Bad year for trees

[Leadeye]

Out shed hunting today, and just looking over the woods. Found some skulls and examined some of my trees. Poplars took a real hit from the aphids and drought, and the ash from the borers. The canopy is going to open up some this year.

 

[IndyGunworks]

On the flip side.... This winter will delay a lot of ash tree deaths by a few decades!

 

[Leadeye]

I hope so, the dead ones I've been cutting up for firewood have more tracks than a rail yard.

 

[45 x 11]

This winter really isn't going to make much dent at all in the ash borer spread I'm afraid. OP, may I ask what county you live in? I'm a forester and try to keep some track of where people are reporting that the damage has been especially bad. Where I'm at, we are not yet seeing much EAB, but I was up at Spring Mill State Park recently and it is pretty depressing to look at those ash trees.

 

[AceDerringer]

I am in allen county and we lost all the ash in my little corner of the world...probably at least 20 trees...a couple were 50' tall...

 

[Leadeye]

I'm in Lawrence county. Some of my ash trees still look OK, others are dead with really heavy woodpecker flecking. Those are the ones I fell and cut up for my firewood.

 

[AGarbers]

On the bright side, I am hoping the open canopy will help ruffed grouse recover. They need that early growth forest.

 

[horsehaulin]

I started hauling lumber and logs this week, I hope the trees are ready to hit the ground!

 

[Hkindiana]

On the bright side, I am hoping the open canopy will help ruffed grouse recover. They need that early growth forest.

Just a little open canopy won't help the grouse. They need a whole area to be cleared, as in a fire, or te way they USED to cut timber in Indiana. Clear cutting benefits other species as well, because it comes close to duplicating natural forest fire results.

 

[ghitch75]

on my 24+ acres i might have 1 or 2 poplars that will live....what will help the grouse is to kill all the turkeys.........grouse are ground layers and the turkeys find the nests and eat the eggs........was a lot of grouse on my land 20 years ago before the turkeys came..........my

 

[45 x 11]

I'm in Lawrence county. Some of my ash trees still look OK, others are dead with really heavy woodpecker flecking. Those are the ones I fell and cut up for my firewood.

Yeah, you are probably not all that far away from the park where I was seeing a lot of devastation. Sorry about the loss of your ash trees - it's a pretty disappointing situation without any practical solutions. I was on my parents for a couple of years to treat a couple of nice ash trees in their yard. They finally did early last year, but when I was there in mid-summer it looked like one was dying at the top, usually a sign that it's infested. Granted, the treatment should have killed any borers already in the tree but at that point a lot of damage has been done and you're not seeing all of it. The tree will likely survive (if they keep treating it), but the top parts may be too far gone to recover. I'm hoping they got it in time and stick with it, but we will know a lot more in a few weeks.

Sorry about your poplars too - they really took a beating. Even ones that are still alive in more affected areas tend to look really bad/spindly.

Hkindiana is pretty on target about grouse habitat. You need a lot of disturbance and brush/high stem densities. But unless you have quite a bit of acreage and a decent aspen component in your woods, it probably isn't worth managing for unless you are fully committed and understand the changes/risks overall.

Turkeys really don't appear to have anything to do with the disappearance of grouse, it is just a correlation and has become a cause/effect rumor. It is actually a habitat issue. As the forest matures, it become less attractive to grouse and more attractive to turkeys.

 

[Leadeye]

We used to have grouse here when I first bought the place from loggers 14 years ago, but they have faded away as the remaining trees grew. I've done some TSI work every year, this is the worst year for tree damage I've seen.

 

[Yeah]

I've taken about 40 ash trees down on my place in Owen county and whatever few are left standing will likely need to come down this summer. On the the positive side they are good fuel for the stove.

Ash on the Morgan county place are in good shape though their relative scarcity may be keeping them safe. The place is loaded with tulips and the dry seasons have hit them hard, so they look to be the next fuel source.

 

[Fargo]

I've taken about 40 ash trees down on my place in Owen county and whatever few are left standing will likely need to come down this summer. On the the positive side they are good fuel for the stove.

Ash on the Morgan county place are in good shape though their relative scarcity may be keeping them safe. The place is loaded with tulips and the dry seasons have hit them hard, so they look to be the next fuel source.

Tulip poplar is going to be a heckuva step down fuelwise from ash IME. Splits much harder and a lot fewer btus.