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 , 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, , 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 — 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 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 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. region for this activity.

T EXAS T REE AND F OREST I NFO O NLINE Texas A&M Forest Service has unveiled a mation about trees and forests in Texas. new web portal designed to showcase the Currently, the site offers three applica- benefits that trees and forests provide to tions: Timber Supply Analysis, Forest For more information: the Lone Star State and drive economic Distribution, and Forest Values, all of  http:// development in the timber and wood which can be customized by geographic texasforestservice. products industry. area using data derived by the Forest In- tamu.edu/main/ ventory and Analysis Program and other popup.aspx? The Texas Forest Information Portal resources. id=16731 (TxFIP) — accessible online at www.texasforestinfo.com — lets users Timber Supply Analysis estimates the tim-  http:// identify where different trees and forests berland area, as well as timber volume, www.texasforestinfo are located across the state and see the growth and removals. Forest Distribution .com environmental benefits they provide. features tree distribution and biomass. Forest Values estimates the economic val- The portal serves as a clearinghouse for ue attached to certain environmental bene- readily-available, easily-accessible infor- fits that forests and trees provide. Distribution of this newsletter is provided free of E NCYCLOPEDIA OF F ORESTRY charge to professional foresters, state and federal agency professionals, county judges and Forests and Forestry in the Americas: An Encyclopedia is a web-based commissioners, state senators and representatives, encyclopedia with entries contributed by forest and natural re- various forestry-related associations, and others. source scholars and experts. PLEASE ADVISE US IF YOU WISH YOUR NAME REMOVED FROM OUR MAILING LIST. This newsletter is also available on the web at http:// The audience for the encyclopedia includes persons not familiar texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx? with forestry, such as the general public and students through id=1183. If you would rather receive this newsletter graduate work, teachers, journalists, and professionals who want a electronically (by e-mail) or if you would like e-mail brief summary of a subject outside their area of expertise. notification when a new issue is available at our web site, contact us at the address, phone number or e- The Society of American Foresters (SAF) and the International mail address above. Society of Tropical Foresters are sponsoring this encyclopedia through cooperation with their working groups and members. There currently are about 115 articles posted on this site, and The Texas A&M Forest Service is an about 40 more in preparation. They are still seeking authors for Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity more subjects that have been identified. They do consider sug- Employer committed to Excellence through gestions from those who want to contribute. Diversity. Go to www.encyclopediaofforestry.org to check it out. Click on a category on the home page. This leads you to a list of arti- cles on this subject. Some of the topics include: Forest Biology Editorial Board and Ecology, Forest Measurements and Monitoring, Forest Man-  Rusty Wood, TPWD, Nacogdoches, Texas agement, Forest Products and Manufacturing, and Current and  Joe Pase, TFS, Lufkin, Texas Historical Issues.

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