Tree Farmer - Winter 2012 - (Page 6)

By Cooke forest news AmANDA Extreme Weather Has Unexpected Consequences As farmers and woodland owners are painfully aware, large parts of the United States have been in the grip of a lengthy, devastating drought. The toll has been particularly harsh in some places. In Texas, for example, a new study shows that more than 300 million trees were killed directly or indirectly in rural forests by the drought. “The drought produced traumatic results, especially for individual landowners. But the good news is the forest is resilient,” says Burl Carraway, department head for the Texas A&M Forest Service Sustainable Forestry department. “Tree death is a natural forest process.” Ironically, the state’s pecan harvest could be one of the largest in recent years, yielding as much as 24 percent more pecans than average. The excess production was a direct result of the drought during the early growing season. When stressed, a pecan tree forms more fruit in an attempt to make sure the species is preserved. The drought has also impacted wine grapes in New York state, which is the country’s third-largest wine producer, turning out an average of 40 million gallons annually. The twist here is that the lack of water may actually improve the wine’s taste. “When there’s a drought, it tends to hold back the vegetative growth of the vine so that the clusters are better exposed to the sun and that results in improved flavors and aromas,” says Cornell University horticulture professor Justine Vanden Heuvel. Sources: txforestservice.tamu.edu, wrn.com, wxow.com, and agprofessional.com Sniffing out Pests “Working Dogs for Conservation has deployed detection dog teams to root out many invasive species....” Fido is on the scent of a major woodland offender. In Minnesota, dogs have been trained to detect the scent of the invasive emerald ash borer beetle in wood and brush piles. The small insect has eaten its way through millions of ash trees in North America since its introduction from Asia about a decade ago, and now threatens the nearly 1 billion ash trees in Minnesota. Affected trees often show few signs until the infestation has advanced. “The primary problem with the emerald ash borer is it’s hard to find and easy to move,” says entomologist Mark Abrahamson. Using funding from the federal Farm Bill, Minnesota officials contracted with Working Dogs for Conservation, a Montana-based nonprofit, to develop and test a dog-based detection program. The canines were trained much like law enforcement drug-sniffing dogs, but with a focus on finding the invasive beetles and their larvae. “Working Dogs for Conservation has deployed detection dog teams to root out many invasive species—weeds, snakes, and even snails” says Alice Whitelaw, director of programs for the 6 Tree Farmer Winter 2012 http://txforestservice.tamu.edu http://www.wrn.com http://www.wxow.com http://www.agprofessional.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - Winter 2012

Tree Farmer - Winter 2012
Contents
From the Director
Forest News
After the Election, Time to Re-engage
Finding Their Way
A Woman’s Touch
Real-World Education
Connecting Kids to Nature
Sharing Your Experiences
Ties to the Land
Woodland Security
Taxing Issues

Tree Farmer - Winter 2012