The New York Forest Owner - Volume 30 Number 2

FOREST OWNERA Publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

March/April1992People and Trees; Partners in Time

THE NEW YORK

FOREST OWNERVOL. 30, NO.2

OFACERS & DIRECfORS

Stuart McCarty, President4300 East AvenueRochester,NY 14618(716) 381·6373

Charles Mowatt, 1st Vice PresidentPOBox 1182Savona, NY 14879

Robert M. Sand, Recording Secretary300 Church StreetOdessa,NY 14869-9703

Angus Jobnstone, TreasurerPOBox 430East Aurora, NY 14052

John C. Marchant, Executive Director45 Cambridge CourtFairport, NY 14450(716) 377-7906

Deborah Gill, Administrative SecretaryP.O. Box 180Fairport, NY 14450(716) 377-6060

1992Robert A. Hellmann, BrockportAlan R. Knight, CandorStuart McCarty, RochesterCharles Mowatt, Savona

1993David J. Colligan, BuffaloVerner C. Hudson, ElbridgeMary S. McCarty, RochesterSanford Vreeland, SpringwaterDonald. J. Wagner, Utica

1994Norman Richards, SyracuseRobert M. Sand, Odessa

AFFILIATE REPRESENT ATIVESDonald Colt_ThriRKathleen Farnum-Catskill Forest Assoc.

CHAPTER REPRESENT ATIVESPeter Childs-Allegheny FoohiliaWendell HaUleld-CayupIrwIn K1ng-CapltaJ DistrictThomas L. Eilison-Central New YorkRobert S. Davis-Lower HudsonWes Suhr-Northern AdirondackRobert White-Niagara frontierErwin Fullerton-Southeastern AdirondackLarry Lepak-Southern TierPatrick J. McGlew-TlopGeorge Appleton--Western Finger Lakes

All rights reserved.Contentsmay not be reproducedwith-out prior written permission from the publisher. Opinionsexpressedby authoris are theirown anddo not necessarilyreflect the policy of the publisher.

COVER PHOTO:Shown is Irwin King's Sugarbush Farm.

Photo by Darby Hill

A publication of the New York Forest Owners AssociationEditorial Committee: Betty Densmore, Richard Fox, Alan Knight, Mary McCarty

Norm Richards and Dave Taber.

Materials submitted for publication should be addressed to: R Fox, RD. #3, Box 88,Moravia, New York 13118. Articles, artwork and photos are invited and are normallyreturned after use. The deadline for submission is 30 days prior to publication in May.Please address all membership and change of address requests to P.O. Box 180,Fairport, N.Y. 14450.

Table of ContentsPresident's Message 3More on Burning, Ronda Engman, Professor Nyland 4,5Chapter Reports 8The Sugar Maple, Steve Davison 10Sugar Maple Borer, DouglasAllen 12Sweet Steam, etc., Irwin King 14Trapping & Furbearer Management, Gordon Batcheller 13Marketing Christmas Trees, Dave Taber 16Ants & Termites, Carolyn Klass 17Ask a Forester, Dave Daut 18SIP, Mike Greason 19

FOREST OWNER

CAYM•.Cayuga, 1985 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..75STC.M•.South.m TI.r, 1985 ••..•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.118TIO'N.Tloga, 1986 •........•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•...•.•.•....•.•.•.•.•.•.•....•.•...•.•.•...•.•.•. 88WFl •.•.Western Finger Lake., 1988 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•249AFC •.•.Allegheny Foothills, 1989 •.•.••..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.••.•.••.•..91NFC•..•.Nlagara Frontier, 1990 •.•.....•...•..•..•................•...................•..•.•.. 122CDC•..•Capltal District, 1991 •.•.•..•••.•.•.•.•.•.•••.•.•.•••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•...•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.89SACM.•.Southeastern Adlorndack, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.••.•.•.•.76LHC•.•.•.Low.r Hudson, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..45CNYM•..Cantral New York, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•74NAC•..•.Northern Adirondack, 1991 •.•.•••.•.•.••.•..•••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•49

CFA•.•.•.Catsklll Forestry Assoc., 1982 •.•••••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.125THRIFT •.•..Tug Hili Resources, Investment lor Tomorrow, 1982 •.•.•..•. 137

With membership as of January 1, 1992.

MARCHIAPRIL 1992NY FOREST OWNER 2

President's MessageBy Stuart McCarty

When one stops to think about it, thereis an amazing amount of help available tothe woodlot owner.

Starting right at home numerous bookscan be studied by the interested owner whowants to learn some of the fundamentals.Mary and I have enjoyed "Woodlands forProfit and Pleasure" by Reginald D. Forbespublished by the American Forestry Asso-ciation (our edition printed in 1979) and"The Woodland Steward" by James R.Fazio published by the Woodland Press ofMoscow, Idaho. The latter has a personaltouch because it has an interview with thelate Evelyn Stock, Editor of the ForestOwner for some years, and refers in com-plimentary terms to NYFOA! Our affili-ate, the Catskill Forest Association, hasbeen offering it for sale to its members forsome time.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension withoffices around the state has a wealth ofreading material available at modest costas well as agents willing to answer ques-tions and give advice on forestry. DaveTaber, of Cooperative Extension, is a fre-quent and constructive contributor to ourmagazine.

The College of Environ mental Scienceand Forestry in Syracuse offers courses forthe non-traditional student and in manyways supports the efforts of the woodlotowner to meet objectives. For example,Dr. Norman Richards, a professor at SUNYESF and a director ofNYFOA, is planningthe program for our Annual Meeting onApril 25, in which the preparation of Man-agement ~ will be featured.

In the January/February issue of theForest Owner, David Forness, a DEC Se-nior Forester, gave an excellent run downon the Federal Cost Sharing Programs,with which we all should be acquaintedsince they are there for our use. The new-est, the Stewardship Incentive Program(SIP), is about to get under way so be alertto announcements as to how to proceed.

At some point in the cycle of caring forone's woods the forest owner should em-ploy the services of a DEC forester or aconsulting forester. They can bring it alltogether and help both to accomplish theowner's objectives for his or her woodlotand to avoid mistakes that may be impos-

an information database available throughan 800 number at NYFOA' s headquarters.This would make it even easier for theforest owner to find answers to questionsrelating to his or her woodlot. JohnMarchant is in the early stages of mappingout the steps to instituting this service toour members and will let us know if andwhen it is decided to go ahead.

So there is lots of help out there andmaybe even more coming! Let's make useof it.

sible to correct in a lifetime.Now we have the new Master Forest

Owner program also referred to in our lastissue and of which our Executive Director,John Marchant, was one of the "primeproponents". This program holds greatpromise for the years to come as additionalwoodlot owners become certified. Thankyou, John!

NYFOA's Forest Owner magazine, thenewsletters and activities of the chaptersand affiliates, and the meetings of the stateorganization offer our members a diversityof help and pleasure and are hard to beat.

Finally we are considering establishing

An Odd Odeor

Mary's Miracle MemorializedBy Richard Kesel

When Mary McCarty earned her degree by degrees,Most of us thought she would major in trees.At Nazareth she spoke to each tree on the groundsWhere the beech, the maple and chestnut abounds.Sometimes she would branch out and speak to a cherry,Flowering or plain, made no difference to Mary.Poplar and elm, linden, wiIIow and oak,She leaves none unattended; they're all okey-doke.Except for the time when she barked at a ginkgoWhich was rumored to be a true Chinese pinko.She even mapped them right down to the very last pine,Which Nazareth front office thought was just fine.Mary's really quite fond of the whole arboretum;"If they're trees," she avers, "You really can't beat 'em!"So you see why it was a bit of a mysteryWhen she chose to matriculate in Religion and History."But," said Mary, "It's not very surprising.I wanted to do it while the sap was still rising!"So now her vocabulary encompasses Baalam's assWith sweet gum and alder and old sassafras.And added to subjects distinctly deciduous,In matters doctrinal she's become quite meticulous;Plus the movers and shakers of our civilizationHave their niche in her knowledge of historification.Now then, she has triumphed; her exams are all through.Give three cheers for Mary! Give a wife back to Stu!

NYFOA member the Reverend Richard Kesel of the First Presbyterian Church ofPittsford composed this poem for friend Mary McCarty (NYFOA President 1984-85) upon the occasion of her award of the Bachelor of Arts Degree by NazarethCollege, Class of 1988.

NY FOREST OWNER 3 MARCH/APRIL 1992

have no trouble with natural regenerationof hickories or red and white oaks. Onereason may be that! have a healthy residentsquirrel population that works continuallyduring late summer storing mast. How-ever, I can 'tremember ever seeing a squir-rel at the Bald Hill Road site.

If you would like to increase the numberof mast trees on your property, I cautionyou to think carefully before you bum orclearcut. I recommend you first do aninventory of your squirrel population. Ifyou think it merits increasing, considerestablishing a feeding station to attractsquirrels (they love sunflower seeds) anderect nest boxes if natural nest sites arelacking.

Animals playa much more importantrole in the health of the forest than we tendto admit. In their own way, they fertilize,plant, and cultivate. We need to work withwildlife rather than work against it.Ms. Engman acknowledges she is an activeenvironmentalist.

public has clearly indicated to the twonational forests their desire to maintain ahealthy oak forest and to expand the foresttype where feasible. We are eager to ac-complish this goal using prescribed burn-ing as a silvicultural tool.

About Burning, Fire Scars, and SquirrelsBy Ronda C. Engman

As a member of NYFOA and one wholives within walking distance ofthe DanbyState Forest, I would like to comment onDave Riordan's article on burning thatappeared in the January /February issue ofNY Forest Owner.

Although I did not witness the actualburning of the site off Bald Hill Road in theDanby State Forest, I have visited this areacoun tless times since the burning occurred.I have also spoken to Ralph Nyland spe-cifically about this site.

If you were to walk this site today, youwould notice that there is a dense under-story of brambles and that most of the adulttrees, which are almost exclusively oaks,have fire scars nearly six feet up theirtrunks, many display signs of rot. Thesetrees are either already dead or are dying.Many have multiple sprouts coming fromthe bases of their trunks. This site, which isat the crest of a hill, was hit hard by gypsymoths last year, more so than a nearby

mixed stand of deciduous and coniferoustrees.

Dave Riordan said that the burn wasconducted to kill the understory. However,it is well-known that brambles are notkilled when burned. In fact, a burn willfertilize the brambles, encouraging themto come back more heavily than before.According to Ralph Nyland, "Our experi-ence has been raspberries have not de-terred oak development. Oaks comethrough the raspberries quite adequately."

Nyland said that the sprouts at the baseof the trees indicated that the fire had beentoo hot. "This method is all wrong," hesaid. Fire scars cause discoloration andfungus which affects the value of the trees"dramatically," he said. "Seventy-fiveper-cent of the value of the tree is in the buttsixteen-foot log. If you get rot in thosethings, some of them may be quite value-less."

My property is basically an extension ofthe Danby State Forest ecosystem. Yet, I

Prescribed Burning: An Oak Management Tool OnThe Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests

Because of its importance as a foodsource for wildlife and its value as a woodproduct, oak is a key forest resource onboth the Green Mountain National Forestin Vermont and the Finger Lakes NationalForest in southcentral New York. Conse-quently, the oak type is an important vege-tative community to maintain as a compo-nent of New England and New York'sdiverse forest ecosystem. Although oakoccurs on only about one percent of theGreen Mountain, it comprises most of theFinger Lakes National Forest. On a largerscale, oak occurs on four percent of Ver-mont's forestland and 11 percent of NewYork's. The Forest Plans for both of thesenational forests require the oak type to bemaintained and, where feasible, expanded.

On some sites, little advanced oak re-generation is present. Prescribed burningfollowed by shelterwood cutting during agood seed year can facilitate the establish-ment of oak regeneration. Summer log-ging that creates good soil scarification isan additional treatment practice which can

increase the probability of successfullyestablishing oak seedlings.

On the Green Mountain and FingerLakes National Forests, oak regenerationis a long-term process rather than a singleevent. Prescribed burning and shelterwoodcutting can be used to stimulate establish-ment of oak regeneration. Oak is a keyforest resource because of its value as awood product and its importance to manywildlife species that utilize the mast The

Excerpted from an article by Robert R.Burt. Forest Silviculturist of The GreenMountain National Forest, as it appearedin Forest Management Update, Sept. 1991

NY FOREST OWNER MARCH/APRIL 19924

About Burning, Fire Scars, and LearningBy Ralph D. Nyland

Fires burned oak forests many timesduring spring and fall for centuries beforepeople decided to control the fires. Cattlealso commonly grazed in the woodlands ofNew York through the first 2-3 decades ofthe 1900's, clipping off many species ofherbaceous and woody plants. As a result,the understory was probabl y park -like andquite open. The chestnut also died duringthe 1930's, reducing overstory density inthose stands. Interestingly, many of NewYork's best oak sawtimber grew into over-story positions coincident with the death ofthose trees ...a natural act that reduced over-story density just as we do with cuttingtoday.

Somehow these pieces all fit together inthe past And we ended up with standscontaining excellent oaks. Yet today wehave difficulty regenerating oaks, and needto learn how to replicate the necessaryconditions that gave us oaks in the past.And that may include using prescribedburning linked to cutting of some over-story trees to promote development of newoaks to replace the old ones. The researchdescribed in Dave Riordan's piece on page4 of the Jan/Feb issue of your NY ForestOwner was an early step to find such asurefire way to perpetuate oaks in NewYork.

Those early trials included prescribedburning in areas not given an overstorycutting, and stands cut to reduce the over-story canopy density to improve light lev-els near the ground. This allowed us toseparate effects of burning alone fromthose related to burning coupled with areduction of crown canopy density. Wealso wanted to control the undesirablewoody understory vegetation. Otherwise,we knew the stands would shift to redmaple and beech .... even as happens inunmanaged areas that suffer Gypsy mothdefoliation, and where the oaks later die.

At first, we did not appreciate fully thecircumstances whereby fifes cause basaldamage to standing trees. Available litera-ture included little information about theproblem. So when we had an opportunityto bum a stand where overstory cutting hadalready occurred, we gave it a try. Thatsaved the time to find another stand, planand make the burn, and then plan and makeacutting. We did know that in uncut stands,

only the dry leaf litter burns. Those fifesmove rapidly across the ground surface,and the flames pass by each tree in just afew seconds. The heat does not build uparound the tree trunks sufficiently to dam-age the inner bark and earnbium, except forstems less than about 3 inches in diameter.Those small ones die back to ground level,as do any woody shrubs.

As we began burning a couple of al-ready-cut stands, we learned first hand thatwhen a leaf litter fife ignites piles of smallwoody debris laying immediately adjacentto a standing tree, high temperatures at tipsof the flames can last long enough to killthe inner bark and cambium layer. Afterthe bark dies, it eventually falls off from atriangular area along the base of a damagedtree, opening it to possible invasion bywood-rotting fungi. These wounds becomethe classic basal fire scars that we all knowabout, just like the ones that formed afterthe fife at Danby State Forest By contrast,fifes burning in stands lacking the loggingslash cause no damage to the large trees ...animportant lesson for the future.

In addition to damaging some of thestanding oak trees, those early experimen-tal fires stimulated sprouting of the oakseedlings already growing in the under-story. With improved light caused by theoverstory cutting, the seedlings grew fairlyrapidly. And when they overtopped theraspberries, the DEC foresters removedthe remaining old trees so the new youngones could develop without suppression.As a consequence, new oaks will replacethe mature oaks, and the stand will not endup with just red maple and beech.

This research taught us much aboutregenerating oaks. Yet we still need tokeep improving the techniques to make themethods foolproof. And that is exactlywhy Dave Riordan and his colleagues triedthe burning and cutting at Danby StateForest. That project taught us burn theunderstory before attempting any cuttingto reduce overstory density and increaselight levels near the ground. And when weburn first, we get no fife scars.

In cooperation with Dave Riordan, BobDemeree, and others from DEC we havebegun a lO-year assessment of how wellprescribed burning helps us to regenerateoaks in New York. Eventually we hope tohave a proven technique. But that will take

more burning, more cutting, and moreresearch. And we'll continue tolearn ....even by our mistakes. I am surethat Dave will keep you posted.

Dr. Ralph Nyland is aProfessor ofSilvicul-ture, SUNY College of Environmental Sci-ence and Forestry at Syracuse, N.Y., andwinner of NYFOA's Heiberg Award for1978.

ConservationEasementsDear Editor:

Thank you for the excellent article byJohn Krebs on conservation easements inyour November/December 1991 issue. Itclearly described the best answer for pri-vate landowners who cherish their landand want to protect it permanently fromdevelopment. regardless of future owner-ship. Because non-profit land trusts workdirectly with landowners in writing andfine-tuning conservation easements to re-flect the natural values of the property andthe wishes of the owner, the means may bereadily available for a landowner to volun-tarily obtain legally binding protection inperpetuity for his or her land.

Dedicated to the permanent protectionof our working landscapes, open spaces,scenic beauty, and plant and animal habi-tats, land trusts are increasingly providingan invaluable service to landowners andtheir communities. In its first 2 1/2 years ofoperation in the 12-county Finger LakesRegion, the Finger Lakes Land Trust -headquartered in Ithaca, and with chaptersin Canandaigua and Skaneateles - has ac-cepted donations of 13 conservation ease-ment son 845 acres, owns three naturepreserves and has handshake agreementson another 1789 acres. As a membershiporganization, we welcome new membersand encourage participation in our pro-grams. For information, write to FingerLakes Land Trust, P.O. Box 4745, Ithaca,NY 14852 or call (607) 838-3590.Sincerely,Bob Beck, Executive Director


the basin, possibly increasing the suspendedsediment load by 100-to-1000 times indownstream flow. This is not an unusualsituation -- it has been observed in manydifferent locations. Wetlands do act astraps for sediment, but they may also act assources of sediment, contributing sus-pended material to streamflow under cer-tain conditions.

My final remark relates to " ... this beau-tiful sight ... " in reference to the photo-graph of a wetland on page 19. As they say,"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," anda stand of dead snags is not particularlyattractive to this beholder, but then that'smy problem!

WETLANDS REVISITEDByWes Suhr

Dave Taber's "Open Space" and "Wet-lands" articles were well-written contribu-tions to our last issue (Jan/Feb) of FORESTOWNER. I want to take a technical view ofsome statements made in "Wetlands ServeNature and Society" on page 19. The intentof my remarks is to increase the awarenessof the reader for the valuable wetlandcommunity.

Dave says "They (wetlands) are sinksthat prevent floods by absorbing and hold-ing water." Wetlands do not always "pre-vent" floods, but may at times contributedirectly to flood runoff. The degree offlood reduction or contribution by wet-lands depends on many factors related tothe moisture in storms and the moisture on(and in) the watershed containing thewetland( s). Let's take a high moisture situ-ation -- the soils of the watershed are fullycharged with moisture and the wetland is

"filled full" of water -- not unusual, espe-ciallyduring spring snow-melt runoff. Anyadditional moisture from the snow-pack orthe next storm that reaches the wetland willnot be "absorbed" or "held", but mostlikely will contribute directly and rapidlyto channel runoff or flooding downstream.

Here comes that word "prevent" again:"They (wetlands) hold sediment from ero-sion and prevent its further translocation. "Again, this depends on the nature of thestorm or source of moisture and the condi-tions of the watershed and wetland site.Wetland basins do act as traps for sedimentand may accumulate tremendous loads.Let's take the above example where thesite is at full moisture-storage capacity,and assume the "wetland" is a beaverpond(s) as the photograph on page 19appears to be. At flood stage (level) withhigh runoff, water can breach the dam andmay "flush out" much of the sediment in

Wes Suhr, Forester and Hydrologist, editsthe NY forest Owner's column "Ask aForester" and has previously consideredWetlands,NYFO Jan/Feb 1989 and MarlApr 1989.

Gilead Tree Farm-- A Thirty-three Year PerspectiveBy Paul Steinfeld

In 1965 ~ ~ published myfirst written statement about beginningexperiences as a tree farmer. In 1982 Em::m Owner printed an update of these expe-riences. Now, at the end of 1991, a happycoincidence prompts these reflections. Thecoincidence is that 1991 marks the fiftiethanniversary of the American Tree FarmSystem and also our fiftieth wedding anni-versary. Gilead Tree Farm became NewYork State Tree Farm #258 in 1963. Animportant theme binds our personal liveswith tree farming. Our life, the lives of ourchildren and grandchildren, and of manyfriends and relatives have been enriched byNYS Tree Farm #258. Management ofthese Catskill acres has taught us thathuman bonds and religious values are forus major ingredients of good stewardship.

Perhaps one reason this interrelation-ship between people and trees has been soimportant to us is that we came from urbanbackgrounds and had to learn from theground up. Learning involves people. Thefirst person who encouraged me to writeabout our tree farm was our dear departedDave Hanaburgh, a highly experiencedprofessional forester, one of the early lead-

ers of our Association. Rarely do I walk ourfarm without recalling details Dave taughtabout how to read the land and how to useits products wisely. That first article broughtan encouraging response from Floyd E.Carlson, then Secretary of our Associa-tion, and a distinguished faculty member atthe College of Forestry in Syracuse. Pro-fessor Carlson informed me that my ar-ticle, "What My Forest Means to Me,"would be used at the College for orienta-tion to entering students.

In 1991 we celebrate the contribution oftree farming to family life. Each of our fourchildren feels attached to Gilead Tree Farmand a personal involvement in some aspectof its development, such as timber standimprovement, forest plantations, wildlife,fish pond, timber and firewood harvests,and landscaping. The farm has served eachfamily member in different ways and atdifferent times as a haven for solitude andas a family gathering center. Now it simi-larly serves our four grandchildren. Be-yond immediate family, siblings and theirchildren and grandchildren have formedattachments to this place that have strength-ened their attachment to one another. Oneof our little grandnephews used to say, "I

want to go to my farm." One of our niecessaid, "I feel at home here." Friends havecelebrated weddings at the farm, and rela-tives have been married under a canopy oflarch boughs grown here. Each Decembera couple of old friends come with theirgrandchildren to choose and cut their Christ-mas trees.

Church and synagogue youth groupshave visited. On the Feast of TabernaclesourSukka,orceremonialhut, fragrant withspruce boughs, has helped teach thanks-giving for bounty and responsibility toenhance the land's bounty as a religiousobligation. Alone I could never be a goodsteward. Membership in NYFOA and itsCatskill affiliate, the American Tree FarmSystem, NY State Department of Environ-mental Conservation, Greene County Ex-tension Service, and interaction with fam-ily and friends have all enabled us to feelpartofacontinuing processoflearning thathas strengthened ties with family and com-munity.

Paul Steinfeld,PresidentofNYFOAfor theyears 1982-1984, currently servesforestryas a Director for the Catskill ForestryAssociation, a NYFOA affiliate.

NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRIL 19926

Save Taxes Using Federal Tax Law for Timber Owners

Property Boundary Line Trees

By John P. LaschenskiBy using the special provisions in the

federal tax law benefiting timber landowners, you can save significantly on yourincome taxes.Use Depletion

If you sell timber from land you own,claim the depletion allowance as a cost ofthe sale, reducing the taxable income fromthe sale. The depletion allowance is calcu-lated by multiplying the number of boardfeet cut by a fraction, the numerator ofwhich is your adjusted basis in all thetimber on your land, and the denominatorof which is the total number of board feetof timber on your land.Get Capital Gains Treatment

Use the capital gains tax rate on yourgain when you dispose of standing timberor cutting rights using a contract in whichyou retain an economic interest. To retain

Trees often grow on or near propertyboundaries in woodlands as well as in cityand suburban housing lots. Sometimes dis-putes arise as to who owns the propertyboundary line trees. The question mayinvolve who has the rights to cut a tree orremove branches from a tree growing on aproperty boundary line.

When legal questions are asked, it maytake negotiations between lawyers to de-velop a satisfactory solution. Of course,the ultimate authority for resolving dis-agreements over interpretation oflaws restswith the State and Federal courts.

Even if one is innocent, it is unpleasant,nerve-racking, time-consuming and costlyto be accused of a law violation. Therefore,in many cases it may be advantageous toremain in the enviable position of notbeing involved in any way in a legal con-troversy.

Trespass, Line Trees"On the line.- If the trunk of a tree is on

the boundary line, the tree is commonproperty of both owners whether markedas a boundary or not. A shade tree standingon a boundary between adjoining owners iscommon property of both, and the merefact that it stands on border of sidewalkaffording shade for pedestrian does notinterfere with right of either to protect it or

an economic interest, you must be paid ona per unit cut basis, not with a fixed fee.

You can also use the capital gains taxrate and take a gain when you cut timber touse it in your own business (such as cuttingit for logs and selling the logs).Get Special Reforestation Incentives

Up to $10,000 per year of your expen-ditures for "reforestation" can receive spe-cial tax benefits:

• Amortization over 84 months on yourtaxretum;

• Creation of a 10% investment taxcredit on your tax return.Defer Tax on Federal or State Grants

If you receive federal or state "costsharing" grants for improvements made toland which foster conservation, protect theenvironment, improve forests or supply ahabitat for wildlife, you do not need todeclare the grants as income on your tax

recover damages for its destruction. 'Eachof the owners upon whose land any part ofa trunk of a tree stands, has an interest inthat tree, a property in it, equal in the firstinstance, to, or perhaps rather identicalwith, the part which is upon his land; and,in the next place, embracing the right todemand that the owner of the other portionshall so use his part as not unreasonably toinjure or destroy the whole.' As such treesare the common property of both, neithermay destroy without the consent of theother and where a row of trees is on the lineneither is entitled to make his own partitionby cutting alternate trees and furthermorean injunction may be granted to prevent thedestruction of a line tree. However themere fact that a tree stands upon a bound-ary does not preclude either owner fromcutting away the branches overhanging hisland.

Line trees belong to the adjoining pro-prietors as tenants in common. Where suchtrees are destroyed by one of the adjoiningproprietors a trespass action may be main-tained by the other adjoining proprietor.

The following opinions may help you tounderstand the property boundary line treesituation.

1. The old tale is that every other mer-chantable tree growing on aproperty bound-ary line belongs to each adjoining owner.

return until the year you ssll the land ortimber affected.Take Loss For Ice Storm Casualty

If your timber was destroyed in the icestorm of 1991, you can deduct the amountlost using the depletion rules referred toabove. If you are in the timbering business,you can deduct all of your loss. If yourtimber land is held as personal property,the amount of the loss that you can take islimited by special rules.Use IRS Form T

To take advantage of the above federaltax law provisions, you must report yourtimber transactions on IRS form T, avail-able from the IRS or your accountant.

John Laschenski is a Certified Public Ac-countant with the accounting firm;Heveron, Laschenski & Walpole ofRoch-ester

This is not legally correct unless bothowners agree.

2. Trees which stand on the boundaryline belong to adjoining owners together astenants in common. Where such trees aredestroyed by one of the adjoining ownersproprietors or agents a trespass action maybe maintained by the other adjoining owner.

3. To prevent errors or trespass it wouldseem that most owners would prefer tokeep a tree standing when marked as aboundary line tree as evidence of the bound-ary. Keeping aboundary lineplainlymarkedwould assist the owners as well as thelogger to avoid trespass. Of course this is adecision of both owners collectively as amatter of their common interest.

4. Trees standing close to the boundarythat are face blazed or painted are notjointly owned. They belong to the owneron whose land they stand. Face blazedtrees also serve a useful purpose as witnessto the boundary. The N.Y. State Depart-ment of Environmental Conservation doesnot want face blazed trees adjacent to theproperty line cut if they are located on thestate-owned side of the boundary."

Excerpted from NY FOREST OWNER J/A1983.

NY FOREST OWNER MARCHIAPRIL 19927

a.m. on May 23. Jeff Liddle will conductthe tour, bring a bag lunch and somethingto drink:.

Chapter Reports""m=::=)A=:T""':;''J)=E=6H=···:=EN¥=>=· iE=o.o=·::··•••·=m=·••:··=.· n=WI=;s.=··.:=))"""il

Betty DensmoreOn Jan. 25 twenty-six members met at

the County Extension Building in Elli-cottville for a presentation by Wayne Coo-per, DEC Olean District Manager on 480-AN.Y.S.ForestTaxLaw. The session wasa lively one which started at 10 a.m. andwith questions and answer period lasted till3 p.m .. The AFC'S fund raising has en-abled our treasury balance to top $1000.00,the first time in our 21/2 year history. OnMar. 21 at 10 a.m. theAFCwillmeetagainin the County Extension Bldg. inEllicottville to hear Herbert Darling, Jr.present a program on the American Chest-nut.

P:::)CAPlTAUDISTRIC'IL).JIrwin King

Since our last report, the Capital Dis-trict Chapter completed a mid-Novemberwoods walk through the sugarbush of chap-ter president Irwin King. A clear and crispday greeted the woodswalkers who touredportions of the 60 acre woodlot to observea developing Christmas tree plantation andthe mature sugarbush with its 2,500 tapoperation. NYFOA president Stuart Me-Carty helped welcome the visitors. DEeRegion 4 regional forester Carl Wiede-mann had marked out several sample plotsin the woodlot prior to the walk and de-scribed for the woodswalkers several har-vesting options.

On January 18, the Chapter met atNYFOA member Eric Rassmussen'sLange's restaurant on Route 23 just east ofWindham Ski Center. Mike Birmingham,DEC's resident expert on forest healthprovided a highly entertaining and inter-esting presentation about the status of vari-ous tree insect and disease problems aswell as the types of management optionsavailable to deal with them.

Looking ahead, the Chapter is planningaMay 16woodswalkforColumbiaCountythat should perk the interest of some of ournon-resident woods owners. And, with SIPsignups just around the comer, its lookslike a busy spring for the Capital DistrictChapter.

PATSKrullFoRESTASsoCIAifigEd Thorne

On Jan. 25 a workshop on 480-A and

Conservation Easements was held at theUlster Community College at Stone Ridgewith 40 attending. The workshop was co-hosted with the Rondout-Esopus LandConservancy. The group learned ways toconserve their land and lower the eco-nomic burden of holding on to their land.

Ira Stem, Executive Director of theRondout-Esopus Land Conservancy dis-cussed conservation Easements, showingan actual plan for an easement. DickRommel, Senior Forester from DEC Re-gion 3, covered Forest Tax Law 480-A,defining land eligibility, certification offorest management plans and filing ofcommitment forms with the county. Mar-jorie Dunbar, board member of CFA, withlands enrolled under 480-A, gave a land-owners point of view and how enrolling in480-A has helped them manage their land,and how savings in property taxes andreturns from timber sales have helped themto cover costs of owning the land.

AWildlife Enhancement Workshop willbe held on March 28, 1-4 p.m. at ErpfHouse, Route 28 in Arkville showing dif-ferent methods of attracting wildlife andwildlife habitat improvement.

i ::::dENTRAtMsEW?VORK:::i:iJTom Ellison

On Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. members met atVern Hudson's Gurnee Woods in Elbr-idge. Vern has a tree farm and cross coun-try ski resort. Our next meeting is in Marchat Heiberg Forest with a tour of the MapleSugar operation. Information on this canbe obtained by calling (315) 682-9376.

1:::::::::NtAGAl:tA:FRONTtElt:::!Bob White

The Post-Holiday party held on Jan. 11at Harry &Rita Hassey's in Varysburg wasattended by 28. The dish-to-pass requestresulted in a fabulous feast. Beth & DavidBuckley presented their Planting for Wild-life slide show which was enjoyed by all. Itwas such a beautiful day that some went onan impromptu woodswalk and others crosscountry skied. We discussed the upcomingelections, as the treasurer has agreed toanother years service we only need a newChairperson. A nominating Committee isin place to fill this office. Our next sched-uled event is a tour of Julia Reinstien'sNature Preserve in Cheektowaga at 10:45

::lNORXHERNAltIlONDXCK:: milWes Suhr

January 18 was a very chilly, brisk dayin Lewis, NY when abou t 20 visitors touredthe Allen-Rogers Limited Sawmill. Thescaling demonstration in the yard was in-formative but abbreviated due to the sub-zero temperature. The group saw whitebirch bolts debarked and sawed into squares,ready for turning. Hard maple was turnedto produce ladder rungs. Mill personneldiscussed purchasing logs, their qualityrequirements and the market for their finalproduct. Thanks to the mill managementand Dave Daut for arranging and providingthis interesting tour.

Dave Forness is all set for the PotsdamLumber Mill tour on February 8, starting at10 am. It will take about 2 hours and willinclude alive sawing demonstration. Davewill review the tour in the next issue.

The Cornell University Ulhlein SugarBush,located on Bear Cub Road in LakePlacid, is planning a tour for us on March21, starting at lOam. Ifweatherispoor, thismay be rescheduled to March 28. DropDave Forness a card with your name, ad-dress and phone number or call him toconfirm the date. His address: NYS DEC,Court ST., Canton, NY 13617 or call 315-386-4546 (days) or 379-0512 (nights). Wewant a CROWD for the tour and also foran official vote of NAC's officers follow-ing the tour. We have developed a memberID card and member profile form whichwill be mailed to the NAC area in Febru-ary. Its purpose is to identify the interestsand desires of members to more adequatelyfulftll their needs.

Robert DavisFifteen members attended the Forest

Stewardship Fair on Sept. 19, 1991. TheLHC participated in the event which wassponsored by the DEC' S Bureau of ForestResource Management at the Dept.'s StonyKill Farm Environmental Education Cen-ter in Wappinger's Falls. Many Forestry

(Continued on page 9)

NY FOREST OWNER MARCf-VAPRIL 19928

Chapter Reports(Continued from page 8)

and Forest-related organizations were rep-resented and demonstrated products fromportable sawmills to wood-gasificationsystems to apelletized-wood stove. Woodsythe Owl was on hand to entertain childrenand adults. Several cords of firewood and2 christmas trees (donated by local grow-ers) were raffled off. The Lower HudsonChapter made a tidy profit selling apples,cider and homemade doughnuts. A hayridewas also provided by the DEe's farmmanager. Special thanks to John and JaneGeisler and Bamber Marshall who workedtheNYFOA booth and solicited new mem-bers. Thanks also to Bob Herberger for hisefforts in the Chapter's concession standon his first full day of membership!! Wehope to participate in this event again in1992.

1:///soumHHRN:WDJfdlNDAtlKHt/1Erwin Fullerton

On Sept. 21,1991 NYFOAand theNYSTree Farm System sponsored a program onErwin and Polly Fullerton's Tree Farm inWarren County with 65 people attending.Brian Downing, Chairman of the TreeFarm Committee, gave a talk and TomWahl, Region 5 Forestry Manager, pre-sented awards to DEe Service forestersSteve Warne, John Hastings and RonCadeau for certification of250 tree farms.A woodswalk was conducted with mul-tiple use discussions including a markedstand for selective harvest, wildlife habi-tat, wetlands and many other topics ofinterest. A buffet lunch was enjoyed in abuilding built with timber cut and sawn onthe property. Ron Cadeau gave a talk onSIP. We were fortunate to have at least 5foresters on hand to discuss managementof tree farms. Ernie Spencer arranged ourNov. Program, a talk by Mike Greason ofthe DEe on 480-A and Don Peterson spokeon taxes and how they relate to the forestowner.

In May we will have an outing at theTony Conti farm in Washington Co. withspecial emphasis on Wildlife ManagementInformation on this can be obtained fromErwinFullertonat(518) 747-7230 or ErnieSpencer (518) 792-1726.

Our officers are: Chairperson, ErwinFullerton: V.Chair. Nancy Najer; Sec.,Brian McNeile; and Program Director,Ernst Spencer.

I: //StiUXWllRNltlE1UdHAFtltR": ""ILarry Lepak

The STC has had an interesting set ofwinter programs. In December, DEC For-ester Gerald Kachmor addressed the chap-ter. Gerald is a member of the DEC ForestStewardship practices committee. He up-dated the members on the Forest Steward-ship program, including a review of eli-gible programs. In January, chapter mem-ber Harold Haslett gave a presentation onforest law issues, including record keep-ing. Harold's talk emphasized tax law im-plications oftimber basics and the need forlong term planning as it relates to taxabletimber sales. On March 27 the chapter willhave an annual pot luck supper at 6 p.m. atthe Cooperative Extension Building onFront Street in Binghamton. The evening'sactivities will include a speaker and doorprizes. All NYFOA members are wel-come. Bring one or more food dishes topass at the supper.

Pat McGlewOn January 22 seven members met, the

outcome was: Pat McGlew continues aschapter Chairperson, Alan Knight willcontinue as Treasurer. Volunteers for theProgram Committee are: Jim Signs, RichUsack and Don Schaufler. The newslettercommittee includes Brent Henry, WaltHeater and Dan Zajac. The position ofSecretary needs to be filled.

On Feb. 6 from 7-8 p.m. a meeting washeld at the Arnot Teaching and ResearchForest, VanEtten, N.Y .. Gary Goff ofCornell Cooperative Extension discussedvarious thinning treatments within threedistinct stages of forest succession (scrub,poles and sawtimber) with the effect onwildlife populations.

TIMBER MARKET REPORTI continue to receive good prices for

competitively bid timber. Discussionswith lumbermen indicate that overall,lumber is moving. species that are cur-rently in demand are Hard Maple, Bass-wood and White Oak. B lack Cherry isstill strong. Red Oak and White Ashprices are down somewhat, but overseasmarkets (Germany) may soon help these.Softwoods aren't selling too well thesedays, although there are always activepulp and pole buyers around. If you havequality and volume, you can sell it.

~'/:'\VE.S.TEklljt:Ft.NQERa;;AKES:,,'~r IJack McMahon

Our January meeting was well attended(approx.70people),ourguestspeakerwasBruce Penrod, DEC Biologist. His talk andvideo explained his work and projects at HiTor.

Ournextmeeting will be March 18;DanEricson, a chain saw dealer, will givesafety and maintenance tips on properchain saw use. Gary Evans will present aprogram on Bluebirds, location of housesand how to attract them. Bill Morris willgive an update on the SIP program.

Our steering committee has some tenta-tive dates for woods walks.

NYFOA WFL MemberFloyd King ReceivesEnvironmental Award

Floyd King, outdoors columnist for theRochester Democrat & Chronicle, is therecipient of the 1991 Hugh E. CummingEnvironmental Quality Award presentedby the Center.

King is being recognized for achieve-ments in environmental communicationthat span five decades. Through news ar-ticles, feature stories, editorials and es-says, King has chronicled the wonders ofnature for generations of readers. His workconveys the essential message of respectfor the environment.

While King was editor of the Outdoorspage, it received numerous awards fromthe Outdoor Writers of America. King hasbeen cited for excellence of craft by theNew York State Outdoor Writers Associa-tion. He was named Conservationist of theYear by the Monroe County ConservationCouncil in 1975. At the age of 85, heremains active in many environmentally-related groups.-from Center for Environmental Informa-tion Sphere. NovlDec 91

-- VOSS SignsDept. NYF. Box 553. Manlius. N.Y. 13104

Ph. (315) 682-6418(Mon.-Fr!. 9-5)

F'lmUy Owned &. OperatMfar over 25 years


on moist, rich, well drained soils, but thetree will persist on poorer sites. The naturalrange of sugar maple extends from north ofthe St. Lawrence River to SouthernManitoba, and south to Tennessee. Sugarmaple may attain an age of 200 to 300years.

Next to the red maple, sugar maple isthe second most abundant tree in NewYork State. It occurs in practically anyhardwood situation, even as a pioneer inold fields. Because it can withstand greatshade, it persists in a crowded forest standlong after other species have been shadedout. The longer the forest remains undis-turbed, the more sugar maple predomi-nates. It is a climax species because of thistendency to dominate a forest over a longperiod of time.

Sugar maple has always been importantto man. By the time the Europeans arrived,the Indians of the northeast were makingsugar and syrup from the clear sap of themaple. The Indians taught the early settlershow to make maple sugar and syrup whichbecame the staple sweets for rural familiesin New York during the 18th and 19thcenturies. Potash was exported from thecolonies, and sugar maple ashes were foundto be high in this substance. Wood asheswere used in soap making. Forges werefired with maple charcoal.

Today, sugar maple is an excellent shadetree. It is relatively fast growing, longlived, compact and dense-crowned, full-leaved and golden-colored in the fall, some-times with reddish trim. In the woods thetree is favored by the forester because of itsability to grow in strong competition withother species and for its economic value inthe wood-using industries. As lumber,maple makes good flooring and betterfurniture. Curly and bird's eye maple areprized by the cabinet maker.

But sugar maple has other uses. It isexcellent firewood, providing a bed of hotcoals. The maple ashes containing potashare good for vegetable gardens. Its highspecific gravity .56, hardness, sliver-freesurface and high impact strength make itideal for use as alley stock and the manu-facture of bowling pins. Veneer, plywood,toys, rules, pallets, musical instruments,


The Sugar Maple - New York's TreeBy Stephen S. Davison

Among the many species of forest treesnative to New York State, none is morebeautiful and useful than Acer saccharum,the sugar maple. Valued as a timber tree,favored as an ornamental, and famous forits sugary sap, the sugar maple has been theofficial State Tree of New York since1956. This aristocrat of our northern hard-wood forest is largely responsible for thebeautiful autumn color of eastern Ameri-can forests.

Thesugarmaple is the best known ofthemaples in New York. Depending either onthe product, the manufacturer, or the con-sumer, one of a number of common namesare used when referring to this species. Thenames vary from the term "hard maple"used by the bowling pin and flooring manu-facturers, to "rock maple" of the furnituremakers and quite naturally to "sugar maple"by the syrup producers.

Sugar maple commonly attains aheightof 60-80 feet and a diameter of 2 feet (max.135 x 6 feet)'. In the open, the trunk oftenbranches near the ground and produces alarge dense rounded, or ovoid crown. Theroot system is shallow to deep and widespreading, depending upon the soil. Underforest conditions, the tree develops a clearstraight bole that is valuable for lumber.Common associates in the forest are Ameri-can beech and yellow birch, eastern whitepine, eastern hemlock, black cherry, andthe central hardwoods, including basswood,white ash, yellow poplar, hickories, andoaks. Sugar maple is found in 23 forest-cover types.

Sugar maple leaves are opposite andsimple, about 4 inches in diameter, 4 to 6inches long, five-lobed with five principalveins, smooth above and below. Each lobehas several lesser points along the marginbut otherwise the edge is smooth. Thesinuses between the lobes are broad androunded. Sugar maple leaves are ratherthin textured in contrast with those of mosthardwoods. In color the leaves vary from abright, light green to deep yellow-green,but in all cases the lower surface is slightlypaler than the upper surface.

Flowering in sugar maple is polyga-

'New York State record-91 x 51/2feet in ChautauquaCounty.

mous, occurring over the entire crown. Thesmall yellow flowers seem to be perfect,but usually only one sex is functionalwithin each flower. Both sexes are typi-cally produced in the upper part of thecrown but only males form in the lowerpart. In a good seed year (2 to 5 yearintervals), just before the leaves expand,nearly every tree is so covered with flowersthat at a distance it appears to be envelopedin a yellow haze.

Winged samaras, 1" to 1W' long andbroadly "U" shaped, contain a pair ofseeds. By autumn, enormous quantities ofthe winged fruits have developed and arereleased, reminiscent of little helicoptersas they drift to the ground. The followingspring, countless numbers of seedlingsunfold their cotyledons as they emergefrom their winter covering of leaves. Theyprosper even under a heavy forest coverand are extremely shade tolerant through-out life. It is a common experience insummertime to see little else but a carpet ofsugar maple seedlings covering the forestfloor in a mature hardwood stand. Sugarmaple also regenerates by stump sproutsand sometimes root suckers.

The twigs of sugar maple are slender,shiny, dark brown, and spotted with whitelenticels. The terminal bud at the outer tipof the twig, is conical in shape, 3/8" long,sharply pointed and shows 5 to 8 pairs ofscales. A pair of smaller lateral buds gen-erally accompanies the terminal. The leafscars are narrow and "V' shaped.

The bark of sugar maple is variable. Ingeneral, it is dark gray and irregularlyrough with plates and ridges becomingmore pronounced with age.

Sugar maple is a fairly resilient specieseven though affected by a host of enemies.Bud miners kill the terminal bud and causeforking. The gypsy moth, forest tent cater-pillar, pear thrips, linden looper, springand fall cankerworms, maple trumpet skel-etonizer, and saddled prominent are majordefoliators. The sugar maple borer, maplecallus borer and the carpenter worm boretunnels under the bark of the tree. Road saltand verticillium will injure ornamentaltrees. Browsing deer, hungry squirrels, andthirsty sapsuckers also cause damage.

The best growth of sugar maple is made

NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRll 199210

The Sugar Maple(Continued from page 10)

1

baskets, shoe lasts, and heels are a few ofthe useful products made from sugar maple.The annual harvest of hard maple in theState is substantial, totaling about 122.4million board feet in 1987.

Besides its primary importance as atimber producer and an ornamental, sugarmaple also yields valuable syrup and sugar.The sugar content of the sap varies widelyfrom tree to tree, so thirty-two to fortygallons of the spring sap has to be boileddown to make a gallon of syrup or 8poundsof sugar. Syrup production is an importantindustry in our State. New York ranked2nd in 1980 with 243,000 gallons of syrupas compared to Istplace Vermont's315,OOOgallons. New York's total represented 1/4of the syrup produced in the entire UnitedStates.

The regal sugar maple has long been apart of the New York landscape.The importance of this King of trees cannot be overlooked. Long live the King!

REFERENCES CONSULTEDConsidine, Thomas 1. If. and Thomas S.Frieswyk, forest Statistics for New Yo.rlI;,USDA Forest Service, 1980.

Goodman, RichardM., Harry W. Yawney, andCarl H Tubbs, Acer saccharum Marsh. ~MluIk, Silvics of North America, Volume 2,Hardwoods ,Agriculture Handbook 654, USDAForest Service, 1990.

Hall, Robert F., Symbols of the State, TheConservationist, Aug-Sept 1974

Harlow, William M., Su~ar Maple, Trees ofthe Eastern and Central United States andCanada.

Harlow, William M. and Ellwood S. Harrar,Su~ar Maple, Textbook of Dendrology.

Ketchledge, Edwin H., The Maples of New,Ymk, The Conservationist, April-May 1962.

Ketchledge, Edwin H., Reco~nizin~ WoodyPlants in Winter, The Conservationist, 0 c t-Nov 1969.

Steve Davison is a Senior Forester with theNYS Department of Environmental Con-servation at Region Z's Cortland Office.

c d

Figure 1.Distinguishing Characteristics of Sugar Maple:* a) typical mature tree shape,b) leaf, c)female flower, e) winter twig, and f) fruit. Drawings are not to scale.

*Excerptedfrom Cornell Cooperative Extension Publication 147FT18 Sugar Maple

Sugar maple is very sensitive to high sodium levels in the soil. Hence, it can sustainmajor injury from salt added to road surfaces to melt winter ice and snow. The use ofsalt in the winter is a common practice throughout much of New York State and NewEngland. Thus, affected trees are found primarily along roadsides; although in someextreme cases water drainage from roads into maple stands has been responsible forextensive damage. The trees pick up salt through their roots and accumulate itthroughout the tree. When soil moisture levels decrease, the high salt concentrationin the tissues causes the death of many twigs. Therefore, salt damage becomes muchmore obvious following long dry periods during the summer.*


Sugar Maple BorerBy Douglas C. Allen

One of the most detrimental pests ofsugar maples is an insect known as thesugar maple borer. The seriousness of thisproblem arises from both the location andnature of the damage, and the susceptiblecondition of sugar maple in many of to-day's northern hardwood stands. Outbreaksof this pest are relatively mundane com-pared to those of the principal maple defo-liators. In the absence of additional distur-bances (e.g., unfavorable weather such asdrought, poor site and stand conditions),however, sugar maple usually can with-stand one or two years of moderate toheavy defoliation. On the other hand, oncea tree is attacked by maple borer the dam-age endures and its degrading effects mayamplify over time.

THE INSECTThe adult borer is a dark brown to

blackish, thick bodied beetle approximatelyan inch long and marked with distinctbright yellow bands that vary in width andlength. It belongs to a group commonlyreferred to as the longhorn beetles; a nameevoked by the unusually long antennae orfeeler-like structures that are attached tothe head.

Each female deposits one to a few eggsin bark crevices or holes that she chewsthrough the bark. Eggs, and subsequentdamage, usually are concentrated on thelower 20 feet of the tree trunk. Many treesare probably used for egg laying, but vig-orous maples overcome feeding attemptsby young larvae. Following egg hatch, thewhite to cream-colored, legless, grub-likelarva enters the tree and feeds beneath thebark. Eventually it excavates a shallowtransverse feeding gallery, which usuallyextends 4 - 6 feet up the trunk, and accom-panying damage partially girdle the tree.

The presence of the larval gallery in thecenter of a conspicuous scar (Figure 1)

_~ CLEAR CREEK--:..~~ CONSULTING

Professional Forestry Services

TImber Appraisals • TImber Marking •TImber Trespasses • Forest Menagement F'1ans

And Other Forestry Services

PATRICK J. McGLEW(607) 699·3846

P.O. Boll 1G4Nichol •• NY 13812

MARCH/APRIL 1992NY FOREST OWNER

Figure 1. (right) Typicalsugar maple borer injury.Note the horizontal larvalgallery in the center of thescar.

Figure 2. (below)Cryptic sugar mapleborer damage. Notetelltale cracks in thebark (white arrows).

distinguishes maple borer damage fromthat of stem cankers associated with cer-tain fungal infections. Recently formedborer scars are masked by dried and spongybark that has not sloughed away (Figure 2).

The borer requires two years to developfrom egg to adult. In preparation for over-wintering during the second year, the fullygrown larva excavates a 3/8 - 5/8 inchdiameter vertical gallery that is severalinches long and penetrates the sapwood toa depth of 2-4 inches.

THE DAMAGEWhether or not the maple borer causes

significant damage, depends on your man-agement objectives. By definition, in orderto be considered a pest an insect mustprevent you from maximizing your man-agement goals.

For example, if you own a woodlotsolely for aesthetic reasons, as a place to

12

hunt, or as a source of firewood, youprobably would not consider the mapleborer a pest. Should your object be toproduce maple syrup or a variety of woodproducts, however, the borer can have animportant economic impact.

Because sugar maple borer most oftenattacks at some point on the first 20 feet ofthe stem, it damages, the most valuablepart of the tree from a sawtimber stand-point - the butt log. This damage is mani-fested as mineral stain (a discolorationresulting from the tree's response to inva-sion), callus tissue that forms at the mar-gins of the scar (another defensive mecha-nism that the tree uses to isolate or com-partmentalize injury), and holes in theouter 4-6 inches of sapwood where theinsect excavates a tunnel in preparation forits second winter. Generally, this interac-tion between the insect and the tree greatly


Maple Borer(Continuedfrom page 12)

decreases the value of the frrstlog, becauseit is not acceptable for veneer or gives anundesirable appearance oflumber cut fromthe injured portion of the infested stem.

Damage affects sugarbush operators intwo quite different ways. As a result ofstem girdling, often large limbs are killedimmediately above the injury, which ef-fectivel y decreases crown size (and, hence,the volume of sap produced by the injuredtree). When damage occurs within theregion of the bole that normally is used fortapping (4-6 feet above the ground), thearea of bole suitable for tapping is reduced.

When a tree 6-8 inches in diameter atbreast height is attacked, it may be espe-cially susceptible to wind snap. The treebole may be weakened where the larvalgallery becomes oblique or nearly hori-

zontal (in the vicinity of the catfaced scar)and during high, gusty winds many treestems beak at this spot.

CONTROL SUGAR MAPLE BORERWITH A CHAIN SAW!

The most effective means of minimiz-ing borer damage is to maintain tree vigor.Studies indicate that the maple borer is asecondary insect; that is, it can only suc-cessfully attack sugar maple that is understress. The most common source of stressassociated with maple borer damage isintense competition for growing spacebetween trees in overcrowded stands.Proper thinning of stands during the highlysusceptible pole timber stage, when treesare between 5 and 11 inches in diameter atbreast height, is especially important in aprogram of preventative maintenance. Ifyour management objective is to producewood products, removal of previously dam-aged trees is also recommended during

thinning or timber stand improvement ac-tivities. This will improve the quality ofthe residual stand, because it relinquishesgrowing space to sound, and presumably,more valuable trees.

Sugarbush operators can afford to bemore liberal. If your objective is to producemaple syrup, use careful judgement beforecondemning a tree. It is not necessary toremove a tree just because it has a borerscar. As long as the tree pays its way interms of sap production is should be re-tained in the bush.

Sugar maples in most oftoday's north-ern hardwood stands are especially vulner-able to borer damage, because these standshave not been properly managed. Mostlandowners can not justify the cost ofthinning when the material removed hasnot or limited market value. Hence, standsare ignored orrepeatedly high graded; bothpractices degrade stand health and set thestage for additional damage by maple borer.

Trapping and Furbearer Management in New York Statehave populations that are secure and cansustain annual, renewable harvest.

The harvest of New York' sfurbearers isa highly regulated activity. There are anumber of laws which must be followed.Among them:

- All new trappers must complete amandatory trapper training course. Thiscourse, taught by voluntary instructors,stresses the teaching of ethical and humanetrapping techniques.

- Trappers may only set traps within aspecified time of the year and only incertain areas (wildlife management units).Most trapping occurs from mid-fall to latewinter.

- Trappers may only set certain types oftraps; traps are restricted both to size andstyle. For example, traps with teeth havebeen illegal for over 60 years. Footholdtraps set on land may not exceed 5 3/4inches in size.

- Trappers must report their take for sixspecies. For the others, we conduct annualsurveys to monitor harvest.

The New York State Bureau of Wildlifedoes studies each year to further refine ourfurbearer management programs. Recentresearch has focused on raccoons, musk-rats, mink, coyotes, and river otter. Wetake pride in the fact that New York has oneof the finest furbearer management pro-grams in the country.

Furbearer management provides manybenefits to people. For nuisance species,

By Gordon R. BatchellerIn the world of natural resources man-

agement, trapping and the related use offurhas caught the attention of many people,not the least of which is the media. In thelast two years, there have been demonstra-tions, petitions, referendums, legislation,letters-to-the-editor, letters to politicians,and television and radio interviews.

An important question for the privateforest landowner is what does this issuehave to do with me? The answer is ~.thing.

I view the harvest of renewable naturalresources, whether wood fiber, meat, fish,or fur, in the same philosophical setting.Removing natural resources for humanbenefit is legitimate as long as it is donewisely and responsibly. That is what con-servation is all about. This certainly is thecase with modern forestry practices, it alsois true with furbearer management.

The State of New York officially sup-ports the trapping and hunting of furbear-ers. There are a number of reasons for this.Collectively, they provide the reasons wh ythe Leg islature has continued to uphold thelegal authority for trapping.

The furbearers of New York are veryabundant. Some species, like beaver andraccoons, are at an all time high. Weconservatively estimate that there are about2 million raccoons and 75,000 beavers inNew York. All together, there are 16 spe-cies of furbearers in the state all of which

like beaver and raccoon, trapping reducesproblems for homeowners, farmers, andothers. Trapping provides enjoyable out-door experiences for thousands of people.It is a way of life for many of these people.It also is a valued tradition. Trapping is asource of income for many. In the words ofone trapper, "It has been a godsend forextra income during the very tough times ..."Trapping also provides direct economicbenefits to furbuyers, the fur processingindustry, and the garment industry.

So what is all the controversy about? Inmy personal view, it boils down to anattempt to impose the value system of onegroup (those who feel that trapping iswrong) upon another group (those whoeither trap or support trapping). In myview, this infringes upon the freedom ofchoice concept upon which this country isfounded. Why should this matter to a forestlandowner? Because the same people whosay you shouldn't trap also say that youshouldn't cut down a tree. I think that it isimportant to recognize that the infringe-mentof our freedom to choose affects all ofus. That is why all people directly involvedwith the use of natural resources mustspeak up and be heard. This is true fortrappers; it also is true for landownersmanaging forest resources.Gordon Batcheller is Furbearer ProjectLeader with the NYS Bureau o/Wildlife atthe WildlzJe Resources Center at Delmar.N.Y. 12054


Sweet Steam Signals Spring Sugarin' TimeBy Irwin King

It seems that everyone on the streetthese days is talking about "Made inAmerica" but there are few products thatfit that title as accurately as pure maplesyrup. Native to North America, the sugarmaple is rooted deeply into the history ofour Nation and that of our Canadian neigh-bors.

Although the sugar maple is indeednative to a fairly narrow band of easternNorth America, the sweet products of thehard maple are known and prized through-outthe world. In New York State, the sugarmaple is so highly regarded that it is theofficial State Tree.

It isn't clearl y established how the art ofmaple sugar making got its beginning butNorth American Indians were using mapleproducts well before the birth of our na-tion. One story has it that an Indian squawplaced a pot alongside a maple in anticipa-tion that her brave would go to the nearbystream to fetch water. The brave, indignantat the thought of doing "squaw work",slammed his tomahawk into the trunk ofthe tree just above the pot When the squawreturned, the pot was full and she pro-ceeded to boil the evening meal ofvenison.What resulted was a sweetened gourmetmeal-- and harmony in the family. Historyis a little fuzzy in explaining how it wasdetermined that the liquid in the pot camefrom the maple and not the stream.

Another tale has it that hunters watchedhow squirrels would nibble at maple sapicicles in late winter to gain the nutritionalbenefits of the sugar in the sap to helpaugment their caloric intake as the fall-gathered larder reached low levels. Again,the logical connection from the squirrel'ssapcicle to amber maple syrup is difficultto track.

Every woodland owner has a list ofreasons why forest ownership is important.For me, sugarmaking is clearly the wood-land benefitthatl treasure the most. Shortl yafter graduation from Cornell I purchasedour farm in northwestern Albany Countywith the clear understanding that the 50acre sugarbush would have to help makethe mortgage payments. Over the past 30years this managed woodlot has done itsjob well and because it is within 25 milesof the Albany, Schenectady, Troy tri-cityarea, several thousand visitors have had an

opportunity to trek through our woods andsee the production of pure maple syrup.With my wife Christie we have a 2,200 tapoperation and with favorable weather con-ditions (which haven't occurred in the pastsix years) we can make around 500 gallonsof table grade syrup.

I have visited a good number of sugar-houses in New York and neighboring Ver-mont and I've never seen two identicaloperations. Some producers gather sap andsell it to a central production facility muchas dairy farmers sell milk to a dairy --except sap is sold according to sugar con-tent rather than butter fat percentage. Oth-ers gather their own sap and boil it downover wood-fired evaporators or pass thefreshly collected sap through reverse os-mosis membranes. I continue to marvel atthe variety of processes and the ingenuityof individual maple producers in their questfor the most efficient and economic way toreduce sap to syrup. Afterall, it takes about40 gallons of sap to make one gallon ofpure syrup -- everything else is water.

I don't consider myself an expert onmaple sugaring but after thirty years I amfamiliar with the operation at our Sugar-bush Farm. With that in mind, I'll discussour operation and maybe, just maybe, somereader will get the urge to start sugaringand gain another benefit from his or herwoodlot.

We tap about half of the trees in ourwoodlot. There are 1,500 buckets and anadditional 700 taps utilizing plastic tubing.Tubing is really the preferred way to go butmost of our woodlot is quite flat withoutenough pitch for sap to flow freely throughthe 5/16th inch tubing that connects onetree to the next.

We begin laying out tubing in late Janu-ary or early February. By identifying eachbranch of tubing with a number and keyingthe numbers to a simple sketch map, it isnot all that difficult to make sure the tubingfollows the same route each year. Becausewe won't tap the trees at this time, thedetermining factors as to when to layouttubing are really the weather and the en-ergy level of the person stringing the tub-ing. We use baling twine to tie the tubingat waist height on each tree that we intendto tap. A branch of tubing may include asmany as 30 taps before the branch is runinto a larger, or main, line.

By mid- to late February, we beginstudying the weather reports to determinewhen a strong warming trend may be mov-ing toward our area. Then, we begin tap-ping the trees. We use a 7/16th drill bit anda small, gasoline powered drill to make the2-1/2 to 3 inch deep hole into which we willgently hammer a spile, or spout. Metalspiles are used in trees that will carrybuckets; plastic spiles where tubing is be-ing used. Depending on the overall condi-tion of the tree (broken branches, othersigns of stress) we drill one taphole in a 12inch diameter tree, 2 holes in an 18 inchtree, etc. By keeping within this tappingrate, only 15 percent of the tree's annualsap production is taken by the sugar maker.It takes about three days for two men to tapthe woodlot.

We wait until we're quite certain thatwe'll get a run of sap before we put thebuckets up and cover them with galvanizedlids. Our gathering process is built aroundthe availability of high school kids. There-fore, since the kids arrive from schoolaround 4:00 pm and it gets dark by 6:30pmwe limit the number of buckets so allbuckets can be emptied within two eve-nings. This translates to a team of fourhighschoolers, one tractor, one wagon andtwo 150 gallon gathering tanks on thewagon. The team can empty 7-800 bucketsa night.

The amount of sap that will run, or dripinto a bucket, on a given day depends uponthe fluctuation in daily temperature andbarometric pressure. It must be below freez-ing at night followed by a warm sunny dayfor sap to run. The number of freezingnight/warm day combinations during Marchand early April determine the success orfailure of the season. A rule of thumb usedto be that each tap hole would produce 12to 15 gallons of sap which equals about aquart of syrup. We have not approachedthat ratio in the past six years and in someyears we have had less than a pint of syrupper taphole.

To make high quality syrup, sap must begathered as soon after it leaves the tree aspossible. If sap sets in a bucket on the treeon a warm day it will quickly deteriorateand make lower quality syrup. Likewise,once the sap is brought to the sugarhouse itshould be quickly boiled down to syrup.



II':I'

Sweet Steam(Continued from page 14)

Larger sugarmakers may use refrigerationand ultraviolet lighting to lengthen the sapstorage time but our operation is smallenough that we boil it down immediatelyafter it's gathered.

As soon as the sap is brought to thesugarhouse from the buckets and the tub-ing storage tanks it begins a nonstop proc-ess of boiling to remove water while con-centrating the sugars. Our evaporator, aseries of heated pans where the sap boils, isfive feet wide and fourteen feet long. It ismostly stainless steel and heated by fuel oilat the rate of 14 gallons per hour. Fresh sapis continuously fed into one end of theevaporator at a rate of about 150 gallonsper hour and periodically we are able todraw off syrup at a rate of 3-1/2 gallons perhour. As you can see, our fuel supplierloves to see us work 12 and 14 hour days.Ironically, our home, a short 600 hundredfeet away, is passive solar with a woodstove for supplemental heat.

It is difficult to offer a word descriptionof how an evaporator works but I'll try.Fresh sap is introduced at the end furthestfrom the heat source and the flow is con-trolled by a float valve. As water is boiledaway in the form of steam, new sap flowsin. In operation, this is a continuous flowand the depth of liquid in the evaporatorpans is maintained at about an inch. Aswater is boiled away, the remaining liquidis a little heavier because the sugar in thesap is beginning to concentrate. The enter-ing fresh sap pushes the heavier liquidforward through a series of baffles towardthe end of the evaporator where syrup willbe taken off. At any given time during theboiling process there will be fresh sap atone end, syrup at the other and varyingconcentrations of syrup at all places inbetween.

1 •

III

If you are not confused enough, let'sadd a couple of facts. Sap as it comes fromthe tree is approximately two percent sugarand weighs about the same as water, eightand one-half pounds per gallon. Standarddensity syrup weighs 11pounds per gallon.Sap, much like water boils at 212 degrees;syrup boils at 219 degrees. A word ofcaution, however, because water boils atdifferent temperatures depending uponbarometric pressure and elevation it isimperative that sugarmakers check theboiling point of water and add seven de-grees to that to determine the exact boilingpoint for syrup at that particular time andplace.

Once the syrup is removed from theevaporator it is filtered through rayon fil-ters to remove sugar sand which is mostlycalcium that has concentrated and settledout of the liquid during the final stages oftransforming sap to syrup. If the syrup isn'tfiltered, the final product will tend to becloudy and over time the calcium willsettle to the bottom of the container.

After filtering, the syrup is graded ac-cording to color --light, medium and darkamber -- and poured into plastic jugs ormetal containers while it is still hot toinsure a sterile container. A unique physi-cal property of pure maple syrup makes itan ideal product for on-farm processing. Atstandard density (remember, I mentionedearlier that standard density syrup weighs11 pounds per gallon) maple syrup is astable product It will not ferment, it willnot crystallize and it will not support bac-teria. When you combine this natural prop-erty with the sanitation of hot packing,pure maple syrup has a tremendous shelflife.

Even having said this about the stabilityof pure maple syrup there are times whena consumer will find mold on the top oftheir partially used container. What hashappened is that each time the container is

New York State Maple Producers Association, Inc.Arthur E. Merle, Secretary of the NYS Maple Producers Association informed THE

NY FOREST OWNER there were 560 paid members for 1991. Yearly dues are basedon the number of taps used by the member.

The Annual Membership Meeting is June 10,1992 at Raphael's on State FairBoulevard, Syracuse, New York.

The Maple Hall of Fame and the Maple Museum are located at Croghan, NY, whereMay 9, the New York State Maple Queen Contest will be held. The President of the NYSMaple Producers Association, Harold Tyler, has been nominated for the 1992 Maple Hallof Fame.

The Maple Festival in Albany is scheduled for late April subject to funding by theDepartment of Agriculture and Markets and the resources of the association.

opened, a small amount of moisture fromthe room enters the container and eventu-ally the top surface of the syrup becomesdiluted and is no longer standard density.However, only the top thin layer is bad.Simply remove the mold, pour the syrup ina pan, heat it to a slow boil and re-pack itinto a new clean container.

The art of making maple syrup is aunique part of our American heritage anda springtime ritual that is carried out innumerous woodlots big and small through-out the northeast. When you see steambillowing from a roadside sugar shack,stop in and introduce yourself. I've nevermetasugarmakerwho didn't enjoy talkingabout his operation.

Some old timers say that the steam thatswirls gently around the sugarmakers headtends to warp the brain. Perhaps that ispartly true but I'd rather believe that thething that has kept us sugarin' is our love ofthe woods and this added opportunity toenjoy our forest.

Irwin and Christie King own and operateSugarbush Farm in the Town of Knox inAlbany County. Irwin is President of theCapital District Chapter of NYFOA.

JOHN GIFFORD 716/664-5604 (8)Broker 716/487 -9709 (R)

Vice President - Real Estate

Crown Building, 100 E. Second StreetJamestown, NY 14701

SANFORD VREELAND. PE.

CONSULTANT. 1-716-669-2250

P.O. Box 185Springwater, N.Y. 14560


•••r.15

Marketing Christmas Trees Year-RoundBy David Taber

Christmas tree growers may have feltthe economic squeeze last year. An over-abundance of real Christmas trees wasavailable to buyers in many market areas.Too, many consumers were enticed to buytheir Christmas trees by mail.

* One New York Times advertisement,in the middle ofN ovem ber, offered Christ-mas trees by mail for about $35.

* Consumers received coupons from amulti-retail outlet in mid-November sentby a marketing agency that offered a $5 .00discount on any cut Christmas tree valuedat least $25 and one from another businessfor $5.00 off any fresh-cut Douglas fir.

Also, artificial Christmas trees, from 8inches to 8 feet tall, are now available in avariety of fake species. They range in pricefrom less than $10 to more than $200. Theycan be used for more than one year and theydon't shed needles-features that someconsumers like.

Throughout the 1980s two to three timesas many trees were planted for Christmastrees than were being harvested. It is likel y,therefore, that supply and demand couldhave a strong influence on reducing pricesfor cut Christmas trees. In addition, somegrowers, fearful their trees will becomepermanent forests, may have chosen to sellat lower than previously-planned prices.

Highlights from the New York StateDepartment of Agriculture and Markets"1990 Christmas Tree Summary" are:

* Capitol District - "The best sellingChristmas trees were Balsam, Fraser andDouglas firs. Most trees came from Can-ada, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania,Michigan, and Maine in that order." Notethe importance of trees not grown in NewYork State to consumers around Albany.

* Hudson Valley (Dutchess, Orange,and Ulster Counties) 'The Balsam firedgedahead of the Douglas fir as the best sellingtree. The Balsam trees hailed from Can-ada."

* Central New York (Syracuse) - "Insome instances, 50 percent-off prices wereposted by some vendors after only a weekto ten days of selling.... Most retailersindicated a willingness to make price con-cessions to sell trees."

* Rochester - "Fraser fir came almostexclusively from North Carolina ...Douglasfir came largely from the western US,

Christmas trees can be marketed for spring or fall planting. as well as use during theholiday season. In addition. Christmas trees may be sold as tiny trees inpots for disposabletable top decorations throughout the year. Various size trees that are balled andburlapped, in baskets. or in pots. can meet consumer needs at a profit for growers andretailers. (Forest Stewardship Photo by Taber)

mainly Oregon .... The supply of trees thisyear was very heavy with a large number ofretailers .... Dumping this year was muchgreater than last year with many retailershaving to destroy about 30 to 40 percent ofthe trees purchased."

* Long Island and New York City -"The best selling Christmas trees wereBalsam firs. Most Balsam firs came fromCanada and Vermont. Fraser firs werefrom Canada and North Carolina. Douglasfirs came from the states of Oregon andWashington." Dum page in the Queens areaof New York City ranged from 5 to 30percent, mostly 15-20 percent for the re-tailers surveyed.

Alternatives for Christmas tree grow-ers, relative to marketing the trees theygrow, can be profit and pleasure, depend-ing on their personal situation and prefer-ences. Viable options for some growersinclude:

* Sell by choose and cut.* Sell some trees in pots in the spring

and fall for landscaping, and after Thanks-giving Day, for Christmas tree plants orplan table Christmas trees.

* Have trees dug, balled and burlapped,and sold for landscaping, by wholesale,retail, and/or landscaping businesses.

* Cut tops out of trees for marketing asshorter trees or table top trees and sellbranches from stumps for roping, decora-tive boughs, and wreaths.

*Market seedlings, transplants, or smalltrees for Arbor Day, celebrated on the lastFriday in April.

Successful marketing includes know-ing one's production costs, marketing costs(which include advertising and sellingcosts), and expected profit, as a basis forestablishing profitable selling prices.

Article 14 of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Lawrequires that each grower of potted, or balled and burlapped evergreens (for sale)shall register as a "nurseryman; provided, however, that the word 'nurseryman,'shall not include persons engaged in the part-time production of plant products notsold in the regular channels of business." -See Circular 917 of the New York StateDepartment of Agriculture and Markets.

16NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRIL 1992

By Carolyn KlassA few warm days in late February or

March may trigger the indoor swarming oftermites and ants. Both termites and antslive in colonies, or groups, and when thecolony is large enough reproductives (malesand queens) are produced. In our NewYork State climate it often takes three tofive years for a colony to produce repro-ductives.

Swarms of either of these insects insidethe home during the late winter or earlyspring may be an indication of a largerproblem. Termites and carpenter ants areboth structural pests. Other species of ants,which are not structural pests, may alsoswarm in the spring. The latter are usuallysoil nesting species that nested near thefoundation and, when temperatures warm-up, swarm through any available openings.

The first thing a homeowner should tryto do is to identify whether you have antsor termites. If the insects are termites, theproblem may be very serious. Termites areaptly called a "hidden enemy" becausethey work in the dark, inside the woodactually eating it. Damage may remainhidden until someone accidently fallsthrough a floor or a porch step that has beenhollowed out. As the termites work theyneed to maintain contact with the soilmoisture. They often construct mud tun-nels over inedible portions of the buildingor foundation.

If you find termites, contact a profes-sional pest management firm. All termitetreatment in New York State must be doneby certified pesticide applicators.

If you find ants, determine if they arecarpenter ants. Our common species ofcarpenter ant is large, queens are 1/2 inch

Ants and Termites

Termites: Antennae not elbowed, Waistnot noticeably constricted, 2pairs of wings,equal in size, Wings with many small veins

long or longer, and all black.Carpenter ants excavate galleries in the

wood and use the galleries as a nesting site.In their excavation work they bite off smallparticles of wood and discard them. Thismay result in piles of coarse, sawdust -like,chips near an exposed piece of wood.

Ants are active from spring until latefall. Workers can be seen very early in thespring as they forage indoors for food orwater. Once trees leaf out and honeydew (asweet sticky liquid given offby aphids andother sucking insects) is available, the antsforage out-of-doors and will be less vis-ible.

If carpenter ants are the problem, try tofind the nesting area. Sometimes you canhear them working in the walls at night,when all else is quiet. A paper cup (with thebottom cut out) held against the wall canhelp you determine more precisely wherethe ants may be at work. Be aware thatmice and other small animals also maymake noises as they move about insidewalls.

In many cases carpenter ants attack

dms.:Elbowed antennae, Constricted waist2 pairs of wings, but hind wings smallerthan front wings, Wings with few veins

wood that is wet or that has suffered fromwater damage. If there have been leaks inthe roof, walls, or plumbing, check theseareas first. When the nest area is located,you can treat it yourself or contact a pestmanagement service.

Replacement of structurally damagedwood arid correction of any water or mois-ture problems are also recommended. Ifmoisture problems are not corrected, car-penter ants might move back into the areain the future.

Soil nesting ants are a nuisance problembut do not threaten a structure. If you findsoil nesting ants, try to locate how they aregetting in and repair or caulk entranceholes. Ants can be swept or vacuumed anddiscarded. Remember to empty the vacuumbag, especially if the insects are live.

Carolyn Klass is with the Department ofEntomology, NYS College of Agricultureand Life Sciences at Cornell University.

Update On Rabies WANTEDAs of November 19, 1991, these animals have been confmnedrabidin New York: VENEERTREES- R.O., W.O.,

raccoons 594 cows 9 H.M., Ash, Cherry and Walnutskunks 92 woodchucks 9 * Any Amount of Treesredfox 86 horses 3 * Low Impactbats 79 deer 3 * High Profitgray fox 11 otter 1 * Free Appraisalscats 11 sheep 1 * Anywhere in NY and PAdogs 10 opossum 1 CRAIG JOCHUMNotice that deer, sheep, and opossum are new species confmned rabid since our 2668 South Apalachin Road

summernewsletter. The deer were from Orange (2) and Steuben (1) counties; the sheep Apalachin, New York 13732was from Westchester County; and the opossum was from Nassau County. 607/687 -1598


Ask A Forester: Forest Inventory & ManagementBy Dave Daut

The goal of this article is to give the Do-It-Yourselfer a brief summary of how tocollect data, summarize it and to makedecisions from the results.

As the primary goal in forest manage-ment is to satisfy the owners objectives, thefirst step is to determine what the objec-tives are. Believe me, there are many -timber production, aesthetics, recreation,wildlife, water quality, etc. Here we willdeal with timber production, but the con-cepts are generally the same for the otherobjectives, with the possible exception ofaesthetics, which is very individual.

The first step is to know where yourboundaries are. This is often overlooked,but you can't manage something if youdon't know where it is.

Next, comes the data collection part.Necessary items include a 50 foot tapemeasure, a pencil, paper and knowledge ofthe tree species on your property. Themethod I will be discussing will be a timberinventory using a fixed radius l/lOth acreplot. It is easier to do this with two people,although it can be done by yourself.

DATA COLLECTIONFirst, decide how many plots you want

to take (on a ten acre woodlot, you mightwant to take ten, on more acres you needfewer plots per acre). Then, on a map oftheproperty, place dots, indicating plot cen-ters, at even intervals. Using a compass andmeasuring tape, on the ground, you shouldbe able to come close to your map location.Exact location is not critical, however, it isimportant that your plots do not overlap.

Once you get to your plot center, put astick in the ground so you can keep track ofthe center while you are measuring trees.Now we are ready to start counting trees.With two people it is easiest if one personstands on plot center holding one end of thetape and taking notes. The other personwill go out the required radius and collectthe data.

Thedatacollectorwillgoout37'3" (theradius of a circular 1/lOth acre plot) and,working around the circle, will measureeach tree inside the circle. In a normalsituation, you may want to count only treesthat measure 18" circumference and greater.lt is advisable for the note taker to keep theplots separate, preferably one plot per pieceof paper.

The minimum amount of information

you should collect on EACH TREE willbe: 1. tree species, 2. the circumference ofeach tree at 4 '6" off the ground (normallyreferred to as Diameter Breast Height orDBH for short) to the nearest inch and 3.Whether it is an acceptable tree, (one ofdesired species and good quality).

Once you've measured each tree onevery plot, the fieldwork part is done. It'sas easy as that.

DATA SUMMARYThe raw data needs to be summarized

into a usable form. The first thing we needto do is to convert circumference to diame-ter. Take your circumference measure-ment divide by 3.14 and round to thenearest whole inch, that's diameter.

Once we have all of the diameters, weneed to find out what the basal area is.Basal area (B.A.) is an easily measuredapproximation of the percent crown clo-sure. 100% crown closure would producealmost full shade on a sunny day in thesummer. Basal area is measured in squarefeet. Most of the time, the term is talkedabout in basal area per acre. Technically, itis the area of the stump of each tree if theywere cut off at 4' 6" above the ground level.

Again, we are still working with a tenthacre plot. Some formulae will be differentif plot size varies.

Now square each diameter and multiplyby 0.005454154 and round to the nearestwhole number. This will give you the basal

area of each tree. For each plot, add thebasal area of each tree. That will be thebasal area of the plot. Once you have donethis for all ofthe plots, add all of the B.A.' sper plot together and divide by the numberof plots. This will give you the averageB.A. per plot. Now multiply by ten (be-cause this is a tenth acre plot). This is thefinal B.A. per acre.

The nex t bit of info you will need is treesper acre. Add all of the trees you measured,then divide by the number of plots youtook. This number is the average numberof trees per plot. Multiply average trees perplot by 10 and you have trees per acre.

DECISION MAKINGAgain assuming we are managing for

timber production, we would go to a stock-ing guide (figure 1) to see if the woodlotshould be cut It is a simple matter ofplotting basal area per acre against treesper acre and determining the stocking. TheA-line on the chart represents full stock-ing. If you are at or above the A-line, athinning is clearly needed. Thinningsshould aim at hitting the B-line. Stockingat the B-linesuggests a woodlot adequatelystocked, with no thinning needed. Stock-ing below the C-line indicatesunderstocking, i.e. the site is not beingfully utilized by the overstory.

If you kept track of acceptable and


125 MEAN STAND DIAMETER linchesl

18

______ 2.U.!.!:.I.!!..!:!~~ _

HARDWOOD

~100~WGI:(.)

C

GI:WD-

CWGI: 50C

75

...•cenca:I 25

150 1050450 750TREES PER ACRE

Fi9"el-StociOng ~ for mail crown ampy 0/ -.-agod h•• dwood oIMds (boecIHed map', boocMitdHnapo) oil•••• basal""", and IIMd>er0/ ~_ peracr. and quadmic moon oIMd diarnM. Tho A ino is fuly *<I<ed, fie B ino is ouggeolod reNJal oIodcing. Tho C ino is milinum Imd<ing. The quaily ino isIl. density reqUred to proruee tigh quail)' !18m. of boodI, sugar mape, yoIIow bim, ..,d r...t map •.From USFS Publicltion NE-aJ3 ..

NY FOREST OWNER MARCt-VAPRll1992

Ask A Forester(Continued from page 18)

unacceptable trees in all of your calcula-tions, it is often helpful to chart totalstocking and, on the same chart, accept-able stocking.

Once stocking is known and it is deter-mined that you should cut, what should becut? Ideally, whether managing even oruneven-aged, the first trees that should beremoved are the unacceptable trees. If byremoving those you are at the B-line, that'swhere you should stop. Managing a forestcrop is very much like any other crop, youtend it by removing the weeds (unaccept-able trees) and at some point the crop is

harvested. After the unacceptable trees areremoved, if more need to come out, thedecision starts to get more judgmentaldepending on your ownership goals. Ifmanaging for something other than timberproduction, this same data can be usedalong with stocking guides available forthose objectives.

REFERENCE MATERIALThis is a very simple summary offorest

inventory and management. The theory iseasy, the technical aspects of doing it get alittle more complicated.

1.Silvicultural Guide for Northern Hard-wood Types Research Paper NE-603

2. A Silvicultural Guide for white Pinein the Northeast

3. A Silvicultural Guide for Spruce/Firin the Northeast

The address is: U.S.D.A., NortheasternForestExperiment Station, 370 Reed Road,Broomall, PA 19008

For those with a computer with at least640K RAM, a very user friendly, freeprogram, SILVAH, is available from:U.S.D.A.,NortheasternForestExperimen-tal Station, P.O. Box 928, Warren, PA16365

Dave Daut is a member of the NorthernAdirondack Chapter and is a consultingforester: Fountain Forestery,lnc .. 26Lin-coin Drive. Tupper Lake.

SIP Is Finally HereBy Micbael C. Greason

Starting March 2, 1992 nonindustrialprivate forest owners can sign up for thevariety of STEW ARDSHIPINCENTIVESPROGRAM (SIP) cost share practices de-scribed by Dave Forness in the last issue ofthe FOREST OWNER. A committee ofDepartment of Environmental Conserva-tion (DEC) foresters worked from the Na-tional SIP Handbook to develop practicestandards and cost share rates. Input wasreceived from the Forest Stewardship Com-mittee and the New York Institute of Con-suIting Foresters.

To be eligible a landowner must own atleast 5 acres of land suitable for forestmanagement and not over 1000 acres;however, upon application to and approvalof the State Forester waivers of up to 5000acres may be considered by the Northeast-ern Area Office of the Forest Service. Inaddition, the owner must be a private indi-vidual, partnership, or nonforest industrycorporation without publicly owned stock,or similar entity. The owner must have aFOREST LANDOWNER STEW ARD-SHIP PLAN or have one developed as thefirst practice in order to qualify for theseincentive practices. The owner signs an"intentto accept and follow the plan." Thisshould not be onerous because the plan isdeveloped specifically to the owner' s goals.At this time I must caution you that only25% of New York's SIP allocation may beused for plan development. This is a na-tional policy to assure Congress that thebulk of the money will result in on the

ground improvements.I suggest a good first step is to talk with

your DEC county service forester to dis-cuss which practices may best suit yourgoals. Then the applicant must go to thecounty Agricultural Stabilization and Con-servation Service office; no practice can beapproved before this step is done. Havingseen the forester first should reduce theneed to adjust practice sign up. Sign upperiods are two months; but landownerscan sign up on a continuous basis. Thebenefit of the sign up period is to allowapprovals to be based on established prac-tice priorities rather than on a first comefirst served basis. Society will benefit fromhaving the most needed stewardship prac-tices applied.

Cost share rates are fixed rates based on75% of an estimated fair cost to establishpractices. The applicant signs a form pledg-ing that the practice cost at least the amountpaid; no profit is to be paid to an ownermaking improvements to his or her land.

FOR SALE* 122 acres hardwood forest* Town of Prattsburg,

Steuben County* Financing available

* DAVE BAXTER, BAXTER REALTY

93 Carlisle StreetRochester, NY 14615-2067

(716) 621-2343 or 800-724-6683

As with other cost share programs, land-owner labor is a cost shareable expense.For example if an owner plants trees orcarries out a thinning, the labor is an al-lowed expense as it has been with ACP orPIP. So when you review the rates in thestate handbook, the allowable cost you seeis the amount you get as long as you canshow that the practice cost at least thatamount. In some instances you may absorbless than the 25% share and in others youmay pay more than 25% of the actual cost.It will make careful planning worthwhile.It will also simplify allocation of funds; sothat we can more effectively serve all ourclien ts fairl y.

This is a brand new program. We havediscussed each practice thoroughly andcarefully. We are excited about gettingunderway and feel these are good practicesthat will be well received incentives forNew York forest owners. As we gain expe-rience in administration we may need tomake some adjustments.

315/252-7249

Nolan'sSporting Supplies

Outdoor Equipment Specialist

37 - 47 Genesee StreetAuburn, NY 13021


R.D. #1, Box 103Lisle, N.Y. 13797

L

WENDELL HATFIELD(Over 35 years experience)

General Excavation, Road Construction, Wetlands Enhancement,Ponds and Drainage

A.D. 2, Moravia, N.Y. 13118 • (315) 497-1398

Seedlings & TransplantsHardwoods, Shrubs, Wildlife, Pine, Spruce,

Douglas Fir, Many True Firs and Exotics

FREE PRICE LIST

TREEHAVENEVERGREEN NURSERY

981 Jamison Road • Elmo, NY 14059 • 652-4206

Authors of-* "Basics of Growing Christmas Trees"* "Addendum to - Basics of Growing Christmas Trees"* "Growing Conifer Seedlings, Transplants and Trees in an

Outdoor Nursery"

Non·Profit Org.u.s. POSTAGEPAID

Moravia, N.Y.13118

Permit No. 21

WOODLOTCALENDARMar. 14, 15 - Draft Horse LoggingSeminar, Tioga Co. (607) 699-3846Mar. 18-DanEricson: Chain Saw Useand Gary Evans: BluebirdsMar. 21 - AFC 10 AM. EllicottvilleCooperative Extension. Herbert Dar-ling, Jr. "The American Chestnut". 716-557-2529Mar. 21- NAC 10 AM Cornell Unv.Ulhlein Sugar Bush Tour, Lake Placid,315-386-4546Mar. 27 - SOT 6 PM CooperativeExtension Bldg., Front Street, Bing-hamton. Pot Luck Supper.Mar. 28 - CFA 1-4 PM ErpfHouse, Rt.28, Arkville, Wildlife EnhancementWorkshop. 914-586-3054Mar. ? - CNY Maple Sugar Tour,Heiberg Forest 315-682-9376Apr. 24 - ARBOR DAYApr. 25 - 9AM-4PM NYFOA AnnualSpring Meeting. Marshall Hall, Syra-cuse.

SEE INSERT


FOREST OWNERA Publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

March/April1992People and Trees; Partners in Time

THE NEW YORK

FOREST OWNERVOL. 30, NO.2

OFACERS & DIRECfORS

Stuart McCarty, President4300 East AvenueRochester,NY 14618(716) 381·6373

Charles Mowatt, 1st Vice PresidentPOBox 1182Savona, NY 14879

Robert M. Sand, Recording Secretary300 Church StreetOdessa,NY 14869-9703

Angus Jobnstone, TreasurerPOBox 430East Aurora, NY 14052

John C. Marchant, Executive Director45 Cambridge CourtFairport, NY 14450(716) 377-7906

Deborah Gill, Administrative SecretaryP.O. Box 180Fairport, NY 14450(716) 377-6060

1992Robert A. Hellmann, BrockportAlan R. Knight, CandorStuart McCarty, RochesterCharles Mowatt, Savona

1993David J. Colligan, BuffaloVerner C. Hudson, ElbridgeMary S. McCarty, RochesterSanford Vreeland, SpringwaterDonald. J. Wagner, Utica

1994Norman Richards, SyracuseRobert M. Sand, Odessa

AFFILIATE REPRESENT ATIVESDonald Colt_ThriRKathleen Farnum-Catskill Forest Assoc.

CHAPTER REPRESENT ATIVESPeter Childs-Allegheny FoohiliaWendell HaUleld-CayupIrwIn K1ng-CapltaJ DistrictThomas L. Eilison-Central New YorkRobert S. Davis-Lower HudsonWes Suhr-Northern AdirondackRobert White-Niagara frontierErwin Fullerton-Southeastern AdirondackLarry Lepak-Southern TierPatrick J. McGlew-TlopGeorge Appleton--Western Finger Lakes

All rights reserved.Contentsmay not be reproducedwith-out prior written permission from the publisher. Opinionsexpressedby authoris are theirown anddo not necessarilyreflect the policy of the publisher.

COVER PHOTO:Shown is Irwin King's Sugarbush Farm.

Photo by Darby Hill

A publication of the New York Forest Owners AssociationEditorial Committee: Betty Densmore, Richard Fox, Alan Knight, Mary McCarty

Norm Richards and Dave Taber.

Materials submitted for publication should be addressed to: R Fox, RD. #3, Box 88,Moravia, New York 13118. Articles, artwork and photos are invited and are normallyreturned after use. The deadline for submission is 30 days prior to publication in May.Please address all membership and change of address requests to P.O. Box 180,Fairport, N.Y. 14450.

Table of ContentsPresident's Message 3More on Burning, Ronda Engman, Professor Nyland 4,5Chapter Reports 8The Sugar Maple, Steve Davison 10Sugar Maple Borer, DouglasAllen 12Sweet Steam, etc., Irwin King 14Trapping & Furbearer Management, Gordon Batcheller 13Marketing Christmas Trees, Dave Taber 16Ants & Termites, Carolyn Klass 17Ask a Forester, Dave Daut 18SIP, Mike Greason 19

FOREST OWNER

CAYM•.Cayuga, 1985 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..75STC.M•.South.m TI.r, 1985 ••..•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.118TIO'N.Tloga, 1986 •........•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•...•.•.•....•.•.•.•.•.•.•....•.•...•.•.•...•.•.•. 88WFl •.•.Western Finger Lake., 1988 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•249AFC •.•.Allegheny Foothills, 1989 •.•.••..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.••.•.••.•..91NFC•..•.Nlagara Frontier, 1990 •.•.....•...•..•..•................•...................•..•.•.. 122CDC•..•Capltal District, 1991 •.•.•..•••.•.•.•.•.•.•••.•.•.•••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•...•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.89SACM.•.Southeastern Adlorndack, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.••.•.•.•.76LHC•.•.•.Low.r Hudson, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..45CNYM•..Cantral New York, 1991 •.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•74NAC•..•.Northern Adirondack, 1991 •.•.•••.•.•.••.•..•••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•49

CFA•.•.•.Catsklll Forestry Assoc., 1982 •.•••••.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•..•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.•.125THRIFT •.•..Tug Hili Resources, Investment lor Tomorrow, 1982 •.•.•..•. 137

With membership as of January 1, 1992.

MARCHIAPRIL 1992NY FOREST OWNER 2

President's MessageBy Stuart McCarty

When one stops to think about it, thereis an amazing amount of help available tothe woodlot owner.

Starting right at home numerous bookscan be studied by the interested owner whowants to learn some of the fundamentals.Mary and I have enjoyed "Woodlands forProfit and Pleasure" by Reginald D. Forbespublished by the American Forestry Asso-ciation (our edition printed in 1979) and"The Woodland Steward" by James R.Fazio published by the Woodland Press ofMoscow, Idaho. The latter has a personaltouch because it has an interview with thelate Evelyn Stock, Editor of the ForestOwner for some years, and refers in com-plimentary terms to NYFOA! Our affili-ate, the Catskill Forest Association, hasbeen offering it for sale to its members forsome time.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension withoffices around the state has a wealth ofreading material available at modest costas well as agents willing to answer ques-tions and give advice on forestry. DaveTaber, of Cooperative Extension, is a fre-quent and constructive contributor to ourmagazine.

The College of Environ mental Scienceand Forestry in Syracuse offers courses forthe non-traditional student and in manyways supports the efforts of the woodlotowner to meet objectives. For example,Dr. Norman Richards, a professor at SUNYESF and a director ofNYFOA, is planningthe program for our Annual Meeting onApril 25, in which the preparation of Man-agement ~ will be featured.

In the January/February issue of theForest Owner, David Forness, a DEC Se-nior Forester, gave an excellent run downon the Federal Cost Sharing Programs,with which we all should be acquaintedsince they are there for our use. The new-est, the Stewardship Incentive Program(SIP), is about to get under way so be alertto announcements as to how to proceed.

At some point in the cycle of caring forone's woods the forest owner should em-ploy the services of a DEC forester or aconsulting forester. They can bring it alltogether and help both to accomplish theowner's objectives for his or her woodlotand to avoid mistakes that may be impos-

an information database available throughan 800 number at NYFOA' s headquarters.This would make it even easier for theforest owner to find answers to questionsrelating to his or her woodlot. JohnMarchant is in the early stages of mappingout the steps to instituting this service toour members and will let us know if andwhen it is decided to go ahead.

So there is lots of help out there andmaybe even more coming! Let's make useof it.

sible to correct in a lifetime.Now we have the new Master Forest

Owner program also referred to in our lastissue and of which our Executive Director,John Marchant, was one of the "primeproponents". This program holds greatpromise for the years to come as additionalwoodlot owners become certified. Thankyou, John!

NYFOA's Forest Owner magazine, thenewsletters and activities of the chaptersand affiliates, and the meetings of the stateorganization offer our members a diversityof help and pleasure and are hard to beat.

Finally we are considering establishing

An Odd Odeor

Mary's Miracle MemorializedBy Richard Kesel

When Mary McCarty earned her degree by degrees,Most of us thought she would major in trees.At Nazareth she spoke to each tree on the groundsWhere the beech, the maple and chestnut abounds.Sometimes she would branch out and speak to a cherry,Flowering or plain, made no difference to Mary.Poplar and elm, linden, wiIIow and oak,She leaves none unattended; they're all okey-doke.Except for the time when she barked at a ginkgoWhich was rumored to be a true Chinese pinko.She even mapped them right down to the very last pine,Which Nazareth front office thought was just fine.Mary's really quite fond of the whole arboretum;"If they're trees," she avers, "You really can't beat 'em!"So you see why it was a bit of a mysteryWhen she chose to matriculate in Religion and History."But," said Mary, "It's not very surprising.I wanted to do it while the sap was still rising!"So now her vocabulary encompasses Baalam's assWith sweet gum and alder and old sassafras.And added to subjects distinctly deciduous,In matters doctrinal she's become quite meticulous;Plus the movers and shakers of our civilizationHave their niche in her knowledge of historification.Now then, she has triumphed; her exams are all through.Give three cheers for Mary! Give a wife back to Stu!

NYFOA member the Reverend Richard Kesel of the First Presbyterian Church ofPittsford composed this poem for friend Mary McCarty (NYFOA President 1984-85) upon the occasion of her award of the Bachelor of Arts Degree by NazarethCollege, Class of 1988.


have no trouble with natural regenerationof hickories or red and white oaks. Onereason may be that! have a healthy residentsquirrel population that works continuallyduring late summer storing mast. How-ever, I can 'tremember ever seeing a squir-rel at the Bald Hill Road site.

If you would like to increase the numberof mast trees on your property, I cautionyou to think carefully before you bum orclearcut. I recommend you first do aninventory of your squirrel population. Ifyou think it merits increasing, considerestablishing a feeding station to attractsquirrels (they love sunflower seeds) anderect nest boxes if natural nest sites arelacking.

Animals playa much more importantrole in the health of the forest than we tendto admit. In their own way, they fertilize,plant, and cultivate. We need to work withwildlife rather than work against it.Ms. Engman acknowledges she is an activeenvironmentalist.

public has clearly indicated to the twonational forests their desire to maintain ahealthy oak forest and to expand the foresttype where feasible. We are eager to ac-complish this goal using prescribed burn-ing as a silvicultural tool.

About Burning, Fire Scars, and SquirrelsBy Ronda C. Engman

As a member of NYFOA and one wholives within walking distance ofthe DanbyState Forest, I would like to comment onDave Riordan's article on burning thatappeared in the January /February issue ofNY Forest Owner.

Although I did not witness the actualburning of the site off Bald Hill Road in theDanby State Forest, I have visited this areacoun tless times since the burning occurred.I have also spoken to Ralph Nyland spe-cifically about this site.

If you were to walk this site today, youwould notice that there is a dense under-story of brambles and that most of the adulttrees, which are almost exclusively oaks,have fire scars nearly six feet up theirtrunks, many display signs of rot. Thesetrees are either already dead or are dying.Many have multiple sprouts coming fromthe bases of their trunks. This site, which isat the crest of a hill, was hit hard by gypsymoths last year, more so than a nearby

mixed stand of deciduous and coniferoustrees.

Dave Riordan said that the burn wasconducted to kill the understory. However,it is well-known that brambles are notkilled when burned. In fact, a burn willfertilize the brambles, encouraging themto come back more heavily than before.According to Ralph Nyland, "Our experi-ence has been raspberries have not de-terred oak development. Oaks comethrough the raspberries quite adequately."

Nyland said that the sprouts at the baseof the trees indicated that the fire had beentoo hot. "This method is all wrong," hesaid. Fire scars cause discoloration andfungus which affects the value of the trees"dramatically," he said. "Seventy-fiveper-cent of the value of the tree is in the buttsixteen-foot log. If you get rot in thosethings, some of them may be quite value-less."

My property is basically an extension ofthe Danby State Forest ecosystem. Yet, I

Prescribed Burning: An Oak Management Tool OnThe Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests

Because of its importance as a foodsource for wildlife and its value as a woodproduct, oak is a key forest resource onboth the Green Mountain National Forestin Vermont and the Finger Lakes NationalForest in southcentral New York. Conse-quently, the oak type is an important vege-tative community to maintain as a compo-nent of New England and New York'sdiverse forest ecosystem. Although oakoccurs on only about one percent of theGreen Mountain, it comprises most of theFinger Lakes National Forest. On a largerscale, oak occurs on four percent of Ver-mont's forestland and 11 percent of NewYork's. The Forest Plans for both of thesenational forests require the oak type to bemaintained and, where feasible, expanded.

On some sites, little advanced oak re-generation is present. Prescribed burningfollowed by shelterwood cutting during agood seed year can facilitate the establish-ment of oak regeneration. Summer log-ging that creates good soil scarification isan additional treatment practice which can

increase the probability of successfullyestablishing oak seedlings.

On the Green Mountain and FingerLakes National Forests, oak regenerationis a long-term process rather than a singleevent. Prescribed burning and shelterwoodcutting can be used to stimulate establish-ment of oak regeneration. Oak is a keyforest resource because of its value as awood product and its importance to manywildlife species that utilize the mast The

Excerpted from an article by Robert R.Burt. Forest Silviculturist of The GreenMountain National Forest, as it appearedin Forest Management Update, Sept. 1991


About Burning, Fire Scars, and LearningBy Ralph D. Nyland

Fires burned oak forests many timesduring spring and fall for centuries beforepeople decided to control the fires. Cattlealso commonly grazed in the woodlands ofNew York through the first 2-3 decades ofthe 1900's, clipping off many species ofherbaceous and woody plants. As a result,the understory was probabl y park -like andquite open. The chestnut also died duringthe 1930's, reducing overstory density inthose stands. Interestingly, many of NewYork's best oak sawtimber grew into over-story positions coincident with the death ofthose trees ...a natural act that reduced over-story density just as we do with cuttingtoday.

Somehow these pieces all fit together inthe past And we ended up with standscontaining excellent oaks. Yet today wehave difficulty regenerating oaks, and needto learn how to replicate the necessaryconditions that gave us oaks in the past.And that may include using prescribedburning linked to cutting of some over-story trees to promote development of newoaks to replace the old ones. The researchdescribed in Dave Riordan's piece on page4 of the Jan/Feb issue of your NY ForestOwner was an early step to find such asurefire way to perpetuate oaks in NewYork.

Those early trials included prescribedburning in areas not given an overstorycutting, and stands cut to reduce the over-story canopy density to improve light lev-els near the ground. This allowed us toseparate effects of burning alone fromthose related to burning coupled with areduction of crown canopy density. Wealso wanted to control the undesirablewoody understory vegetation. Otherwise,we knew the stands would shift to redmaple and beech .... even as happens inunmanaged areas that suffer Gypsy mothdefoliation, and where the oaks later die.

At first, we did not appreciate fully thecircumstances whereby fifes cause basaldamage to standing trees. Available litera-ture included little information about theproblem. So when we had an opportunityto bum a stand where overstory cutting hadalready occurred, we gave it a try. Thatsaved the time to find another stand, planand make the burn, and then plan and makeacutting. We did know that in uncut stands,

only the dry leaf litter burns. Those fifesmove rapidly across the ground surface,and the flames pass by each tree in just afew seconds. The heat does not build uparound the tree trunks sufficiently to dam-age the inner bark and earnbium, except forstems less than about 3 inches in diameter.Those small ones die back to ground level,as do any woody shrubs.

As we began burning a couple of al-ready-cut stands, we learned first hand thatwhen a leaf litter fife ignites piles of smallwoody debris laying immediately adjacentto a standing tree, high temperatures at tipsof the flames can last long enough to killthe inner bark and cambium layer. Afterthe bark dies, it eventually falls off from atriangular area along the base of a damagedtree, opening it to possible invasion bywood-rotting fungi. These wounds becomethe classic basal fire scars that we all knowabout, just like the ones that formed afterthe fife at Danby State Forest By contrast,fifes burning in stands lacking the loggingslash cause no damage to the large trees ...animportant lesson for the future.

In addition to damaging some of thestanding oak trees, those early experimen-tal fires stimulated sprouting of the oakseedlings already growing in the under-story. With improved light caused by theoverstory cutting, the seedlings grew fairlyrapidly. And when they overtopped theraspberries, the DEC foresters removedthe remaining old trees so the new youngones could develop without suppression.As a consequence, new oaks will replacethe mature oaks, and the stand will not endup with just red maple and beech.

This research taught us much aboutregenerating oaks. Yet we still need tokeep improving the techniques to make themethods foolproof. And that is exactlywhy Dave Riordan and his colleagues triedthe burning and cutting at Danby StateForest. That project taught us burn theunderstory before attempting any cuttingto reduce overstory density and increaselight levels near the ground. And when weburn first, we get no fife scars.

In cooperation with Dave Riordan, BobDemeree, and others from DEC we havebegun a lO-year assessment of how wellprescribed burning helps us to regenerateoaks in New York. Eventually we hope tohave a proven technique. But that will take

more burning, more cutting, and moreresearch. And we'll continue tolearn ....even by our mistakes. I am surethat Dave will keep you posted.

Dr. Ralph Nyland is aProfessor ofSilvicul-ture, SUNY College of Environmental Sci-ence and Forestry at Syracuse, N.Y., andwinner of NYFOA's Heiberg Award for1978.

ConservationEasementsDear Editor:

Thank you for the excellent article byJohn Krebs on conservation easements inyour November/December 1991 issue. Itclearly described the best answer for pri-vate landowners who cherish their landand want to protect it permanently fromdevelopment. regardless of future owner-ship. Because non-profit land trusts workdirectly with landowners in writing andfine-tuning conservation easements to re-flect the natural values of the property andthe wishes of the owner, the means may bereadily available for a landowner to volun-tarily obtain legally binding protection inperpetuity for his or her land.

Dedicated to the permanent protectionof our working landscapes, open spaces,scenic beauty, and plant and animal habi-tats, land trusts are increasingly providingan invaluable service to landowners andtheir communities. In its first 2 1/2 years ofoperation in the 12-county Finger LakesRegion, the Finger Lakes Land Trust -headquartered in Ithaca, and with chaptersin Canandaigua and Skaneateles - has ac-cepted donations of 13 conservation ease-ment son 845 acres, owns three naturepreserves and has handshake agreementson another 1789 acres. As a membershiporganization, we welcome new membersand encourage participation in our pro-grams. For information, write to FingerLakes Land Trust, P.O. Box 4745, Ithaca,NY 14852 or call (607) 838-3590.Sincerely,Bob Beck, Executive Director


the basin, possibly increasing the suspendedsediment load by 100-to-1000 times indownstream flow. This is not an unusualsituation -- it has been observed in manydifferent locations. Wetlands do act astraps for sediment, but they may also act assources of sediment, contributing sus-pended material to streamflow under cer-tain conditions.

My final remark relates to " ... this beau-tiful sight ... " in reference to the photo-graph of a wetland on page 19. As they say,"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," anda stand of dead snags is not particularlyattractive to this beholder, but then that'smy problem!

WETLANDS REVISITEDByWes Suhr

Dave Taber's "Open Space" and "Wet-lands" articles were well-written contribu-tions to our last issue (Jan/Feb) of FORESTOWNER. I want to take a technical view ofsome statements made in "Wetlands ServeNature and Society" on page 19. The intentof my remarks is to increase the awarenessof the reader for the valuable wetlandcommunity.

Dave says "They (wetlands) are sinksthat prevent floods by absorbing and hold-ing water." Wetlands do not always "pre-vent" floods, but may at times contributedirectly to flood runoff. The degree offlood reduction or contribution by wet-lands depends on many factors related tothe moisture in storms and the moisture on(and in) the watershed containing thewetland( s). Let's take a high moisture situ-ation -- the soils of the watershed are fullycharged with moisture and the wetland is

"filled full" of water -- not unusual, espe-ciallyduring spring snow-melt runoff. Anyadditional moisture from the snow-pack orthe next storm that reaches the wetland willnot be "absorbed" or "held", but mostlikely will contribute directly and rapidlyto channel runoff or flooding downstream.

Here comes that word "prevent" again:"They (wetlands) hold sediment from ero-sion and prevent its further translocation. "Again, this depends on the nature of thestorm or source of moisture and the condi-tions of the watershed and wetland site.Wetland basins do act as traps for sedimentand may accumulate tremendous loads.Let's take the above example where thesite is at full moisture-storage capacity,and assume the "wetland" is a beaverpond(s) as the photograph on page 19appears to be. At flood stage (level) withhigh runoff, water can breach the dam andmay "flush out" much of the sediment in

Wes Suhr, Forester and Hydrologist, editsthe NY forest Owner's column "Ask aForester" and has previously consideredWetlands,NYFO Jan/Feb 1989 and MarlApr 1989.

Gilead Tree Farm-- A Thirty-three Year PerspectiveBy Paul Steinfeld

In 1965 ~ ~ published myfirst written statement about beginningexperiences as a tree farmer. In 1982 Em::m Owner printed an update of these expe-riences. Now, at the end of 1991, a happycoincidence prompts these reflections. Thecoincidence is that 1991 marks the fiftiethanniversary of the American Tree FarmSystem and also our fiftieth wedding anni-versary. Gilead Tree Farm became NewYork State Tree Farm #258 in 1963. Animportant theme binds our personal liveswith tree farming. Our life, the lives of ourchildren and grandchildren, and of manyfriends and relatives have been enriched byNYS Tree Farm #258. Management ofthese Catskill acres has taught us thathuman bonds and religious values are forus major ingredients of good stewardship.

Perhaps one reason this interrelation-ship between people and trees has been soimportant to us is that we came from urbanbackgrounds and had to learn from theground up. Learning involves people. Thefirst person who encouraged me to writeabout our tree farm was our dear departedDave Hanaburgh, a highly experiencedprofessional forester, one of the early lead-

ers of our Association. Rarely do I walk ourfarm without recalling details Dave taughtabout how to read the land and how to useits products wisely. That first article broughtan encouraging response from Floyd E.Carlson, then Secretary of our Associa-tion, and a distinguished faculty member atthe College of Forestry in Syracuse. Pro-fessor Carlson informed me that my ar-ticle, "What My Forest Means to Me,"would be used at the College for orienta-tion to entering students.

In 1991 we celebrate the contribution oftree farming to family life. Each of our fourchildren feels attached to Gilead Tree Farmand a personal involvement in some aspectof its development, such as timber standimprovement, forest plantations, wildlife,fish pond, timber and firewood harvests,and landscaping. The farm has served eachfamily member in different ways and atdifferent times as a haven for solitude andas a family gathering center. Now it simi-larly serves our four grandchildren. Be-yond immediate family, siblings and theirchildren and grandchildren have formedattachments to this place that have strength-ened their attachment to one another. Oneof our little grandnephews used to say, "I

want to go to my farm." One of our niecessaid, "I feel at home here." Friends havecelebrated weddings at the farm, and rela-tives have been married under a canopy oflarch boughs grown here. Each Decembera couple of old friends come with theirgrandchildren to choose and cut their Christ-mas trees.

Church and synagogue youth groupshave visited. On the Feast of TabernaclesourSukka,orceremonialhut, fragrant withspruce boughs, has helped teach thanks-giving for bounty and responsibility toenhance the land's bounty as a religiousobligation. Alone I could never be a goodsteward. Membership in NYFOA and itsCatskill affiliate, the American Tree FarmSystem, NY State Department of Environ-mental Conservation, Greene County Ex-tension Service, and interaction with fam-ily and friends have all enabled us to feelpartofacontinuing processoflearning thathas strengthened ties with family and com-munity.

Paul Steinfeld,PresidentofNYFOAfor theyears 1982-1984, currently servesforestryas a Director for the Catskill ForestryAssociation, a NYFOA affiliate.

NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRIL 19926

Save Taxes Using Federal Tax Law for Timber Owners

Property Boundary Line Trees

By John P. LaschenskiBy using the special provisions in the

federal tax law benefiting timber landowners, you can save significantly on yourincome taxes.Use Depletion

If you sell timber from land you own,claim the depletion allowance as a cost ofthe sale, reducing the taxable income fromthe sale. The depletion allowance is calcu-lated by multiplying the number of boardfeet cut by a fraction, the numerator ofwhich is your adjusted basis in all thetimber on your land, and the denominatorof which is the total number of board feetof timber on your land.Get Capital Gains Treatment

Use the capital gains tax rate on yourgain when you dispose of standing timberor cutting rights using a contract in whichyou retain an economic interest. To retain

Trees often grow on or near propertyboundaries in woodlands as well as in cityand suburban housing lots. Sometimes dis-putes arise as to who owns the propertyboundary line trees. The question mayinvolve who has the rights to cut a tree orremove branches from a tree growing on aproperty boundary line.

When legal questions are asked, it maytake negotiations between lawyers to de-velop a satisfactory solution. Of course,the ultimate authority for resolving dis-agreements over interpretation oflaws restswith the State and Federal courts.

Even if one is innocent, it is unpleasant,nerve-racking, time-consuming and costlyto be accused of a law violation. Therefore,in many cases it may be advantageous toremain in the enviable position of notbeing involved in any way in a legal con-troversy.

Trespass, Line Trees"On the line.- If the trunk of a tree is on

the boundary line, the tree is commonproperty of both owners whether markedas a boundary or not. A shade tree standingon a boundary between adjoining owners iscommon property of both, and the merefact that it stands on border of sidewalkaffording shade for pedestrian does notinterfere with right of either to protect it or

an economic interest, you must be paid ona per unit cut basis, not with a fixed fee.

You can also use the capital gains taxrate and take a gain when you cut timber touse it in your own business (such as cuttingit for logs and selling the logs).Get Special Reforestation Incentives

Up to $10,000 per year of your expen-ditures for "reforestation" can receive spe-cial tax benefits:

• Amortization over 84 months on yourtaxretum;

• Creation of a 10% investment taxcredit on your tax return.Defer Tax on Federal or State Grants

If you receive federal or state "costsharing" grants for improvements made toland which foster conservation, protect theenvironment, improve forests or supply ahabitat for wildlife, you do not need todeclare the grants as income on your tax

recover damages for its destruction. 'Eachof the owners upon whose land any part ofa trunk of a tree stands, has an interest inthat tree, a property in it, equal in the firstinstance, to, or perhaps rather identicalwith, the part which is upon his land; and,in the next place, embracing the right todemand that the owner of the other portionshall so use his part as not unreasonably toinjure or destroy the whole.' As such treesare the common property of both, neithermay destroy without the consent of theother and where a row of trees is on the lineneither is entitled to make his own partitionby cutting alternate trees and furthermorean injunction may be granted to prevent thedestruction of a line tree. However themere fact that a tree stands upon a bound-ary does not preclude either owner fromcutting away the branches overhanging hisland.

Line trees belong to the adjoining pro-prietors as tenants in common. Where suchtrees are destroyed by one of the adjoiningproprietors a trespass action may be main-tained by the other adjoining proprietor.

The following opinions may help you tounderstand the property boundary line treesituation.

1. The old tale is that every other mer-chantable tree growing on aproperty bound-ary line belongs to each adjoining owner.

return until the year you ssll the land ortimber affected.Take Loss For Ice Storm Casualty

If your timber was destroyed in the icestorm of 1991, you can deduct the amountlost using the depletion rules referred toabove. If you are in the timbering business,you can deduct all of your loss. If yourtimber land is held as personal property,the amount of the loss that you can take islimited by special rules.Use IRS Form T

To take advantage of the above federaltax law provisions, you must report yourtimber transactions on IRS form T, avail-able from the IRS or your accountant.

John Laschenski is a Certified Public Ac-countant with the accounting firm;Heveron, Laschenski & Walpole ofRoch-ester

This is not legally correct unless bothowners agree.

2. Trees which stand on the boundaryline belong to adjoining owners together astenants in common. Where such trees aredestroyed by one of the adjoining ownersproprietors or agents a trespass action maybe maintained by the other adjoining owner.

3. To prevent errors or trespass it wouldseem that most owners would prefer tokeep a tree standing when marked as aboundary line tree as evidence of the bound-ary. Keeping aboundary lineplainlymarkedwould assist the owners as well as thelogger to avoid trespass. Of course this is adecision of both owners collectively as amatter of their common interest.

4. Trees standing close to the boundarythat are face blazed or painted are notjointly owned. They belong to the owneron whose land they stand. Face blazedtrees also serve a useful purpose as witnessto the boundary. The N.Y. State Depart-ment of Environmental Conservation doesnot want face blazed trees adjacent to theproperty line cut if they are located on thestate-owned side of the boundary."

Excerpted from NY FOREST OWNER J/A1983.

NY FOREST OWNER MARCHIAPRIL 19927

a.m. on May 23. Jeff Liddle will conductthe tour, bring a bag lunch and somethingto drink:.

Chapter Reports""m=::=)A=:T""':;''J)=E=6H=···:=EN¥=>=· iE=o.o=·::··•••·=m=·••:··=.· n=WI=;s.=··.:=))"""il

Betty DensmoreOn Jan. 25 twenty-six members met at

the County Extension Building in Elli-cottville for a presentation by Wayne Coo-per, DEC Olean District Manager on 480-AN.Y.S.ForestTaxLaw. The session wasa lively one which started at 10 a.m. andwith questions and answer period lasted till3 p.m .. The AFC'S fund raising has en-abled our treasury balance to top $1000.00,the first time in our 21/2 year history. OnMar. 21 at 10 a.m. theAFCwillmeetagainin the County Extension Bldg. inEllicottville to hear Herbert Darling, Jr.present a program on the American Chest-nut.

P:::)CAPlTAUDISTRIC'IL).JIrwin King

Since our last report, the Capital Dis-trict Chapter completed a mid-Novemberwoods walk through the sugarbush of chap-ter president Irwin King. A clear and crispday greeted the woodswalkers who touredportions of the 60 acre woodlot to observea developing Christmas tree plantation andthe mature sugarbush with its 2,500 tapoperation. NYFOA president Stuart Me-Carty helped welcome the visitors. DEeRegion 4 regional forester Carl Wiede-mann had marked out several sample plotsin the woodlot prior to the walk and de-scribed for the woodswalkers several har-vesting options.

On January 18, the Chapter met atNYFOA member Eric Rassmussen'sLange's restaurant on Route 23 just east ofWindham Ski Center. Mike Birmingham,DEC's resident expert on forest healthprovided a highly entertaining and inter-esting presentation about the status of vari-ous tree insect and disease problems aswell as the types of management optionsavailable to deal with them.

Looking ahead, the Chapter is planningaMay 16woodswalkforColumbiaCountythat should perk the interest of some of ournon-resident woods owners. And, with SIPsignups just around the comer, its lookslike a busy spring for the Capital DistrictChapter.

PATSKrullFoRESTASsoCIAifigEd Thorne

On Jan. 25 a workshop on 480-A and

Conservation Easements was held at theUlster Community College at Stone Ridgewith 40 attending. The workshop was co-hosted with the Rondout-Esopus LandConservancy. The group learned ways toconserve their land and lower the eco-nomic burden of holding on to their land.

Ira Stem, Executive Director of theRondout-Esopus Land Conservancy dis-cussed conservation Easements, showingan actual plan for an easement. DickRommel, Senior Forester from DEC Re-gion 3, covered Forest Tax Law 480-A,defining land eligibility, certification offorest management plans and filing ofcommitment forms with the county. Mar-jorie Dunbar, board member of CFA, withlands enrolled under 480-A, gave a land-owners point of view and how enrolling in480-A has helped them manage their land,and how savings in property taxes andreturns from timber sales have helped themto cover costs of owning the land.

AWildlife Enhancement Workshop willbe held on March 28, 1-4 p.m. at ErpfHouse, Route 28 in Arkville showing dif-ferent methods of attracting wildlife andwildlife habitat improvement.

i ::::dENTRAtMsEW?VORK:::i:iJTom Ellison

On Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. members met atVern Hudson's Gurnee Woods in Elbr-idge. Vern has a tree farm and cross coun-try ski resort. Our next meeting is in Marchat Heiberg Forest with a tour of the MapleSugar operation. Information on this canbe obtained by calling (315) 682-9376.

1:::::::::NtAGAl:tA:FRONTtElt:::!Bob White

The Post-Holiday party held on Jan. 11at Harry &Rita Hassey's in Varysburg wasattended by 28. The dish-to-pass requestresulted in a fabulous feast. Beth & DavidBuckley presented their Planting for Wild-life slide show which was enjoyed by all. Itwas such a beautiful day that some went onan impromptu woodswalk and others crosscountry skied. We discussed the upcomingelections, as the treasurer has agreed toanother years service we only need a newChairperson. A nominating Committee isin place to fill this office. Our next sched-uled event is a tour of Julia Reinstien'sNature Preserve in Cheektowaga at 10:45

::lNORXHERNAltIlONDXCK:: milWes Suhr

January 18 was a very chilly, brisk dayin Lewis, NY when abou t 20 visitors touredthe Allen-Rogers Limited Sawmill. Thescaling demonstration in the yard was in-formative but abbreviated due to the sub-zero temperature. The group saw whitebirch bolts debarked and sawed into squares,ready for turning. Hard maple was turnedto produce ladder rungs. Mill personneldiscussed purchasing logs, their qualityrequirements and the market for their finalproduct. Thanks to the mill managementand Dave Daut for arranging and providingthis interesting tour.

Dave Forness is all set for the PotsdamLumber Mill tour on February 8, starting at10 am. It will take about 2 hours and willinclude alive sawing demonstration. Davewill review the tour in the next issue.

The Cornell University Ulhlein SugarBush,located on Bear Cub Road in LakePlacid, is planning a tour for us on March21, starting at lOam. Ifweatherispoor, thismay be rescheduled to March 28. DropDave Forness a card with your name, ad-dress and phone number or call him toconfirm the date. His address: NYS DEC,Court ST., Canton, NY 13617 or call 315-386-4546 (days) or 379-0512 (nights). Wewant a CROWD for the tour and also foran official vote of NAC's officers follow-ing the tour. We have developed a memberID card and member profile form whichwill be mailed to the NAC area in Febru-ary. Its purpose is to identify the interestsand desires of members to more adequatelyfulftll their needs.

Robert DavisFifteen members attended the Forest

Stewardship Fair on Sept. 19, 1991. TheLHC participated in the event which wassponsored by the DEC' S Bureau of ForestResource Management at the Dept.'s StonyKill Farm Environmental Education Cen-ter in Wappinger's Falls. Many Forestry


NY FOREST OWNER MARCf-VAPRIL 19928

Chapter Reports(Continued from page 8)

and Forest-related organizations were rep-resented and demonstrated products fromportable sawmills to wood-gasificationsystems to apelletized-wood stove. Woodsythe Owl was on hand to entertain childrenand adults. Several cords of firewood and2 christmas trees (donated by local grow-ers) were raffled off. The Lower HudsonChapter made a tidy profit selling apples,cider and homemade doughnuts. A hayridewas also provided by the DEe's farmmanager. Special thanks to John and JaneGeisler and Bamber Marshall who workedtheNYFOA booth and solicited new mem-bers. Thanks also to Bob Herberger for hisefforts in the Chapter's concession standon his first full day of membership!! Wehope to participate in this event again in1992.

1:///soumHHRN:WDJfdlNDAtlKHt/1Erwin Fullerton

On Sept. 21,1991 NYFOAand theNYSTree Farm System sponsored a program onErwin and Polly Fullerton's Tree Farm inWarren County with 65 people attending.Brian Downing, Chairman of the TreeFarm Committee, gave a talk and TomWahl, Region 5 Forestry Manager, pre-sented awards to DEe Service forestersSteve Warne, John Hastings and RonCadeau for certification of250 tree farms.A woodswalk was conducted with mul-tiple use discussions including a markedstand for selective harvest, wildlife habi-tat, wetlands and many other topics ofinterest. A buffet lunch was enjoyed in abuilding built with timber cut and sawn onthe property. Ron Cadeau gave a talk onSIP. We were fortunate to have at least 5foresters on hand to discuss managementof tree farms. Ernie Spencer arranged ourNov. Program, a talk by Mike Greason ofthe DEe on 480-A and Don Peterson spokeon taxes and how they relate to the forestowner.

In May we will have an outing at theTony Conti farm in Washington Co. withspecial emphasis on Wildlife ManagementInformation on this can be obtained fromErwinFullertonat(518) 747-7230 or ErnieSpencer (518) 792-1726.

Our officers are: Chairperson, ErwinFullerton: V.Chair. Nancy Najer; Sec.,Brian McNeile; and Program Director,Ernst Spencer.

I: //StiUXWllRNltlE1UdHAFtltR": ""ILarry Lepak

The STC has had an interesting set ofwinter programs. In December, DEC For-ester Gerald Kachmor addressed the chap-ter. Gerald is a member of the DEC ForestStewardship practices committee. He up-dated the members on the Forest Steward-ship program, including a review of eli-gible programs. In January, chapter mem-ber Harold Haslett gave a presentation onforest law issues, including record keep-ing. Harold's talk emphasized tax law im-plications oftimber basics and the need forlong term planning as it relates to taxabletimber sales. On March 27 the chapter willhave an annual pot luck supper at 6 p.m. atthe Cooperative Extension Building onFront Street in Binghamton. The evening'sactivities will include a speaker and doorprizes. All NYFOA members are wel-come. Bring one or more food dishes topass at the supper.

Pat McGlewOn January 22 seven members met, the

outcome was: Pat McGlew continues aschapter Chairperson, Alan Knight willcontinue as Treasurer. Volunteers for theProgram Committee are: Jim Signs, RichUsack and Don Schaufler. The newslettercommittee includes Brent Henry, WaltHeater and Dan Zajac. The position ofSecretary needs to be filled.

On Feb. 6 from 7-8 p.m. a meeting washeld at the Arnot Teaching and ResearchForest, VanEtten, N.Y .. Gary Goff ofCornell Cooperative Extension discussedvarious thinning treatments within threedistinct stages of forest succession (scrub,poles and sawtimber) with the effect onwildlife populations.

TIMBER MARKET REPORTI continue to receive good prices for

competitively bid timber. Discussionswith lumbermen indicate that overall,lumber is moving. species that are cur-rently in demand are Hard Maple, Bass-wood and White Oak. B lack Cherry isstill strong. Red Oak and White Ashprices are down somewhat, but overseasmarkets (Germany) may soon help these.Softwoods aren't selling too well thesedays, although there are always activepulp and pole buyers around. If you havequality and volume, you can sell it.

~'/:'\VE.S.TEklljt:Ft.NQERa;;AKES:,,'~r IJack McMahon

Our January meeting was well attended(approx.70people),ourguestspeakerwasBruce Penrod, DEC Biologist. His talk andvideo explained his work and projects at HiTor.

Ournextmeeting will be March 18;DanEricson, a chain saw dealer, will givesafety and maintenance tips on properchain saw use. Gary Evans will present aprogram on Bluebirds, location of housesand how to attract them. Bill Morris willgive an update on the SIP program.

Our steering committee has some tenta-tive dates for woods walks.

NYFOA WFL MemberFloyd King ReceivesEnvironmental Award

Floyd King, outdoors columnist for theRochester Democrat & Chronicle, is therecipient of the 1991 Hugh E. CummingEnvironmental Quality Award presentedby the Center.

King is being recognized for achieve-ments in environmental communicationthat span five decades. Through news ar-ticles, feature stories, editorials and es-says, King has chronicled the wonders ofnature for generations of readers. His workconveys the essential message of respectfor the environment.

While King was editor of the Outdoorspage, it received numerous awards fromthe Outdoor Writers of America. King hasbeen cited for excellence of craft by theNew York State Outdoor Writers Associa-tion. He was named Conservationist of theYear by the Monroe County ConservationCouncil in 1975. At the age of 85, heremains active in many environmentally-related groups.-from Center for Environmental Informa-tion Sphere. NovlDec 91

-- VOSS SignsDept. NYF. Box 553. Manlius. N.Y. 13104

Ph. (315) 682-6418(Mon.-Fr!. 9-5)

F'lmUy Owned &. OperatMfar over 25 years


on moist, rich, well drained soils, but thetree will persist on poorer sites. The naturalrange of sugar maple extends from north ofthe St. Lawrence River to SouthernManitoba, and south to Tennessee. Sugarmaple may attain an age of 200 to 300years.

Next to the red maple, sugar maple isthe second most abundant tree in NewYork State. It occurs in practically anyhardwood situation, even as a pioneer inold fields. Because it can withstand greatshade, it persists in a crowded forest standlong after other species have been shadedout. The longer the forest remains undis-turbed, the more sugar maple predomi-nates. It is a climax species because of thistendency to dominate a forest over a longperiod of time.

Sugar maple has always been importantto man. By the time the Europeans arrived,the Indians of the northeast were makingsugar and syrup from the clear sap of themaple. The Indians taught the early settlershow to make maple sugar and syrup whichbecame the staple sweets for rural familiesin New York during the 18th and 19thcenturies. Potash was exported from thecolonies, and sugar maple ashes were foundto be high in this substance. Wood asheswere used in soap making. Forges werefired with maple charcoal.

Today, sugar maple is an excellent shadetree. It is relatively fast growing, longlived, compact and dense-crowned, full-leaved and golden-colored in the fall, some-times with reddish trim. In the woods thetree is favored by the forester because of itsability to grow in strong competition withother species and for its economic value inthe wood-using industries. As lumber,maple makes good flooring and betterfurniture. Curly and bird's eye maple areprized by the cabinet maker.

But sugar maple has other uses. It isexcellent firewood, providing a bed of hotcoals. The maple ashes containing potashare good for vegetable gardens. Its highspecific gravity .56, hardness, sliver-freesurface and high impact strength make itideal for use as alley stock and the manu-facture of bowling pins. Veneer, plywood,toys, rules, pallets, musical instruments,


The Sugar Maple - New York's TreeBy Stephen S. Davison

Among the many species of forest treesnative to New York State, none is morebeautiful and useful than Acer saccharum,the sugar maple. Valued as a timber tree,favored as an ornamental, and famous forits sugary sap, the sugar maple has been theofficial State Tree of New York since1956. This aristocrat of our northern hard-wood forest is largely responsible for thebeautiful autumn color of eastern Ameri-can forests.

Thesugarmaple is the best known ofthemaples in New York. Depending either onthe product, the manufacturer, or the con-sumer, one of a number of common namesare used when referring to this species. Thenames vary from the term "hard maple"used by the bowling pin and flooring manu-facturers, to "rock maple" of the furnituremakers and quite naturally to "sugar maple"by the syrup producers.

Sugar maple commonly attains aheightof 60-80 feet and a diameter of 2 feet (max.135 x 6 feet)'. In the open, the trunk oftenbranches near the ground and produces alarge dense rounded, or ovoid crown. Theroot system is shallow to deep and widespreading, depending upon the soil. Underforest conditions, the tree develops a clearstraight bole that is valuable for lumber.Common associates in the forest are Ameri-can beech and yellow birch, eastern whitepine, eastern hemlock, black cherry, andthe central hardwoods, including basswood,white ash, yellow poplar, hickories, andoaks. Sugar maple is found in 23 forest-cover types.

Sugar maple leaves are opposite andsimple, about 4 inches in diameter, 4 to 6inches long, five-lobed with five principalveins, smooth above and below. Each lobehas several lesser points along the marginbut otherwise the edge is smooth. Thesinuses between the lobes are broad androunded. Sugar maple leaves are ratherthin textured in contrast with those of mosthardwoods. In color the leaves vary from abright, light green to deep yellow-green,but in all cases the lower surface is slightlypaler than the upper surface.

Flowering in sugar maple is polyga-

'New York State record-91 x 51/2feet in ChautauquaCounty.

mous, occurring over the entire crown. Thesmall yellow flowers seem to be perfect,but usually only one sex is functionalwithin each flower. Both sexes are typi-cally produced in the upper part of thecrown but only males form in the lowerpart. In a good seed year (2 to 5 yearintervals), just before the leaves expand,nearly every tree is so covered with flowersthat at a distance it appears to be envelopedin a yellow haze.

Winged samaras, 1" to 1W' long andbroadly "U" shaped, contain a pair ofseeds. By autumn, enormous quantities ofthe winged fruits have developed and arereleased, reminiscent of little helicoptersas they drift to the ground. The followingspring, countless numbers of seedlingsunfold their cotyledons as they emergefrom their winter covering of leaves. Theyprosper even under a heavy forest coverand are extremely shade tolerant through-out life. It is a common experience insummertime to see little else but a carpet ofsugar maple seedlings covering the forestfloor in a mature hardwood stand. Sugarmaple also regenerates by stump sproutsand sometimes root suckers.

The twigs of sugar maple are slender,shiny, dark brown, and spotted with whitelenticels. The terminal bud at the outer tipof the twig, is conical in shape, 3/8" long,sharply pointed and shows 5 to 8 pairs ofscales. A pair of smaller lateral buds gen-erally accompanies the terminal. The leafscars are narrow and "V' shaped.

The bark of sugar maple is variable. Ingeneral, it is dark gray and irregularlyrough with plates and ridges becomingmore pronounced with age.

Sugar maple is a fairly resilient specieseven though affected by a host of enemies.Bud miners kill the terminal bud and causeforking. The gypsy moth, forest tent cater-pillar, pear thrips, linden looper, springand fall cankerworms, maple trumpet skel-etonizer, and saddled prominent are majordefoliators. The sugar maple borer, maplecallus borer and the carpenter worm boretunnels under the bark of the tree. Road saltand verticillium will injure ornamentaltrees. Browsing deer, hungry squirrels, andthirsty sapsuckers also cause damage.

The best growth of sugar maple is made

NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRll 199210

The Sugar Maple(Continued from page 10)

1

baskets, shoe lasts, and heels are a few ofthe useful products made from sugar maple.The annual harvest of hard maple in theState is substantial, totaling about 122.4million board feet in 1987.

Besides its primary importance as atimber producer and an ornamental, sugarmaple also yields valuable syrup and sugar.The sugar content of the sap varies widelyfrom tree to tree, so thirty-two to fortygallons of the spring sap has to be boileddown to make a gallon of syrup or 8poundsof sugar. Syrup production is an importantindustry in our State. New York ranked2nd in 1980 with 243,000 gallons of syrupas compared to Istplace Vermont's315,OOOgallons. New York's total represented 1/4of the syrup produced in the entire UnitedStates.

The regal sugar maple has long been apart of the New York landscape.The importance of this King of trees cannot be overlooked. Long live the King!

REFERENCES CONSULTEDConsidine, Thomas 1. If. and Thomas S.Frieswyk, forest Statistics for New Yo.rlI;,USDA Forest Service, 1980.

Goodman, RichardM., Harry W. Yawney, andCarl H Tubbs, Acer saccharum Marsh. ~MluIk, Silvics of North America, Volume 2,Hardwoods ,Agriculture Handbook 654, USDAForest Service, 1990.

Hall, Robert F., Symbols of the State, TheConservationist, Aug-Sept 1974

Harlow, William M., Su~ar Maple, Trees ofthe Eastern and Central United States andCanada.

Harlow, William M. and Ellwood S. Harrar,Su~ar Maple, Textbook of Dendrology.

Ketchledge, Edwin H., The Maples of New,Ymk, The Conservationist, April-May 1962.

Ketchledge, Edwin H., Reco~nizin~ WoodyPlants in Winter, The Conservationist, 0 c t-Nov 1969.

Steve Davison is a Senior Forester with theNYS Department of Environmental Con-servation at Region Z's Cortland Office.

c d

Figure 1.Distinguishing Characteristics of Sugar Maple:* a) typical mature tree shape,b) leaf, c)female flower, e) winter twig, and f) fruit. Drawings are not to scale.

*Excerptedfrom Cornell Cooperative Extension Publication 147FT18 Sugar Maple

Sugar maple is very sensitive to high sodium levels in the soil. Hence, it can sustainmajor injury from salt added to road surfaces to melt winter ice and snow. The use ofsalt in the winter is a common practice throughout much of New York State and NewEngland. Thus, affected trees are found primarily along roadsides; although in someextreme cases water drainage from roads into maple stands has been responsible forextensive damage. The trees pick up salt through their roots and accumulate itthroughout the tree. When soil moisture levels decrease, the high salt concentrationin the tissues causes the death of many twigs. Therefore, salt damage becomes muchmore obvious following long dry periods during the summer.*


Sugar Maple BorerBy Douglas C. Allen

One of the most detrimental pests ofsugar maples is an insect known as thesugar maple borer. The seriousness of thisproblem arises from both the location andnature of the damage, and the susceptiblecondition of sugar maple in many of to-day's northern hardwood stands. Outbreaksof this pest are relatively mundane com-pared to those of the principal maple defo-liators. In the absence of additional distur-bances (e.g., unfavorable weather such asdrought, poor site and stand conditions),however, sugar maple usually can with-stand one or two years of moderate toheavy defoliation. On the other hand, oncea tree is attacked by maple borer the dam-age endures and its degrading effects mayamplify over time.

THE INSECTThe adult borer is a dark brown to

blackish, thick bodied beetle approximatelyan inch long and marked with distinctbright yellow bands that vary in width andlength. It belongs to a group commonlyreferred to as the longhorn beetles; a nameevoked by the unusually long antennae orfeeler-like structures that are attached tothe head.

Each female deposits one to a few eggsin bark crevices or holes that she chewsthrough the bark. Eggs, and subsequentdamage, usually are concentrated on thelower 20 feet of the tree trunk. Many treesare probably used for egg laying, but vig-orous maples overcome feeding attemptsby young larvae. Following egg hatch, thewhite to cream-colored, legless, grub-likelarva enters the tree and feeds beneath thebark. Eventually it excavates a shallowtransverse feeding gallery, which usuallyextends 4 - 6 feet up the trunk, and accom-panying damage partially girdle the tree.

The presence of the larval gallery in thecenter of a conspicuous scar (Figure 1)

_~ CLEAR CREEK--:..~~ CONSULTING

Professional Forestry Services

TImber Appraisals • TImber Marking •TImber Trespasses • Forest Menagement F'1ans

And Other Forestry Services

PATRICK J. McGLEW(607) 699·3846

P.O. Boll 1G4Nichol •• NY 13812

MARCH/APRIL 1992NY FOREST OWNER

Figure 1. (right) Typicalsugar maple borer injury.Note the horizontal larvalgallery in the center of thescar.

Figure 2. (below)Cryptic sugar mapleborer damage. Notetelltale cracks in thebark (white arrows).

distinguishes maple borer damage fromthat of stem cankers associated with cer-tain fungal infections. Recently formedborer scars are masked by dried and spongybark that has not sloughed away (Figure 2).

The borer requires two years to developfrom egg to adult. In preparation for over-wintering during the second year, the fullygrown larva excavates a 3/8 - 5/8 inchdiameter vertical gallery that is severalinches long and penetrates the sapwood toa depth of 2-4 inches.

THE DAMAGEWhether or not the maple borer causes

significant damage, depends on your man-agement objectives. By definition, in orderto be considered a pest an insect mustprevent you from maximizing your man-agement goals.

For example, if you own a woodlotsolely for aesthetic reasons, as a place to

12

hunt, or as a source of firewood, youprobably would not consider the mapleborer a pest. Should your object be toproduce maple syrup or a variety of woodproducts, however, the borer can have animportant economic impact.

Because sugar maple borer most oftenattacks at some point on the first 20 feet ofthe stem, it damages, the most valuablepart of the tree from a sawtimber stand-point - the butt log. This damage is mani-fested as mineral stain (a discolorationresulting from the tree's response to inva-sion), callus tissue that forms at the mar-gins of the scar (another defensive mecha-nism that the tree uses to isolate or com-partmentalize injury), and holes in theouter 4-6 inches of sapwood where theinsect excavates a tunnel in preparation forits second winter. Generally, this interac-tion between the insect and the tree greatly


Maple Borer(Continuedfrom page 12)

decreases the value of the frrstlog, becauseit is not acceptable for veneer or gives anundesirable appearance oflumber cut fromthe injured portion of the infested stem.

Damage affects sugarbush operators intwo quite different ways. As a result ofstem girdling, often large limbs are killedimmediately above the injury, which ef-fectivel y decreases crown size (and, hence,the volume of sap produced by the injuredtree). When damage occurs within theregion of the bole that normally is used fortapping (4-6 feet above the ground), thearea of bole suitable for tapping is reduced.

When a tree 6-8 inches in diameter atbreast height is attacked, it may be espe-cially susceptible to wind snap. The treebole may be weakened where the larvalgallery becomes oblique or nearly hori-

zontal (in the vicinity of the catfaced scar)and during high, gusty winds many treestems beak at this spot.

CONTROL SUGAR MAPLE BORERWITH A CHAIN SAW!

The most effective means of minimiz-ing borer damage is to maintain tree vigor.Studies indicate that the maple borer is asecondary insect; that is, it can only suc-cessfully attack sugar maple that is understress. The most common source of stressassociated with maple borer damage isintense competition for growing spacebetween trees in overcrowded stands.Proper thinning of stands during the highlysusceptible pole timber stage, when treesare between 5 and 11 inches in diameter atbreast height, is especially important in aprogram of preventative maintenance. Ifyour management objective is to producewood products, removal of previously dam-aged trees is also recommended during

thinning or timber stand improvement ac-tivities. This will improve the quality ofthe residual stand, because it relinquishesgrowing space to sound, and presumably,more valuable trees.

Sugarbush operators can afford to bemore liberal. If your objective is to producemaple syrup, use careful judgement beforecondemning a tree. It is not necessary toremove a tree just because it has a borerscar. As long as the tree pays its way interms of sap production is should be re-tained in the bush.

Sugar maples in most oftoday's north-ern hardwood stands are especially vulner-able to borer damage, because these standshave not been properly managed. Mostlandowners can not justify the cost ofthinning when the material removed hasnot or limited market value. Hence, standsare ignored orrepeatedly high graded; bothpractices degrade stand health and set thestage for additional damage by maple borer.

Trapping and Furbearer Management in New York Statehave populations that are secure and cansustain annual, renewable harvest.

The harvest of New York' sfurbearers isa highly regulated activity. There are anumber of laws which must be followed.Among them:

- All new trappers must complete amandatory trapper training course. Thiscourse, taught by voluntary instructors,stresses the teaching of ethical and humanetrapping techniques.

- Trappers may only set traps within aspecified time of the year and only incertain areas (wildlife management units).Most trapping occurs from mid-fall to latewinter.

- Trappers may only set certain types oftraps; traps are restricted both to size andstyle. For example, traps with teeth havebeen illegal for over 60 years. Footholdtraps set on land may not exceed 5 3/4inches in size.

- Trappers must report their take for sixspecies. For the others, we conduct annualsurveys to monitor harvest.

The New York State Bureau of Wildlifedoes studies each year to further refine ourfurbearer management programs. Recentresearch has focused on raccoons, musk-rats, mink, coyotes, and river otter. Wetake pride in the fact that New York has oneof the finest furbearer management pro-grams in the country.

Furbearer management provides manybenefits to people. For nuisance species,

By Gordon R. BatchellerIn the world of natural resources man-

agement, trapping and the related use offurhas caught the attention of many people,not the least of which is the media. In thelast two years, there have been demonstra-tions, petitions, referendums, legislation,letters-to-the-editor, letters to politicians,and television and radio interviews.

An important question for the privateforest landowner is what does this issuehave to do with me? The answer is ~.thing.

I view the harvest of renewable naturalresources, whether wood fiber, meat, fish,or fur, in the same philosophical setting.Removing natural resources for humanbenefit is legitimate as long as it is donewisely and responsibly. That is what con-servation is all about. This certainly is thecase with modern forestry practices, it alsois true with furbearer management.

The State of New York officially sup-ports the trapping and hunting of furbear-ers. There are a number of reasons for this.Collectively, they provide the reasons wh ythe Leg islature has continued to uphold thelegal authority for trapping.

The furbearers of New York are veryabundant. Some species, like beaver andraccoons, are at an all time high. Weconservatively estimate that there are about2 million raccoons and 75,000 beavers inNew York. All together, there are 16 spe-cies of furbearers in the state all of which

like beaver and raccoon, trapping reducesproblems for homeowners, farmers, andothers. Trapping provides enjoyable out-door experiences for thousands of people.It is a way of life for many of these people.It also is a valued tradition. Trapping is asource of income for many. In the words ofone trapper, "It has been a godsend forextra income during the very tough times ..."Trapping also provides direct economicbenefits to furbuyers, the fur processingindustry, and the garment industry.

So what is all the controversy about? Inmy personal view, it boils down to anattempt to impose the value system of onegroup (those who feel that trapping iswrong) upon another group (those whoeither trap or support trapping). In myview, this infringes upon the freedom ofchoice concept upon which this country isfounded. Why should this matter to a forestlandowner? Because the same people whosay you shouldn't trap also say that youshouldn't cut down a tree. I think that it isimportant to recognize that the infringe-mentof our freedom to choose affects all ofus. That is why all people directly involvedwith the use of natural resources mustspeak up and be heard. This is true fortrappers; it also is true for landownersmanaging forest resources.Gordon Batcheller is Furbearer ProjectLeader with the NYS Bureau o/Wildlife atthe WildlzJe Resources Center at Delmar.N.Y. 12054


Sweet Steam Signals Spring Sugarin' TimeBy Irwin King

It seems that everyone on the streetthese days is talking about "Made inAmerica" but there are few products thatfit that title as accurately as pure maplesyrup. Native to North America, the sugarmaple is rooted deeply into the history ofour Nation and that of our Canadian neigh-bors.

Although the sugar maple is indeednative to a fairly narrow band of easternNorth America, the sweet products of thehard maple are known and prized through-outthe world. In New York State, the sugarmaple is so highly regarded that it is theofficial State Tree.

It isn't clearl y established how the art ofmaple sugar making got its beginning butNorth American Indians were using mapleproducts well before the birth of our na-tion. One story has it that an Indian squawplaced a pot alongside a maple in anticipa-tion that her brave would go to the nearbystream to fetch water. The brave, indignantat the thought of doing "squaw work",slammed his tomahawk into the trunk ofthe tree just above the pot When the squawreturned, the pot was full and she pro-ceeded to boil the evening meal ofvenison.What resulted was a sweetened gourmetmeal-- and harmony in the family. Historyis a little fuzzy in explaining how it wasdetermined that the liquid in the pot camefrom the maple and not the stream.

Another tale has it that hunters watchedhow squirrels would nibble at maple sapicicles in late winter to gain the nutritionalbenefits of the sugar in the sap to helpaugment their caloric intake as the fall-gathered larder reached low levels. Again,the logical connection from the squirrel'ssapcicle to amber maple syrup is difficultto track.

Every woodland owner has a list ofreasons why forest ownership is important.For me, sugarmaking is clearly the wood-land benefitthatl treasure the most. Shortl yafter graduation from Cornell I purchasedour farm in northwestern Albany Countywith the clear understanding that the 50acre sugarbush would have to help makethe mortgage payments. Over the past 30years this managed woodlot has done itsjob well and because it is within 25 milesof the Albany, Schenectady, Troy tri-cityarea, several thousand visitors have had an

opportunity to trek through our woods andsee the production of pure maple syrup.With my wife Christie we have a 2,200 tapoperation and with favorable weather con-ditions (which haven't occurred in the pastsix years) we can make around 500 gallonsof table grade syrup.

I have visited a good number of sugar-houses in New York and neighboring Ver-mont and I've never seen two identicaloperations. Some producers gather sap andsell it to a central production facility muchas dairy farmers sell milk to a dairy --except sap is sold according to sugar con-tent rather than butter fat percentage. Oth-ers gather their own sap and boil it downover wood-fired evaporators or pass thefreshly collected sap through reverse os-mosis membranes. I continue to marvel atthe variety of processes and the ingenuityof individual maple producers in their questfor the most efficient and economic way toreduce sap to syrup. Afterall, it takes about40 gallons of sap to make one gallon ofpure syrup -- everything else is water.

I don't consider myself an expert onmaple sugaring but after thirty years I amfamiliar with the operation at our Sugar-bush Farm. With that in mind, I'll discussour operation and maybe, just maybe, somereader will get the urge to start sugaringand gain another benefit from his or herwoodlot.

We tap about half of the trees in ourwoodlot. There are 1,500 buckets and anadditional 700 taps utilizing plastic tubing.Tubing is really the preferred way to go butmost of our woodlot is quite flat withoutenough pitch for sap to flow freely throughthe 5/16th inch tubing that connects onetree to the next.

We begin laying out tubing in late Janu-ary or early February. By identifying eachbranch of tubing with a number and keyingthe numbers to a simple sketch map, it isnot all that difficult to make sure the tubingfollows the same route each year. Becausewe won't tap the trees at this time, thedetermining factors as to when to layouttubing are really the weather and the en-ergy level of the person stringing the tub-ing. We use baling twine to tie the tubingat waist height on each tree that we intendto tap. A branch of tubing may include asmany as 30 taps before the branch is runinto a larger, or main, line.

By mid- to late February, we beginstudying the weather reports to determinewhen a strong warming trend may be mov-ing toward our area. Then, we begin tap-ping the trees. We use a 7/16th drill bit anda small, gasoline powered drill to make the2-1/2 to 3 inch deep hole into which we willgently hammer a spile, or spout. Metalspiles are used in trees that will carrybuckets; plastic spiles where tubing is be-ing used. Depending on the overall condi-tion of the tree (broken branches, othersigns of stress) we drill one taphole in a 12inch diameter tree, 2 holes in an 18 inchtree, etc. By keeping within this tappingrate, only 15 percent of the tree's annualsap production is taken by the sugar maker.It takes about three days for two men to tapthe woodlot.

We wait until we're quite certain thatwe'll get a run of sap before we put thebuckets up and cover them with galvanizedlids. Our gathering process is built aroundthe availability of high school kids. There-fore, since the kids arrive from schoolaround 4:00 pm and it gets dark by 6:30pmwe limit the number of buckets so allbuckets can be emptied within two eve-nings. This translates to a team of fourhighschoolers, one tractor, one wagon andtwo 150 gallon gathering tanks on thewagon. The team can empty 7-800 bucketsa night.

The amount of sap that will run, or dripinto a bucket, on a given day depends uponthe fluctuation in daily temperature andbarometric pressure. It must be below freez-ing at night followed by a warm sunny dayfor sap to run. The number of freezingnight/warm day combinations during Marchand early April determine the success orfailure of the season. A rule of thumb usedto be that each tap hole would produce 12to 15 gallons of sap which equals about aquart of syrup. We have not approachedthat ratio in the past six years and in someyears we have had less than a pint of syrupper taphole.

To make high quality syrup, sap must begathered as soon after it leaves the tree aspossible. If sap sets in a bucket on the treeon a warm day it will quickly deteriorateand make lower quality syrup. Likewise,once the sap is brought to the sugarhouse itshould be quickly boiled down to syrup.



II':I'

Sweet Steam(Continued from page 14)

Larger sugarmakers may use refrigerationand ultraviolet lighting to lengthen the sapstorage time but our operation is smallenough that we boil it down immediatelyafter it's gathered.

As soon as the sap is brought to thesugarhouse from the buckets and the tub-ing storage tanks it begins a nonstop proc-ess of boiling to remove water while con-centrating the sugars. Our evaporator, aseries of heated pans where the sap boils, isfive feet wide and fourteen feet long. It ismostly stainless steel and heated by fuel oilat the rate of 14 gallons per hour. Fresh sapis continuously fed into one end of theevaporator at a rate of about 150 gallonsper hour and periodically we are able todraw off syrup at a rate of 3-1/2 gallons perhour. As you can see, our fuel supplierloves to see us work 12 and 14 hour days.Ironically, our home, a short 600 hundredfeet away, is passive solar with a woodstove for supplemental heat.

It is difficult to offer a word descriptionof how an evaporator works but I'll try.Fresh sap is introduced at the end furthestfrom the heat source and the flow is con-trolled by a float valve. As water is boiledaway in the form of steam, new sap flowsin. In operation, this is a continuous flowand the depth of liquid in the evaporatorpans is maintained at about an inch. Aswater is boiled away, the remaining liquidis a little heavier because the sugar in thesap is beginning to concentrate. The enter-ing fresh sap pushes the heavier liquidforward through a series of baffles towardthe end of the evaporator where syrup willbe taken off. At any given time during theboiling process there will be fresh sap atone end, syrup at the other and varyingconcentrations of syrup at all places inbetween.

1 •

III

If you are not confused enough, let'sadd a couple of facts. Sap as it comes fromthe tree is approximately two percent sugarand weighs about the same as water, eightand one-half pounds per gallon. Standarddensity syrup weighs 11pounds per gallon.Sap, much like water boils at 212 degrees;syrup boils at 219 degrees. A word ofcaution, however, because water boils atdifferent temperatures depending uponbarometric pressure and elevation it isimperative that sugarmakers check theboiling point of water and add seven de-grees to that to determine the exact boilingpoint for syrup at that particular time andplace.

Once the syrup is removed from theevaporator it is filtered through rayon fil-ters to remove sugar sand which is mostlycalcium that has concentrated and settledout of the liquid during the final stages oftransforming sap to syrup. If the syrup isn'tfiltered, the final product will tend to becloudy and over time the calcium willsettle to the bottom of the container.

After filtering, the syrup is graded ac-cording to color --light, medium and darkamber -- and poured into plastic jugs ormetal containers while it is still hot toinsure a sterile container. A unique physi-cal property of pure maple syrup makes itan ideal product for on-farm processing. Atstandard density (remember, I mentionedearlier that standard density syrup weighs11 pounds per gallon) maple syrup is astable product It will not ferment, it willnot crystallize and it will not support bac-teria. When you combine this natural prop-erty with the sanitation of hot packing,pure maple syrup has a tremendous shelflife.

Even having said this about the stabilityof pure maple syrup there are times whena consumer will find mold on the top oftheir partially used container. What hashappened is that each time the container is

New York State Maple Producers Association, Inc.Arthur E. Merle, Secretary of the NYS Maple Producers Association informed THE

NY FOREST OWNER there were 560 paid members for 1991. Yearly dues are basedon the number of taps used by the member.

The Annual Membership Meeting is June 10,1992 at Raphael's on State FairBoulevard, Syracuse, New York.

The Maple Hall of Fame and the Maple Museum are located at Croghan, NY, whereMay 9, the New York State Maple Queen Contest will be held. The President of the NYSMaple Producers Association, Harold Tyler, has been nominated for the 1992 Maple Hallof Fame.

The Maple Festival in Albany is scheduled for late April subject to funding by theDepartment of Agriculture and Markets and the resources of the association.

opened, a small amount of moisture fromthe room enters the container and eventu-ally the top surface of the syrup becomesdiluted and is no longer standard density.However, only the top thin layer is bad.Simply remove the mold, pour the syrup ina pan, heat it to a slow boil and re-pack itinto a new clean container.

The art of making maple syrup is aunique part of our American heritage anda springtime ritual that is carried out innumerous woodlots big and small through-out the northeast. When you see steambillowing from a roadside sugar shack,stop in and introduce yourself. I've nevermetasugarmakerwho didn't enjoy talkingabout his operation.

Some old timers say that the steam thatswirls gently around the sugarmakers headtends to warp the brain. Perhaps that ispartly true but I'd rather believe that thething that has kept us sugarin' is our love ofthe woods and this added opportunity toenjoy our forest.

Irwin and Christie King own and operateSugarbush Farm in the Town of Knox inAlbany County. Irwin is President of theCapital District Chapter of NYFOA.

JOHN GIFFORD 716/664-5604 (8)Broker 716/487 -9709 (R)

Vice President - Real Estate

Crown Building, 100 E. Second StreetJamestown, NY 14701

SANFORD VREELAND. PE.

CONSULTANT. 1-716-669-2250

P.O. Box 185Springwater, N.Y. 14560


•••r.15

Marketing Christmas Trees Year-RoundBy David Taber

Christmas tree growers may have feltthe economic squeeze last year. An over-abundance of real Christmas trees wasavailable to buyers in many market areas.Too, many consumers were enticed to buytheir Christmas trees by mail.

* One New York Times advertisement,in the middle ofN ovem ber, offered Christ-mas trees by mail for about $35.

* Consumers received coupons from amulti-retail outlet in mid-November sentby a marketing agency that offered a $5 .00discount on any cut Christmas tree valuedat least $25 and one from another businessfor $5.00 off any fresh-cut Douglas fir.

Also, artificial Christmas trees, from 8inches to 8 feet tall, are now available in avariety of fake species. They range in pricefrom less than $10 to more than $200. Theycan be used for more than one year and theydon't shed needles-features that someconsumers like.

Throughout the 1980s two to three timesas many trees were planted for Christmastrees than were being harvested. It is likel y,therefore, that supply and demand couldhave a strong influence on reducing pricesfor cut Christmas trees. In addition, somegrowers, fearful their trees will becomepermanent forests, may have chosen to sellat lower than previously-planned prices.

Highlights from the New York StateDepartment of Agriculture and Markets"1990 Christmas Tree Summary" are:

* Capitol District - "The best sellingChristmas trees were Balsam, Fraser andDouglas firs. Most trees came from Can-ada, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania,Michigan, and Maine in that order." Notethe importance of trees not grown in NewYork State to consumers around Albany.

* Hudson Valley (Dutchess, Orange,and Ulster Counties) 'The Balsam firedgedahead of the Douglas fir as the best sellingtree. The Balsam trees hailed from Can-ada."

* Central New York (Syracuse) - "Insome instances, 50 percent-off prices wereposted by some vendors after only a weekto ten days of selling.... Most retailersindicated a willingness to make price con-cessions to sell trees."

* Rochester - "Fraser fir came almostexclusively from North Carolina ...Douglasfir came largely from the western US,

Christmas trees can be marketed for spring or fall planting. as well as use during theholiday season. In addition. Christmas trees may be sold as tiny trees inpots for disposabletable top decorations throughout the year. Various size trees that are balled andburlapped, in baskets. or in pots. can meet consumer needs at a profit for growers andretailers. (Forest Stewardship Photo by Taber)

mainly Oregon .... The supply of trees thisyear was very heavy with a large number ofretailers .... Dumping this year was muchgreater than last year with many retailershaving to destroy about 30 to 40 percent ofthe trees purchased."

* Long Island and New York City -"The best selling Christmas trees wereBalsam firs. Most Balsam firs came fromCanada and Vermont. Fraser firs werefrom Canada and North Carolina. Douglasfirs came from the states of Oregon andWashington." Dum page in the Queens areaof New York City ranged from 5 to 30percent, mostly 15-20 percent for the re-tailers surveyed.

Alternatives for Christmas tree grow-ers, relative to marketing the trees theygrow, can be profit and pleasure, depend-ing on their personal situation and prefer-ences. Viable options for some growersinclude:

* Sell by choose and cut.* Sell some trees in pots in the spring

and fall for landscaping, and after Thanks-giving Day, for Christmas tree plants orplan table Christmas trees.

* Have trees dug, balled and burlapped,and sold for landscaping, by wholesale,retail, and/or landscaping businesses.

* Cut tops out of trees for marketing asshorter trees or table top trees and sellbranches from stumps for roping, decora-tive boughs, and wreaths.

*Market seedlings, transplants, or smalltrees for Arbor Day, celebrated on the lastFriday in April.

Successful marketing includes know-ing one's production costs, marketing costs(which include advertising and sellingcosts), and expected profit, as a basis forestablishing profitable selling prices.

Article 14 of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Lawrequires that each grower of potted, or balled and burlapped evergreens (for sale)shall register as a "nurseryman; provided, however, that the word 'nurseryman,'shall not include persons engaged in the part-time production of plant products notsold in the regular channels of business." -See Circular 917 of the New York StateDepartment of Agriculture and Markets.

16NY FOREST OWNER MARCI-VAPRIL 1992

By Carolyn KlassA few warm days in late February or

March may trigger the indoor swarming oftermites and ants. Both termites and antslive in colonies, or groups, and when thecolony is large enough reproductives (malesand queens) are produced. In our NewYork State climate it often takes three tofive years for a colony to produce repro-ductives.

Swarms of either of these insects insidethe home during the late winter or earlyspring may be an indication of a largerproblem. Termites and carpenter ants areboth structural pests. Other species of ants,which are not structural pests, may alsoswarm in the spring. The latter are usuallysoil nesting species that nested near thefoundation and, when temperatures warm-up, swarm through any available openings.

The first thing a homeowner should tryto do is to identify whether you have antsor termites. If the insects are termites, theproblem may be very serious. Termites areaptly called a "hidden enemy" becausethey work in the dark, inside the woodactually eating it. Damage may remainhidden until someone accidently fallsthrough a floor or a porch step that has beenhollowed out. As the termites work theyneed to maintain contact with the soilmoisture. They often construct mud tun-nels over inedible portions of the buildingor foundation.

If you find termites, contact a profes-sional pest management firm. All termitetreatment in New York State must be doneby certified pesticide applicators.

If you find ants, determine if they arecarpenter ants. Our common species ofcarpenter ant is large, queens are 1/2 inch

Ants and Termites

Termites: Antennae not elbowed, Waistnot noticeably constricted, 2pairs of wings,equal in size, Wings with many small veins

long or longer, and all black.Carpenter ants excavate galleries in the

wood and use the galleries as a nesting site.In their excavation work they bite off smallparticles of wood and discard them. Thismay result in piles of coarse, sawdust -like,chips near an exposed piece of wood.

Ants are active from spring until latefall. Workers can be seen very early in thespring as they forage indoors for food orwater. Once trees leaf out and honeydew (asweet sticky liquid given offby aphids andother sucking insects) is available, the antsforage out-of-doors and will be less vis-ible.

If carpenter ants are the problem, try tofind the nesting area. Sometimes you canhear them working in the walls at night,when all else is quiet. A paper cup (with thebottom cut out) held against the wall canhelp you determine more precisely wherethe ants may be at work. Be aware thatmice and other small animals also maymake noises as they move about insidewalls.

In many cases carpenter ants attack

dms.:Elbowed antennae, Constricted waist2 pairs of wings, but hind wings smallerthan front wings, Wings with few veins

wood that is wet or that has suffered fromwater damage. If there have been leaks inthe roof, walls, or plumbing, check theseareas first. When the nest area is located,you can treat it yourself or contact a pestmanagement service.

Replacement of structurally damagedwood arid correction of any water or mois-ture problems are also recommended. Ifmoisture problems are not corrected, car-penter ants might move back into the areain the future.

Soil nesting ants are a nuisance problembut do not threaten a structure. If you findsoil nesting ants, try to locate how they aregetting in and repair or caulk entranceholes. Ants can be swept or vacuumed anddiscarded. Remember to empty the vacuumbag, especially if the insects are live.

Carolyn Klass is with the Department ofEntomology, NYS College of Agricultureand Life Sciences at Cornell University.

Update On Rabies WANTEDAs of November 19, 1991, these animals have been confmnedrabidin New York: VENEERTREES- R.O., W.O.,

raccoons 594 cows 9 H.M., Ash, Cherry and Walnutskunks 92 woodchucks 9 * Any Amount of Treesredfox 86 horses 3 * Low Impactbats 79 deer 3 * High Profitgray fox 11 otter 1 * Free Appraisalscats 11 sheep 1 * Anywhere in NY and PAdogs 10 opossum 1 CRAIG JOCHUMNotice that deer, sheep, and opossum are new species confmned rabid since our 2668 South Apalachin Road

summernewsletter. The deer were from Orange (2) and Steuben (1) counties; the sheep Apalachin, New York 13732was from Westchester County; and the opossum was from Nassau County. 607/687 -1598


Ask A Forester: Forest Inventory & ManagementBy Dave Daut

The goal of this article is to give the Do-It-Yourselfer a brief summary of how tocollect data, summarize it and to makedecisions from the results.

As the primary goal in forest manage-ment is to satisfy the owners objectives, thefirst step is to determine what the objec-tives are. Believe me, there are many -timber production, aesthetics, recreation,wildlife, water quality, etc. Here we willdeal with timber production, but the con-cepts are generally the same for the otherobjectives, with the possible exception ofaesthetics, which is very individual.

The first step is to know where yourboundaries are. This is often overlooked,but you can't manage something if youdon't know where it is.

Next, comes the data collection part.Necessary items include a 50 foot tapemeasure, a pencil, paper and knowledge ofthe tree species on your property. Themethod I will be discussing will be a timberinventory using a fixed radius l/lOth acreplot. It is easier to do this with two people,although it can be done by yourself.

DATA COLLECTIONFirst, decide how many plots you want

to take (on a ten acre woodlot, you mightwant to take ten, on more acres you needfewer plots per acre). Then, on a map oftheproperty, place dots, indicating plot cen-ters, at even intervals. Using a compass andmeasuring tape, on the ground, you shouldbe able to come close to your map location.Exact location is not critical, however, it isimportant that your plots do not overlap.

Once you get to your plot center, put astick in the ground so you can keep track ofthe center while you are measuring trees.Now we are ready to start counting trees.With two people it is easiest if one personstands on plot center holding one end of thetape and taking notes. The other personwill go out the required radius and collectthe data.

Thedatacollectorwillgoout37'3" (theradius of a circular 1/lOth acre plot) and,working around the circle, will measureeach tree inside the circle. In a normalsituation, you may want to count only treesthat measure 18" circumference and greater.lt is advisable for the note taker to keep theplots separate, preferably one plot per pieceof paper.

The minimum amount of information

you should collect on EACH TREE willbe: 1. tree species, 2. the circumference ofeach tree at 4 '6" off the ground (normallyreferred to as Diameter Breast Height orDBH for short) to the nearest inch and 3.Whether it is an acceptable tree, (one ofdesired species and good quality).

Once you've measured each tree onevery plot, the fieldwork part is done. It'sas easy as that.

DATA SUMMARYThe raw data needs to be summarized

into a usable form. The first thing we needto do is to convert circumference to diame-ter. Take your circumference measure-ment divide by 3.14 and round to thenearest whole inch, that's diameter.

Once we have all of the diameters, weneed to find out what the basal area is.Basal area (B.A.) is an easily measuredapproximation of the percent crown clo-sure. 100% crown closure would producealmost full shade on a sunny day in thesummer. Basal area is measured in squarefeet. Most of the time, the term is talkedabout in basal area per acre. Technically, itis the area of the stump of each tree if theywere cut off at 4' 6" above the ground level.

Again, we are still working with a tenthacre plot. Some formulae will be differentif plot size varies.

Now square each diameter and multiplyby 0.005454154 and round to the nearestwhole number. This will give you the basal

area of each tree. For each plot, add thebasal area of each tree. That will be thebasal area of the plot. Once you have donethis for all ofthe plots, add all of the B.A.' sper plot together and divide by the numberof plots. This will give you the averageB.A. per plot. Now multiply by ten (be-cause this is a tenth acre plot). This is thefinal B.A. per acre.

The nex t bit of info you will need is treesper acre. Add all of the trees you measured,then divide by the number of plots youtook. This number is the average numberof trees per plot. Multiply average trees perplot by 10 and you have trees per acre.

DECISION MAKINGAgain assuming we are managing for

timber production, we would go to a stock-ing guide (figure 1) to see if the woodlotshould be cut It is a simple matter ofplotting basal area per acre against treesper acre and determining the stocking. TheA-line on the chart represents full stock-ing. If you are at or above the A-line, athinning is clearly needed. Thinningsshould aim at hitting the B-line. Stockingat the B-linesuggests a woodlot adequatelystocked, with no thinning needed. Stock-ing below the C-line indicatesunderstocking, i.e. the site is not beingfully utilized by the overstory.

If you kept track of acceptable and


125 MEAN STAND DIAMETER linchesl

18

______ 2.U.!.!:.I.!!..!:!~~ _

HARDWOOD

~100~WGI:(.)

C

GI:WD-

CWGI: 50C

75

...•cenca:I 25

150 1050450 750TREES PER ACRE

Fi9"el-StociOng ~ for mail crown ampy 0/ -.-agod h•• dwood oIMds (boecIHed map', boocMitdHnapo) oil•••• basal""", and IIMd>er0/ ~_ peracr. and quadmic moon oIMd diarnM. Tho A ino is fuly *<I<ed, fie B ino is ouggeolod reNJal oIodcing. Tho C ino is milinum Imd<ing. The quaily ino isIl. density reqUred to proruee tigh quail)' !18m. of boodI, sugar mape, yoIIow bim, ..,d r...t map •.From USFS Publicltion NE-aJ3 ..

NY FOREST OWNER MARCt-VAPRll1992

Ask A Forester(Continued from page 18)

unacceptable trees in all of your calcula-tions, it is often helpful to chart totalstocking and, on the same chart, accept-able stocking.

Once stocking is known and it is deter-mined that you should cut, what should becut? Ideally, whether managing even oruneven-aged, the first trees that should beremoved are the unacceptable trees. If byremoving those you are at the B-line, that'swhere you should stop. Managing a forestcrop is very much like any other crop, youtend it by removing the weeds (unaccept-able trees) and at some point the crop is

harvested. After the unacceptable trees areremoved, if more need to come out, thedecision starts to get more judgmentaldepending on your ownership goals. Ifmanaging for something other than timberproduction, this same data can be usedalong with stocking guides available forthose objectives.

REFERENCE MATERIALThis is a very simple summary offorest

inventory and management. The theory iseasy, the technical aspects of doing it get alittle more complicated.

1.Silvicultural Guide for Northern Hard-wood Types Research Paper NE-603

2. A Silvicultural Guide for white Pinein the Northeast

3. A Silvicultural Guide for Spruce/Firin the Northeast

The address is: U.S.D.A., NortheasternForestExperiment Station, 370 Reed Road,Broomall, PA 19008

For those with a computer with at least640K RAM, a very user friendly, freeprogram, SILVAH, is available from:U.S.D.A.,NortheasternForestExperimen-tal Station, P.O. Box 928, Warren, PA16365

Dave Daut is a member of the NorthernAdirondack Chapter and is a consultingforester: Fountain Forestery,lnc .. 26Lin-coin Drive. Tupper Lake.

SIP Is Finally HereBy Micbael C. Greason

Starting March 2, 1992 nonindustrialprivate forest owners can sign up for thevariety of STEW ARDSHIPINCENTIVESPROGRAM (SIP) cost share practices de-scribed by Dave Forness in the last issue ofthe FOREST OWNER. A committee ofDepartment of Environmental Conserva-tion (DEC) foresters worked from the Na-tional SIP Handbook to develop practicestandards and cost share rates. Input wasreceived from the Forest Stewardship Com-mittee and the New York Institute of Con-suIting Foresters.

To be eligible a landowner must own atleast 5 acres of land suitable for forestmanagement and not over 1000 acres;however, upon application to and approvalof the State Forester waivers of up to 5000acres may be considered by the Northeast-ern Area Office of the Forest Service. Inaddition, the owner must be a private indi-vidual, partnership, or nonforest industrycorporation without publicly owned stock,or similar entity. The owner must have aFOREST LANDOWNER STEW ARD-SHIP PLAN or have one developed as thefirst practice in order to qualify for theseincentive practices. The owner signs an"intentto accept and follow the plan." Thisshould not be onerous because the plan isdeveloped specifically to the owner' s goals.At this time I must caution you that only25% of New York's SIP allocation may beused for plan development. This is a na-tional policy to assure Congress that thebulk of the money will result in on the

ground improvements.I suggest a good first step is to talk with

your DEC county service forester to dis-cuss which practices may best suit yourgoals. Then the applicant must go to thecounty Agricultural Stabilization and Con-servation Service office; no practice can beapproved before this step is done. Havingseen the forester first should reduce theneed to adjust practice sign up. Sign upperiods are two months; but landownerscan sign up on a continuous basis. Thebenefit of the sign up period is to allowapprovals to be based on established prac-tice priorities rather than on a first comefirst served basis. Society will benefit fromhaving the most needed stewardship prac-tices applied.

Cost share rates are fixed rates based on75% of an estimated fair cost to establishpractices. The applicant signs a form pledg-ing that the practice cost at least the amountpaid; no profit is to be paid to an ownermaking improvements to his or her land.

FOR SALE* 122 acres hardwood forest* Town of Prattsburg,

Steuben County* Financing available

* DAVE BAXTER, BAXTER REALTY

93 Carlisle StreetRochester, NY 14615-2067

(716) 621-2343 or 800-724-6683

As with other cost share programs, land-owner labor is a cost shareable expense.For example if an owner plants trees orcarries out a thinning, the labor is an al-lowed expense as it has been with ACP orPIP. So when you review the rates in thestate handbook, the allowable cost you seeis the amount you get as long as you canshow that the practice cost at least thatamount. In some instances you may absorbless than the 25% share and in others youmay pay more than 25% of the actual cost.It will make careful planning worthwhile.It will also simplify allocation of funds; sothat we can more effectively serve all ourclien ts fairl y.

This is a brand new program. We havediscussed each practice thoroughly andcarefully. We are excited about gettingunderway and feel these are good practicesthat will be well received incentives forNew York forest owners. As we gain expe-rience in administration we may need tomake some adjustments.

315/252-7249

Nolan'sSporting Supplies

Outdoor Equipment Specialist

37 - 47 Genesee StreetAuburn, NY 13021


R.D. #1, Box 103Lisle, N.Y. 13797

L

WENDELL HATFIELD(Over 35 years experience)

General Excavation, Road Construction, Wetlands Enhancement,Ponds and Drainage

A.D. 2, Moravia, N.Y. 13118 • (315) 497-1398

Seedlings & TransplantsHardwoods, Shrubs, Wildlife, Pine, Spruce,

Douglas Fir, Many True Firs and Exotics

FREE PRICE LIST

TREEHAVENEVERGREEN NURSERY

981 Jamison Road • Elmo, NY 14059 • 652-4206

Authors of-* "Basics of Growing Christmas Trees"* "Addendum to - Basics of Growing Christmas Trees"* "Growing Conifer Seedlings, Transplants and Trees in an

Outdoor Nursery"

Non·Profit Org.u.s. POSTAGEPAID

Moravia, N.Y.13118

Permit No. 21

WOODLOTCALENDARMar. 14, 15 - Draft Horse LoggingSeminar, Tioga Co. (607) 699-3846Mar. 18-DanEricson: Chain Saw Useand Gary Evans: BluebirdsMar. 21 - AFC 10 AM. EllicottvilleCooperative Extension. Herbert Dar-ling, Jr. "The American Chestnut". 716-557-2529Mar. 21- NAC 10 AM Cornell Unv.Ulhlein Sugar Bush Tour, Lake Placid,315-386-4546Mar. 27 - SOT 6 PM CooperativeExtension Bldg., Front Street, Bing-hamton. Pot Luck Supper.Mar. 28 - CFA 1-4 PM ErpfHouse, Rt.28, Arkville, Wildlife EnhancementWorkshop. 914-586-3054Mar. ? - CNY Maple Sugar Tour,Heiberg Forest 315-682-9376Apr. 24 - ARBOR DAYApr. 25 - 9AM-4PM NYFOA AnnualSpring Meeting. Marshall Hall, Syra-cuse.

SEE INSERT


NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATIONSPRING MEMBERSHIP MEETING

APRIL 25, 1992

Marshall Hall AuditoriumSUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Syracuse, New' York 13210

Registration* opens at 8:30 a.m. in Auditorium FoyerCoffee and Donuts in Nifkin Lounge

9:30 a.m. ---- Business MeetingPresident's report - Stuart McCartyExecutive Director's report - John MarchantTreasurer's report - Angus JohnstoneChapter affairs - Charles Mowatt

PROGRAM: MANAGEMENT PLANNING FORSMALL WOODLAND OWNERSHIPS

10:30 .. ---- Management of a family woodland over 60 years.Harriet Hamilton, Wayland NY(Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton were theNational Outstanding Tree Farmers for 1991)

11: 15 ---- Woodland managed primarily for amenity valuesJane Sorensen Lord

12:00 Buffet Luncheon - Nifkin LoungePresentation of awards

1:30 ----' Making our land more attractive to wildlifeBeth and Dave Buckley, West Valley NY

2: 15 ---- Using your personal computer in woodland managementJohn Marchant, Fairport NY

3:00 ---- Management perspectives of small woodland ownersLaura Alban, Syracuse NY

* Advanced registration is required by April 15 to determine luncheon setting.See registration form for details.

NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

Nominations for Directors of the Association. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

To Elect: one DIRECTOR for a TWO (2) YEA R Term (1992-1993)

CHARLES MOWATT P.O Box 1182, SAVONA, NY 14879 Phone: 607-583-7006Charlie is a graduate forester from the College of Forestry at Syracuse,with a long DEC service career. He is now with the Region 8 Office atBATH, NY. One of the organizers of the ALLEGANY FOOTHILLS CHAPTER, heserves NYFOA as 1st. Vice Pres., and has contributed much time and talentto the success of this Association. He is an enthusiastic member.To Elect: Four DIRECTORS for T H R E E (3) YEARS terms (1992-1994)

ELIZABETH DENSMORE 8228 South Canada Hill Road, MACHIAS, NY 14101Phone: 716-942-6600 Betty and her husband have been NYFOA members foryears. Together they own over 150 acres of forestland and helped foundthe AFC Chapter, serving as Chairperson for two years. She is the Editorof the AFC/NFC Newsletter, together with many volunteer responsibilities.

RICHARD J. FOX R.D.#3 Box 88 MORAVIA,NY 13118 Phone: 315-497-1078 Dickhas served two terms as Director of NYFOA. He was the early champion ofChapter development, and was instrumental in founding the CAYUGA CHAPTER.He has served both the Chapter and NYFOA with boundless energy, includingthe Chairman of the Editorial Committee, Advertising Manager of the1990 Directory Issue, Awards Committee. He was recently appointed to bethe Acting Editor of the FOREST OWNER. He has a life-long interest ininnovative educational and sociological programs. He is a member of theRegion 7 Forest Practice Board, and is a Master Forest Owner.JOHN W. KREBS 1239 West Bloomfield Road, HONEOYE FALLS,NY 14472John, with his wife Carol, own 434 acres in the Town of Springwater,Livingston County, and have practiced forest and wildlife managementfor 27 years. The Krebs have been members of NYFOA for 8 years. Johnis employed by Eastman Kodak as a Unit Manager in the Consumer FilmManufacturing Division. He is a Master Forest OwnerSTUART McCARTY 4300 East Ave. ROCHESTER, NY 14618 Phone:716-381-6373,has been active in the Association since 1981 serving as Treasurer, FirstVice Pres. and, since April as President. with wife, Mary, past Pres. ofNYFOA and a present Director, own a 67 acre woodlot in Broome County.

DETACH-----COMPLETE----MAIL----BEFOREN Y F 0 A c/o Deborah Gill, Admin.Sec'Y

APRIL 10, 1992---Mail--to:---~~~-=~~~~~P.O.BOX 180 FAIRPORT, NY 14450

B ALL 0 T Vote for five (5) RES E R V A T ION FOR M30th. Annual Meeting Apr.25, 1992Marshall Hall SUNY-CESF Syracuse,NY

DIRECTOR: TWO YEARSCharles Mowatt PLEASE RESERVE

A WAR D S@ $ 15.00 each:

places for theL U N C H EONPayable to: NYFOA

Amount Enclosed $---DIRECTORS: THREE YEARS

Elizabeth DensmoreRichard J. FoxJohn W. KrebsStuart McCarty name

ADDRESS: _

NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

Nominations for Directors of the Association. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

To Elect: one DIRECTOR for a TWO (2) YEA R Term (1992-1993)

CHARLES MOWATT P.O Box 1182, SAVONA, NY 14879 Phone: 607-583-7006Charlie is a graduate forester from the College of Forestry at Syracuse,with a long DEC service career. He is now with the Region 8 Office atBATH, NY. One of the organizers of the ALLEGANY FOOTHILLS CHAPTER, heserves NYFOA as 1st. Vice Pres., and has contributed much time and talentto the success of this Association. He is an enthusiastic member.To Elect: Four DIRECTORS for T H R E E (3) YEARS terms (1992-1994)

ELIZABETH DENSMORE 8228 South Canada Hill Road, MACHIAS, NY 14101Phone: 716-942-6600 Betty and her husband have been NYFOA members foryears. Together they own over 150 acres of forestland and helped foundthe AFC Chapter, serving as Chairperson for two years. She is the Editorof the AFC/NFC Newsletter, together with many volunteer responsibilities.

RICHARD J. FOX R.D.#3 Box 88 MORAVIA,NY 13118 Phone: 315-497-1078 Dickhas served two terms as Director of NYFOA. He was the early champion ofChapter development, and was instrumental in founding the CAYUGA CHAPTER.He has served both the Chapter and NYFOA with boundless energy, includingthe Chairman of the Editorial Committee, Advertising Manager of the1990 Directory Issue, Awards Committee. He was recently appointed to bethe Acting Editor of the FOREST OWNER. He has a life-long interest ininnovative educational and sociological programs. He is a member of theRegion 7 Forest Practice Board, and is a Master Forest Owner.JOHN W. KREBS 1239 West Bloomfield Road, HONEOYE FALLS,NY 14472John, with his wife Carol, own 434 acres in the Town of Springwater,Livingston County, and have practiced forest and wildlife managementfor 27 years. The Krebs have been members of NYFOA for 8 years. Johnis employed by Eastman Kodak as a Unit Manager in the Consumer FilmManufacturing Division. He is a Master Forest OwnerSTUART McCARTY 4300 East Ave. ROCHESTER, NY 14618 Phone:716-381-6373,has been active in the Association since 1981 serving as Treasurer, FirstVice Pres. and, since April as President. with wife, Mary, past Pres. ofNYFOA and a present Director, own a 67 acre woodlot in Broome County.

DETACH-----COMPLETE----MAIL----BEFOREN Y F 0 A c/o Deborah Gill, Admin.Sec'Y

APRIL 10, 1992---Mail--to:---~~~-=~~~~~P.O.BOX 180 FAIRPORT, NY 14450

B ALL 0 T Vote for five (5) RES E R V A T ION FOR M30th. Annual Meeting Apr.25, 1992Marshall Hall SUNY-CESF Syracuse,NY

DIRECTOR: TWO YEARSCharles Mowatt PLEASE RESERVE

A WAR D S@ $ 15.00 each:

places for theL U N C H EONPayable to: NYFOA

Amount Enclosed $---DIRECTORS: THREE YEARS

Elizabeth DensmoreRichard J. FoxJohn W. KrebsStuart McCarty name

ADDRESS: _

Documents

The New York Forest Owner - Volume 30 Number 2