ABOUT THOSE “VANISHING” FORESTS. . .

https://www.powerlineblog.com ^ | SEPTEMBER 8 | STEVEN HAYWARD

[Oatka]

Back in 2003 the wife and I retraced the route from Connecticut to California (with a dogleg down to Arizona) that Walter Wyckoff walked during a Social Experiment in 1891-92.

I planned on using period postcards to compare them to photos today and had a hard time, in places, matching up the scenes. He mentioned views that I consistently could not find as it was all blocked by trees.

[Stanwood_Dave]

"The problem out in the western US there is not enough timber being cut on state and federal lands. This lack of clearing dead and dying timer has contributed to the major forest fires we are seeing today in CA, WA, OR, MT, CO."

What also is not being reported, because of the policy's "No Logging of any kind," i.e., down timber way of storms / lighting strikes etc, {adding vast amounts of fuel for a fire} after the {Forrest} fire inspections reveal lots of melted glass. You may be saying either this guy {that would be me} is nut's, or I've never heard of such a thing. Simple answer, all / mostly what is needed to make glass is SAND, the fire(s) are burning MUCH HOTTER, because of the available natural fuel(s) i.e., down timber.

[hal ogen]

Yet further proof (as if more is needed) that eco-nuts are misinformed lunatics.

[Flag_This]

"There is a huge Weyerhauser tree farm just 1/2 a mile east."

In 2010 I went to a Weyerhauser farm near Coos Bay, to photograph forestry equipment (ironically enough, for this thread). I think they said this "farm" was something like 30 miles by 60 miles, but don't quote me on that. Incidentally, they planted three trees for every one they harvested.

[Professional]

Weyerhaeuser out here is very good at also blocking people out of the forest for their personal and financial interests. Forests in WA State have their property in checkerboard fashion, then they put up gates on their property, effectively cutting down entire road systems used by recreational users. Weyerhaeuser is pretty much a welfare case of Govt like Boeing and Amtrak.

When they grow trees, they slap them very close together, hardly what you imagine a pleasant forest to be.

[Mogger]

What kind of trees grow in NH and Maine?

Several types of hardwood and softwood trees (deciduous and conifer)

Maple, red maple, soft maple, hard maple, white, silver and yellow birch, ash, cherry, poplar, apple, spruce, pine, tamarack, hemlock, willow, hornbeam, hop hornbeam, and more I can't think of at the moment.

[Little Pig]

You laugh, but many of the original New England farmers would probably have agreed with you. Re-clearing the fields of stones after the frost had pushed a fresh batch to the surface was back-breaking, and likely had a lot to do with the move westward.

[Safetgiver]

As Rush has said for 30 years, our forests are bigger now than when we found the country. Why? The few Indians that inhabited the country didn’t have fire departments.

[SamAdams76]

Whoever thinks we are running out of trees can come over to my house and take some of mine. I’ve got four acres of them and I would have to pay somebody to take them away.

[thirst4truth]

Your list is so thorough. An amazing amount of trees you have there, we have some of those same kinds, not quite the variety growing naturally in our forests though. Most of the trees on your list I do see, but usually in a yard, domestic planting.

We harvested about 30 acres of fir 2 years ago, we have replanted 8500 2 year old Doug fir babies. We are in the midst of a 5 year drought now in the west coast, many of our fir are dying, they just loose all their green and become big 80 foot stick trees. It is horrible, never seen it before, I am in my sixties. The baby trees need way less water, still supplementing some of them till they get through another year.

[woodbutcher1963]

Our softwood trees are mostly White Pine and Eastern Hemlock around her in southern NH. The spruces and balsam fir are mostly in ME , northern NH up into Quebec and New Brunswick. They are higher elevation species.

The main hardwood trees are the oaks, maples and birches. The maples varieties are what gives New England the bright fall foliage colors of leaves that turn red, yellow and orange.

We do not have extended droughts here in New England like you do out west. This year we had more rain in July than any previous year. A couple years back we had the driest July in years. However, it never lasts more than a few months.

FYI, I have a degree in Wood Products Engineering. I have been a professional lumber trader for 33 years. I buy and sell Douglas Fir from mills like Weyerhaeuser, Seneca, Rosboro, Hampton, Interfor and Frank Lumber that are right in your back yard.

[thirst4truth]

Wow, so you know all about our high production fir trees? Most of those mills have their own tree stands, they really take care of their forests. But they still buy from small timber growers, like ours. We harvested about 35 acres and got 405,000 board feet of mostly fir and a little cedar. All of it was bought by the local mills, Roseburg Forest Products and Keller Lumber that only mills cedar.

Most days I am watering some of the baby trees, the ones closer to our house that we can see. The logged land is so bad looking, I keep looking for the green of the baby trees to show, it may be a few more years. Worried about them with the drought.

[woodbutcher1963]

We also buy 2x4 & 2x6 studs from Roseburg. We do not trade cedar. I am not familiar with Keller Lumber.