Region Archives: US East

Every year, wildfires seem to be increasingly more frequent. …  In July 2018, a fire began burning through a forest in central Sweden. Due to the location of the fire, typical strategies to control the flames were not working. After two weeks of futile attempts, officials decided to bring out the big guns: They bombed the blaze. …Bombing fires may sound insane at first, but it stems from the same science as blowing out birthday candles. According to Popular Mechanics, a bomb would create a sudden change of pressure, and “blow the flames of a fire off its field source,” the same way you separate a candle’s flames from the wick.  …A news release from the Swedish Armed Forces stated that the bomb was reported to have had a very good effect and extinguished fires up to 100 meters from the target. It was also noted that fires further away were not exacerbated or spread by the bomb.

A missing oak species—the Quercus tardifolia—that was thought to be extinct, until nine botanical researchers scoured Big Bend in search of one last living tree.  When the last known specimen of the Quercus tardifolia, better known as the Chisos Mountains oak or lateleaf oak, died or otherwise vanished (no one is quite sure what happened) in 2011, scientists thought it was extinct. That changed last May, when a single living tree was discovered in Big Bend National Park, giving researchers a chance to revive the species. Michael Eason played a critical role in that discovery as part of a team of nine botanical researchers, funded by the Morton Arboretum and United States Botanic Garden, who carefully searched the park for evidence of Quercus tardifolia’s survival. Despite the team’s expertise, rescuing a species last seen more than a decade earlier was not without its challenges.

A study led by a North Carolina State University researcher identified genes involved in development of stone cells — rigid cells that can block a nibbling insect from eating budding branches of the Sitka spruce evergreen tree. The insect’s attack has stunted the growth of these forest giants. The new findings could help researchers breed genetically improved Sitka spruce trees resistant to the spruce weevil (Pissodes strobi). “We wanted to learn about the genetic basis for natural pest resistance that certain Sitka spruce trees have evolved to prevent insects from feeding on the plant,” said Justin Whitehill, assistant professor of Christmas tree genetics at NC State and first author of the study. Whitehill started the study with lab experiments at the University of British Columbia. “The trait we studied in Sitka spruce is a physical defense known as stone cells …We identified some of the genetics involved for these cells’ development,” said Whitehill.

Forests across the southern Appalachians are in trouble. Due to a myriad of factors, including poor management practices and pest prevalence, the composition of these woods has been altered for the worse. That’s left the forest is a precarious position. …At The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Silver Run Preserve in Jackson and Transylvania counties, what was once forest dominated by oak, hickory, and yellow pine trees is being replaced with maples and poplars. As temperatures increase, it becomes critical to restore balance in our forests, as oak, hickory, and yellow pine trees use less water and store carbon far better than maples and poplars. Today, TNC is using Silver Run Preserve as a living laboratory, implementing climate-informed forestry techniques to restore oak, hickory, and pine to their rightful place in the forest. These silvicultural tools include thinning, controlled burning, and planting native species. 

HAZEL GREEN, Alabama — Before starting college, Taylor Mohead had never been outside her hometown of Houston, Texas. Now, the recent Tuskegee University graduate is trekking around trees in Hazel Green, Alabama, in fire gear and sweltering heat. The U.S. Forest Service intern is among 20 students from historically Black colleges or universities who are participating in a prescribed burn demonstration under instructors’ supervision. They clear paths, light fires and make sure the embers are out when they’re done. It’s part of an apprenticeship program that will give them the credentials to hit the ground running toward a fire line. It’s a grueling way to spend summer break, but Mohead is relishing it. She never pictured herself fighting forest fires. “Look at me. I’m really small. I’m really short. And then being a woman of color, that’s something, too. I feel like that’s more inspiring,” Mohead said, grinning. “I got goosebumps right now.”

LITTLE ROCK — The investigation into a mysterious ailment killing Arkansas pine trees has yielded some answers. The increasing occurrences of the strange affliction in recent months have experts scrambling to understand the phenomenon. “What we determined is what we labeled as a decline scenario. Multiple damage agents, multiple issues are causing the trees to decline and subsequently die,” said Chandler Barton, a Division Forester with the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Whatever is slowly killing Arkansas’ pine trees seems to have spread deeper into the state, alarming private landowners and those in the timber industry. …Recently, samples of affected trees tested positive for a virulent fungus. “We did get confirmation for Brown Spot Needle Blight, which is a disease that has also been observed in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana for several years in Loblolly Pine,” said Michael Blazier, Dean of the College of Forestry at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

Conservation groups joined state and federal officials in Rangeley late last week to celebrate the climate and ecological benefits of a large-scale forest conservation project in western Maine. Its completion also marked a milestone for a federal program that made the project possible — and that’s played an important role in protecting Maine forests. In May, the state completed the purchase of a 6,578-acre parcel near Mt. Abraham known as Perham Stream that was previously managed by a timber company, so that it could be put into conservation. Not far away, another 7,062 acres around the Quill Hill recreation area was put into a conservation easement. Much of the land will remain open to some timber harvesting. At the celebration this week, Gov. Janet Mills said those two parcels amounted to the largest conservation project completed by her administration.

Greenville, SC – In the summer of 2022, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities announced the formation of the U.S. Forest and Wood Products Inclusion Council, a group whose vision is to create equitable workplaces where people feel valued, safe, and that they belong, so that all people can sustain and benefit from forests. The council has made significant strides towards inviting the sector into a broader conversation related to attracting new talent, closing workforce gaps, and engaging the opportunities of diversity, equity, and inclusion head-on. …With ongoing financial support from the Endowment, plus a sizable investment from the USDA Forest Service, the Inclusion Council has announced two requests for proposals for partners to contribute to achieving these goals. 

Boreal ecosystems are the world’s northernmost forests. The boreal biome is the largest on Earth, stretching across Alaska, Canada, Russia and Scandinavia. These forests of spruce, fir and pine help regulate the global climate… Yet, the health of carbon-rich boreal ecosystems depends on fires that release tree seeds from protective cones and allow forests to regenerate. “You can’t have a boreal forest without fire,” says Melissa Chipman, assistant professor of arctic paleoecology and paleoclimate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. But as the global climate has rapidly warmed, many boreal forests have become hotter and drier, increasing repeated blazes. Chipman studies reconstructions of Arctic and subarctic ecosystems. She is a co-investigator of a National Science Foundation-funded project to understand the history of boreal fire over the past 6,000 years and help anticipate climate change consequences in the future.

Around the globe, forests are facing unprecedented challenges. They’re grappling with wildfires, diseases, droughts and deforestation. The survival of these great forests hinges on their ability to regrow—and for many trees, a process called “masting” is key to this regeneration. Masting—the unpredictable boom-and-bust cycle of seed production—can have profound consequences for plant populations and the food webs that are built on their seeds. But the complex relationship between seed-production cycles and seed consumers and dispersers has been poorly understood. A new study by an international team of scientists that included millions of tree-year observations worldwide, published in Nature Plants, for the first time documents and analyzes the intricate balance between seed defense and dispersal by forest trees at a global scale. Researchers from 70 institutions contributed to the paper.

GREEN BAY – As Justin Babik approached a series of roundabouts on Velp Avenue in early June, he not only watched the oncoming traffic to his left, but also looks to see if any cars tried to sneak around on his right. Over on University Avenue, Babik braked early at a red light, ready to react to a pickup truck switching lanes to get ahead of the log truck Babik was driving. To get from northeastern Wisconsin to a paper mill in Kaukauna, Babik can’t drive on Interstate 41 once it meets Interstate 43 if he’s hauling his typical 98,000 pounds. So, he cuts through Green Bay, using defensive driving skills as he maneuvers through city streets. Logging industry advocates would prefer Babik avoid Green Bay altogether. They want log truck drivers to be able to stay on interstates, and hope federal legislation proposed by Wisconsin lawmakers will make that possible.

The number of wildfires in Maine is on the rise, but it is not just Maine’s vast forests that are at risk, according to fire officials. With nearly 90 percent of the state covered by forests, Maine has the highest rate of forest coverage in the country, and most of Maine’s 1.3 million residents live outside densely developed urban centers, meaning their homes could be at risk of damage or destruction from a forest fire that spreads into their neighborhoods. It is not just those numbers that make Maine state forest officials and small town fire chiefs worry. Large-scale forest fires — which in recent years have attracted a lot of attention in the western U.S. and Canada as climate change has helped millions of acres go up in flames — have happened in Maine before and could happen again. 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the woods of the northeastern U.S., a strange disease is creeping through the canopies. Spreading quickly, it causes leaves and branches to wither and, in many cases, the tree to eventually die.  The arboreal ailment — beech leaf disease — currently has no known treatment or cure, putting large swaths of trees or even entire forests in jeopardy. But researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences are on the case, spearheading ongoing efforts to learn more about the disease and how to combat it.  “This is a big problem for our forests, as well as the trees in our own backyards,” said Cristina Rosa, associate professor of plant virology.  … Early symptoms of the disease include a dark green banding pattern between the veins of leaves before more severe symptoms spread to the rest of the tree.

ALONG THE ST. LOUIS RIVER — For more than a decade now, since emerald ash borers were first discovered in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the shiny green insects from Asia have been mostly an urban problem, munching away and killing ash trees in cities and suburbs where some neighborhoods have lost most of their shade.  Now, slowly but surely, a new chapter in the insect’s invasion is opening as they make their move into the forests of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin where millions of acres of black ash trees await.  …The insects work fast once they arrive in a new area. Researchers in Michigan and Ohio observed that up to 50% of ash trees were dead within three years of an emerald ash borer invasion and 98% were dead within six years.  On a sunny, mid-June day last week, a crew from the Wisconsin Conservation Corps were out on a two-week mission to plant 20,000 trees. 

Kyle Cunningham

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has selected Kyle Cunningham to take over as state forester, the Arkansas Department of Agriculture announced Monday. Cunningham, who has worked at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture for nearly two decades, will replace Joe Fox, who is retiring at the end of June, officials said. “Kyle’s decades of experience in the forestry industry make him the ideal steward of our state’s forest health and conservation,” Sanders said in the release. “I know he’s the right candidate to take over this position and shepherd the Forestry Division’s important role in Arkansas’ economy and natural heritage.” Cunningham has held several roles at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, most recently serving as an associate professor of forestry.

MAINE — Determining how climate change will affect spruce forests along Maine’s coastline and inspiring new ways to conserve them is the goal of a new study by University of Maine faculty and students.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded $643,848 for the project, led by Jay Wason III, a UMaine assistant professor of forest ecosystem physiology. Master’s students Colby Bosley-Smith, Emily MacDonald and Gregoray McHale will assist with data collection and analysis. …Spruce forests house unique plant and animal communities but they also are among the forest types that are the most sensitive to climate change. …Little is known about how a changing climate will reshape coastal spruce forests, but with that knowledge, scientists and conservation groups may be able to determine the right strategies and management practices to promote them.

Old growth trees in the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forests are significant for several ecological reasons. Some environmental advocates say these trees in western North Carolina are not protected enough under a new federal land management plan. “We will continue to fight to protect these last remaining old growth forests in the special places on the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests,” said Patrick Hunter, attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). Old growth forests provide numerous benefits, including wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and air and water filtration. “The forest here in western North Carolina is where the drinking water supply originates for huge numbers of people throughout the southeast,” said Susanna Knox, also with SELC. “But [old growth trees also] mitigate flood, landslide, and fire risk. They’re more resilient all kinds of natural disasters.”