J
JeffD
Guest
The overall health of the forest in the Mid-Atlantic region is good, according to a University of Michigan report, in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. . The report shows that 81 percent of the forest ownership in the region is private, non-industrial, five percent industrial, and 14 percent public. It is the private sector that is responsible for the vast majority of forestland in the mid-atlantic region, and, as the report says, it is doing a good job of keeping the forest healthy.
The New Jersey Forest Service reports that the Atlantic white cedar, which grows mainly in the Pine Barrens, has been steadily on the decline in New Jersey. Once there were 115,000 acres scattered throughout the state, with stands in the Meadowlands and the Sandy Hook area as well as in the Pine Barrens. Now there are less than 30,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar, mainly in the Pine Barrens.
In a study of Atlantic white cedar in Bass River State Forest, it was determined that the average age of the stands was 40-50 years old, and that there are no young stands growing in Bass River State Forest. When Atlantic cedar starts to grow old, it is replaced by more shade tolerent hardwood species. 15,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar are converting to hardwood forests, with the main tree red maple.
There are many factors that the NJ foresters attribute to the decline in the Atlantic white cedar population, including deer browsing, wildfire, theft and illegal harvesting, a rise in sea level, loss of wetland habitat, deer browsing, and improper management.
To increase the acreage of Atlantic white cedar, the New Jersey Forest Service established the Atlantic White Cedar Initiative (AWCI) in 1995. The AWCI comprises representatives of the NJ Forest Service, Rutgers University, Stockton State College, New Jersey Pinelands Commission, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the NJ Forestry Association, as well as private resource management consultants. A goal of the AWCI is to encourage cooperation between agencies, researchers, private landowners and the public.
The New Jersey Forest Service has erected fences to keep deer from browsing on Atlantic white cedar saplings. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/service/njfs_awc_restoration_methods.html
Besides erecting fences to protect Atlantic white cedar from deer, the forest service is also selecting and preparing sites to replant Atlantic white cedar.
The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forests is responsible for the stewardship of 326,000 acres of forest. About 66,200 acres in the Pine Barrens is designated as agricultural production areas, where blocks of more than 1,000 acres of active farmland and adjacent farm soil are part of a mosiac of field and forest found in the heart of southern New Jersey. Cranberry bog expansion is one of the reasons listed for the decline in Atlantic white pine population. The majority of forest acreage in the Pine Barrens, where many bogs exist, some of which are abandoned cranberry bogs, is the domain of New Jersey Forest Service.
Proper management is the most important way to acheive the goal of increasing the population of Atlantic white cedar. Sound silviculture, the practice of tending the forest, is the key to proper management. Atlantic white cedar is a shade intolerant tree, so it grows best in pure, even age stands. Like a good gardener, silviculture is a way to quickly and efficiently foster the growth of a healthy plant, in this case, Atlantic white cedar. Managing a forest wisely keeps it healthy, protecting it from destruction from insects, such as the Southern Bark Beetle, helps keep the water clean, provides wildlife habitat, prevent erosion and flooding as well as keeps the forest beautiful. The WOODLAND STEWARD explains the benefits and kinds of silvicultural practices. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/community/SILVI.html
In one of the many hearings the Congressional Subcommittee of Forests and Forest Health held to address the protection of communities from wildfire, it solicitied advice from the private sector for ways to best manage our public forests. Millions of acres of public forests, overstocked and disease ridden, with dead wood strewn on the forest floor, stand as tinderboxes awaiting a lighting strike to create monster wildfires that will turn them into wastelands. Private landowner , Dr. A G "Skeet" Burris shared how he uses the right tools to successfully manage his tree farm. http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/106cong/forests/00sep14/burris.htm
The AWCI committee needs to take the advice of people such as the professional foresters in the New Jersey Forest Service as well as work with private landowners and contract with loggers to help restore and sustain the Atlantic white cedar as well as maintain the health and integrity of the Pine Barrens. For they are the true conservationists.
The New Jersey Forest Service reports that the Atlantic white cedar, which grows mainly in the Pine Barrens, has been steadily on the decline in New Jersey. Once there were 115,000 acres scattered throughout the state, with stands in the Meadowlands and the Sandy Hook area as well as in the Pine Barrens. Now there are less than 30,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar, mainly in the Pine Barrens.
In a study of Atlantic white cedar in Bass River State Forest, it was determined that the average age of the stands was 40-50 years old, and that there are no young stands growing in Bass River State Forest. When Atlantic cedar starts to grow old, it is replaced by more shade tolerent hardwood species. 15,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar are converting to hardwood forests, with the main tree red maple.
There are many factors that the NJ foresters attribute to the decline in the Atlantic white cedar population, including deer browsing, wildfire, theft and illegal harvesting, a rise in sea level, loss of wetland habitat, deer browsing, and improper management.
To increase the acreage of Atlantic white cedar, the New Jersey Forest Service established the Atlantic White Cedar Initiative (AWCI) in 1995. The AWCI comprises representatives of the NJ Forest Service, Rutgers University, Stockton State College, New Jersey Pinelands Commission, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the NJ Forestry Association, as well as private resource management consultants. A goal of the AWCI is to encourage cooperation between agencies, researchers, private landowners and the public.
The New Jersey Forest Service has erected fences to keep deer from browsing on Atlantic white cedar saplings. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/service/njfs_awc_restoration_methods.html
Besides erecting fences to protect Atlantic white cedar from deer, the forest service is also selecting and preparing sites to replant Atlantic white cedar.
The New Jersey Division of Parks and Forests is responsible for the stewardship of 326,000 acres of forest. About 66,200 acres in the Pine Barrens is designated as agricultural production areas, where blocks of more than 1,000 acres of active farmland and adjacent farm soil are part of a mosiac of field and forest found in the heart of southern New Jersey. Cranberry bog expansion is one of the reasons listed for the decline in Atlantic white pine population. The majority of forest acreage in the Pine Barrens, where many bogs exist, some of which are abandoned cranberry bogs, is the domain of New Jersey Forest Service.
Proper management is the most important way to acheive the goal of increasing the population of Atlantic white cedar. Sound silviculture, the practice of tending the forest, is the key to proper management. Atlantic white cedar is a shade intolerant tree, so it grows best in pure, even age stands. Like a good gardener, silviculture is a way to quickly and efficiently foster the growth of a healthy plant, in this case, Atlantic white cedar. Managing a forest wisely keeps it healthy, protecting it from destruction from insects, such as the Southern Bark Beetle, helps keep the water clean, provides wildlife habitat, prevent erosion and flooding as well as keeps the forest beautiful. The WOODLAND STEWARD explains the benefits and kinds of silvicultural practices. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/forestry/community/SILVI.html
In one of the many hearings the Congressional Subcommittee of Forests and Forest Health held to address the protection of communities from wildfire, it solicitied advice from the private sector for ways to best manage our public forests. Millions of acres of public forests, overstocked and disease ridden, with dead wood strewn on the forest floor, stand as tinderboxes awaiting a lighting strike to create monster wildfires that will turn them into wastelands. Private landowner , Dr. A G "Skeet" Burris shared how he uses the right tools to successfully manage his tree farm. http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/106cong/forests/00sep14/burris.htm
The AWCI committee needs to take the advice of people such as the professional foresters in the New Jersey Forest Service as well as work with private landowners and contract with loggers to help restore and sustain the Atlantic white cedar as well as maintain the health and integrity of the Pine Barrens. For they are the true conservationists.
