Forest Stewardship Briefings
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Texas A&M Forest Service December 2012 F OREST S TEWARDSHIP B RIEFINGS Timber ◊ Wildlife ◊ Water ◊ Soil ◊ Best Management Practices ◊ Forest Health ◊ Recreation ◊ Aesthetics R ESTORING L OST P INES IN B ASTROP The most destructive wildfire in Texas That plan changed the following month history ravaged Bastrop County and its when the 32,400-acre fire destroyed more from a TFS, TPWD, Arbor renowned Lost Pines ecosystem in Sep- homes than any other in state history — Day Foundation news tember 2011. Texas Parks and Wildlife 1,660 — and killed 1.5 million trees. It releases dated August 28 and November 26, 2012 Department (TPWD), Arbor Day Foun- raged through 95 percent of the 6,600-acre dation, and Texas A&M Forest Service Bastrop State Park, as well as surrounding For more information: (TFS) are appealing for help by launching private forest lands. the Lost Pines Forest Recovery Campaign, http:// a multi-year public-private partnership to “After the fire, it was immediately obvious texasforestservice. we were going to be doing a restoration tamu.edu/main/ raise money to plant more than 4 million popup.aspx? trees on public and private land. project of one kind or another — and we id=16743 had the seed,” said Tom Byram, a geneti- The Arbor Day Foundation is leading for- cist with the tree improvement program. http:// est recovery fundraising, while the state www.arborday.org/ parks and forest agencies are serving as on Tree experts in Texas, Louisiana, and Ok- Texas -the-ground partners in the 5-year forest lahoma spent the next year nurturing the recovery effort. The foundation has al- seeds, growing them into seedlings that ready secured financial commitments from could be used to reforest Bastrop State several corporate sponsors, including Park and surrounding private lands. Mary Kay, Inc., FedEx, Chili’s Grill and Bar, Nokia, and Apache Corporation. On November 27, 2012, the first ship- ment — 200,000 loblolly pine seedlings Pine trees are already being planted in the grown by ArborGen, a commercial nurse- fire-ravaged Lost Pines area, and it is quite ry based in East Texas — arrived at INSIDE THIS ISSUE: a story on how they got there. For five Bastrop State Park. Another 200,000 years, the seeds sat on the top shelf in the seedlings grown by the Louisiana Depart- Agroforestry - very back of a refrigerated Brookshire ment of Agriculture and Forestry were Diversified Income Brothers warehouse in Lufkin, Texas. The delivered a few days later. Volunteers are drought-hardy loblolly pine seeds had planting the seedlings. Tree Tips - Dead Tree been a focus of the Texas A&M Forest Liability? Service Western Gulf Forest Tree Im- TFS’s West Texas Nursery and the Lady provement Program since its inception in Bird Johnson Wildflower Center also grew 1951. But demand for the seeds declined seedlings that will be delivered as needed Regional BMP Report over the decades, prompting geneticist to to support various reforestation projects shelve the surplus indefinitely. throughout the planting season. Texas Tree and Forest The seeds — 1,100 pounds of drought- A total of 550,000 seedlings will be plant- Info Online hardy loblolly pine and 6,000 more of as- ed in Bastrop over the next few months. sorted varieties of the same species — had Meanwhile, tree experts are continuing to been stored so long, in fact, that in August grow seedlings with plans to plant 1.5 mil- Encyclopedia of Forestry 2011, geneticists began making plans to lion next year and another million the year toss them into the landfill. after that. Page 2 Texas A&M Forest Service A GROFORESTRY - D IVERSIFIED I NCOME In simple terms, agroforestry is intensive Riparian Buffers - living filters com- land-use management combining trees prised of trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses, from The Center for Agro- forestry website, University and/or shrubs with crops and/or live- including native plants. They protect the of Missouri; and “Profitable stock. Agroforestry practices help land- water quality of streams and lakes and are Farms and Woodlands—A owners to diversify products, markets, and an effective tool for controlling erosion Practical Guide in Agrofor- farm income; improve soil and water qual- and providing food and cover for wildlife. estry for Landowners, Farm- ers and Ranchers;” USDA ity; and reduce erosion, non-point source National Agroforestry Cen- pollution, and damage due to flooding. Silvopasture - the intentional combina- ter, Lincoln, NE tion of trees, forage, and livestock man- There are five agroforestry practices: For more information: aged as a single integrated practice. Peren- nial grasses and/or grass-legume mixes are http://nac.unl.edu/ Alley Cropping - planting rows of trees at planted between rows of trees for live- profitable_farms. wide spacings with a companion crop stock pasture. The trees provide the ani- htm grown in the alleyways between the rows. mals shade in the summer and a wind- Some examples: wheat, corn, soybeans, break in the winter. http:// hay, sunflowers, or medicinal herbs. www.centerforagro Windbreaks - planned and managed as forestry.org/ Forest Farming - high-value specialty part of a crop and/or livestock operation crops grown under the protection of a to enhance production, protect livestock forest canopy. Some of the “crops” that and wind-sensitive crops, and control soil can be produced in a forest include mush- erosion. They can also provide excellent rooms, fruits and nuts, bee products, me- habitat for quail, turkey, songbirds, and dicinal plants, and craft products. other wildlife. T REE T IPS - D EAD T REE L IABILITY ? A tree that falls in a lonely forest may not Texas is emerging from one of the most from Texas A&M Forest make a sound, but what about the tree devastating droughts and one of the most Service website that falls on your neighbor’s house? The unprecedented wildfire seasons in state sound it makes? Cha-ching! history. Though there is no official count For more information: for the total number of trees killed by Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) is en- wildfire, foresters and analysts have esti- http:// couraging homeowners and landowners to mated that as many as 500 million trees in texasforestservice. remove fire- and drought-killed trees that rural forested areas and another 5.6 mil- tamu.edu/main/ are within falling distance of neighboring lion trees in populated urban areas were popup.aspx? homes, roads, and pathways. Failure to do killed as a result of the 2011 drought. id=15761 so, agency officials say, could make you http:// liable for damages. “Be aware that your The sheer volume of dead trees - especial- texasforestservice. tree could fall onto someone else’s proper- ly those standing in populated areas - pos- tamu.edu/main/ ty,” TFS Central Texas Operations De- es a significant hazard, Rooni said. article.aspx? partment Head Jim Rooni said. “The “Standing, dead trees are dangerous and id=15340 rules vary from place to place, but general- unpredictable. If they fall, they can cause ly the owner of the tree is responsible.” serious damage - and even death.” http:// texasforestservice. Rooni said foresters received an influx of If your tree still has yet to sprout green tamu.edu/ calls following the deadly wildfire that leaves, forestry experts say it’s most likely uploadedFiles/ ripped through Bastrop last September, dead. If you have questions regarding FRD/Liability% 20for% destroying roughly 1.5 million trees. But liability on public land or rights-of-way, 20Hazardous% the liability issue isn’t limited to trees killed contact your local county sheriff’s depart- 20Trees.pdf by fire, he said. ment or county commissioner’s office. Forest Stewardship Briefings Page 3 R EGIONAL BMP R EPORT In recent years, water planners have expe- “The improvement in BMP implementa- rienced first hand how increasing water tion across the region is a testament to the For more information: demands caused by a rapidly growing pop- commitment of the forest sector to pro- ulation, expanding urbanization, and peri- tecting our water resources. Even in http:// odic drought can stress our water supply tough economic times, BMPs are still be- www.southernfores systems. Forests play a critical role in pro- ing implemented at a high level,” said ts.org/ tecting these precious resources and sus- Hughes Simpson, SGSF Water Resources taining them in the future, providing the Committee chairman. http:// cleanest water of any land use. tfsweb.tamu.edu/ Monitoring results were also reported for BMP Improperly conducted forest operations seven broad categories: Harvesting, Forest can threaten this essential function. As Roads, Stream Crossings, Streamside Man- such, the forest sector has embraced its agement Zones, Site Preparation, Fire- responsibility to maintain clean water sup- breaks, and Chemical Application. plies by implementing forestry Best Man- agement Practices (BMPs). Improvement over the 2008 levels was documented in each category, most nota- A recently released report by the Southern bly in harvesting and firebreaks, where Group of State Foresters titled BMP implementation increased by seven “Implementation of Forestry Best Man- and nine percentage points, respectively. agement Practices: 2012 Southern Region Report,” documents the substantial efforts This regional report on forestry BMP im- the forest sector continues to make to en- plementation monitoring is the second in sure water quality protection during forest a planned series to be published every operations, and is a follow up to the initial three to five years. The objective of the report published in 2008. report is to provide information at a re- gional level, for the purpose of continu- After analyzing monitoring data collected ously improving monitoring methods and by states across the south during 2007 - BMP implementation, and to promote 2012, overall BMP implementation for the consistency among states in the southern region was 92%, up from 87% in 2008.