Gaines:
Doesn't FSC require or at least strongly encourage removal of exotic
tree species to get certification? I don't know if thats involved in
this case.
Although it is often a good thing to get rid of non-native species, that
is not always the case. After the adelgids (hemlock and balsam fir) work
their way through, it may be desirable to replace the ecological
function of those species with species such as northern Japanese hemlock
or Norway spruce. I have occasionally inserted comments about such
things in reviews for FSC, but I don't think it has much effect.
Norway spruce has such a huge variety of provenances available, from
short, fat and bushy to very tall with branches only 2-3 feet long, and
from closely spaced branches to widely spaced branches, with and without
pendant twigs, tolerant of low nutrients, or not etc. You can get a tree
to fit almost any circumstance.
Lee
Gaines McMartin wrote:
Bob:
Do you know anyone there that I could call? I might be able to get
help from Edwin White, Dean of Research at SUNY Syracuse. He is a
very, very nice and helpful person, and the people at SUNY Syracuse
know more about NS than anyone. As I pointed out earlier, NS stands
can, at a particular stage of their growth, look a bit ugly to the
untrained eye. The trees express dominance very well, but that means
that the vast majority of the trees in a stand will be overtopped and
die. As you know, these stands overall are not dying. One of the
studies produced at SUNY S.begins with the statement that NS is a
"long lived" tree. Something should be done. These stands are a
treasure--at age 100 they will have trees 140 to 150 feet tall and
will still be growing. They will be towering forest cathedrals!
Of course if it is just hate for something non-native, then maybe
nothing can be done.
--Gaines McMartin
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On 1/9/10, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
Gaines,
Super information! Thanks. Please keep it coming. It is good to get really
reliable information about Norway Spruce. DCR's Bureau of Forestry (here in
Massachusetts) is targeting every Norway Spruce plantation established in
the 1930s for elimination, claiming that their all dying, which they aren't.
I want a T-shirt that say's "I'm Bullish on Norway Spruce".
Bob
