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  • From: <eureka AT hctc.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Beetle Invasion in N.E.
  • Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:45:43 -0600

Very cool. You are in an area that values forests.

I think the problem here is multifold. For one, it doesn't really get cold enough to think about having a woodlot for heating purposes, thus no need to manage for it. Secondly, there is a false belief that one of the predominant native species "cedar" (really a juniper) is a water hog, coupled with the fact it makes great fenceposts, so there has been a "cedar chopper" mentality in my area for over 100 years. The wood is too resinous to burn inside the house, and the tree pollen (wind pollinated as many desert plants are) makes a number of folks sick (including me, I am really suffering now).

Interestingly, the community just over the hill from me where the desert truly begins (and the West, as in the 100th meridian) is almost devoid of this tree because of the cedar choppers, and I cannot help but wonder if this has contributed to the desertification of the area. Like most desert plants, Juniperus asheii has tiny, scale-like leaves for a lower transpiration rate, meaning they are pretty darn good at conserving water--so how can the be water hogs? If anything, their thick cover slows down erosion.

A botanical friend of mine is writing a book about the tree, trying to debunk the myths
http://members.toast.net/juniper/Ashe%20juniper.html#anchor891212

--Sage

On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 09:58:15 -0700
Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:

On Nov 5, 2008, at 9:06 AM, <eureka AT hctc.net> <eureka AT hctc.net> wrote:

Diversity isn't just limited to species, but should
involve life stages as well.

Absolutely. A healthy eco-system includes species and age diversification. As in farming and gardening, mono-cropping is fraught with problems.

A friend, David Haenke, who manages a several-thousand-acre private forest, introduced me to Clint Trammel, who is Forest Manager for Pioneer Forest near Salem, Missouri. PF consists of about 160,000 acres, all owned by businessman, Leo Drey. For half a century PF foresters have been practicing a single-tree harvest practice. Opposite of normal logging, the practice takes out the worst trees and leaves the best, making sunlight, water and nutrients more available to the best trees, including mother trees that seed the floor. The practice thus continually upgrades the forest, making it ever more valuable.

David brought Clint to Heartwood some years ago to advise me before I did a modest amount of logging. Clint's knowledge is huge. It was a wonderful afternoon of keeping my mouth shut except to answer questions and mostly soak up information as fast as I could while we walked through the forest of Heartwood, a mere 130 acres of oak, pine, hickory and other valuable trees.

http://www.pioneerforest.com/index.php
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