As Ray says, the state of Mass. has gone a rampage against Norway Spruce. They claim it's because those plantations were dead/dying. Some are in less than great shape, but some of the plantations were in fairly good shape considering they had never been thinned. For some crazy reason, some of the blame can be put on the FSC certification people who apparently make a big deal out of ridding your forest of non natives. But as Ray mentioned, FSC later got down on the state for clearcutting so many of these stands- and the main reason they did that is that a lot of people were all over FSC for such bad previous advice.
I really wish the state had thinned these stands periodically as they'd now be some of the more beautiful stands in the entire region. And, despite being a spruce- they seem very wind resistent. Several grew right behind my family house and I always wondered if a wind storm would knock them over as they were getting very large- if they fell on the house the damage would have been great- but no, not one ever fell. I wouldn't want red spruce next to a house of mine. So, the state failed to "manage" these stands to keep them healthy- then when the price of spruce shot way up in the middle of this decade, they saw a great opportunity to sell a lot of wood for a good price- and with very little effort- all they had to do was flag around the stands. One stand they clearcut in the northern Berkshire town of Savoy had a small cemetery in the middle of it which was severely damaged. The state foresters never noticed it! Joe Zorzin On Jan 3, 5:06 pm, [email protected] wrote: > The state went on a cutting rage clearcutting the plantations > of these great trees. They were and still are in many areas providing > valuable overwintering habitat for various species. They are reproducing > in a mild manner like mentioned in many of these stands, and since is no > other real regeneration, they are filling a void. The green certification > people while relatively useless, did hit the state hard on cutting the > plantations of these down, while justifying it as "non native". They make a > great replacement for hemlock stands that are damaged by wooley adelgid. > There were a few that stated there may be some native ones in the Northeast > US, > only native because they have been here so long. Some were rumored to have > been > seeded accidentally by arriving colonial ships. A great species for sure. > > Ray > > On Sunday, January 3, 2010 4:37pm, "Barry Caselli" <[email protected]> > said: > > > > > Gaines, > > When I saw this in my inbox (I read these posts in my email), I only saw > > the first > > few words "Honorary native tree", and I said to myself, that would be Norway > > Spruce, since it has been in this country since Colonial times. > > I find them here (NJ), but only in ghost towns or in people's yards. > > Some ENTS members have measured Norway Spruces. > > Barry > > > --- On Sun, 1/3/10, spruce <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: spruce <[email protected]> > > Subject: [ENTS] Honorary native tree--a possibility?: Norway spruce > > To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> > > Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010, 1:14 PM > > > Tree lovers: > > > Forgive me if I am treading on forbidden territory, but I am a > > lover of Norway spruce. These trees can grow very tall. In Europe > > they are reported to grow as much as 215 feet. Dr. John Genys, > > Professor Emeritus, U of MD, with whom whom I have had some good > > discussions about Norway spruce, is a native of Lithuania, and has had > > a long standing interest in Norway spruce. He sees no reason why they > > should not grow as tall here, in favorable spots and with the right > > genetic strain, as in Europe. > > > Norway spruce is naturalized in a wide area of the northeast > > and > > northern midwest. It reproduces itself, but not in a way as to be a > > problematic invasive exotic. > > > Could there be any interest in including this species in some > > way > > in the ENTS measurement/recording activities? > > > I know of two areas where some very tall Norway spruce trees > > grow-- > > as a rough estimate, maybe up to 140 feet, or a bit more in one case. > > Of course these trees were not much planted until the CCC plantings in > > the '30s, although one stand, The "Rothkugel," near Bartow in WV, was > > planted in 1907. A few were planted during colonial times, but I don't > > know of any surviving from that time. The oldest I know of where > > probably planted around 1835. If anyone knows of any older plantings I > > would be interested. Anyway, since there are few if any plantings > > much older than 100 years, the full potential of these trees is not > > yet realized on this side of the Atlantic. They are, contrary to some > > reports, long lived, pretty much matching the longevity of white pine. > > > --Gaines McMartin > > > -- > > Eastern Native Tree Societyhttp://www.nativetreesociety.org > > Send email to [email protected] > > Visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > > > -- > > Eastern Native Tree Societyhttp://www.nativetreesociety.org > > Send email to [email protected] > > Visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] Hide > > quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
