Northeast
Research & Extension Center
601 E. Benjamin Avenue, Suite 104
Norfolk, NE 68701-0812
Phone: (402) 370-4024
FAX: (402) 370-4010
E-mail: srasmussen2@unl.edu
website: http://nerec.unl.edu/forestry/ForestryNews.htm
July - August - September 2003
In this Issue:
NEWS FROM LINCOLN ON NFS STATUS
Most of you have been well aware and involved with the issue of the proposed budget cuts to the Nebraska Forest Service and Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. Thank you for all your efforts in contacting the appropriate people to help get that money restored. Below is a notice on the status for NFS that Gary Hergenrader, Nebraska State Forester, recently sent out.
I want to
inform all of our friends and supporters about the current status of the
Nebraska Forest Service and the proposal to eliminate it. As you probably
know, the Nebraska Legislature passed appropriations and tax bills, overrode
the Governor's vetoes of these bills, and went home. Included in the appropriations
bill was an earmark for the Nebraska Forest Service that provided a part
of the state funding we had before. With this earmark and by using one-time
funds and funds from other sources, the Nebraska Forest Service will be
able to survive for this biennium if federal funding doesn't go down the
tube (and I don't think it will given the fire situation that exists nationally).
Almost as significant as the earmark, the Legislature is going to conduct
an interim study to determine where administratively in state government
the Nebraska Forest Service should be located and establish the permanent
funding required for us to deliver our core programs. The study is important
because I'm expecting the recommendations that come out of it, when implemented,
will prevent the kind of situation we found ourselves in this time around.
In large measure, the survival of the Nebraska Forest Service is because of the efforts of the users and supporters of our programs. Many of you wrote letters to and personally contacted your state senators; others testified before legislative hearings and signed petitions circulating in support of the Nebraska Forest Service; still others effectively got the issue in front of the people via articles in the local newspapers. All of these efforts helped the Appropriations Committee and the entire legislative body understands the potential impacts to rural Nebraska if the Nebraska Forest Service was eliminated. On behalf of all of us in the Nebraska Forest Service, we thank you for your efforts and the positive outcome they produced.
(Source: Gary Hergenrader, NE State Forester)
Smoke and Poisonous Gases - Smoke and poisonous gases are the leading causes of death in fires, and can kill you long before the flames reach you. A sleeping person who inhales smoke and poisonous gases may never wake up, or may pass out as soon as he or she stands up to escape. Inhaling smoke can cause rapid and severe lung damage. In addition, the particles contained in smoke obscure light and vision, and severely irritate the eyes.
Suffocation - A fire consumes the oxygen essential to human
survival. During a fire, the normal level of
oxygen in the air (about 21%) drops rapidly. If the level drops below
17%, clear thinking and muscle control become difficult. When the oxygen
level in the air drops between 6% and 10%, breathing stops, and after
four to six minutes without oxygen, brain death occurs.
Heat - Heat from fire, which can quickly exceed 1000 degrees Fahrenheit,
can cause unconsciousness in minutes, as well as severely burning exposed
tissue and damaging the body by overall heat stress.
PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM WILDFIRE
The Nebraska Forest Service and your local fire department are encouraging property owners to follow a few simple fire safety practices to help protect their homes from wildfire. These practices - which are mandated by law - include:
· Maintaining a "defensible" space around
your home by clearing all flammable vegetation within 30 feet of structures.
· Cleaning all needles and leaves from the roof, eaves, and gutters.
· Trimming tree limbs within 15 feet of your chimney and trimming
all dead lines hanging over your house or garage.
· Covering your chimney outlet or vent with a vertical spark arrestor
of 1/2" mesh screen.
DON'T
LET CURIOSITY START A FIRE
Practice fire prevention at home.
SUPERVISE:
Unattended children increase risk of fire play.
Recognize and discuss your child's natural curiosity about fire.
Permit use of fire only with adult supervision.
PROTECT:
Keep matches and lighters out of site and reach.
Use only child resistant lighters.
Use and dispose of smoking materials responsibly.
EDUCATE:
Teach and model safe use of fire and cooking.
Explain the power and danger of fire: loss of life and property, burn injuries, out of control wildland fires.
Practice Fire Prevention at home as a family.
REMEMBER:
Children watch how you handle fire.
FIRE. You see it in the movies and you see it on TV. It can be dramatic. But the reality is that one out of four Americans will experience a home fire at some time. Yet most fires can be prevented. Keep matches away from children. Keep fresh batteries in your smoke detectors and check them monthly. Plan your escape route. Let's keep DRAMATIC fire where it belongs - in the movies.
Bob E. Vogltance, Fire Resource Manager
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
441 S. Colfax
West Point, NE 68788
(402) 372-5665
E-mail: bv55315@navix.net
With the severe weather this summer, many trees have been damaged. Below are some quick points to keep in mind before doing extensive work on your damaged tree.
Hazardous Trees
Loosely attached branches and split trunks are obvious safety concerns
that should be taken away immediately to avoid injury or property damage.
Broken, but firmly attached branches that pose no immediate danger can
be pruned at a later, more convenient time. Trees with split trunks should
be removed or attended to by a professional. Trees that have lost more
than 60% of their crowns should be removed. Trees with large wounds greater
than 50% of the trunk circumference should be removed.
Power Lines
Branches hanging over power lines are a major safety hazard. Special training
is required to prune branches in these locations. Homeowners should not
attempt to prune these branches. Contact your local power company or an
arborist trained in electrical line clearance to have these branches removed.
Leaning Trees
If a tree tips due to storm damage, it often means the tree had damaged
or poorly developed roots before the storm pushed it over. A tipped tree
that survives may pose a later hazard. Mature trees rarely survive attempts
to right them after a storm. Young trees may survive however, if they
are pulled into upright position.
To avoid additional damage: press out any air spaces that may have formed in the loosened soil; water the root system twice each week; cover the area with 2-4" of wood chip mulch; and stake the tree for the first year following the damage to prevent the tree from falling. Do not use rope, wire or any narrow material tied around the tree during growing season, as they will injure or kill the tree by girdling it. Use only a broad strap of material at least 1" wide and adjust the location of the strap weekly during the growing season.
Avoid Fertilizing
Fertilizers sometimes have negative effects on trees. If you fertilize
the lawn under your tree, your tree gets plenty of fertilizer already.
Excess nitrogen in the soil will create a fast growing, very green tree,
but the same tree will have a poorly developed root system and be more
susceptible to drought conditions, insects and disease.
Pruning
The only pruning that really should be done at this time is the removal
of broken branches. Leave the fine pruning and finishing cuts until late
winter or early spring. All pruning cuts will dry out to some degree during
the winter. Dieback of the inner bark around a pruning cut can be minimized
if the final pruning is left until just before the tree begins to grow
in the spring. Have a trained arborist make the finishing cuts.
Be Conservative
Do not prune or remove more than you have to at this time. Remove any
hazards, but save other decisions on pruning and removals for later. While
the damage may look severe at this time, we need to concentrate more on
how we can save trees rather than making quick decisions on cutting them
down. Many cities across the country have lost trees to major ice storms
in recent years. Omaha and Lincoln are two large towns that suffered tremendous
damage in an ice storm in 1997. Even after just a few years, the damage
becomes much less noticeable.
Keep in mind why you wanted your trees. The trees may still be able to serve that function. Don't be too hasty to make a decision to remove a tree if you can delay that decision to the spring or even a year from now. You may decide later the tree was not damaged as badly as you thought.
Additional Information
For more information contact your local University of Nebraska County
Extension Office or visit the UNL-Nebraska Forest Service web site (http://www.nfs.unl.edu).
NFS ACQUIRES DEMO LOG PROCESSING MACHINES
USDA Forest Service "economic development" grants have allowed the Nebraska Forest Service to recently acquire two pieces of portable, primary processing machines to help demonstrate the value, quality, and potential utilization of underutilized tree species in Nebraska.
A trailer-mounted Morbark Model #PS-8 Post Peeler will be primarily used to demonstrate the processing of small diameter eastern redcedar logs to make high quality fence posts, landscape timbers or furniture poles. Posts up to 10 inches in diameter and 8 feet long can be processed. Mulch/peelings from the process can be used for landscape mulching.
A Wood Mizer LT40 portable band sawmill will be used at various workshops/meetings to demonstrate the process of converting logs to lumber and the quality/value of Nebraska trees.
If you are interested in seeing one of these pieces of equipment used or would want to sponsor a workshop that these can be demonstrated at, contact Steve Rasmussen at 402-370-4024 or Dennis Adams at 402-472-5822.
THE
FOREST LAND ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (FLEP)
The Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) has been approved for $100,000 in Nebraska. Through FLEP, state forestry agencies can provide a wide array of services to ensure that our nation's non-industrial private forests (NIPF) and related resources continue to provide forest products and safeguard the health of our water, air, and wildlife.
The program is being managed by the USDA Forest Service and will be administered through the Nebraska Forest Service to:
- Establish, manage, maintain, enhance, and restore NIPF lands;
- Enhance the productivity of timber, fish and wildlife habitat, soil, water, air quality, wetlands, and riparian buffers of these lands;
- Assist owners and managers to more actively manage NIPF lands and related resources;
- Reduce the risk and help restore, recover and mitigate the damage to forests caused by fire, insects, invasive species, disease and damaging weather; and to
- Encourage the use of State, Federal, and private sector resource management expertise, financial assistance and educational programs.
The Nebraska Forest Service can use FLEP funds to provide financial, educational or technical assistance to NIPF owners to achieve a broad array of objectives including:
- Forest Stewardship Plan Development,
- Afforestation and Reforestation,
- Forest Stand Improvement,
- Agroforestry Implementation,
- Water Quality Improvement and Watershed Protection,
- Fish and Wildlife Habitat Protection, Forest Health and Protection, Invasive Species Control, Wildfire and Catastrophic Risk Reduction,
- Wildfire and Catastrophic Event Rehabilitation, and
- Special practices.
Cost share rates will vary, but is expected to be 65 - 75% in Nebraska. Signups are now on-going. Contact this office if you are interested in doing any woodland management work.
THE NEBRASKA HERITAGE TREE PROGRAM
Most communities in Nebraska have extraordinary trees under which town founders met to draw up community plans, trees that grow at historic places, birthplaces of Nebraska's historic figures, places where legendary events occurred. Nominating a tree for the register gives each community an excellent opportunity to celebrate Nebraska heritage. The Nebraska Heritage Tree Program provides an opportunity for every community across the state to recognize their tree resources by nominating a distinctive tree for the program register.
Trees
have continued to fulfill man's necessities, supplying food, shelter,
aesthetics and fuel. Some trees have stood watch over lives and events
that represent the fabric of our state. Nebraskans are fortunate to have
a rich and colorful historic heritage. By viewing the past through the
unique perspective of trees, we hope this heritage will endure for future
generations. Each community has a tree that is a landmark, a living witness.
It is our goal to identify and recognize these trees and present their
legacy in the Nebraska Register of Heritage Trees. Pictured at left is
Lone Tree near Central City. It was a visual marker for pioneers as they
crossed the plains of Nebraska.
A tree may be eligible for the Nebraska Register of Heritage Trees if:
· The tree is figurative in legend, lore or common perception.
· The tree stands at the home of a person who played a role in
Nebraska History as a leader, writer or other significant contribution.
· The tree stands at or near where a event occurred that affected
Nebraska's development and its citizens.
· The tree was planted by an individual or group whose experience
is of significance.
· The tree is illustrated in sketches, journals, photographs or
writings, related to a historical event.
The Nebraska Register of Heritage Trees will be unique in that it will
be a collection of trees that have served as living witnesses in the state
of Nebraska. The register will include tales, photographs and a journey
into Nebraska's past through the special accounts of these famous storytellers.
All of Nebraska's Heritage Trees will be listed on this web site.
Anyone can nominate a tree for inclusion into Nebraska's Heritage Tree
Program. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Nebraska Forest Service
Webpage at www.nfs.unl.edu. If you know of a heritage tree that you would
like to nominate for consideration as a Heritage tree, send a completed
nomination and photograph to:
Coordinator, Heritage Tree Program
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
107 Plant Industry Building
Lincoln, NE 68583-0814
(Source: Christine Meyer, Champion/Heritage Tree Coordinator, NFS)
.
DID YOU KNOW?
Factoids About Trees in America
The U.S. has more than twice the number of tree species as are found
in all of Europe.
Because of
its great geographic diversity and its north-south trending mountain ranges,
North America is home to far more tree species than Europe, with its east-west
trending mountains. With the advance of ice sheets and glaciers during
the ice ages, the European Alps were a barrier to plant migration. In
North America, the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains served as paths for
species to move ahead of the ice, and as high elevation sanctuaries when
northern species were pushed far south.
Some American trees went to sea.
"Old
Ironsides," formally known as the USS Constitution, was built in
1797 from more than 1,500 trees - white oak for the keel, white pine for
the tall masts, and live oak for its hull. Live oak gave the hull great
strength. During a ferocious battle with the HMS Guerriere, during the
War of 1812, seamen cheered as British cannonballs bounced off their ship's
sides: "Huzzah for 'Old Ironsides'." The name stuck, and today
this national treasure may be visited at the Charlestown Navy Yard, part
of Boston National Historical Park.
Trees are a living record of our history.
The annual
rings of a tree may be counted to determine the tree's age. Tree rings
reveal that one gnarled old bristlecone pine on a mountainside in eastern
California is the oldest living tree on earth, sprouting from a seed more
than 4,760 years ago. Ancient oaks in the eastern United States may have
300 or more annual rings. Some of these trees actually witnessed major
events in American history as they took place.
(Source: National Arbor Day Foundation)
Steven D. Rasmussen
District/Extension Forester
Northeast Res. & Ext. Center
601 E. Benjamin Avenue, Suite 104
Norfolk, NE 68701-0812
Phone: (402) 370-4024
FAX: (402) 370-4010
E-mail: srasmussen2@unl.edu
For comments or questions
contact:
Mary Jarvi, WebMaster
Northeast Research and Extension Center
601 E Benjamin Avenue, Suite 104
Norfolk, NE 68701-0812