Region Archives: US East

Bugs that are not native to Michigan pose a serious threat to the natural resources in the state. The include: 

• The Asian longhorned beetle is a severe threat to numerous tree species, including poplars and maples, which are among the most abundant in Michigan.
• The Balsam Woolly Adelgid is among two adelgid which threaten Michigan trees, specifically fir trees. 
• The Emerald Ash Borer invasion has resulted in the death of tens of millions of ash trees in the state, and was behind one of the state’s biggest campaigns to stop the relocation of firewood to stop the spread.
• The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is a tiny sap-sucking bug that destroys the needles, shoots, and branches of hemlock trees, resulting in death.
• The Mountain Pine Beetle is a destructive bark beetle that can infest most pine tree species and cause tree death.

Atlanta, Georgia — The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is pleased to announce the winner of the SFI Implementation Committee Achievement Award at the 2024 SFI Annual Conference. The Pennsylvania SFI Implementation Committee (SIC) has been selected as this year’s award winner for effectively leveraging technical knowledge and outreach platforms to increase the uptake of sustainable forest management practices. Their leadership in providing expert technical guidance has profoundly influenced sustainable forestry practices across the state and throughout the SFI network.

The cause of climate change is excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Forests can play an important role in removing carbon dioxide from the air, as they transform it into tree trunks, roots, and leaves. Much of the Hoosier National Forest has been accumulating carbon for more than 80 years. Since forest activists convinced the U.S. Forest Service to reduce the amount of timber harvesting in 1990, the Forest Service estimates the amount of carbon stored in the Hoosier has increased more than 40%. …Allowing forests to mature allows them to absorb and store more carbon dioxide. When trees are harvested, some of the carbon remains locked away in the form of wood products such as lumber in houses. However, the process of timbering releases about 10-25% of the carbon from a stand back to the atmosphere. The Forest Service’s plan for logging … mature forest in the Hoosier National Forest will release much of its long-stored carbon.

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, South Carolina — This past year was historic for South Carolina timber harvesters, albeit for all the wrong reasons. A clear example of this in Georgetown County… Donnie Lambert and his team at Leo Lambert Logging were steady at work clearing and trimming their pine tree harvest. With one text message, production either stops or shifts. “It changes daily and hourly, really,” said Lambert pointing to messages from International Paper or WestRock in Florence saying orders are all filled. ….The shutdown of the mills, it’s the ripple effect,” said Crad Jaynes with the SC Timber Producer’s Association. “With the closing of West Rock and North Charleston, Pactiv Evergreen’s mill in Canton, North Carolina. Sonoco Products Company in Hartsville changing to 100% recycled material to make their products and not take raw wood fiber.

Aditya Prabhu, a University of Minnesota computer engineering student, spent his youth defending his family peach tree from Japanese beetles that would strip the tree of its foliage. …Prabhu wondered if there was an easier way to get rid of the beetles, while he was taking an entrepreneurship class this year. As he researched, he learned about pheromone traps that attracted Japanese beetles. But he also discovered that many of those traps can fill fast, leaving the remaining insects free to wreak havoc. He, along with fellow student James Duquette, a finance major, designed a circular-shaped, double-netted trap with pheromones to attract Japanese beetles. When the insects step onto the net, covered with a type of insecticide, they become immobilized and fall into another net that catches them. …Prabhu and Duquette will test their models at vineyards across Minnesota, partnering with farmers looking for more eco-friendly and cost-effective ways to manage the pests.

Another frivolous lawsuit from environmentalists. A Vermont activist group is suing the White Mountain USFS over logging projects. New Hampshire has a very long history of logging, and it brings numerous jobs to the region. The USFS has done a very fine job managing the forest and logging for many decades without issue. … Their suit mentions an endangered bat. Years back, I held a seat on a local school board, any town that adjoins the National Forest receives money from the logging operations. One year, I was told by the Forest Service supervisor that there was not going to be any money because of an environmental group’s lawsuit. He told me that they were investigating the charge that deceased endangered bats were brought in from Vermont and planted in the White Mountain National Forest. …Let’s hope the bats that claim this time are New Hampshire bats. The forest service goes to great lengths to protect the forest and ensure that loggers play by the rules. 

NEW YORK — For the past two decades, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons has raised seedlings of the American chestnut in research orchards along the Eastern Seaboard, keeping them fed and hydrated and charting their growth. At the turn of the 20th century, the “redwoods of the East” dominated forests with their towering trunks, accounting for an estimated one in every four trees from southern Maine to northern Florida. They fueled a major timber industry, and their nuts were a vital source of food for both livestock and countless families. As one historian wrote, the tree “was possibly the single most important natural resource of the Appalachians.” …A breakthrough in genetic engineering was intended to bring them back and transform the science of species restoration while potentially netting its inventors millions of dollars and wide acclaim. Instead, a mix-up in the lab has sparked a veritable civil war in the niche conservation community.

Rick Horton, Scott Pittack and Joe Pittack

Pittack Logging of Bovey has been named the 2024 Minnesota Logger of the Year by the Minnesota Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee. The award was presented to Scott and Joe Pittack at the Minnesota Logger Education Program workshop held in Virginia. The Logger of the Year Award recognizes outstanding independent logging contractor performance with the purpose of honoring Minnesota’s competent professional independent logging contractors. The formal nomination clearly demonstrates that Pittack Logging is recognized by their peers for professionalism, commitment to sustainable forestry, using best business management practices, trade organization involvement, fostering excellent landowner and forester relationships, and for their exceptional community outreach activities.

Seventeen North Carolina environmental groups have sent a letter to President Biden asking that his administration “enact the strongest possible protections for mature and old-growth trees and forests on federal lands,” as one weapon against climate change. The letter addresses three U.S. Forest Service timber sales in the southwestern part of the state, in the Nantahala National and Pisgah forests: The 795-acre Buck Project, in Clay County, includes cutting 150 acres of trees more than 100 years old and 375 acres of mature cove forests, according to federal records and Environment North Carolina. An estimated 60% of the 317 acres of forested area targeted for logging in the Southside Project in Macon and Swain counties is more than 100 years old, according to the Chattanooga Conservancy. And at least two stands of timber are existing old growth, with trees near or over 200 years old. 

Gov. Jared Polis Polis traveled across the Western Slope on Monday to sign several bills, ranging from issues like highway safety, wildfire mitigation and species conservation. Polis signed Senate Bill 171, which facilitates the reintroduction of wolverines to Colorado Colorado Parks and Wildlife will introduce 30 female and 15 male wolverines over a three-year period in hopes of boosting the species’ population, as only about 300 wolverines remain in the contiguous United States. . …At Colorado Fire Rescue Station #64 in New Castle, he signed House Bills 1006 and 1024. Bill 1006 creates a rural grant navigator program through the Colorado State Forest Service, providing funding to non-government organizations that assist rural communities in applying for state or federal wildfire mitigation and preparedness grants. Starting in 2026, the Forest Service will be required to report on the program’s progress to the Colorado General Assembly every two years. The bill appropriates $200,000 from the general fund to implement the program. 

CONCORD, New Hampshire — Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic filed suit today in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire on behalf of forest protection group Standing Trees. The suit challenges commercial logging projects recently approved by the United States Forest Service in the White Mountain National Forest, in Piermont and Gorham, New Hampshire. The challenged projects — known as the Tarleton and Peabody West Integrated Resource Projects — include nearly 3,000 acres of commercial logging and more than 11 miles of permanent road construction in two irreplaceable landscapes traversed by the Appalachian Trail and enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. …“The Forest Service has displayed zero interest in collaborating with the public to improve either one of these reckless logging projects,” Zack Porter, executive director of Standing Trees, said.

WLY, Minnesota – Dry, tall grass crunches underneath the boots of more than a dozen students, who are dressed in firefighting gear. The Wildland Fire Control and Management class at Minnesota North College’s Vermilion campus is setting fire to a five-acre field outside of Ely. It’s the second prescribed burn the class has performed this spring. …While dry conditions and dead, diseased trees are putting some of the state’s most treasured lands at risk, officials say a nationwide shortage of wildland firefighters could mean fewer resources dedicated to Minnesota to put them out. …The Forest Service acknowledges it’s struggling to hire firefighters all over the country. In early April, the agency said it had only signed on 76% of its total goal of crews for the summer.

KENTUCKY—After decades of challenging fire seasons, the Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky is beginning to see a decline wildfire incidents. This can be attributed to the Daniel Boone National Forest Law Enforcement and Investigations team’s proactive, interagency approach to reducing human-caused wildfire. Over 98% of wildfires in Kentucky are human-caused and nearly 60% can be directly attributed to arson. …In 2016, the forest law enforcement team began conducting interagency fire investigation training with the Kentucky Division of Forestry and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources resulting in a skilled law enforcement team. …Eight years later, Daniel Boone National Forest law enforcement officers serve as trusted resources for incident reports and are supported in their wildfire investigations in communities where they were previously opposed. As communities engage with law enforcement … human-caused wildfires continue to decline, are being successfully prosecuted in court and restitution funds are returning to impacted areas.  

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Michigan — In March, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said Norman Kasubowski ran two timber harvesting companies. Kasubowski was charged with embezzlement for intentionally underreporting harvests and lying to land owners to avoid paying them what their timber was worth. …It’s been almost a decade since Kasubowski came to Edith Nelson’s property. They had an agreement to do a select cut of the 160 acres. In 2017, Kasubowski started harvesting timber and told her some of the costs were more than he expected. So they agreed to a trade: he could harvest some cedar trees to cover the extra costs. Edith said he took the cedars and the other trees behind. When Kasubowski didn’t pay Edith what she was really owed or remove the trees, she and others took legal action. After an investigation by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Kasubowski took a plea deal for embezzlement.

The Agency of Natural Resources Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) announced that Thomson Timber Harvesting and Trucking was fined $32,550 for violating the Vermont Wetland Rules and failing to follow Acceptable Management Practices (AMPs) for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont. …AMPs for Maintaining Water Quality on Logging Jobs in Vermont are designed to protect water quality and ensure that loggers are in compliance. …Agency staff observed several discharges caused by the failure to properly install stream crossings, construct waterbars, smooth ruts, and seed and mulch exposed soils. Agency staff also observed alterations to wetland and vernal pool habitat and hydrology from excessive brush and rutting. Thompson Timber completed remediation of the sites in the summer of 2021 with the help of Agency oversight.

In related coverage: Logger Matt McAllister has seen nearly everything that can go wrong.

With Hurricane Preparedness Week kicking off today, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are preparing for hurricane season with state-of-the-art monitoring equipment that will help them determine how extensively forests are damaged during individual hurricanes. …Getting an accurate assessment for how much timber is damaged by hurricanes is essential for environmental management decisions, salvaging logging operations, tree farms’ insurance estimates and climate change studies, but so far, it’s been a vexing puzzle. …These data help them know which areas were most affected and need help immediately, as well as which would benefit from specialized action at a later time – such as where to do salvage logging operations. …Additional data are collected with ground-based lidar scanners attached to all-terrain vehicles and a backpack apparatus to make high-resolution 3D maps of the forest.

Loggers said their operating conditions have never been more difficult, with recent storms, heavy rain and mild conditions over the last 18 months. A recent survey found that 50 Maine harvesters and haulers lost at least $2.6 million in income from the Dec. 18 storm. And Dana Doran, director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said most Maine loggers worked just four weeks this winter. “Most of them had to shut down by the last week of February for the winter, so it’s just been a rollercoaster of a ride for all of them, starting with that Dec. 18 storm, but really going back to the winter of 2022-2023, because we never had frozen ground then, either,” he said. Doran compared the last 18 months to mud season, where the ground was too soft and saturated, and loggers couldn’t access the land they needed to harvest. When snow did fall this winter, it melted quickly.