In my western North Carolina forest the Carolina and Canadian hemlocks are dying from wooly adelgid infestation. When the hemlocks die, I cut down the dead trees, but then I need to deal with what has been cut down. The bigger trunks can be used for firewood, or for saw timber, but what should I do with the branches? Should I burn them, or pile them up to become (eventually) compost, or can I put the branches through my wood chipper to become mulch or the surface of woodland trails? If they are chipped, am I spreading the wooly adelgid and contributing to the problem? Is it best to burn all of the branches? What does a knowledgeable forester do in this situation? Thank you for any informed advice.
David L.
I'd think you could leave them, burn, or chip. The problem is so great and WNC is so infested it's not going to make any difference what you do.
Jasperfield has a good point, although that's not the "official" answer. But it's the realistic one. My personal official answer as a forester; I'm not much on official answers. I go for the realistic ones. I'd leave them where they fall, chipped or not. Burning will kill the adelgid eggs, but as JF noted, probably won't make any difference if these few are killed.
Too cold up my way for those vile bugs. There is an adelgid in fir as well, but I'm still too far "up the hill" for them to. They get into Christmas tree plantations south of here. Cold will kill anything. :D
Quote from: SwampDonkey on November 22, 2010, 04:45:37 PM
Too cold up my way for those vile bugs. There is an adelgid in fir as well, but I'm still too far "up the hill" for them to. They get into Christmas tree plantations south of here. Cold will kill anything. :D
We had hoped that Vermont was too cold for them as well, but they've pushed up into the southern part of the state. Here's hoping they don't make it further north.
John Mc
This is still about wooly adelgid. I was wandering in the woods today, and again seeing the tragedy of the effect of this pest. I noticed, however, that although many of the large and mid-sized hemlocks are dying, and nearly completely stripped of their needles, some of the small trees - from seedling size up to about 4-6 feet tall - look vigorous and healthy, and seem completely unaffected. Does this mean they have just been lucky, not yet discovered, or infested, by the insect? Or are young trees somehow more resistant? Or are there some specimens of hemlock, that is, some genetic strains, that are inherently more resistant? I think one can have some sense of what people were experiencing a hundred years ago as they watched the loss of the American chestnut.
David L.
younger trees can out-grow some problems, while mature trees, like older people have trouble over-coming
I haven't heard of resistence in some hemlocks
DAVIDLARSON I suspect that the small hemlocks just have not been found by the adelgid yet. There is no genetic resistance to this insect in hemlocks, and young trees are no less susceptible than older ones. The only thing that will postpone or maybe eliminate a hemlock from becoming infested with this insect is distance from the next nearest infested hemlock. The farther away a hemlock is from others, the longer it will escape this insect.
The University of Mass has a program of releasing a beetle from out West whose primary food is the adelgid. From what i have heard, in the target areas, great progress has been made slowing the spread of these little buggers. Here in the greenfield, mass area, there is extensive infestation. A real pity. There are stands around here that survived the first and second cuttings of the forest-basically old growth that are affected. DBH's of 24-38", 4-5 16' logs. travesty
I know it's a travesty, but no one really wants hemlock that bad up here and we don't have hemlock adelgid. $70 a cord is the best they paid in the good times for hemlock. Nowhere close to what spruce pays. It's mostly left behind to fall down from wind or rot on landings. I'd still like to have a few on my lot for the view. ;)
I used to do alot of winter camping and I love the dark groves of hemlock in winter. Very welcoming when there is 2-4' of snow around and under those,... not much. That is their REAL value. Also, in the steep ravines where there is vertical ice, it is always a good sign to pull up to one healthly hemlock to tie off on as a belay point, piece of mind.
Ironwood