Posts Tagged ‘Forestry’

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Audubon Welcomes New Forest Program Associate Rosa Goldman

As a Forest Program Associate for Connecticut and New York, Rosa Goldman works with local landowners to make their forests healthier for birds and other wildlife.

Growing up in semi-rural western Massachusetts, Goldman recounts the impact forests had on her childhood:

“I definitely took forests for granted,” she said. “I was surrounded by them all the time, and loved spending time in the woods.”

It was not until she received her bachelor’s in environmental studies and moved to New York City that Goldman realized just how powerful that influence was. “Suddenly the type of forest I’d grown up in wasn’t as accessible to me anymore. I started learning about urban forestry, but pretty quickly realized that I wanted to go back to school to study forests more broadly.”

» Continue Reading.


Monday, May 24, 2021

$450,000 in Grants Available for Private Forest Landowners

Young beech trees retain their leaves throughout the winter monthsNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced that $450,000 is now available in the first round of the State’s new ‘Regenerate NY’ Forestry Cost Share Grant Program. The grant program is designed to assist private landowners growing the next generation of forests, which are crucial for mitigating climate change, providing wildlife habitat, protecting air and water quality, and supplying an important renewable resource.

“Nearly 75 percent of New York’s 18.7 million acres of forestland is privately owned,” said Seggos. “Each year, New York’s private forests remove CO2 from the atmosphere at a rate equal to the emissions from two million gasoline-powered automobiles, underscoring the importance of partnering with landowners to sustain our forests and fight against climate change. The Regenerate NY grant program supports the renewal of our forests and will help New York State meet our ambitious carbon-reduction goals, and I encourage interested landowners to take advantage of this new program.”

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 19, 2020

“Forests Adrift” – A virtual book talk

Dr. Charlie Canham, a forest ecologist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies will be discussing his new book: “Forests Adrift: Currents Shaping the Future of Northeastern Trees” in a conversation with Cary President Dr. Joshua Ginsberg.

The event, taking place at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21, will be a virtual conversation with time allotted for an audience Q&A.

The book covers the history of northeastern forests, their resilience to change and looming threats that will determine their future and goes into how the forests have changed over time with the arrival of European settlers.

Current conditions and science-based forecasting on how the forests will adapt to logging, fire suppression, disease, pollution, invasive species, and climate change will also be covered.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Boxelder: A Tree By Any Other Name

Boxelder leaves and seeds courtesy USDAIf you know someone who goes by a slew of different names, it could be that they want to hide a bad reputation, avoid arrest, or both. In the world of trees, that individual would be the boxelder, a native member of Aceraceae, the maple family.

Boxelder is known by a dozen or more aliases, including Manitoba maple, ash-leaf maple, California maple, maple ash, sugar ash, and river maple. Because it is breakage-prone, grows fast, spreads easily, and can become a nuisance “weed” tree, its name is often preceded by a few choice words not suitable to print.
» Continue Reading.


Saturday, December 21, 2019

Vintage Adirondacks: Oval Wood Dish Products

adirondack wooden platesThe Oval Wood Dish Company was founded in 1883 in Delta, Ohio. Four years later, the company relocated to Mancelona, Michigan. There they manufactured wooden dishes, made of a single piece of wood, scooped out to form a bowl a sixteenth of an inch thick.

The bowls were disposable containers used by butchers as temporary containers for the ground beef and other meats purchased by customers. Eventually, the company replaced the wasteful method of scooping out the bowls with a wood veneer, cut and stapled to form a bowl. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Hetzler: Go Ahead, Paint That Oak Stump

leaf and whole tree symptoms of oak wilt in a red oak treeEach time I present on invasive pests, it begins with a slide of Chicken Little, a character who fomented mass hysteria by convincing other animals the sky was falling. It’s usually good for a chuckle. Inevitably I then proceed to unload a barrage of bar graphs, pie charts, alarming statistics, and photos of mayhem wrought by the featured pest. A final slide shows the position of the sky, with arrows in the direction of gravitational pull at 9.8 m/s/s, proof that the sky is indeed falling. For some reason, fewer people laugh at the end. Go figure.

Threats to forest health posed by invasive species are no joke. Yet I think we educators often come across like Chicken Little, squawking about yet another threat to trees. It would be hard to blame the average person for asking themselves, gosh – how many times can the sky fall, anyway? » Continue Reading.


Sunday, October 6, 2019

DEC Accepting Applications for Urban Forestry Projects

DEC logoState Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced up to $1.2 million in grant funding is available for urban forestry projects across New York. Grants are available for tree planting, maintenance, tree inventory, community forest management plans, and for educating those who care for public trees. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Near-Term Threats To Forest Health

spotted lantern flyIf you’re tired of hearing about new invasive forest pests, I’m right there with you. Seems they arrive at an ever-increasing pace, and the harm potential ratchets up with each newcomer. At this rate maybe we’ll get a wood-boring beetle whose larvae explode, which would put things in perspective. As distasteful as it is to peer at the cast of ugly new characters, it’s better to know what we’re up against.

Novel pests put everyone on a steep learning curve. For the species below, key questions remain unanswered, and some of what we “know” will undoubtedly be proven wrong. Still, it’s worth the effort to take stock of the near-term threats to our woodlands. » Continue Reading.


Monday, August 19, 2019

NYS, Protect Both Appealing Forest Preserve Decision

A typical view on a class II community connector trail where 1000 trees a mile are destroyed by state agencies provided by ProtectAdirondack Forest Preserve advocates Protect the Adirondacks announced Monday that they plan to appeal one of the July 3rd rulings by the Appellate Division, Third Department, in its lawsuit challenging the tree cutting and terrain alterations for snowmobile trails on the Forest Preserve by state agencies. The State announced last week that it also planned to appeal part of the ruling.

The court issued a mixed decision in July. It ruled that the cutting of over 25,000 trees on the Forest Preserve for wide class II community connector snowmobile trails violated Article 14, Section 1, of the NYS Constitution. At the same time however, the court ruled that the construction practices used to clear, bulldoze and grade these trails did not violate the famous forever wild provision of Article 14.

The New York State Constitution’s Article 14 protects the Adirondack Forest Preserve as “forever wild.” Adirondack Forest Preserve lands form the basis of the Adirondack Park. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Oak Wilt And Invasive Species Vigilance

leaf and whole tree symptoms of oak wilt in a red oak tree It’s hard to be cheerful in a job where I am expected to keep up on each newly arrived or imminent threat from invasive insects, novel plant diseases, and worrisome trends in the environment. Although I typically deflate everyone’s happy-bubble when I give a talk, I’ve discovered we need not fret that the sky is going to fall.

The National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) is a joint effort of research institutions, government agencies and nonprofit groups; their mission is to monitor stuff which falls to Earth that is not some form of water. Since one of the NADP’s tasks is to study tiny particles of pollutants in the air, they will certainly notice if the sky starts to fall, and give us ample time to take cover. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, June 13, 2019

51,000 Acres, Rights Acquired in Raquette Boreal Forest Area

Three Rivers ForestThe Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit, has announced it has acquired ownership and rights on roughly 51,300 total acres in the Northwestern Adirondack Park.

The Three Rivers Forest properties include exceptional northern hardwood timberland near the headwaters of three major rivers flowing north to the St. Lawrence River – the Raquette, Oswegatchie and Grasse. The lands were purchased from investor-owners who had previously purchased former paper company lands, including former tracts of the Champion and International paper companies. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, May 29, 2019

How Flood Waters Impact Trees

floodplain of the Lynches River in South CarolinaAs a teenager, my son had a saying, whether original or borrowed I don’t know (the saying, that is), which went something like “All things in moderation. Especially moderation.” It would seem Mother Nature took that to heart, and dispensed with moderate rainfall and snow melt this spring. If not her, then maybe it was Creepy Uncle Climate Change. At any rate, the resultant flooding has been heartbreaking to observe.

While I am of course sensitive to the anguish of those people affected by the record-high waters, as an arborist I cannot help but think about the suffering trees as well. » Continue Reading.


Friday, March 1, 2019

DEC Seeking Input on 480a Forest Tax Law

DEC logoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced an upcoming series of public meetings to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to offer input on the Forest Tax Law Program’s Section 480a.

The purpose of these meetings is to discuss areas of the program that could be improved including increasing compliance, reducing administrative burdens, and improving forestry outcomes. » Continue Reading.


Friday, November 23, 2018

Input Sought On Tug Hill East, East Branch Fish Creek Plans

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is asking the public for input on the development of the draft Tug Hill East Unit Management Plan (UMP) and the East Branch Fish Creek Easement Recreation Management Plan (RMP). DEC has encouraged the public to share comments on the plans at a session on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Opinion: Wildlife Need More Adirondack Clear-Cuts

Bicknells thrush In the September-October edition of the Adirondack Explorer, ecologist Charles Canham says there are legitimate concerns about over-harvesting trees in the Adirondack Park, and that there is no good ecological or silvicultural rationale for clear-cuts.

I must disagree with these suppositions by Mr. Canham. With millions of acres of state land preserved within the Adirondack Park and never to be managed (harvested), Adirondack Park Agency oversight of larger clear-cuts on non-state-owned lands, and best management practices in place for forest harvests, there should not be great concern for over-harvesting. This is not the days of old, when massive cuts were done on steep slopes with no effort to stabilize the soil. Methods are much more environmentally friendly these days. » Continue Reading.



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