Quaker Bridge Road

[manumuskin]

I just drove Quaker Bridge road today,first time since probably last summer.A mile past the tracks they have cut down trees and left the slash on both sides of the road.It is about a half an acre parcel they wiped out.What used to be a very pretty drive now has a man made scar that the road has the displeasure of running through now.Does anyone know why they did this?I imagine it comes down to "Because they can".If there was a beetle infestation I could see it but would this really stop that?This was mostly pine I saw really no firewood quality trees,mostly pine was cut down so it is not for firewood.We like to complain about quarter mile and the wetlands habitat is much more sensitive then this but this is every bit as ugly.When Haines does it to his property it is ugly too but after all it is His property.This is ours.Why?

 

[dogg57]

Here you go Al
http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/tree-cutting-on-quaker-bridge-rd.8137/#post-96564

 

[manumuskin]

Thanks Dogg, Didn't see that post.I figured it might be beetles.I personally find a patch of dead trees for visually pleasing then a field of man made stumps and brush.I personally don't see much hope in stemming stuff like this.It's like smallpox,it has to run it's course.Fire,beetles,charcoaling,the pines can come back from anything except developement or chemical dumping.Eventually whatever eats these beetles will explode and bring the beetles under control.If they are not native then find out what eats em and if that critter isn't too obnoxious import a bunch of them in to eat the beetles.I really hope they can bring the beetles under control but if you have to cut down the barrens to do it is it worth it?This be the question.

 

[Boyd]

I'm sure somebody will come along soon and tell you it's good for the snakes.

 

[manumuskin]

actually it is opens up the canopy allowing grasses and forbs to grow which feed small mammals which feed snakes and the brush gives em cover but it's still an eyesore:-(

 

[Boyd]

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/davenport-road.7672/

 

[manumuskin]

I had forgot about that thread
I was thinking last night at work.Now I admit I have never read up on the southern pine beetle but even in my uneducated state I think I may have realized where the problem stems from and what it's cure might be.The magic word be "wildfire". Now these beetles live in pine trees correct?A ground burn is not going to phase them one iota.Pine trees laugh at ground burns and anything inside of them no doubt laughs too.A wildfire hot enough to pop beetles like Redenbacher popcorn would solve the beetle problem for quite sometime in any area the wildfire hits.I may be wrong but if we went back in the past when wildfire was common in the Barrens I bet beetles were not much of a problem.Now acres of dead trees caused by beetles would be ripe for a wildfire which would act as a check and balance for the beetles.The beetles kill a large patch of woods,said woods burn to the ground an wipe out the beetle population in that area.Woods grow back for maybe 40 or 50 years,if not burnt they again become beetle infested and the first lightning strike and wham! Beetles are gone again.So if we want to get rid of the beetles we either burn the woods to the ground or cut the woods down to the ground.The question is is what is best for the ecology?Pine trees suck boucoup as firewood.They do make decent pulp wood for the paper mill.We no longer need charcoal for iron making so the state can make some cheap bucks off of pulp and create an unnatural wasteland that will take longer to recover or burn the woods the seeding will be done natural,the woods will have an enriching layer of ash laid down.Has anyone heard of a beetle problem in a freshly burnt woodland?I wonder if the pre euro settlement barrens had thirty foot briar walls and blueberry/ briar thickets that a deer can't crawl through.Large areas of the barrens are a wildfire waiting to happen.Keep your fire insurance paid up and a get away vehicle handy.Now I'll actually have to read up on the beetles and see if what I just wrote makes sense

 

[Boyd]

The PPA had an interesting article about this a few months ago - here's a link. Unfortunately it isn't in a format that allows the text to be copied/pasted here. http://www.calameo.com/read/000054689db98cfd733c0 Basically, the authors feel that high intensity prescribed burns would be a better way to control the beetles. So they seem to agree pretty much with you, but I don't think they are talking about burning the woods down to the ground though.

Lots more info here. According to that, the first reports of the beetles only date back to 2001, so this is a pretty new thing. http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/protection/work/currentissues/ecological/southernpinebeetle/

 

[46er]

Hey Al, guess what they started doing on Davenport Rd where they did the clearcutting as a fire control.

I still don't get the cedar regeneration though.

http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/young-old-plant-white-cedar.8219/

 

[manumuskin]

Is the states theory that the cedar needs to be harvested before it becomes over mature and then they replant as any commerical timber operation should do?I thought they cut it down just to see how it came back on it's own? I just don't understand how the state forest can sell lumber and we don't get a cut since we all own the land since we pay taxes on it.Just like we have to pay to hunt the states deer but we can't sue the state when one totals out car???? All the benefits and no responsibilities.I think I've whined about this before.

 

[manumuskin]

The PPA had an interesting article about this a few months ago - here's a link. Unfortunately it isn't in a format that allows the text to be copied/pasted here. http://www.calameo.com/read/000054689db98cfd733c0 Basically, the authors feel that high intensity prescribed burns would be a better way to control the beetles. So they seem to agree pretty much with you, but I don't think they are talking about burning the woods down to the ground though.

Lots more info here. According to that, the first reports of the beetles only date back to 2001, so this is a pretty new thing. http://www.pinelandsalliance.org/protection/work/currentissues/ecological/southernpinebeetle/

I happen to think the area that was burned to the ground west of the mullica and east of 206 in 1982 is one of the purtiest parts of the barrens today.I have no gripe with wildfire but government obviously does have issues with anything or one they can't control. Wildfires out west in the rockies are now sometimes left to burn out,I guess we don't have the room here for that but you will never have natural barrens without uncontrolled wildfires.We have an approximation at best.