A publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

September/October 1996

The New York

FOREST OWNER

THE NEW YORK

FOREST OWNERSASSOCIATION

VOL. 34, NO.5OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Bill Minerd, President1123 Cold Springs RoadLiverpool, NY 13088; 315/451-3712

Jill Cornell, Vice President703 Johnsonville Rd.Johnsonville, NY 12094; 5181753-4336

Robert M. Sand, Recording Secretary300 Church StreetOdessa, NY 14869-9703; 607/594-2130

Mary Richardson, Treasurer150 Chatfield RoadElbridge, NY 13060; 3151 689-6890

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

1997John T. Hastings, Queensbury; 5181798-0248Charles Mowatt, Savona; 607/583-7006Norman Richards, Syracuse; 315/472-3696Elizabeth Wagner, Utica; 3151733-7391

1998Jill Cornell, Johnsonville; 5181753-4336Elizabeth Densmore, Machias: 716/942-6600Robert Sand, Odessa; 607/594-2130Bob Sykes, Elbridge; 315/673-3691

1999Harry Dieter, Honeoye Falls, 7161533-2085Thomas Ellison, Manlius, 315/682-9376Richard Fox, Moravia; 315/497-1078David Swanson, Mount Morris, 716/658-4601

AFFILIATE REPRESENThTIVESDick Mark, THRIFf; 315/623-9476Donna Rogier, Catskill ForestAssoc.; 9141586-3054

CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVESDon Huber, Allegheny Foothills; 716/549-5025Tom Hewitt, Cayuga; 3151497-1266Barry Cornell, Capital District; 5181753-4336Tom Graber, Central New York;315/255-3662JefJ'Wiegert, Lower Hudson; 914/831-3109Bob Howard, Northern Adirondack West; 315/262-2692Herb Boyce, Northern Adirondack East; 518/946-7040Donald Fraser, Niagara Frontier; 716/773-7011Ernst Spencer, SE Adirondack; 518/792-1726Larry Lepak, Southern Tier; 607/656-8504Don Schaufler, Tioga, 607/589-6095Eileen VanWie, Western Finger Lakes; 716/367-2849

All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced with-out prior written permission from the publisher. NYFOA

does not necessarily support or approve procedures, prod-

ucts, or opinions presented by authors or advertisers.

COVER:DR. NORMAN RICHARDS with a newtoy and serious business on the family'stree farm. See page 4 for further details.Photo by Jeremy Richards.

2 NY FOREST OWNER

FOREST OWNERA publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

Editorial Committee: Betty Densmore, Chair, Alan Knight, Mary McCarty, Jim Minor,Bob Sand, and Eileen VanWie.

Materials submitted for publication should be addressed to: R.J. Fox, Editor, R.D. 3, Box88, Moravia, New York 13118. Articles, artwork and photos are invited and are normallyreturned after use. The deadline for submission for NovlDec is Oct 1..Please address all membership fees and change of address requests to P.O. Box180, Fairport, N.Y. 14450. Cost of individual membership subscription is $20.

A coupla-nice-uns from Dale Schaefer'S woodlot, Western Fingerlake's Chapter.

Table of Contents

President's Message, Bill Minerd 3Pruning Trees for Pleasure and Profit, N.Richards 4Gymnocladus dioica, John Braubitz 7Of Dangers, Accidents, and Trees, Peter Levatich 8Editorial, Dick Fox 9Saving the American Chestnut, C.A. Maynard & w,A. Powell 10Jamaica's Hillside Farmers, Henry Kernan 11CHAPTERS/AFFILIATES 12Letters 13Pay a Consultant, Michael Greason 14If You Want SIP, Michael Greason 16Roads & Trails, Jim Minor 17NYFOA Fall Meeting 18NYFOA Sholarship Fund 19The Cicadas, Douglas Allen 20My Garden Grows Contrary, Jane Sorensen Lord 22

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/OCT 1996

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Spectators at One ofthe Six College Exhibitions.

By Bill MinerdAs I write this, the first of August has

arrived marking the short slide into Au-tumn. At this mid point of summer Iwouldlike to glance back at one of the significantchapter events of this year and share withyou a letter from a special friend ofNYFOA.

Last June 8, 1996 marked the Third An-nual Family Forest Fair sponsored by theCentral New York Chapter. Not much hasbeen reported in these pages regarding thecontinued success of this event and thededication of the members who organizeand contribute their time to offer an out-standing educational program for the pub-lic.

The theme for this year's program was"The Forest: Natures Classroom" and re-volved around educational programs con-

Vem & Marge Hudson, and MaryRichardson (I) Discussing the

1996 NYFOA CNY ChapterFamily Forest Fair

ducted by faculty from 6 regional colleges.It was an opportunity for the colleges tohighlight their institutions and meet po-tential students and parents. The collegesparticipating were SUNY Cobleskill,SUNY ESF, Wanakena Ranger School,SUNY Delhi, Cornell University and PaulSmith's College. In addition to the colleges,32 commercial companies provided adver-tising support and were acknowledged inthe 26 page program that was distributedto over 500 participants who attended thisyear's event.

Despite the threatening weather, a

ATTENTION SNOWBIRDS!Do you head for warmer weather whenthe snow begins to fly, but do ••'t wish tomiss an issue of the NY FORESTOWNER? Please contact the NYFOAOffice with your winter address and timeframe. Write to Debbie Gill at NYFOA,Box 180, Fairport, NY 14450 or call 1-800-836-3566. If this is a permanent ar-rangement, let me know that as well andI will automatically make the changeeach year!

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA • 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

steady stream of people arrived to enjoythe interpretive wagon rides, exhibits, lec-tures and good food. I would like to thinkthat most of all they came to enjoy the for-est. The public's support helped raise $500for a general scholarship that was awardedby the Central New York Chapter to theWanakena Ranger School. This event wasa great success in terms of meeting theeducational objectives and providing addi-tional funds for the chapter.

A special thanks to Vern and MarjHudson who again hosted this event ontheir farm and to Tom Graber, ChapterChair, Mary and Loren Richardson, Charlieand Marion Mowatt and a host of othermembers and non members who made thisa very special day.

I recently received the following letterthat I would like to share with all NYFOAmembers:

Dear Bill:Although we worked on this together,

today I received "official" notice ofNYFOA's generous establishment of TheNew York Forest Owners Association Fund,which causes me to want to make an "offi-cial" reply. Such generosity has alwaysbeen important to the life of the ESF andthe Faculty of Forestry, but in today's worldof shrinking budgets and higher costs, it iscritical. While I can thank you and NYFOAtoday, it is the students and the forests ofNew Yorkfor years to come who will ben-efit the most. I hope that the students willalways remember to say "Thanks" and tohonor the many good folks of NYFOA whomake this fund possible. As for the forests,they will go on with or without us, but Iknow that they will be better in many waysbecause of NYFOA's generosity, and mostof all because of landowner stewardship.

Special thanks to you and to CharlieMowatt for taking the initiative andfor yourconfidence in ESF and forestry.

Very best regards,

James CoufalChair, Faculty of Forestry

Professor of Forestry& Environmental Studies

And I would like to add a special thanksto the College of Environmental Scienceand Forestry for the over thirty years oftheir support of NYFOA. .A

SEP/OCT 1996 3

PRUNING TREES FOR PLEASURE AND PROFITBy Norman A. Richards

Dr. Hardy Shirley, fanner Dean of ourCollege of Forestry and a founder ofNYFOA, in 1967 co-authored a book "For-est Ownership for Pleasure and Profit". Itwas based on the point that for many for-est owners an important distinction fromother possibly more lucrative ways to makea profit is the intrinsic pleasure they cangain from forest ownership and manage-ment. Different from the unlandedperson's enjoyment of woodlands, theowner's pleasure often depends heavily onthe knowledge and skills with which theymanage their property.

Pruning trees as a forest managementactivity is a good example of this. Whileinformed and skillful pruning often canbring good financial rewards from highervalue timber over the longer run, much in-centive for forest owners to prune treescomes from the more immediate satisfac-tion of seeing trees which look better andof anticipating that the pruning will im-prove the forest resource for the future.Along with forest regeneration and standthinning, tree pruning is a natural process

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of forest development over time as well asa process we can manage. Our manage-ment decisions for specific trees and standscan consider three alternatives: let naturetake its course; accelerate and guide natu-ral processes more to our liking; or counternatural situations to change elements wedon't like. All three must start with someunderstanding of the natural processes.

Natural Pruning of TreesAmple healthy branches are key to

growth of a tree. A branch receiving ad-equate light not only supports its own con-tinued growth in length and diameter; italso contributes photosynthetic support tothe rest of the tree. But as a tree adds newbranches with increasing height growth,lower branches are shaded and their pro-ductivity declines. Especially after ayoung stand of trees develops a fairlyclosed crown canopy, shaded lowerbranches slow their growth and begin to die.Continuing diameter growth of the tree stemforms an enlarged "collar" around the baseof declining and dead branches; a good in-dicator that a branch no longer benefits thetree. For the natural pruning process to becompleted, dead branches are weakened bydecay and must break off close enough tothe stem for collar growth to close over thebranch stub. From the timber standpoint,boards cut through live branches have tightknots due to interconnected branch andstem wood. Dead branch stubs embeddedin stem growth form loose knots that de-grade boards. Growth closure over the stubseventually produces knot-free wood valuedfrom older forests.

Many decay fungi that enter dead branchstubs are capable of spreading down abranch's annual rings to the center of thestem where they develop "heart rot" wooddeterioration and decay. A criticallife-sav-ing feature in tree stems is the "compart-mentalizing of decay" whereby biochemi-cal processes generally prevent the stemdecay from spreading outward into ringsformed later. Also, internal decay is slowedwhen stem growth has closed over thebranch stub or other entry-point of the de-cay fungi. Therefore, branches that diewhen small favor rapid completion of thenatural pruning process, and any decay thatgot in is likely to remain minor. Larger deadbranches usually delay the natural pruningand may allow resulting stem decay to de-

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

The author with a new toy.Photo by Jeremy Richards.

velop enough to degrade wood values aswell as weaken the standing tree. Muchstem breakage in wind or ice storms is re-lated to stem heart-rots for which largebranch stubs and stem wounds are the ma-jor entry points.

Three factors commonly interact to setthe rate and extent of natural pruning inforest trees: the density of trees in youngstands, the species, and the rate of standheight growth. In dense young stands,most lower branches die when small sonatural pruning proceeds effectively. Natu-ral pruning is poorer on more open-growntrees where low branches can live longerand grow larger. One can deduce the his-tory of an old woods from this. Trees withlong clear stems probably developed infairly dense young stands such as can oc-cur in forest clearings or productive oldfields close to a good tree seedsource.Trees with large lower branches or rem-nant branch cavities indicating opengrowth when young are common in oldpastures, burns or other sites where refor-estation was erratic. Heavy browsing by

ssrvocr 1996

deer also can leave trees escaping browsetoo wide-spaced to have good natural prun-ing.

Shade intolerant species such as pop-lars, paper birch, and red pine have theirlower branches shaded out and dying whenquite small in closed stands. Lowerbranches of shade tolerant species such assugar maple, beech and hemlock are morelikely to either grow large before dying orremain alive to form deep-crowned, short-boled trees, unless growing in dense standswhen young. Several of our valued trees,such as white ash, red oak and white pine,are intermediate in shade tolerance. Theyare tolerant of some shade as seedlings butrequire more light as they grow older.These need fairly dense stands when youngto get good natural pruning; otherwise theyare likely to have large dead branches intheir lower crown when older. Somewhatindependently of shade tolerance, speciesalso vary in the rate at which dead branchesdecay and break off to permit stem growthto complete the natural pruning process.Poplars, paper birch, and the shade-toler-ant basswood lose their dead branchesquickly for good self pruning. Pines andspruce can hold dead branches for manyyears of loose-knot formation.

For all species, good site conditions thatfavor rapid height growth tend to improvenatural pruning by forming denser standsearlier that shade out lower branches.Natural pruning in a closed stand is mostrapid during the youthful years of heightgrowth which is greatest and persists long-est on good sites. Then, as height growthslows on older trees, natural pruning alsoslows to form a relatively stable crowndepth. Therefore, good forest sites are of-ten indicated by greater length of naturallyclear stems as well as greater tree heights.Foresters may refer to "3-log maples" toindicate a better natural maple site com-pared to one with mostly two logs clearlength. However, if trees have grown arti-ficially wide-spaced as in a sugar bush, agood site may produce trees with deeperlive crowns as lower branches survivelonger.

Accelerating and Guiding the ProcessThe factors affecting natural pruning

identify ways we can accelerate and guidethe pruning process in a young forest standto the extent this fits our landowner goalsand resources. As a first step, especiallyfor shade-tolerant and intermediate spe-cies, we should try to get stands established

NY FOREST OWNER

Cut the branch; spare the branch collarand tree stem. Photo by Jeremy Richards.

with a good density of trees for early clo-sure and the start of natural pruning. Thenwe should keep a young stand closed fornatural pruning to progress for a whilebefore we make a first thinning. Espe-cially, thinning a stand of shade-tolerantstoo early can disrupt the natural thinningprocess. But stand crowding slows diam-eter growth, so one needs to seek a bal-ance between fostering natural pruning anddiameter growth on trees. By observing astand's development yearly, one can iden-tify the time when a slowing rate of natu-ral pruning along with the slowing of di-ameter growth may justify a first thinningif growth rate is a management concern.

Especially for pines, spruce and othertrees that hold dead branches for severalyears, some people like to prune all treesin a stand to above head-height for im-proved human access and appearance--al-though perhaps at the loss of some wild-life value. But the benefit/cost for futuretimber value is likely to be better fromdelaying pruning until after the first thin-ning, and then prune only the number ofmost-promising trees that can be held tohigh value diameters--generally at least 16inches for most good-market species.

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Depending on species and site conditions,this is likely to be no more than 40 to 60best trees per acre for hardwoods and 80to 100 trees per acre for conifers.

Pruning for timber improvement shouldbe at least one commercial log-length forthat species -- commonly 13 to 17 feet al-lowing for stump height-- or as high as thepruning equipment readily permits. In ourforests, the first or butt log usually con-tains most of a tree's timber value, andpruning above this is difficult. Pruningconifers usually requires removing severalwhorls of dead or dying branches, whereaspruning promising hardwoods more likelyinvolves removing only a few persistinglower branches that spoil the potentialquality of the first log or two. Pruningafter thinning may partly compensate forthinning countering natural pruning. Butmore important, thinning stimulates stemdiameter growth to cover the branch sites,restrict stem decay, and start productionof clear, quality wood.

Pruning to Change Natural ProcessesMost forest owners are likely to have

some areas with fewer naturally promis-ing young trees than they would wish, andtherefore may want to do "corrective prun-

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PRUNING TREES FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT Cont'd

ing" on some trees to substantially changeundesirable branch situations more thansimply accelerate the pruning process.Corrective pruning is best done as soon asa problem is observed. It is usually directedonly to the problem branches, leaving nor-mal pruning to nature or until after thestand has been thinned. Common situa-tions for correction are a healthy lowbranch extending into an opening or a fewlarge low branches on an otherwise prom-ising tree that has grown with too muchspace for natural pruning. Young treesshould have about 2/3 of their height inlive branches to assure full growth, so itmay be wise to remove open-growingbranches in stages as a tree grows taller.

On woodland edge trees along a fieldor road, there is often reason to remove

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large persisting branches spreading into theopen. However, one should think twicebefore removing such branches, as theymay have value to the stand. Especiallyon southeast to southwest-facing edges,low branches protect edge stems from win-ter sun scald damage and may reduce dry-ing winds into the stand. On these edges, Ilike to prune protruding branches back part-way, to a healthy sidebranch, to reducebranch growth while keeping it alive for.stand protection. On north to northeaststand edges and internal stand roadways,low edge branches can be removed withless concern.

In the last issue ofNYFO, Peter Levatichhad an excellent article on the problem offorking trees. He noted that tendency toforking is a genetic variable among indi-vidual trees and recommended removingsuch trees in thinnings. But unfortunately,some of our best species have a tendencyto forking because of their natural branch-ing structure. When opposite-branching

trees such as maples and ash lose theiryoung leader due to damage or breakage,the pair of branches below it may gainequal dominance and form a fork. Simi-larly, loss of the leader in whorled speciessuch as pines and spruce can result in twoor more branches of the top whorl takingover to form a fork. In a young stand oth-erwise short of good trees, one may wantto correct forking if low enough to reachwith pruning tools. An example is youngwhite pine damaged by weevil where it maybe possible to salvage enough stems by cor-rective pruning to form a fairly good standin the long run. A problem is that pruninga double stem at a fork creates a largewound and can seriously weaken the stemat that point. I think a better corrective prac-tice is to prune the unwanted stem of a forkback to the lowest healthy sidebranch. Thefavored stem will take over with further

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

growth and the pruned stem will become asecondary branch that may be removed ina later pruning if desired.

Pruning Tools and TechniquesThe common traditional method of

pruning forest trees is a polesaw with acurved blade that cuts on the draw. This ishard work, especially to prune to someheight. I spent the summer of 1954 on aForest Service firecrew in Oregon, but dueto wet weather spent most time pruningnatural ponderosa pine poletrees to 17 feet.For several years thereafter I couldn't con-ceive of pruning for pleasure, but now prun-ing is becoming a favorite activity for anyspare time I have on our tree farm in theCatskills.

In addition to one's managementobjetives, the two major concerns in prun-ing should be the safety of the pruner andminimum damage to pruned trees. Prun-ing with a chainsaw can be a problem inboth respects. Hazardous chainsaw prun-ing can be more gambling than an invest-ment in the future, and it is easy to makepoor cuts and damage the tree stem. Oneshould use a relatively small saw that canbe handled accurately without rapid tir-ing; a hardhat with face and ear protec-tion is a must, and the saw shouldn't beused much above one's head. Even withthese precautions, I have received moreminor injuries from chainsaw pruning thanfrom other chainsaw work.

Last spring I tested and purchased apower pruner which consists of a 10 inchchainsaw bar with automatic oiler on theend of an extension pole, connected to asmall gas engine at the other end (seephoto). The saw has small teeth and arela-tively slow speed for good cutting controlto minimize stem damage, and is fairlywell balanced except when fully extendedto prune around 17 feet. My goal is toimprove at least 1000 trees around the treefarm by selective pruning, in which casethe $600 purchase price should prove agood investment.

To minimize damage to pruned trees,it is best to avoid pruning in the "bark slip-ping season" of most active stem diam-eter growth during May through August.Also large branches should be cut twice; arough cut away from the stem to removemost of the weight, and then a careful fin-ish cut to avoid stem damage. Live

SEP/OCT 1996

branches should be cut to remove thebranch but leave most of the enlargedbranch collar that is actually part of thestem growth. In cutting dead branches,the branch collar generally should be leftundamaged. But if a long collar has grownout around a dead branch, it may be betterto remove part of the collar to permit clo-sure of the branch site closer to the stem.A basic rule for pruning as well as for thin-ning and other woods activity is that anyunnecessary damage to tree stems we wantto keep may cause stem decay and dete-rioration that counters our improvementefforts in the long run.

All the do's and don'ts that can belisted for a woods improvement activitysuch as pruning may intimidate an inex-perienced forest owner and mar the plea-sure of such work with uncertainty aboutdoing things "correctly". But the greatmany natural variables affecting the de-velopment of trees and forests leaves evenlong-experienced forest owners alwaysuncertain of the outcome of their activi-ties. As suggested at the beginning of thisarticle, we do need some basic understand-ing of the natural processes being workedwith in order to give our actions a reason-able chance of success. From there, welearn best by doing and often learn mostfrom unsuccessful results. Pleasure in for-est management can come from being athoughtful active participant in the pro-cesses of development and change in ourwoodlands, carefully observing the out-comes of our efforts. .•.

Norman Richards is Professor in Forestryat SUNY College of Environmental Scienceand Forestry. He has often shared withreaders of the NY FOREST OWNER expe-riences managing the family tree farm inDelaware County.

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Gymnocladus dioicaBy John Braubitz

Last fall a student brought me somelarge pods that she found in front of theEpiscopal Church on Genesee Street inAuburn and asked me to identify them.

They were approximately 4 112 to 5inches long, 1 112 to 2 inches wide, veryhard, thick and almost black. Most podshad two seeds and were separated by pulp.

It didn't completely fit the characteris-tics of black locust (Robinia pseudo-aca-cia) or honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos).

The next day I stopped by the churchyard for visual clarification. What I foundwere trees approximately 35 feet tall withleaves singly compound, about two feetlong, having 3-7 pairs of bipinnate leaves.

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These trees fit the characteristic traits at-tributable to the Kentucky Coffee Tree(Gymnocladus dioica).

I was impressed by their size and es-thetic beauty and pleased that these treesof marketable size have been retained. Theyare a species of which there are few in ourarea, and it affords people the opportunityto see them.

Various sources claim the tree wasnamed for its use by the pioneers as a sub-stitute for coffee; and currently the roastedripe seeds, only, are considered for suchuse, (the fresh seeds and surrounding pulpare poisonous.)

I collected some of the seeds and havegrown a seedling from one of them, whichis about 15 inches high. This I eventuallyhope to plant in my backyard. To help youin identifying this tree, compare your find-ings to the drawings I have made of theseed and the leaf. .•.

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

John Braubitz is a Professor in the Sci-ence Department of Cayuga County Com-munity College.

SEP/OCT 1996 • 7

OF DANGERS, ACCIDENTS, & RISKSBy Peter S. Levatich © 1996

You hear it frequently:"Chain saws aredangerous". I do not agree and want to tellyou why Ido not think so even after forty-six years of working with a variety of them.My view on accidents may help you, anda discussion of risks in the forest can onlybenefit all of us.

1). A piece of equipment when prop-erly maintained is not dangerous by itself,be it an automobile or a chain saw. Howoften have you seen one come apart on itsown account? A tree standing in the woodsvery rarely tips over and falls on you un-assisted. Such events are as rare as light-ning striking you or me; it can happen butfor all practical purposes, it does not. It isonly when you and I operate equipment orwork on trees that danger exists. It is youand I who are dangerous, therefore, notequipment or trees.

2). What is an accident? When some-one gets maimed or a loss of some kindoccurs? By some definitions, yes. But forthis discussion and for our work in thewoods, we should be more restrictive. Forour own benefit, we should call an acci-dent any event which is not expected. Ev-ery unexpected event, while you work inthe woods, is an accident, whether anyonegets hurt or not.

3). The concept of risk is larger and notas simply defined; it depends on many cir-cumstances. Would you, for example, jumpout of a second story window to go andcheck your mailbox? Would you take thesame risk if your house was on fire belowyou? We take risks and we decline risks;risk is a gamble with danger. While acci-dents are unexpected events (you do notknow what is coming), risk-taking impliesthat you have a fair idea that your intendedaction is dangerous. Risk, fortunately, isminimized by knowledge and experience.If you know how to jump out of that sec-ond story window and have some experi-ence doing it, you are at less risk. You stillgamble with danger, but less so if you know

NY FOREST OWNER

what to do and how to do it. There is also awealth of information about risk-takingwhich is stored in your subconscious, sinceyou and I are taking all sorts of risks allthe time from the moment we get out ofbed each day until the day is done. Expe-riences with risk are constantly evaluatedand the data is stored in our brain to assistus to cope with what we face. We developa "feel" for risky situations; an inner voiceseems to say: "Do it", or "You better not.do it this time", etc. Lastly, perhaps, ourphysical, mental, and emotional conditionat the moment of risk-taking determines theoutcome. If you are unimpaired physically,mentally, and emotionally, you can takelarger risks than otherwise. What is the out-come of risk-taking? It can range from to-tal success to total failure. It can involveunexpected events as well. The alternativeto taking a certain risk is to take less of arisk, if such a route is available. There is nolife without some risk.

So then, if we desire to minimize risk-taking and avoid unexpected events whileengaging in dangerous activities in thewoods, can we get anything accomplished?Of course we can! If you are interested inhow I have done it, read on. But be warned:my methods work for me because of myeducation and long experience, my tem-perament, and my objectives. Some, or allof these, may be different in your case. Youmust not adopt my methods but must usethem only as a guide to develop your ownmethods. Remember also, that the eco-nomic values that we extract from the for-est with our forest work are dwarfed bythe costs of injury or other loss. For ex-ample, whether you hang up a $1000 blackcherry tree or a firewood cull, flag it,.andget a skidder or tractor to pull it down; inneither case is further risk-taking warrantedwith the chain saw on your part.

What I do:A). When purchasing new equipment,

I read all about it first. No exceptions. ThenI practice on low risk objects. In the caseof a saw, I practice on old high stumps andlogs. Then I practice some more until Iknow exactly what happens and what todo.

B). Continuing education is essential. Iread all that comes my way even if it seemsold hat. Surprisingly, good tips are every-

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

where. I talk shop with others, not to arguebut to learn from them. I carefully test newideas I hear about to see if they work forme. I attend courses; NYFOA Chapterssponsor courses from time to time. TheNortheastern Loggers' Assoc., Inc.l ad-ministers workshops (you do not have tobe a logger to attend!), the NORTHERNLOGGER2 has Calendars listing events, Iread the Bailey's Catalog" (get that in anycase) for small equipment descriptions andtry some items if they seem to fit my need.

C). I watch my equipment and check itregularly, fixing well what needs it. I havenot had a breakdown in years. Good main-tenance builds confidence based on reli-able performance and it is less expensivethan lurching from breakdown to break-down.

D). When felling, I cut out the vee bymaking the upper, nearly vertical cut first,sighting across the top of the saw (a per-pendicular line is cast there) for the direc-tion I want the tree to fall. The nearly hori-zontal cut is more accurate that way be-cause you can look down the vertical cutto guide the saw. The two vee cuts have tobe joined exactly and must form an anglegreater than 90° to ensure that the hingestays intact until the tree reaches theground.

E). I wish I had learned the felling tech-nique sooner in which the back cut con-sists of a plunge-cut to form the back ofthe hinge first and is then completed leav-ing a small rear support for the tree. Us-ing a plastic wedge in the plunge-cut kerf,the back cut can be completed without thedanger of the saw getting pinched when the

lNortheastern Loggers' Association,Inc.; PO Box 69; Old Forge, NY 13420.

2THE NORTHERN LOGGER ANDTIMBER PROCESSOR; same address as1, above.

3Bailey's; for catalog call 1-800-322-4539.

SEP/OCT 1996

rear support is severed. SLICK and lowrisk. Excellent for direction felling: all youhave to do is to drive that wedge in. I havedowned hundreds of trees this way withvery few unexpected events.

F). I have learned two important thingsin a felling course a few years ago for whichI am grateful. One is the left hand shouldhold the saw with the thumb wrapped un-der the handle, like when a bird grabs thebranch it stands on; a much stronger grip.The other is a last look upward before thetree is released to fall to the ground. Youlook up to see what dead material is aboveyou which may come loose when the move-ment of the tree begins. Insurance compa-nies have found that loggers are mostly in-jured within 8 feet of the stump. It is help-ful to know what is ready to come down onyour location so you can avoid it (lower therisk!).

G). When felling, I select and clear anexit run 45 degrees from the stump, away

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NY FOREST OWNER

to the rear. When I complete the back cut,at the first sign of movement in the tree, inthe kerf of the back cut, or when hearing asound of the last fibers parting, I am onmy way, shutting off the saw and not both-ering to look up until I am away those 8feet or more.

H). When bucking, steel-toed bootshave served me well, protecting my toesfrom rolling and dropping logs. I alwayswear chaps, a hard hat, gloves and ear pro-tection before starting the chain saw. I al-ways hold the saw firmly with both handswhen it is running and have had no troubleeven falling down with the saw (an unex-pected event) because of firm control. Istand still in one spot when the saw runsand wait till the chain stops before begin-ning to move my feet.

I). I fear unbalanced trees: trees hungup on other trees instead of falling to theground, trees that are leaning widely in onedirection, or are structurally loaded un-evenly with branches only on one side, etc.These have unpredictable tensions in them.In my book, these are risk trees, loadedwith unexpected events, ready to pop. I flagthe hung-ups and leave the leaners alone.Most of the hung-ups will come down inthe next wind storm.

J). Finally, a word about emotions. Iwatch myself carefully, I have learned thatmy awareness and response to unexpectedevents is closely related to my mood. I donot work in the woods when I am troubled,anxious or depressed, when I don't feel likeworking in the woods just then. I am notproud of these moods but they happen. Notbeing a professional I can afford to choosemy days of work This lowers my risks.Similarly, I can tell when I am gettingphysically tired because I start catching myfeet in the forest litter like a tired old horse.So I pack up and go home in peace.

Mostly, I recommend careful trainingand preparation so that one is confident ofthe selected task. It is a real joy to do thingswell, to have few unexpected events, to beable to gauge your risks and act accord-ingly. Chain saws are not dangerous. Youmay be dangerous using them, but withpractice and care you will become lessdangerous in a short time and a better per-son for it. .•.

WE BELIEVEBy R. J. Fox, Editor

We all believe in private property; it'sin the Fifth Amendment. Property whichis held in public trust is not managed formaximum efficiency nor is it owned forthat purpose. What management there maybe can not provide the individual or cor-porate incentives that are required by capi-talism and the free enterprise system (thepreferred system of democracies). On theother hand, capitalism and free enterpriserequire government oversight to offset orprevent the various abuses of discrimina-tion, price gouging and monopolies, lackof ethics, and general disrespect for longrange public welfare.

In fact it was the over-exploitation ofour natural resources that compelled thePeople of the State of New York to buyabandoned, abused and at risk lands forposterity. Some land was purchased andprotected by constitutional amendment(Forest Preserve lands of the Adirondackand Catskill Mountains) to preserve abso-lutely New York's options for future use andcurrent limited uses. Other lands have beenacquired throughout the state and adminis-tered by the Office of Parks, Recreation,and Historical Preservation with similarlimited uses.

But some lands were purchased to guar-antee the continual future production offorest products (lands purchased under theHewitt Amendment, presently over700,000 acres throughout the state), and fora land use which requires citizen participa-tion in the current multiple use policy.

Champion International Corporation, ina recent land exchange proposal, has of-fered to trade off this legacy for a repeatof 19th century laissez faire-to trade40,000 acres of Adirondack stream corri-dor lands for a comparable valued state for-est lands of marketable conifer plantations.

NYS service foresters have managedthese lands for over 60 years. The spruceplantations throughout the state coveted forpulp by the industry represent a public in-vestment that should be sold to the high-est bidders and only when their size andstand management returns optimum val-ues!

These public holdings are unique; inaddition to the multiple use and sustainedyield policies, there are intrinsic values thatare our legacy. Public ownership providesoptions for our future and an unknownlandscape. .•.

SEP/OCT 1996 • 9

Peter, a representative for'Iompkins Countyto the NYSDEC Region 7 Forest PracticeBoard and a Master Forest Owner, is a regu-lar contributor to the NY FOREST OWNER.

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

Saving the American chestnut through genetic engineeringPart two: Adding defensive weapons in the plant-pathogen battle

By C.A. Maynard, and W.A. PowellTwo years ago, we wrote an article for

the NY FOREST OWNER [Mar/Apr, '94]

on our research using genetic engineeringtechniques to produce a blight-resistantAmerican chestnut (Castanea dentata). Thisis an update describing our progress as ofthe summer of 1996.

A quick review for those folks that can'tfind their back issue of the FORESTOWNER: our project, partially funded bygrants from the New York State Chapter ofthe American Chestnut Foundation, is anattempt to use genetic engineering to de-sign entirely new genes to give the Ameri-

can chestnut blight resistance. We also hopeto use the same genes, or at least the sameapproach, to provide disease resistance forother important forest tree species. Thereare two parts to the project. The first part is

to identify compounds capable of stoppingthe growth of the blight-causing fungus.The second part is to deliver the genes thatcode for those compounds into individualcells of chestnut, and to regrow those cellsinto whole trees.

After five years of work, we have con-structed three potential resistance genes.The first encodes a tiny protein (peptide)which attacks the fungal cell membrane andprevents the growth of the pathogen. The

second is a completely different peptidewhich binds to the building blocks of thefungal cell wall and therefore inhibits itsgrowth. The third is an enzyme which canweaken the cell wall of the fungus. Theuse of three different weapons against thechestnut blight fungus will help ensure adurable resistance that will last well intothe future.

We are now in the process of testingthese genes, individually and in combina-tion, in hybrid poplar because it is mucheasier to transform and regenerate thanAmerican chestnut. Because they interfere

with both the cell membrane and the cellWall, we expect that the combination shouldbe especially deadly to the fungus. Because

two completely different processes areblocked, it should be nearly impossible fora new strain of the blight-causing fungus

to overcome both mechanisms simulta-neously.

10 NY 'FOREST OWNER

The second part of the project involvesactually transferring these genes into cellsof a chestnut and regenerating those cellsback into a whole tree. We have been mak-ing progress in this area too.

One gene transfer process makes use oftwo bacteria, E. coli and Agrobacteriumtumefaciens, which is a natural genetic en-gineer. It is a routine procedure to insert"designer genes" intoE. coli. FromE. coli, 'the genes can then be moved intoAgrobacterium using a natural bacterialmating process. If plant tissues are thenmixed with the engineered Agrobacteriumcells, theAgrobacterium attaches itself toa plant cell and injects small pieces ofDNA The DNA travels to

Thestep is to re-ate whole plantsthe transformed cells.

fin a Igener-fr 0 mAft er

several attempts using 0 the rplant tissues, we are now using immatureplant embryos taken out of one-month-old

chestnut burs. These tiny embryos, about1116 of an inch long, can be extracted fromthe developing nuts and transferred to tis-sue culture medium. With the correct com-bination of growth regulators, they can beinduced to form not one, but thousands ofnew embryos. If we transform the devel-oping embryo cultures usingAgrobacterium, and then grow the cultures

for a few months on a selective medium thatonly allows those cells that have picked upnew DNA to grow, we can select just those

few embryos that contain the new genes outof the thousands that do not.

NYFOA • 1·800-836·3566 • INFO

What we have outlined above is still verymuch work in progress. We have con-structed three genes that show great poten-tial when used together to produce durableresistance. We have developed a procedurefor transforming chestnut cells. We haveproduced thousands of embryos and arescreening for the few that we hope to havetaken up the new genes. Still to come is thelaboratory and field testing that will be nec-essary to see if these new genes do indeedconvey blight resistance.

Another project we have undertaken isto set up Internet web pages describing allof the research in progress in our labs. These

web pages are updated periodically, so, forthose with World Wide Web access, pleasevisit out our sites at:

http://www.esf.edulcourse/cmaynard/Maynard.html; and

http://www.esf.ed u/fac ul ty /efb/facpage/powell.htm

In addition to sponsoring our research,the New York State Chapter of the Ameri-can Chestnut Foundation also sponsors avariety of planting projects and educationalprograms. For more information on join-ing the chapter, contact the New York StateChapter of the American Chestnut Foun-dation, c/o Buffalo Museum of Science,1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo, NewYork 14211

Our genetic engineering project is only

one of the efforts underway to restore theAmerican chestnut. For more information

on other American chestnut restorationprojects going on around the country, con-tact The American Chestnut Foundation,

469 Main Street, PO Box 4044,Bennington, VT 05201-4044. (802) 447-0110 or e-mail: chestnut@acf.org. They

now also have a web site:

http://www.sover.netl-chestnutl ~

Charles Maynard serves on the Faculty ofForestry and William Powell, the Faculty ofEnvironment and Forest Biology at the StateUniversity of New York College of Environ-mental Science and Forestry.

SEP/Ocr 1996

JAMAICA'S HILLSIDE FARMERSBy Henry Kernan

Winter enticements to the Caribbean Seaare sunshine and warmth, and the longbeaches with gentle surf on one side and abackdrop of hazy, cloud-covered mountainson the other. Among the most enticing isJamaica's north shore, one hundred milesor so of bays, headlands and sandy stretchesbetween. Travelers in the thousands comeby plane to Montego Bay but few go fur-ther inland than the coastal highway. Theycome and go unaware of the rugged moun-tains beyond where most Jamaicans live ashard-scrabble farmers, with no more thana few acres, hand tools, and a yearly cashincome of less than $200.

Jamaica does have good farm land.Twenty per cent of the island's 4500 squaremiles is coastal plain, generally level, fer-tile and well watered. The legacies of colo-nial dependence have retained those landsfor exporting sugar to already saturated,over-priced, and protected foreign markets.A hill farmer must look down with wonderand envy from his tiny, hand-cultivated plotupon such large plantations which producenothing he can eat, wear, or use. What quirkof history placed him so far back and abovethe good farm lands?

In contrast to many small and poor coun-tries in the tropics, Jamaica has never beenisolated or self-sufficient. For the Spanish,Jamaica was a way-station on the Atlantictrade route. The English take-over in 1655made the island a lair for pirate raids uponthe Spanish treasure fleets. Morgan, Kidd,Blackbeard, and other such unsavory char-acters worked out of Port Royal near thepresent capital city of Kingston. When de-stroyed for the fourth time by hurricanesin 1722, Port Royal was rated the richestand most wicked city of the New World.By then, piracy had become unprofitableeven to Port Royal's experts in pillage andextortion.

Meanwhile sugar cane had spreadaround the hot, well-watered periphery ofthe island and established large plantations.The crop and ownership pattern has lasteduntil this day. With protected markets inGreat Britain and her North American colo-nies, and cheap slave labor from Africa, Ja-maica prospered in the 18th century asnever before or since. But such markets andsuch labor did not last. The colonies be-came independent and traded with otherWest Indian producers of sugar and molas-ses. The second shock was the end of the

NY FOREST OWNER

legal slave trade in 1807; the third was theemancipation in 1833. Nevertheless, thelopsided economy of large, inefficient plan-tations drifted along as a forgotten back-water of the British Empire until indepen-dence came in 1961.

The last 35 years have seen the adventof bauxite mines and scores of tourist ho-tels. But like the fields of sugar cane, theyare hopelessly, almost tragically, tied to theups and downs of the world markets. Thethree are still not capable of solving the eco-nomic and social problems of Jamaica'shillside farmers.

Their predecessors were the gentle,easy-going Arawak Indians. Betweenforced labor and disease, they soon disap-peared with scarcely a trace. Africans aremade of sterner stuff. In spite of diseaseand the brutalities of forced labor, they mul-tiplied and now are 95% of the population.A group of them even broke away to theindependence of an inland republic long be-fore the end of slavery.

With freedom, the former slave's firstdesire was land of his own where life, how-ever tedious and laborious, was better thanslavery. He became a subsistence farmeron public domain of the interior but withthe crudest of tools: a machete (called a cut-lass in Jamaica), a hoe, and a five-prongfork for turning the soil. His land was andis a few acres of steep slope and his cropsbeans, casava, bananas, and corn. He hasstill no beast for traction or burden, butonly poultry, pigs, and goats. Such farm-ing tools are not enough to raise the userabove a subsistence level, and much lessso now than a century and a half ago.

The lack of change in farming is all themore striking in that other aspects of Ja-maica hill life have progressed. Almost allinhabited places have paved roads, electric-ity, and piped water. They have schools, busservices, churches, and farmer's leagues.Yet the fact remains that no farmer, how-ever diligent (and the Jamaicans are a dili-gent, hard-working people), can pull him-self up with a cutlass, a hoe, a goat, and afew acres of hillside land.

The story is one familiar to every farmer.Unless he can raise output, he cannot paythe increasing costs of capital inputs andconsumer goods.

One answer is the shift to tree crops, cof-fee, cacao, and citrus: papaya, mango, andavocado. The shift does take place to a lim-ited extent. For example, Jamaica's "BlueMountain" coffee is of such superior qual-

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

ity that it brings a double price on worldmarkets. Livestock is another answer; butlike tree orchards, pastures require a mas-sive change in land ownerships.

Everyone agrees that more hillside farm-ers should move off their steep farms andtake up larger units on the coastal plains.Physical and theoretical barriers to such amove are not formidable, but those of aneconomic and political nature are seem-ingly intractable. Ever since Lt. Maynarddid in Blackbeard Buccaneer in hand-to-hand combat in 1718, Jamaica's economyhas turned upon sugar cane. No countrywillingly gives up a privileged market forexports, and Jamaica's sugar markets areprivileged. They support powerful interestsand much employment. Moreover, theproblems of moving rural people away fromthe home acre are daunting. The change iscertain to take place, but slowly, haltingly,and at a pace not responsive to current prob-lems.

Patience is in order; but then the eco-nomic crunch is of long standing. Jamai-cans built much of the Panama Canal; theymanned the banana field of CentralAmerica, and they have moved in largenumbers to Great Britain, Canada, and theUnited States. Even then, they retain rootsin Jamaica by means of family farms inwhich they have inherited rights.

Another response has been the move tocities and into trades other than farming.Most Jamaican farmers are carpenters,masons, electricians, mechanics, and so onas well. They spend a few years at tradesand return to the family farm as a back-upfor hard times elsewhere. Thus the coun-tryside becomes less agricultural and drawsmore upon small industries, trades, services,remittances, and residences. The changebrings tension and confusion, but is the onlyanswer to the hopeless stagnation of farm-ing with hoe, fork, cutlass, and goat.

The most interesting parts of Jamaica arenot the beaches and luxury hotels, nor thesprawling capital. The most interesting andbest parts are the farms and villages of themountainous interior where most Jamai-cans live amid scenery as wildly beautifulas when the Arawaks lived out their livesamong those hills so long ago. .•.

Henry Kernan is a consulting forester inWorld Forestry, a Master Forest Owner; anda regular contributor to the NY FORESTOWNER.

SEP/OCT 1996 • 11

APplication for Membership inthe New York Forest Owners

Association.

IIWe would like to support good forestryand stewardship of New York's forestlands.

( ) IIWe own acres of wood-land.

( ) IIWe do not own woodland but sup-port the Association's objectives.

NAME _

ADDRESS _

City Zip

Telephone _

County of Residence _

County of Woodlot. _

Referred by _

Annual Dues(Please Check One)

INDIVIDUAL $20

FAMILY (or co-owners) $25

CONTRIBUTING $30-$100

SPONSORING $101and up

MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES:

Six issues of the NY FORESTOWNER, woodswalks, chapter meet-ings, and two statewide meetings for allmembers.

PLEASE make check payable toNYFOA and SEND TO:

NYFOA, IncP.O. Box 180.

Fairport, New York 14450

12 NY FOREST OWNER

CHAPTERS/AFFILIATESSOUTHEAST ADIRONDACK

Last year it was the microburst, thisyear-Hurricane Bertha; but nothingdampens the spirit and enthusiasm of SEAChapter members in holding their summerwoodswalks. Over twenty membersbraved the rain, as Amy Cranell guidedmembers through the Dell Estate, outsidethe walls of Fort Ticonderoga.Jim Durler.ChapterVice-Chairman, then led a discus-sion of proper pruning of apple trees forimprovedhealth and vigor.Variousaspects

ofrestoration and maintenance were dem-onstrated. Restoration of the former appleorchard (some 75 years old) is at an inter-mediate stage, since total restoration willrequire a number of years. The project isbeing accomplished entirely through vol-unteer efforts. The afternoon was spenttouring the fort and its museum. FortTiconderoga is unique in that it has beenrestored exclusively through private fund-ing.

Brittany Spaniel "Lucky" Hastings,Amy Crannell (Tour Guide), Ken Rayna, and otherSEA members listen, as Jim Durler goes over principles of pruning apple trees.

Photo by Patricia Kay.

TREE FARMINYFOA PUBLIC RELATIONS

Arbor Day, April 1996. (From left) Willard Ives (Past Chairman, NYS Forest PracticeBoard); Muriel Karp (Empire State Forest Products Association) NYS Senator Mike

Tully;Barry & Jill Cornell (Tree Farm & NYFOA)

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/OCT 1996

Hung around all summerand no one paid

much attention to meor to my zillion sibs.

Well, to be honest,a coupla those two-legged

bipeds did stop 'neath usonce, and one said

somethin' like "Whew,sure does feel good

in the shade of this tree."

Tree, my cuticle!He was in shade cast

by me and my Kin.Just 'cause my roots

are stuck in the point '0

one of the dendriticends '0 this corky giant

don't mean I ain't anindividual leaf.

Green sure don't seem toattract much attention.

Sometimes I wonder whatthey'd think if!

held my breath ...or if I was

suckin' up oxygen andspittin' out C02

instead '0 vicy-versy.Catch their attention

quick like,you betcha.

Ya know whenthey finally notice me

and my brethren?When we put on

our light showas part '0 our

dance of death,that's when!.

All summer we workour mesophyll

to the pith, andwhen we're about to

drop off someone notices.Big deal.

And yeah, softheart,that's dance '0

death.Really frosted me once

NY FOREST OWNER

LEAF LETTERSBy J. E. Coufal MORE SIP VALUES

As NY Master Forest Owners, we haveparticipated in SIP since its introductionat Paul Smiths College in 1991.

It is clear that financial support to en-courage stewardship activities results in animproved and more sustainable financialtimber return on investment.

There are further economic benefits de-rived from SIP which reduces the yearlycost of chemical applications needed todecrease invasive dominance through theirphysical removal while encouraging thediversity of compatible species.The totalbenefits of improving our forest resourcesinclude the physical and mental well be-ing created by building nature trails to en-hance awareness of the environment.

Best management practices as carried inthe SIP program, conserves soil and wateras well as improving air quality.

With property taxes in our region forc-ing open space into development, it is im-perative that the SIP financial encourage-ment be continued.

-Jane & John Geisler, Verbank

when some dude said,"But it's part of the cycle.

They'll come back nextspring."

Maybe "they'll" comeback,but not me, baby,

I'll be long gone.

I'm not one '0 thosetremblin' weaklins

who drop off witha sigh of simple

resignation.Shook me up t' other

day when my buddyRed (he's from the

rubrum branch '0 the family)dropped off.

I may be yellow(saccharum is my sapline),

but A'hm no coward,so I hung on.

Well, last night Ireally got frosted.

I mean reallyfrosted. This morning

some silly puff'0 wind caressed

my petiole, and likesome giddy ash,

I lost it.

SAY IT ISN'T SOFrom the article, "Symposium on NIPFs'~

by Michael Greason (NYFO M/J '96, 16)was the following: "Who would expect thatgiving development rights could be con-strued as increasing property values andcontributing to higher real property taxes?"

More information-please!-Lee Laechelt, Exec. Dir. AFA,

Birmingham, ALFrom my notes made during Michael

Jacobson's, "Landowner Attitudes towardLandscape-Level Mgmt. ", the remark wasmade that 36% of easements result in taxeshigher than 100% of market value!; and,1 agree more information is certainlyneeded.

So here I lie.and here come that

dude with the rake.Listen to him mutterin'

about the "damned leaves"and all his hard work!

Not only insensitive anddumb, but fickle.

-Mike Greason, Albany

Heard whispers amongthe branches once,

said these bipeds wouldgive us blades a

real Viking funeral. ..a hot pyre,

Don't understand whatthe heck he doin'

stuffin' us in that uglyblack

plastic

PLANT AMERICAN ELMI read Victor Johnson's article, "Reflec-

tions of 50Years", (NYFO JUL/AUG '96).An article in Agricultural Research/July1996 describes 10 different hybrids withresistance to the Dutch elm disease.

Mr. Johnson espressed a wish to see thebeautiful American Elm grace the landagain. It may be time for him to start plant-ing some of these new releases and watchhis wish take hold. Hopefully, the samesuccess will occur with the AmericanChestnut.

-Frank Winkler, Newark, NYb .

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/Ocr 1996 • 13

PAY A CONSULTANT?By Mike Greason

Often landowners question paying forconsultant services even when consideringa timber sale. Usually the landowner wantsto have all the money and not share a per-centage of the sale income.

Most of us employ lawyers to draw ourwills and conduct our legal business. Wemay hire an accountant to prepare our taxreturns. Isn't it logical then to hire a for-estry expert to assist us if we lack the tech-nical expertise to competently representourselves? Unfortunately the answer to thisquestion is much too frequently, "No."

When people ask me about hiring a con-sultant, I like to respond with an examplefrom the days when DEe service foresterswere marking a lot of timber.

A few months before I was contactedby a landowner who had purchased 34acres of woodland, he was contacted by alogger and offered $7,600 for all the tim-ber. The owner mentioned he would like,my opinion before signing a contract. Thelogger responded that I would spoil thesale; and he guaranteed he would pay less,if! was involved. The owner contacted meanyway.

As we walked the property, the newowner expressed an interest in receivingsome income to help offset the parcel pur-chase. The woodlot was the most impres-sive stand of timber I had ever seen. Thediscussion which ensued covered short andlong range goals, various management op-tions, and projections of future opportuni-ties. To meet the college costs of an elevenyear old son and to compromise betweenshort term needs and long term desires, weset upon a course of management involv-ing a selection harvest on seventeen acres.I commenced to mark 377 thousand boardfeet (MBF) of primarily white pine andhemlock to favor hard maple and hemlockgrowing stock. It is not everyday a forestercan mark 20 MBF per acre and still callthe sale a selection cut; but this sale repre-sented about 40% of the trees on the site.The cut was planned to be a little heavy inthe white pine because many of those treeswere over mature and the owner needed torecoup some of his land purchaseinvestment.To make a long story shorter,the logger returned to point out that I hadindeed missed more than half the timber.He reduced his bid to $7,000. The land-owner mused over the fact the offer had

14 NY FOREST OWNER

only dropped $600 and decided to solicitbids to see what competitors might offer.A dozen bids came in ranging from$11,200 to $11,400 and one bid arrived at$17,635. Needless to say this landownerwould have been happy to pay consultantfees. He entered a contract where he wasin control of which trees would be cut. Hehad money in hand before the cuttingstarted. And he had a performance bondto assure contract compliance and to pro-tect his interests.

After two decades, the other half of thestand was successfully harvested with theassistance of a forester.

Last summer I happened to have the op-portunity to show this area to another for-ester. We agreed the stand is highly pro-ductive, carrying at least 25 MBF per acreof very high quality sugar maple and other

species. It is again ready for a very profit-able harvest. This woodlot stands tributeto the benefits of careful forest manage-ment carried out with professional foresterassistance.

This story does not state that loggersare crooks. I want to make that point clear.We all know some are dishonest; but anybusiness transaction between a willingbuyer and a willing seller can present thesort of issues seen here without conclud-ing that deception is occurring. Loggershave different costs and different market-ing opportunities. Some can simply affordto pay more than others. Some are moreefficient. Perhaps the logger had plenty oftimber bought ahead and was only inter-ested in cheap wood or didn't want any fi-nance charges and only offered availablecash. Many factors may determine whatsomeone is willing to pay for their resource

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/OCT 1996

inventory.The point of this story is that it pays to

know what you are selling (or buying). Tomake informed decisions, people oftenbenefit from expert advice. In my experi-ence, forest owners have always gained byusing a good forester. Gains can be directincome or they may include less tangiblebenefits as well.

This landowner gained financially inboth the long term and the short run. Healso retained aesthetic, recreational, wild-life and assorted values which could havebeen lost ifhehad proceeded without tech-nical assistance.

I recently was thanked by a landownerwho had contacted me for advice regard-ing a timber sale. I had discussed issues,sent him pamphlets, and encouraged himto hire a forester. He had followed that ad-vice and was pleased to have his harvestunderway. He had hired a CooperatingConsultant Forester and ended up sellingto a logger I've had a friendly relationshipwith for years. He did, however, leave him-self open to losing control. To gain an ex-tra favor of having yard trees pruned, hegave the logger the right to cut extra treesin the sales contract. I don't understand whysomeone would hire a forester to help witha timber sale and then leave himself opento be exploited. In this case, he will prob-ably be all right; but he surely left himselfvulnerable. And he no longer has the re-sidual stand of timber planned for the fu-ture.

The next question which tends to fol-low is, "How much should I pay?" Someconsultants work on sales commissions.Others charge by the hour, the acre or thejob. Landowners need to develop an un-derstanding of their relationship with theirconsultant under any system of paymentas one would with their doctor or lawyer.The relationship should become one ofmutual trust. With any system, one needsto recognize that a forester is a professionalwith fringe and indirect costs similar toany business. As a business, the foresterhas to charge enough to remain profitable.

NY FOREST OWNER

Cheapest isn't necessarily best.Another question is, "How do I select a

forester?" DEC has a directory of privateforesters who have agreed to follow ac-cepted standards and a code of ethics.Memberships in professional organizationscan give insight to someone's character orcommitment. Foresters may belong to theSociety of American Foresters, the Asso-ciation of Consulting Foresters or the NewYork Institute of Consulting Foresters. Inaddition, as when hiring a cabinetmaker,electrician, or plumber, one should alwayscheck references and interview the pro-spective service provider to see if there isa positive feel to the relationship. Remem-ber that forest ownership is a valued in-vestment that deserves careful consider-ation. Make informed decisions.

Some might wonder why someone inthe public service forestry arena would beencouraging hiring a forester from the pri-vate sector. Administering service forestryprograms in my vision is serving as a cata-lyst to encourage private forest owners tobecome active managers of their resources.It is not meant to be a program to competewith the private sector.

Our staff often writes forest manage-ment plans for landowners. These are notmeant to be the detailed plans that anowner would need to qualify for a foresttax law (Real Property Tax Law, Section480-a) management plan. Those, by policy,cannot be written by staff as we do not wantto be placed in the position of certifyingour own work. The plans our foresters doprepare are intended to give the owner awritten record of the service forester visitand a refresher of the dialogue and recom-mendations which took place during thevisit. These plans serve as encouragementto actively manage resources and how toget started. Some owners may wish verydetailed inventories and analyses which gobeyond the limited time allotment of aDEC service forester.

Federal cost share programs, which areadministered by DEC service provide theincentive to hire someone to implementlong term practices that usually aren't un-dertaken without such incentives. Theseconservation practices provide a societalbenefit while helping the landowner gainmore from the land. Active managementaccording to proven standards yields verygood investment returns over the long haul.

The Forest Tax Law, Section 480-a ofthe Real Property Tax Law is another ex-

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

ample of society's interest in providing anincentive to forest owners to retain and ac-tively manage woodlands. Public oversightof these taxpayer investments is appropri-ate.

When a landowner sells timber, imme-diate returns easily carry the cost of hir-ing a private forester. Here the public in-terest is to encourage the owner to utilizea forester and provide encouragement tothe private sector to utilize acceptable stan-dards. DEe's Cooperative Forester Pro-gram is a team building approach to en-hance New York's great renewable forestresource. I do not agree with the oftenmade charge that DEe's service forestryprogram is ineffective:

We simply do not need to see every acreevery year. And our services are availableon request, not forced upon landowners notseeking advice. Government cannot hireenough foresters to do the complete job ofmanaging all of New York's forest re-sources.

With public and private sectorsworking cooperatively together, NewYork's forest resource can be enhanced ..•.

Mike Greason is a Supervising Foresterfor NYS DEC Division of Lands & Forestsin the Central Office in Albany and 1993winner of NYFOA's Heiberg Award.

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

Ph. (315) 882-6418(Mon··F"r1.9-51

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SEP/OCT 1996 • 15

IF YOU WANT SIPBy Michael Greason

As a public forester, I cannot lobby; Ican inform landowners about programsand how to provide input into their future.

Like many people interested in NewYork's forest resources, I believe the Stew-ardship Incentive Program (SIP) is the bestprogram I have seen in my career for mo-tivating landowners to become active man-agers of their forest resources. Past issuesof the Forest Owner magazine have dis-cussed SIP at length. Beyond saying that807,000 acres of forest stewardship man-agement plans have been developed andimplemented so far, I will not go into moredetail about the success of the program.Instead I will focus on the future of a verypopular landowner program.

State and Private Forestry represents ap-proximately 5% of the U.S. Forest Servicebudget. 95% goes to National Forests. Ofthe $156 million proposed for the State andPrivate Forestry budget for the upcomingyear, the House of Representatives pro-poses zeroing out SIP and the Senate isproposing $4.5 million again. The Presi-dent has recommended $20 million, whichwould bring us slightly above the $18.5

FARM CREDIT

million allocated the year before last. Thisyear's allocation resulted in New York re-ceiving $60,000 for the whole state and rep-resented 7.4% of our previous $808,000 al-location. At this level, many landownersanticipating funding to implement prac-tices described in their management planswill be very disappointed. It is possible nextyear's funding will be a compromise be-tween the House and the Senate proposals.

At a recent meeting of Stewardship Co-ordinators I learned that SIP is the most con-tentious item in the Forest Service budget.Cost share incentives are not a popular itemunless you are a farmer.

I also learned landowners might turnthis around if they respond immediately!I never realized that members of Congresscredit each letter received as representing125 votes. That means that if every mem-ber of NYFOA would write expressing in-terest in SIP, you would signify 250,000forest owners or half of New York's forestowners. You could make a difference!

The presenter did say New York showeda "blip" this past year, but that the effortwas not sustained. Therefore, those of youwho did write made an impact that was

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heard. The speaker suggested that to affectthe 1997 budget an immediate response isneeded. He went on to say that in Octoberthe President and the Chief of the ForestService need to hear from landowners. Thenin January or February the House andSenate members need letters. Individual let-ters carry much more weight than form let-ters or phone calls.

Urban forestry programs have beengaining because those benefactors are tra-ditionally more prone to seek and gain at-tention.

I do not want an increasing federal defi-cit nor unwise spending; however, costsharing forestry practices have proven tobe a cost effective expenditure of tax payermoney, Besides providing rural based jobs,these practices increase understanding ofmanagement opportunities and producemore wood products and those related jobsto the overall economy, Considering the25 factor multiplier associated with tim-ber stumpage to finished product, this costsharing provides a great return on invest-ment. ~Contact Debbie Gill at 1-800-836-3566 foraddresses of your representatives.

16 NY FOREST OWNER

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News ReleaseCORNELL PRODUCES

VIDEO ON BIODIVERSITYWhat is biodiversity? Is it important?Who

needs to know more about it? What do theterms used in discussing biodiversity mean?What management practices enhancebiodiversity?

Answers to these questions are given inthe new Cornell Cooperative Extensionvideo, "Biodiversity for Forests andFarms." It is useful to rural landowners,educators, natural resource managers, land-use planners, agriculturists, forest ownersand anyone else who wants to conserve andenhance forests and farms.

During the past decade, ecologists havedocumented the complex relationshipsamong plants, animals, their habitats andsociety. They have demonstrated that withwise stewardship, forests and farms willcontinue to provide habitat for fish andwildlife and the many ecological servicesupon which we all depend.

In this visually appealing 28-minutevideo, colorful graphics, outdoor settingsand wildlife scenes illustrate healthy eco-systems. Interviews with wildlife and for-est ecologists, farmers and forest ownersdefine the concepts of biodiversity and eco-system management, describe the ecologi-cal services and societal benefits providedby healthy ecosystems, outline threats tothe conservation of biodiversity and de-scribe management practices that protectand enhance biodiversity for forests andfarms. New technologies of GAP analysisand Geographic Information Systems areintroduced. Sources of additional informa-tion and assistance are provided.

Produced by Cornell University's MediaServices ETV Center, the video was writ-ten by Mike Allmendinger, ETV Center,and Paul Curtis and Gary Goff, departmentofnatural resources, College of Agricultureand Life Sciences at Cornell. Funding wassupplied by the U. S. Department of the In-terior, Fish and Wildlife Service, NationalEducation and Training Center; USDA,Cooperative Research, Education and Ex-tension Service and Cornell's College ofAgriculture and Life Sciences.

Copies of the video are available from theCornell University Resource Center, 7 BTP,Ithaca, N. Y. 14850. The price of $24.95includes mailing within the United States.Contact AV Librarian Rich Gray at (607)255-2090 for more information. .•.

NY FOREST OWNER

ROAD & TRAIL CONSTRUCTIONAND WATER DIVERSIONS

A skidder trail in Dale Schaefer'S woodlot.

drain. A slope of 3-5% (i.e., 3 to 5 feet ofrise for every 100 feet of run) is ideal fordrainage; 10% is a nice average for a log-ging truck trail (specifically to enter theproperty and for approaches to landings);15% for short sections of truck roads;and20% is the maximum for truck trails. How-ever 20% is about average for skidder trails,given western and comparable NY topog-raphies. 30-35% is the maximum forskidder trails.

In practice you can not keep water offthe road, but you want it to leave the road.More than 90% of erosion in forest landscomes from forest roads and skidder trails.Youneed toengineer water control into theroad design and you start by making sureyou have a 2-3% slope, using road controldevices on steeper slopes. When cuttingacross slopes, you can "out-slope" (pitchthe road side-to-side leaning towards thedown-slope by 2-3%) or in-slope (pitching2-3% back into the side of the hill into adrainage ditch that will have to be emptiedsomeplace along the route). In-sloping isgood in that the in-slope ditch catches wa-ter from up-hill slopes before it has a chanceto cross the road.

Dan then went on to describe the use andconstruction of culverts, broad-based drain-age dips, waterbars, and stream crossings

This very informative and enjoyableevening was followed the next Saturday bya woodswalk at WFL member DaleSchaefer's new property, pointing out theapplication of these principles. .•.

By Jim MinorA good group was in attendance for the

presentation on this topic by Utilization andMarketing Specialist, Dan Parrent, for NYSDEe's Region 8 (from the Bath office). Themeeting was held at the Cumming NatureCenter on May 15th.

Dan covered the theory and principlesat this session, but cautioned that you re-ally needed good hands-on experience tobecome satisfactorily skilled in this area.Dan also stressed that you needed to startplanning early.

This planning includes answering thequestion, "Why do you want a road?" Pos-sible answers include occasional use for a4 x 4 or a second answer might be for log-ging trucks. Next you need to gather infor-mation from aerial photos, forest-typemaps, soils maps, topographic maps, prop-erty maps, and tax maps.

Next, you need to get out and "recon"the property to identify control points; thatis, locationz that have significant impact onthe location of the road. Positive controlpoints include you want to reach. Negativecontrol points (points you want to avoid)include severe slopes, highly erosive soils,rock outcrops, swamps, tops/toes ofslopes, and specific trees. For stream cross-ings you need to pick a good stream cross-ing site. Dan also noted that to start the planit's better to start at an uphill site and workyour way down, tyiong together the endpoints ... work out the road roughly on amap.

Dan emphasized that the singlemost im-portant factor in road design was keepingwater off the road and this played an im-portant part in the grade (slope) of the road.A grade of 0% was not ideal as it does not

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

limMinor is Newsletter Editor for the West-ern Fingerlakes Chapter of NYFOA Thisarticle is a version that appeared in theNEWSLETTER of the WFL Chapter.

SEP/Ocr 1996 • 17

1996 NYFOA FALL MEETINGIn the Heart of the Catskill Mountains

COST:

Catskill Forest AssociationSaturday & Sunday, September 28 & 29, 1996Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, Highmount, NY; and theProperty of Paul & Lillian Steinfeld, Hallcott Center, NY$25.00 per person (includes continental breakfast, lunch, dinner, and

registration fee.).

HOST:WHEN:WHERE:

Saturday, September 28, Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, Route 28, Highmount, NY8:30 - 9:30 Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:30 - 10:00 Welcome10:00 -12:00 Concurrent Sessions (will include a Catskill Preserve woodswalk, a tree

grafting workshop, orienteering, an introduction to the US Fish & WildlifeService program Partners For Wildlife, a chainsaw sharpening workshop,and fly-tying demonstration.

12:15 - 1:30 Lunch1:45 - 3:45 Concurrent Sessions (repeat of morning sessions)

On-going Sessions -All Day - featuring local wood-crafters and the culture of the Catskills3:00 - 6:30 Social Hour & Auction6:00 - 7:30 Barbecue Dinner7:45 - 9:00 Issues Panel: "Forestry Extension Connections in New York State"

Michael Greason, Supervising Forester, NYS Dept. of Environmental ConservationDr. Peter SmaJIidge, State Extension Forester, Cornell Cooperative ExtensionDr. Edwin White, Director, NYS Center for Forest Research & Development

Sunday, September 29, Steinfeld Property, Hallcott Center, NYBreakfast On Your Own

8:30 - 9:00 CFA Annual Business Meeting9:00 - 12:00 Woodswalk. Demonstration & Summary of 36 Years of Forest Management.

AccommodationsThe Valkyrian Motel is holding as block ofrooms (8) until September 14 for NYFOA members. It is located in the village ofFleischmanns, only a few minutes from Belleayre Ski Center and the Steinfeld property. Rooms accommodate 2 to 4 people. Ratesare $40 per couple per night. Additional persons are $10 each. Call the Valkyrian directly to make reservations.(914!254-5373. Tellthem you are with NYFOA. There are many other fine accommodations in the vicinity of the Fall Meeting. Call CFA at 914/586-3054 for a listing.

-----------------------------------------Registration Form

Please return this form with your fee no later than September 23! toCatskill Forest Association, PO Box 336, Arkville, NY 12406

(Make check payable to Catskill Forest Association)

Names of Others in Party: _ x $25.00

Name: _ # of Persons _

Mailing Address: _

___________________________ Phone _TOTAL---''---- __

City State ZIP

18 NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA • 1·800-836·3566 - INFO SEP/OCT 1996

THE NYFOA SCHOLARSHIP FUND• Wednesday, March 20, 1996, was a landmark day in the history of the New York Forest Owners Association.

NYFOA President Bill Minerd, and President Ross Whaley of the SUNY College of Environmental Science andForestry (ESF) formally agreed to establish a permanent endowment for forestry education and research purposesat the College. It is known as The NYFOA Endowment Fund.

• The purpose of the fund is defined in the agreement as follows: "Grants and awards shall be assigned by the ESFChair of the Faculty of Forestry, in consultation with the President of NYFOA. " This wording was chosen so thatNYFOA could retain significant influence in selection of scholarship recipients and research direction, withoutunduly restricting the scope of the grants and awards, within a forestry context.

• The NYFOA Fund will be supported by invitation of gifts, donations, bequests, honoraria, and memorials fromall NYFOA members, chapters, affiliates and others in agreement with our stated purposes. These tax deductible,charitable donations are invested by the ESF College Foundation, Inc. Scholarships, grants and awards will beassigned from the income earned by the investments. Thus, the endowment will be a permanent fund in the nameof NYFOA. The NYFOA Fund should surpass the $10,000 minimum threshold in short order.

• Funding from such sources as the NYFOA Board of Directors, Chapters, Affiliates and allied organizations andindustries will be important to the success of the NYFOA Scholarship Fund. Your active participation in generat-ing interest at any of these sources is encouraged.

• However, individual NYFOA members probably represent the greatest potential source of support overthe long run. Donations, in the form of memorials, honoraria and bequests, would be very appropriatemeans of commemorating personal relationships. At the same time, we are dedicating our support for thetype of study vital to the needs of forest owners, present and future.

• A more direct means of supporting The NYFOA Fund is for NYFOA members to donate a portion of the grossreceipts from the sale of forest products from their lands. At harvest time, it would appear that forest owners couldjustify donating 1% of gross receipts to support study that helps to increase future productivity and enhancementof other woodland benefits.

NEW YORK

FOREST

OWNERS ASSN.

SCHOLARSHIP FUNDBALANCE: $5707.22 (6/10/96)

NY FOREST OWNER

In (honor) (memory) of _I enclose $ for the NYFOA SCHOLARSHIP FUND.

OPTION: Ipledge $ with the initial gift of $ The bal-ance to be paid in installments on (dates) _

Nmne, _Address _

Signature

Please send acknowledgement to the above address

Date

Gifts are deductable to the extent provided by law Make checks payable to ESF CollegeFoundation. Mail to Development Office, SUNY-ESF, One Forestry Drive, Syracuse,NY 13021.

NYFOA • 1·800-836·3566 • INFO SEP/OCf 1996 • 19

THE CICADASBy Douglas C. Allen

Few events in the insect world are morespectacular or more disconcerting to land-owners than the emergence of a periodicalcicada (ci-cay-dah) brood. Early this sum-mer residents in southeastern NY and partsof NJ experienced an "invasion" of peri-odical cicadas - one homeowner collectedsix buckets of emerging nymphs from hisbackyard and off the sides of his house inone day!

DescriptionCicadas have sucking mouthparts and

are the largest members of the OrderHomoptera (ho-mop-tera); which also in-cludes the more familiar aphids, scales,planthoppers, and spittlebugs. Thoughmany people never see a cicada, the loud,piercing, high-pitched mating call of themale is a common sound during summer.

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to think of all of the benefits youcould enjoy from having a pond ora lake on your own property. Thisidea could become a reality if theright conditions prevail. From ourexperience it normally requiresfavorable watershed conditions,good site conditions, owner-commitment to stewardship forenhancement of forest land values,appropriate engineering planningand design, and good constructionpractices.

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20 NY FOREST OWNER

Fig. 1. Cicada adult.

The large bodied adults of some species are2" long. Adults are strong fliers with welldeveloped, membranous wings and veryconspicuous eyes (Fig. 1). Nymphs, theimmature stages that spend most of theirlives in the soil, are 1" to 2" long when fullgrown and almost crayfish-like in appear-ance with oddly shaped front legs that arefitted for digging (Fig. 2).

Life HistoryThe two principle groups in this family

are dog-day cicadas and periodical cica-das. Adults of the former appear in latesummer (during the "dog days" of July andAugust, hence the common name), the lat-ter appear during early summer. Dog-daycicadas require 2-5 years to complete a lifecycle and rarely are abundant enough toattract attention, but because many broodsoverlap, adults can be heard every year.Periodical cicadas, on the other hand, have17- (northern U.S.) or 13- (southern U.S.)year life cycles, the longest known amonginsects. Approximately 13 distinct popu-lations (called broods) of the 17-year ci-cada have been identified. Both the 17-year and 13-year broods often consist ofthree distinct species.

The 17-year species (sometimes re-ferred to as harvest flies or 17-year locusts)spend all but a few weeks of this period inthe ground where the nymphs feed by suck-ing sap from plant roots, causing little ap-parent damage. Upon completing devel-opment in the 17th spring of the life cycle,nymphs emerge from the soil in prodigiousnumbers and leave behind innumerableconspicuous emergence holes. Theyquickly ascend plants, buildings or otheravailable perches where they attach them-

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

selves and transform into adults. Shortlythereafter, the very loud noise made by largenumbers of males calling for a mate fillsthe air with an unbelievable din. Someentomologists believe that in addition tofulfilling a mating function, this sound alsomay repel predators. Other scientists havedemonstrated that certain natural enemiesuse this sound to locate cicadas.

The female uses her sawlike ovipositer(an egg-laying device at the posterior endof the body) to cut through twig bark andsplinter the sapwood (Fig. 3). Eggs aredeposited in the splintered wood. Follow-ing egg hatch, nymphs fall to the ground,burrow into the soil and disappear for an-other 17 years.

Fig. 2. Cast skin of a cicada nymphattached to tree bark.

SEP/OCT 1996

Fig. 3. Oviposition damage. Note broken tip of branch(black arrow) that results in "flagging".

DamageThough it is fascinating to behold an

emergence of 17-year cicadas, their unex-pected, overwhelming abundance and noiseare a nuisance. The principle damage as-sociated with these outbreaks occurs whenfemales kill twigs in the act of egg-laying,which results in conspicuous flagging ofbranch tips.

Egg laying has been observed on morethan 70 species of trees and shrubs, but oak,hickory and apple appear to be most sus-ceptible. This damage does not kill thetree but can detract from its appearance.

Ecological SignificanceIt is important to remember that insects

are "pests" only because in some fashionthey interfere with human values or inter-ests. To one degree or another, all speciesthat occur in forest systems play impor-tant ecological roles. The cicada is no ex-ception.

For example, recent studies of theApache cicada in Colorado River ripariancommunities revealed the ecological imp or-

tance of this species. Feeding by thenymphs influences the vegetative structureof mixed stands of cottonwood and willowthat occur in certain habitats. Excess wa-ter removed from the host's water conduct-ing tissues (the xylem) during feeding iseliminated as waste and improves moistureconditions in the upper layers of the soil.Xylem fluids are low in nutrients and thenymphs must consume large amounts of itto accommodate their energy needs. Mostof the water is quickly excreted and be-comes available to shallow rooted plants.The upper layers of the soil are relativelydry, but willow and cottonwood roots areable to obtain moisture from deep in thesoil profile. Additionally, cicadas comprisean important prey species for birds andmammals, and the burrowing activity ofnymphs facilitates water movement withinthe soil.

The Legendary CicadaMuch folklore and several interesting

customs are associated with cicadas. Forexample, many native American tribes uti-

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

lize them for food; the nymphs are fried inbutter and eaten like popcorn! Other tribesbelieve the periodic appearance of this in-sect portends something evil. The Chineseoften prescribe cast cicada skins for ring-ing in the ears or ear infections (periodi-cally each nymph stops feeding for a shorttime and sheds its skin prior to forming thenext, larger, nymphal stage). Also, extractbrewed from cast skins is thought to quietbabies. So, don't be surprised someday ifyour physician says "take two cicada skinsand call me in the morning!" .•.

This is the 28th in the series of articlescontributed by Dr. Allen, Professor of En-tomology at SUNY/ESP. NYFOA is prepar-ing a book of these reprints and the bookswill be provided to the public for the costof production; please contact the editorfor details.

Destroying Angel

SEP/OCT 1996 • 21

MY GARDEN GROWS CONTRARYBy Jane Sorensen Lord,Phd, OTR, ND

Five years ago Gordon helped me layout raised garden beds complete with eightfoot railroad ties, good dirt, and mulchstraw. We have seven S'xS' and one16'x16'. I was interested in growing me-dicinal plants and herbs. Period.

I bought some, started some from seed;but at least half are plants I dug up fromthe roadside and introduced to my land. Idrive around a lot, both for business andamusement. I carry a trowel and plastic bagsin all our vehicles. When I spot a medici-nal plant that I have not seen on my land, Istop and dig it up.

It usually works like this: I see the planton my first drive by; (Wow! That looks likesnake root!) I turn around as soon as I canand drive by the other way for a secondlook. If I think that's what it is, I turn aroundagain and pull over. I check the directionthat the plant is facing and the amount ofsun it is in. Then I dig it up. When I gethome, I try and plant it in the same direc-tion and amount of shade that I found it.

This has worked well. The survival rateis good. I have plants for my lotions andpotions; and gardens that intrigue visitors."Why isn't that poke weed? Or jimsonweed?" or "You put mullein in your gar-den?"

Taking care of weeds with the same lov-ing kindness as domesticated plants givesstriking results. Lobelia, which is a smallunbranched 10-12" plan tin the wild, grewalmost three foot high branching out to twofeet in diameter under cultivation. (I use theleaves for a tea which is applied to the skinof the forearm to dissuade the urge to smokecigarettes, sort of cheap Nicorette.) Whenit began to develop hundreds of seed pods,.

Jimsonweed

22 NY FOREST OWNER

I dug it up and planted it well out of thegarden.

I put jewel weed in a garden because wehave a lot of poison ivy around to which Iam susceptible. Jewel weed will prevent thebreaking out of poison ivy rash by openingup a stem and smearing the slime whereyou know you brushed poison ivy. I keep abottle of witch hazel with jewel weed stemsin it around for poison ivy break-outs Imissed. This also soothes rashes and bugbites instantly.

After invading three beds with its popopen seed pods, all surviving jewel weedhas been redirected to an out-of-the-waywet area at the foot of a hill. I'll have towalk a bit farther to get it, but I got back120 square feet of garden space.

Mullein, which is used for colds andasthma, has also expanded from its givensite, but only one or two plants per bed;and the tall yellow spike of flowers lookneat anywhere, I think. I have two kinds ofmullein, too. I also have moth mulleinwhich is small and a perennial (the stan-dard plant is a biennial); its small yellow orwhite flowers which line their spikes haveorange centers.

A mullein volun teered this season in thedry soil across the pond and grew almostseven feet high; I think I'll move everyoneover there in the fall, then next year I'll havea large patch for this elegant, useful plant.

Great celandine, an attractive lobe-leaved plant with yellow flowers that canbe used for yellow dye, or as a pain killer,

Pokeweed

took outright advantage of my largess. First,it grew so big, over three feet in diameter,it stunted my hyssop. Then it popped seedsmuch earlier than anticipated. This springlittle great celandines were EVERY-WHERE-in gardens, in paths, even at thefoot of a white pine, where no one grows.

I know it seems silly to get mad at aplant, but I really felt miffed. Knowing itlikes dry, I dug up the mother plant andplanted it about IS" from the water's edge.It died in early July. But it spewed out itsseeds and I assume I'll have a manageablecelandine patch farther away from theshore. I am still pulling out babies from thegarden.

My method of gardening is interesting,cheap, and fun, if not orthodox. I talkedGordon into landscaping part of our prop-erty by collecting wild seeds and strewingthem about in the fall. I knew he had reall yjoined in on the fun when I picked him upat the train station last week and he said,

"I spotted a huge patch of black-eyedSusan blooming beside the tracks just out-side of the Middletown Station! I'll showyou the next time we go to HomeDepot." ..•.

Dr. Jane, a regular contributor, is a MasterForest Owner and with her husband, Gor-don, a Certified Tree Farmer. She has aprivate consulting practice in OccupationalTherapy and Naturopathic Medicine andteaches on the Faculty of Health at India-napolis University.

NYS Cooperating ConsultantMember: NYICF, ACF, SAF

CONSULTING FORESTER. NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

VINCENT P. CHEBETAR, JR. ACF

Assisting Wood/and Owners Since 1967

996 Amett Blvd.Rochester, NY 14619(716) 235-7341

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/OCT 1996

The MarketplaceATTENTION small woodlot owners/part time loggers - For FARMI winchesand VALBY chippers, write Hewitt's Hill Haven, Locke, NY 13092 or call(315) 497-1266 (Before 8AM or after 6PM).

MEADOWVIEW NURSERY: QUALITY FIELD GROWN SEEDLINGSAND TRANSPLANTS for reforestation and establishing wildlife habitat.SPECIALIZING IN NUT TREE & WETLAND VARIETIES. P.O. Box 241,Byron, NY 14422 (716) 548-2207 FAX (716) 548-9014.

FOR SALE: 170 acres Allegany County; 80 acres pine and hardwoods; deer,turkey, grouse; call Henry Hansen, evenings (716) 334-3569; Good project forinterested woodsman.

For Sale - A well-managed timberland tract in Ellenburg, NY consisting of191 acres near Upper Chateauguy Lake. Asking $85,000. For more detailscontact Ben Hudson at Wagner Woodlands and Co., P.O. Box 128, Lyme, NH03768 (603) 795-2165.

WHITE OAK NURSERY: DECIDUOUS SEEDLINGS, TUBE-GROWNSEEDLINGS, WHIPS TO 5 FT, including most commercial hardwoods andthe premier native ornamental shade trees and flowering shrubs of the East.8456 Harpers Ferry Road., Springwater NY 14560, Livingston County. 716/669-2178.

FOR SALE: 92 acres, Chautauqua County, one third forested with pondand stream. Abuts state land, near East Side Overland Trail. Great familyinvestment. $70,000. 716/664-7097.

ADVERTISINGRATES

Per Insert:

Display: $210 - perfull page or 30 col. in.;$7 per col. in.

Marketplace: $10minimum for25 wordsor less, 10c each ad-ditional word.

Contact: R.J. Fox, EditorRD 3, Box 88,Moravia, NY13118Fax/Phone:

(315) 497-1078

Circulation 1950.

THE LEAFBy Dorothy S. Darling

Without sound it fallsBut with such grace

A leaf in tint of goldFloats on the autumn air

Downward to its resting place.

Touched by the rays of sun,It delights the alert eye,

And is nudged by falling kinTo form a bright path

For the feet of the passerby.

God delights me with thoughts,Instilled and slipping from my head

To follow my pen's ink upon the pageBefore thought and moment have fled

FORECON INC.Forestry - Recreation - Ecology - Conservation

• Certified Appraiser on staff

Now With Three Offices to Better Serve Your Needs!!!Main Office 100 E. 2nd St., Jamestown ,NY (716) 664-560211 N. Main St., Suite 202, Cortland, NY (607) 753-3113314 E. Fourth St., Emporium, PA (814) 486-1276

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO SEP/Ocr 1996' 23

v,IFLDEBBIE GILLNEW YORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOC.PO BOX 180FAIRPORT, NY 14450

R.J. Fox, EditorRD#3, Box 88Moravia, NY 13118FaxlPhone (315) 497-1078

NOTICETHE FOREST OWNER is mailed

third class and will not be forwarded;notify Administrative Secretary DebbieGill, PO Box 180, Fairport 14450 or call1/800/836/3566 with a change in ad-dress!

Dr. Hardy L. ShirleyWe are saddened to learn of the

death of one of NYFOA's founders,former Dean of the State UniversityCollege of Forestry at Syracuse on July24th in Elizabethtown.

HALE FORESTRY COMPANYProfessional Forestry Consulting

Forest Resource Management Services 11TIMBER SALES APPRAISALS

MANAGEMENT PLANS . INVENTORIES

In PENNSYLVANIAMIKE HALE

In NEWYORKRESOURCES CONSULTING

Westfield, PA Wellsville. NY

(814) 367-5915 (716) 593-5075e-rnail: bgkelly@buffnet.net

Fax (814) 367-5919Society of American Foresters - Pennsylvania Forestry Association

NY Cooperating Consulting Forester - !vIember NY Forest Owners Association

LANDOWNERSMaples, Cherry & Red Oak are in strong demand, if you are interested in

selling some of your standing Timber consider ...• Each tree to be sold is marked according to YOUR specifications.• We send notices to reputable log producers & exporters• Sealed bid opening determines the highest bidder• Payment is made in advance to any harvest operation• All harvest operations are supervised by our foresters• We retain a security deposit until owner is completely satisfied.• Guaranteed to net YOU the highest price for your timber.,~ Write or Call For A Free Pamphlet~ Robert Synowiez • Professional Forestry Consultants

.~ ~!D:'PB~.!:1.g,Qd~OW'90'NY 13827

. ~ 607/687-0460

24 NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

Non-Profit Org.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDMoravia, N.Y.

13118Permit No. 21

9608

FOUNDED 1963

WOODLOTCALENDAR

SEP 14: AFC; Old Growth Forests;Jamestown & Lily Dale. 7161763-9067.

SEP 14: SEA; 3PM; 3rd AnnualPicnic; 5181792-1726.

SEP 14: THRIFf; Red & WhiteSawmill; Tim Engst, Stump toBoard; Williamstown.

SEP 28: WFL; Noon; Harvest Fes-tival; Hopkins Family Farm; 716/367-2849.

SEP 28: NYFOA FALL MEET-ING; Catskills; Registration Formpage 18.

OCT 5: CFA; Conservation Ease-ments; phone 914/586-3054.

OCT 17: CDC; 9AM; Special 4-Topic Program; Albany Coop. Ex-tension; 5181753-4336 .

SEP/OCT 1996