By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
A free-to-grow tree coexisting with its early seral neighbors
Early seral…it’s one of the biggest buzzwords in Pacific Northwest forestry these days. But what is it? Put simply, early seral refers to the first stage in forest development following any disturbance, including wind, ice, fire or logging. An early seral, or early successional community is made up of the first colonizers of a forest opening: grasses, other herbaceous plants and broadleaf shrubs. Continue reading →
By Paul Wilson, Columbia County Master Woodland Manager
My cats get me up every morning by 7:30. They get fed. I check the rain gauge.
Then I record the amount and other observations on a website. After more than a year, I have a habit. It’s simple, useful, and fun.
We’re five years into reforesting a clearcut. The early spring after our first planting was unusually dry, but the effects varied a lot even on our small forest. Clatskanie averages almost five feet of rain a year. Even so, we lost a lot of site-adapted seedlings because they dried out – in February and March. Soil differences played a role. But where we were able to irrigate a bit the trees thrived.
Last fall we saw a blurb in the paper about the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network. When we checked out the CoCoRaHS website there was only one regularly reporting volunteer in Columbia County. There are official weather stations around – the City of Clatskanie, the Kelso airport, and others, but none seemed to describe what happens right here. Continue reading →
By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension, Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
Our Master Woodland Manager trainee class wraps up next week, after sixty-plus hours of learning and sharing together over the past six months. As an instructor, what I’ve enjoyed the most of this experience is that over half of our instructional time has been spent in the field, doing hands-on activities designed to encourage critical thinking about the day’s topic.
Root excavation
For each class session, we’ve tried to hone in on a few key themes. One theme for our forest health session was the importance of being observant in diagnosing a pest or disease. Our instructor, Dave Shaw, had the class look methodically for signs and symptoms at each site we visited. Where on the tree is the problem noticeable? Was there a pattern to the damage across the stand? What’s going on at the ground level? Any signs of chewing, wounding or scraping? What else is going on in the area?
Twice that day, we learned how easy it can be to prematurely jump to conclusions about a forest health problem, without pausing to get the full picture of what’s going on around you. We went to one site where there was extensive mortality of young Douglas-fir trees. Knowing that laminated root rot is the #1 most common disease in the area, when we walked into the stand and saw symptoms consistent with laminated root rot, most of the group who had seen it before agreed that it was the likely cause. But it was not until we started excavating around some of the dead trees that we found signs of two other root diseases, as well. Continue reading →
The billboard is meant to be provocative. But what interests me more than the billboard itself, or even the purpose behind it, is the public’s reaction, as expressed in various Letters to the Editor in the Oregonian. These letters reveal wide-ranging perceptions of what forests and forestry are (and aren’t). Continue reading →
By Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Benton, Linn & Polk Counties
Even a wall of blackberries can be tackled
In recent entries in this series on the basics of herbicide use in weed control, I have reviewed how some foliar herbicides work, and the relationship between the plant’s physiology and the herbicides’ behavior. Now I want to illustrate how that that information translates to what gets done in the woods, looking at controlling blackberries, a frequent target of foliar herbicides.
Blackberries are a problem because they are widely dispersed by birds and start readily from seed and once established, rapidly spread vegetatively by tip rooting, quickly forming daunting patches seemingly too tall and wide to tackle. We’ve all seen these conditions in old pastures, riparian areas and struggling plantations. Continue reading →
By Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Benton, Linn & Polk Counties
In previous installments of this series on the basics of herbicide use in weed control, I distinguished between foliar and soil active herbicides, describing foliar herbicides as those applied to the leaves or stems of plants to be absorbed and carried throughout the plant to affect control. In the previous post I began discussing foliar herbicides in more detail with an overview of glyphosate.
In this entry I will look at a group of herbicides called “growth regulators” that include some important foliar herbicides and popular weed and brush killers commonly used in forestry, agriculture and habitat restoration. Continue reading →
By Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Benton, Linn & Polk Counties
In my previous installment of this series on the basics of herbicide use in weed control, I distinguished between foliar and soil active herbicides. In this post I begin discussing foliar herbicides in more detail. Note: The attention given to herbicides in this series does not indicate an advocacy for their use but an acknowledgement that using herbicides presents some unique risks, and that landowners and managers need to know enough about them to make informed decisions on their use.
Foliar herbicides are applied to the leaves or stems of plants to be absorbed and carried throughout the plant to affect control. They are common and widely used to control annual and perennial herbs and also woody shrubs. Continue reading →
By Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Benton, Linn & Polk Counties
Weed control is a top of mind topic now for many landowners. Following this spring’s strong log market, a lot of folks will be reforesting a harvest unit. Others may be planting a field of Christmas trees, or a swath of trees and shrubs as a restoration project to improve habitat conditions. And it seems everyone is struggling to control one invasive weed or another on the property.
While a number of approaches and strategies (including mowing, pulling and mulching) can and are used in managing weeds, many people will use herbicides as at least part of their approach. This is no surprise given their demonstrated effectiveness and efficiency. But not all users are well-versed in vegetation management, or the science behind it, so some review of herbicides seems to be in order. The attention given to herbicides in this and later articles does not indicate an advocacy for their use but an acknowledgement that using herbicides presents some unique risks, and that landowners and managers need to know enough about them to make informed decisions on their use.
Now, it is important to realize that one need not be a crop scientist to use herbicides. The label gives instructions that ensure the safe and allowable use of an herbicide, so the label needs to be read and followed. But responsible and effective use of herbicides requires some additional understanding about herbicides and how they work, as well as knowledge about the life cycle and other characteristics of both crop and target plant species they will be used with. Let’s begin talking about some basics. Continue reading →
A group of Linn County woodland owners on their annual picnic outing, stood in the shade of a 25 year old Douglas-fir plantation on McCully Mountain on a warm afternoon two weeks ago, as Linda Butts talked about the history and growth of the stand. Planted at 440 T/A, pruned to 8 feet and thinned with a processor three years ago to 170 T/A, it was easy to move around, see the condition of the leave trees, and how they were growing. The group talked about the thinning, small wood markets (Linda sold thinning as pulp or chip & saw), and of course there was some discussion (unresolved) about whether or not they had taken quite enough trees or not. But all agreed the stand was looking pretty darn good.
Linda talking about a stand on her family property
We also talked a fair bit about getting the stand started 25 yrs ago. Joining Linda in the discussion were Mike Barsotti and Rod Bardell, retired ODF Service Foresters who had worked with her and other private family forestland owners much of their careers. What was fun for me was listening to their recollections not just about that particular planting, but also about how much was being learned about planting and establishment in the 70’s and 80’s. It is always interesting to hear from some of the pioneers. Continue reading →
By David Shaw, OSU Extension Forest Health Specialist
Top left: western oak looper caterpillar; Top right: oak leaf eaten by looper; Bottom left: affected tree appears dead; Bottom right: caterpillars aggregating on a fence post. Photos: Dave Shaw
Insects of Oregon white oak are causing some damage this summer, and you may be seeing trees that look completely brown or have scattered dead branches (distinct brown foliage clumps all through the crown). There are two different issues that have emerged around the Valley this summer: whole tree defoliation/leaf eating by the western oak looper (Lamdina fiscellaria somniaria); and scattered branch death caused by the combination of a twig gall wasp (Bassettia ligni) and the western grey squirrel.
The western oak looper (a type of inchworm) is a flashy defoliator that is a native in the Willamette Valley. The caterpillars are messy feeders, hang by silken threads, and leave browned mostly consumed leaves all over the tree, giving the tree the appearance of being dead. But the oak trees usually come back the next year. Historically, the outbreaks have been of short duration in any single area (typically one or two years) and the oak trees rarely suffer long term damage even though the defoliation may be spectacular. However, when conifers such as Douglas-fir are intermingled with affected oaks, they can also be defoliated in an outbreak and impacts to the Douglas-fir may be more severe. Continue reading →
