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Bud Blumenstock: One of the common questions I receive from woodlot owners during summer
months has to do with the health of their trees. Usually, they're enquiring about a
discoloration of the foliage, lack of foliage, or chewed up leaves. Generally, the cause
of the symptoms they describe can be traced directly to a particular disease or insect.
In order to make a positive identification, scientists using labs like this one will conduct
a series of tests. With the results, they can usually recommend a course of action to
the landowner.
In many cases, it's too late to do anything at this stage as most of the damage has been
done. Protection of the woodlot from diseases and insects is an important job. With a few
pointers, you can learn to recognize the early stages of problems which are starting to develop
in the woodlot.
Ron Lock is a forester with a marketing and management cooperative. We spent some time
with him in the Yankee Woodlot. As we walked along he pointed out general characteristics
we can check on a regular basis in order to have an idea of the overall health and condition
of our woodlot.
Ron, what should a woodlot owner look for in his woodlot to decide whether it's healthy?
Ron Lock: Well, I think insect disease, soils, whether it's well-drained soil. If you're
standing up to your ankles in water, why you know you've got a poorly-drained site and,
therefore, not a very good growing condition for most species of trees and vegetation.
I think it's important to just take a look frequently over the lot to get a handle on
all the different aspects to see whether you do indeed have a problem or not, whether it's
generally a good growing lot or poor. Now, one might look at here's a red oak and a white
birch down below.
Bud: Both of them dead?
Ron: First impression would be maybe some kind of an insect disease problem.
Bud: Sure. Yeah.
Ron: In fact what occurred here with this heavy bulldozing and manufacturing this road
and probably a yard here to put timber in was a combination of skinning those roots
with the bulldozer blade and also filling in around the root system causing the roots
to have difficulty breathing so to speak.
Bud: Now skinning, you barked up the tree. There's one example right there.
Ron: Very good example, Bud. Let me show you here a couple of things. Again, when they
came down through and sliced this road out with a bulldozer, they cut off a substantial
part of the root system. So, that didn't help its vigor any.
Then, right here, the bark was [indecipherable 0:04:17] , whether it was a bulldozer blade
or whether they tried to get around the corner with a twitch of logs, I don't know but the
fact is it reduced this tree from a veneer product grade worth $85,000 or more in stumpage
down to maybe pulp wood grade or maybe fuel wood.
Bud: So some mechanical damage here killed the tree, not only that but reduced the product
value.
Ron: Yeah. Then after that, you have insect and disease that will infest the tree, but
that's a secondary characteristic. The damage was done by the bulldozing and filling and
affecting the root systems.
Bud: Mechanical damage first, and insect and disease later.
Ron: That's right.
Bud: Is that the same case with these other two trees, the oak and the birch?
Ron: I think so, yes. I don't see any evidence off-hand or anything other than the fact that
there was too much fill around the root systems and they actually damaged the root systems
in their bulldozing.
Bud: When we look at a stand, and this one we can say is, what, an oak birch stand?
Ron: Right.
Bud: We see a dead tree, or something that looks unhealthy, we better look a little further
before we make a quick judgment.
Ron: Absolutely. What you first see...and the other factor is, too, that generally,
if it's an insect infestation, you're not just going to find one tree here and one tree
there affected. It may be affecting numerous trees within a stand, within a particular
mix of species.
Bud: These are single isolated species.
Ron: That's right. So there's another hint, or another piece of evidence that is helpful.
Bud: We've got another white pine stand that's going to show us something else about the
health of the forest.
Ron: Yeah, right up here, that'll give us another example of what to look for.
Bud: Is this healthy, all this stand?
Ron: Generally, this is a very healthy stand.
Bud: Yet, we've got some dead trees right here.
Ron: Well, the fact is, when this first seeded in, it was just like hair on a dog's back,
very, very thick. Of course, they fought for survival of the fittest, and these two little
fellows lost out in the battle, which really isn't a bad act.
Of course, what man tries to do, or maybe should be trying to do, is to get in there
and salvage some of these trees maybe before they die, and effect a thinning, convert growth
to your better trees and get them into the market place. And on pulling the logs...
Bud: Now, are the surviving trees healthy? Would you say the surviving trees are healthy?
Ron: Generally, yes. We've got a couple of problems here. We've got white pine blister
rust in that pine in the background there. This is a disease, a fungus that fortunately
does not travel from pine to pine. It goes one year of its two-year life cycle as white
pine and then to gooseberry and currants, commonly referred to as Ribes.
It'll come in on a live needle and gradually work towards the main stem. Then gradually
develop a constriction around the...or a canker around the tree. Twenty, twenty-five years
will kill the tree. So there's no real urgency there, no reason to panic.
Again, with a good road system and frequent cuttings, first of all inspections and then
cuttings, you can take advantage of those losses before it goes beyond merchantability.
Bud: Let's take a look at this individual tree right over here.
Ron: Well, I think right here, Bud, this is a real good example I think. First of all,
we've got a stand here that again came up very thick. It's received very little thinning.
We've got some tremendous growth here. You don't have to cut the tree down and analyze
growth rings to determine that.
The fact is when this tree was this high, in one year's growth, it grew from here to
here. It did this consistently all the way up the tree. So the fact that it did this
in an overstock situation indicates that we do indeed have a great deal of productivity
potential in this site.
Bud: You know that this happened in one year because of the ring of branches.
Ron: That's right. From one world to the next world is one year's growth
Bud: And as we look up the tree, we see that there is still quite a long ways up, far all
the way up...
Ron: Distance all the way up through, yep. That's another characteristic that displays
on a casual basis roughly what you got -- you know, whether this is a good loiter or poor
loiter, good growing conditions or poor growing conditions.
Now also, another point too is the bark characteristics. On a good healthy tree and young growth...This
stand is probably about 50-55 years old. Now see this bark is rather course, ridgy and
sort of callused. That, to me, indicates that with proper thinning, it would have done a
lot better, and the bark would have been a lot smoother just look more vigorous.
Bud: So in white pine, smooth bark is a pretty good indication of faster growth?
Ron: That's right, particularly in the younger trees. Of course, old growth bark, you know,
gets thick skin as they get older
Bud: So we've had soil as indication of health, good soils mean good health. The growth is
indications of that, foliage you mentioned.
Ron: Well, I don't know that I did get into foliage. I think the fact that it's consistently
a fairly dark green, I think, is important. If you were to stand under a tree and look
up through and you see sort of a yellowish hue or you can see the sky through it easily,
this indicates to me that you don't have a very vigorous or healthy condition in the
case of these trees.
Bud: How about the crown?
Ron: Well again, because they've grown up so thick and haven't received timely thinning
most crowns are quite shallow. They are not very wide or very deep but still in spite
of that, by golly, they have done well, only because they have got a darn good soil. Other
soil conditions, less productive sites wise, we would have an entirely different situation
here. These trees would just be gasping for life.
Bud: So would another general rule be that small crowns mean less healthy, big crowns
more healthy.
Ron: And another fact too is that small crowns also mean small root systems. Correspondingly,
small root systems, and there for when you go to thin, to convert your growth to better
trees, optimize your growth, you can have some blow down from high winds that one has
to be careful of.
The whole concept is, if you had an opportunity to get at this pine when it was 15, 20 years
old and you thin it and bush out those tops, and then push it, in other words, growing
just as fast as you can and do a little pruning and so forth along the way that's the way
to do it. But you have to deal with what you have.
Bud: We got a good healthy stand here and some pretty good characteristics. Now, I think
you told me you had another stand over the other way that wasn't quite so healthy, didn't
look this good.
Ron: A good contrast, I think.
Bud: Let's go take a look at it.
Well, Ron, this site here isn't quite as good, is it?
Ron: No. This soil, again back to the subject of soils, is rather poorly drained compared
to the upland subtle slope of the sandy loam, a very productive site.
Bud: This brought about some unhealthy conditions.
Ron: That's right. Yes.
Bud: Let's see if we can point out a few of them.
Ron: Well, I think, for one thing, Bud, you have a lot more root exposure. In other words,
when you see a lot of root mass above the ground, that's indicative of a shallow soil.
Bud: So we've got some right over there, those big bulgy roots.
Ron: Root development is severely restricted here and, therefore, that's going to show
in the crown development and the general health of the tree. Now you see out through there
it's kind of like jackstraws. And again it's fought itself out of a thicket, and again
came in, to use the term "like hair on a dog's back," has been fighting for survival ever
since.
The only thing here when it's starting with a less than productive soil, some of the species
have a tougher fight, and oftentimes you'll end up with an under-stock situation.
Bud: Here's an unhealthy stand, fairly unhealthy. What would be a manageable prescription? What
would some suggestions or things to do to bring it back to health?
Ron: Well, I think we could certainly favor the white ash along the edge here. We've got
some oak scattered through that doesn't look too bad. The pine is looking pretty good.
I think two or three cuts over the next 15 to 20 years. Light cuts, because again it
would be if you open it up too hard too fast, you're going to have a lot of blow-down because
of this wet site. That would be my prescription over the next 15 years. Frequent light cuttings
to develop the crowns and, therefore, the root systems to take better advantage of the
soils that are here.
Bud: Forest fire protection is another important consideration for woodlot owners. Roger Milligan
is a regional forest ranger with the Maine Forest Service. We talked with him about forest
fire prevention in the woodlot.
Roger, what can a woodland owner do to prevent forest fires?
Roger Milligan: I think probably the first thing they need to do is start by managing
their woodlot -- keeping it clean, accumulation of dead trees, older stuff, off the woodlot.
That cuts the hazard down a lot.
Probably next thing is observe any of the fire prevention laws that apply to woodlands,
which would be the use of machinery, chain saws, skidders, tractors, on his woodlot.
There's a spark-arrester law that requires spark arresters on all the equipment used
in the woods. From our records, probably it's not a large percentage of fires that do start
with woods equipment, but a large percentage of the serious fires do because of the type
area their in.
Especially if he has contractors or small jobbers as contractors working his lot, it's
to make sure they do abide by the laws and write that into his contract or keep track
of his operation so that he does know what's going on.
Maybe, a few other things would be to know the local forest ranger or the local town
warden responsible for fire protection in that area. He could get the name of the local
forest ranger, and if he wanted, request a visit. They'd be more than glad to look at
his woodlot owner. Given their idea and what he might be able to do as far as fire breaks,
fire lines, digging water holes for water supply in case of fires.
Bud: So the ranger would come out and visit a woodlot owner and tell him what might be
done.
Roger: Yes, they do that anytime on request. A lot of this is not done unless it's a request,
especially on small or private woodlots. The forest ranger's general duty is more or less
consists of checking out the equipment to see that it meets state laws, regulations,
and the slash laws, along with public ways and the public roads. But he'd be more than
willing to come in and give the woodlot owner further assistance anytime they requested
it.
Bud: If a woodlot owner was to buy some equipment for himself for fire protection, what would
you suggest he buy?
Roger: Well, of course, that depends on the size of his woodlot, and the type of growth,
the field conditions that he's involved with. Maybe in an area where there's really no great
hazard or threat from forest fire. If he was going to furnish some equipment on his own,
which we advise to all wood operators, enough equipment to put out small fires that might
start in their operation from any cause. That could consist from anything from a shovel
and pale to a portable pump and some hose or more equipment.
Bud: Are you Rangers able to advise them on what kind of equipment to buy?
Roger: Any time. We do that, and we work a lot. Especially with the larger landowners
in purchasing equipment and recommending the type and amount of equipment they have on
jobs in their woods operations. We do the same thing with the small woodlot owners that
were willing to do that.
Bud: One suggestion you'll receive from the local Ranger concerning forest fire protection,
is that your woodlot have good access, with well designed roads and trails.
Joel Swanton is a land management assistance forester with the St. Regis Paper Company.
We talked to him about the planning and construction of roads and trails in the Yankee Woodlot.
This kind of country, this road here would be very pleasing for any woodlot owner to
have. There's moss on the ground, wildflowers, and small trees. It really looks pretty.
Joel Swanson: There's good access here, Bud. It's a well drained road. It's been established
for quite a while. Someone had foresight enough to spend a little time and money on it several
years ago, so now it's a permanent road base here that anybody can keep maintained fairly
easily.
Bud: How does a person start if he wants to end up with this, where does he start and
how does he go through that planning process?
Joel: Well, the basis of the process would be to determine the need for the access. Most
people, when they look at their ownership, they've got an objective in mind. If it's
for growing timber, then probably the primary need for the access is to bring out your harvested
product.
In addition, you're going to want road access for fire control and for recreational purposes,
hunting and fishing, that type of thing. Once you know your primary needs for the road,
the best bet is to have a copy of an aerial photograph of your land so you can get a good
overall view.
Bud: You've got one right here.
Joel: Yeah, this is a lot we've been looking at recently. The ownership is delineated on
the photograph. In the case of an existing road, it's fairly visible. In the case of
new construction, you can easily mark where you feel your road would best access the most
of the land.
Bud: So, in terms of what to do, you look at a map, you develop an objective, and then
you put some marks on a photograph of what you think would be a good location?
Joel: Based on the topography, and apparent drainage, and ground cover.
Bud: You come out on the ground and check that out?
Joel: Yep, we'll walk to the projected location of the road to determine if the drainage and
soil conditions in the area are suitable for the type of road we want to put in. If there
are any variations, we can amend the photograph there to determine where we should go.
Well, once you've got your objective for your access, decided you should check with your
local zoning laws -- in an unorganized town, it would be the land use regulation commission,
in an organized town, it would d be your local zoning officials -- to determine if any of
the area that you plan on working in is within a restricted zone of some sort, that should
be done prior to any work on the road, any physical work.
Bud: Now, we're at the point where we're ready to do some construction. The thing to do is
to just go out and hire a bulldozer to do it?
Joel: Well, you've got a lot of alternatives there. Once your right-of-way is prepared
and the [indecipherable 0:20:12] material is removed from it, possibly your logging
contractor has already done this for you, many of the contractors that are in logging
have got their own road construction machinery. They're capable of doing a very good job on
construction, and they may very well do that for a variation in the stumpage price. You
could hire them on a per-foot basis if you wanted the road built as a separate entity.
If your logging contractor that you have in mind doesn't have the capability to build,
there are general contractors in most areas that specialize in road construction, and
talking with several of them, you'll get ideas and cost estimates of what it might cost you
to do it.
Bud: Would you also mark the trails that lead into your main road?
Joel: As you're operating the land, definitely recommend laying out where your skid trails
are going to be in the different operating areas. Very often a well-traveled skid trail
can serve as a secondary road or a spur.
If they're widened out a little bit it can provide access for a smaller truck to get
into the back portion of a lot without doing any major work to build a road up. In addition,
you've got access throughout all your land for, again, for fire control or just for walking
if that's what you like.
Bud: I'm a woodlot owner, doing my own harvesting. Do I have to go through this same process?
Joel: I'd recommend going through it no matter whether you're going to harvest it yourself
or have someone else do it. A road is a permanent access into a piece of property, and once
it's in place, you're probably not going to want to change it.
If it's not well-planned and well-thought-out, if it's in the wrong place, it'll come back
to haunt you in years to come.
Bud: Where shouldn't I build a road?
Joel: There's a list of avoidances that we usually go by. You try to avoid wet areas,
or areas of poor drainage. Try to avoid rocky areas, areas of steep topography that are
extremely hard to work in. As much as possible, try to avoid curves in the road -- you can't
avoid them but you can minimize them. Again, as much as possible, try to avoid sharp grades.
Generally, an adverse grade say for a loaded truck in a very short run can be fairly steep,
but over a long period, that can slow the hauling down.
Bud: So stay away from the swamps and steep slopes and mountain tops, those kind of things.
Now, certainly, you're going to get into some places where there is water. We're going to
have to think about drainage.
Joel: Drainage is probably one of the most important aspects of road construction. When
you're going through an area that has no man-made features in it and you place a road in it,
you're essentially making a dam for any water that's crossing that area.
In addition to stopping up the ground water movement, you're also creating an avenue for
runoff, the water that hits the road surface. So planning for your drainage is one of the
primary considerations in designing a road. You don't want to interrupt the flow of water.
Bud: So every road will need a ditch, some kind of drainage along it.
Joel: A road should be ditched on both sides to provide drainage to keep the road dry in
the center because that's where your bearing surface is for your loads. In addition, you'll
have to place culverts or some method of cross-drainage for water to travel under or through the road.
Bud: I've found that maybe getting that road up a little higher than the area right around
it helps that drainage a great deal.
Joel: Right. If your road base is 12 to 18 inches higher, at a minimum, than the bottom
of the ditch, any water that builds up in that road base will tend to drain out towards
the bottom of the ditch, and then run off down through your culvert system.
Again, the base of the road is the bearing surface, and when it's wet, it's not very
strong. When it's dry, it will support a lot of weight, and that's the important consideration.
Bud: Now culverts, you just mentioned culverts. In terms of metal, that might be a fairly
big expense for woodlot owners. Is there some other way he can have a culvert or a drainage
structure?
Joel: Yes. Many of the older culverts, and some of the older roads, are made out of wood,
either a large hollow log, a large hardwood that's hollowed out, or hemlock in many, many
cases, and placed in the proper position, that can handle fairly adequate drainage.
In a case where you need something a little bit larger, two trees laid side-by-side with
some planking nailed over the top of them will make quite a substantial culvert. Again,
they may not last as long as metal, but if properly maintained, they'll last for quite
a while.
Bud: And more expensive to start with.
Joel: Much less expensive than...usually the landowner can do that sort of thing himself
with material he's got on his own land right there.
Bud: We've got the road built. We've got some drainage in it. Do we do something else?
Joel: Depending upon what season you want to have access to your land in. If you're
looking for all year-round access, you're probably going to want to put a gravel surface
on the road, unless you're lucky enough to have a lot of gravel in the parent material.
This would mean a coat of at least six to eight inches of good sharp angled gravel if
you've got access to it. It's not primarily to hold the traffic but rather to protect
the road base and give you a traveling surface.
If you're only going to use the road in the winter time and don't intend to use it during
the wetter times of the year, very often the parent material of the road base itself is
sufficient to hold the loaded vehicles.
Bud: How about seeding in on those slopes and banks of the road afterwards?
Joel: Just after construction, you've got a lot of exposed mineral soil. Particularly
on a steeper grade, this can cause quite a bit of problems with erosion as rain comes
down. The first year after construction is probably the most tender as rain takes away
some of the mineral soil.
Any place where you've got flowing water on a regular basis, or a steep side slope that
you've cut into to build the road, should be hayed or seeded down in order to provide
some kind of a ground cover to protect the mineral soil in that area.
Bud: There are certain things that do this very well. We can find those recommendations
from various agencies?
Joel: Soil Conservation Service is an excellent source of material of that nature. The US
Forest Service has a publication, "Permanent Roads for Better Woodlot Management." Both
of those sources will give you a great deal of information as to drainage and road construction.
Bud: And some benefit to wildlife over the term with grasses and things?
Joel: You naturally create an edge effect when you have an opening in a forest and a
road is an opening. Wildlife like roads very much, because a lot of young growth will come
in and they've got things to feed on. You'll automatically bring in more wildlife.
Bud: So in just a few years, we'll have a road like this one with it grassed in and
some moss and flowers. We'd be able to walk down it and admire the thing.
Joel: Very hopefully.
Bud: Good place to go cross-country skiing.
Joel: Great place for it. You couldn't ask for anything better.
Bud: That's our program on woodlot health and access. We'll see you next time in the
Yankee Woodlot.
[music]
Bud: Yankee Woodlot was produced by the Maine Public Broadcasting Network, which is solely
responsible for its content, and was made possible in part by a grant from International
Paper Company.