking activity in WV. By the sounds of things you spend most
of your time
in the mountains of eastern WV. In most of the state the
lumber/timber
industry is in the worst shape it has been in since the 1970s
and things are not
well at all. WV has more substandard and low weight bridges that
any state in
the entire USA and most heavy truck traffic, including logging
trucks have
limited roads they can freely drive on,including
interstates....if you see any
trucks headed east on I-68 with big logs chances are they are
headed for
Baltimore, MD....so many unprocessed logs are exported from the
port of
Baltimore that (with creative accounting) the entire state of
Maryland has a larger
value forest products industry than nearly any state in the
eastern US.
WV forestland is over 80% privately owned and increasing as
insurance
companies and real estate speculators buy up large tracts of
land formerly owned
by large multinationals like Mead/WestVaco, International Paper
and Georgia
Pacific....in the last 10 years 40,000,000 acres (half of all
such land in the
US) of commercial forest has been sold and companies such as IP
which was the
largest landowner in th World a few years ago now owns no land
in the US.
The whole issue of the future of private forestland ownership
and industrial
mismanagement will likely come to a head some time in the next
30 or 40
years.
Russ |
|