STATE OF THE STATE FORESTS
By Bill Botti

It's dry in Eaton Rapids this winter. While family members on the East Coast have struggled with deep snows, I've just about worn out my broom! The sustained cold temperatures have provided opportunities to do some forest management activities in low areas on frozen ground, but the specter of a dry spring looms. I recently read that hydrologists are predicting the upper Great Lakes will drop another 6 inches this spring. These dry conditions can spell trouble for spring plantings and for forests in general.

We should remember that our trees are very likely feeling stressed this year and take precautions not to cause them harm.

Trees, like people, suffer reduced resistance to disease when they are physically stressed. Additional stress factors could result in contraction of a serious disease or infestation. Even though drought stress is a condition brought on by weather conditions over which we have no control, we may have control over other factors which could affect our trees' condition.

One situation in particular is the thinning of pines. Dead pine tops and trunks lying in the woods attract bark beetles under any weather conditions. When the nearby live trees are stressed, as in a drought, they are susceptible to invasion by those same beetles. No particular wounds are necessary - the bugs will make their own.

About a year-and-a-half ago I visited a woods in response to the owner's concern over some dying white pines. He had just built a house along the upper Manistee River and had noticed some young pines around the house were turning red. They surely were! It was very evident as I drove in the yard. The forest cover was mature oak and jack pine with numerous young white pines underneath. Most of the jack pine had been cut and piled for use as firewood.

In our conversation over the phone, I had thought we might be looking at an outbreak of white pine blister rust, what with the proximity to the river and the moist setting. In checking out the neighborhood, I noticed the problem was only in my friend's yard. The neighbors had lots of young white pines, too, but they weren't dying. Only those in the yard where the jack pine logs and firewood were piled were affected. Our conclusion was - bark beetles. "I feel pretty stupid," the owner said. "I should have known better."

The trees had needed thinning anyway, but the beetles didn't make the same selections that the owner would have. So, don't leave a lot of dead pine material among live pines this summer and your trees will thank you for it.

Oak wilt is another potential problem that might be made worse this summer if trees are wounded. In fact, it's a pretty good rule not to do any work in hardwood stands from May through July - the time of year when the bark bumps off so easily.

See the centerfold for ideas on how to help your survival rate for new seedlings. Last year, the folks in the DNR who look after forest regeneration told me they were concerned over their inability to keep up with their pine harvest. Several key retirements left the state's regeneration equipment idle for a good part of the summer site preparation season.

This year I'm happy to report things are looking much better. It seems that whenever there's a job to be done, there's someone who will figure out a way to do it. Jim Bielecki, DNR silviculturist at the Gaylord office has been working with a contractor to fill in the gaps left by the retirement of Gene Williams, Charlie Jones and others from the northern Lower Peninsula.

Bob Gallatin was doing a little contract planting with a small dozer and a rented planting machine back when I still worked for the DNR. Bob's business has grown to the point where he now owns two large log skidders outfitted with the equipment necessary to prepare sites for hand planting and even to dispense jack pine seed on the fresh ground if so desired. Jim says the machines often run two shifts per day in order to get the work done.

It's nice to know that quality people can be found to step into these situations. From the sound of things, we'll be seeing a lot more of this in years to come.

A DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF MICHIGAN'S WORST WILDFIRES
by Bill Botti 

This is the third and final installment in our series of quotes from Forest Fires and Fire Control in Michigan by J. A. Mitchell and D. Robson, published in 1950 by the Michigan Department of Conservation in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. In the previous two issues we published Mitchell & Robson's accounts of the fires of 1871 and 1881.

The Fires of 1894 "Eighteen ninety-four was another dry year. Disastrous forest fires raged in New York and Wisconsin. In Minnesota, the town of Hinckley was wiped out with a loss of 418 lives, and `hardly a county in Upper or Lower Michigan escaped.' The total area burned in Michigan was never estimated, but fragmentary reports indicate that fires were particularly bad in the vicinity of Ishpeming, Iron Mountain, Norway, Salisbury, Sagola, Floodwood, and Ewen, in the Upper Peninsula. As in 1881, these fires reached their peak in early September, following prolonged drought, and like most big fires burned until extinguished by heavy rains.

"The Ontonagon Fire of 1896 "The summer of 1896 also was unusually dry, especially in the Upper Peninsula. As early as August 25, the `Detroit News' reported that `forest fires have gained terrible headway in the vicinity of Trout Creek.' On the twenty-ninth Rockland, Greenland, and Bessemer were threatened. On September 12, the town of Ontonagon, with its sawmill and lumberyard, was wiped out. For two weeks fires had been burning unchecked in the swamps back of town. On the twelfth, the wind freshened and by noon was blowing a gale from the south. Sparks from the fires in the swamp set fire to the sawmill and soon the lumberyard was ablaze. From here it spread to the town which was largely consumed. Only one life was lost, however.

"In October of the same year afire started on the Dead River north of Ishpeming and burned through to Lake Superior in the vicinity of Big Bay `denuding the mountains' and covering an estimated 100 square miles of the virgin wilderness. As there was no organized protection and few tools available all the few settlers could do was to backfire around their clearings when the fire threatened, in an attempt so save their property. As a result, this fire burned unchecked for 10 days until the fall rains put it out.

"The Metz Fire of 1908 "Nineteen hundred eight was another dry year. In British Columbia, the Fernie fire burned over 64,000 acres with the loss of nine lives. In Minnesota, a 20,000-acre fire destroyed the town of Chisholm. Bad fires were also reported in Ontario. In Michigan, a disastrous fire occurred on Isle Royale, September 10. The drought was temporarily broken by rains the last four days of the month and it was believed that the danger of fires was passed for the year. Several killing frosts and lack of rain in October, however, resulted in their breaking out again, and on October 15 the town of Metz was destroyed with a loss of 29 lives. Seventeen of these were burned to death when a relief train, on which they were trying to escape, attempted to run a gauntlet of burning posts and poles piled along the track. The intense heat, however, caused the rails to spread and the train and its passengers were consumed. Incomplete reposts placed the area burned in 1908 at 2,369,067 acres, the damage at $2,570,446, and the cost of fire fighting at $61,287.

Au Sable - Oscoda Fire of 1911 "The last big Michigan fire in which a community was destroyed occurred on July 11, 1911, when slashing fires in losco County wiped out the sawmill towns of Au Sable and Oscoda at the mouth of the AuSable River, with the loss of a score of lives and damage amounting to over $3,000,000. There have been larger fires since, but none in which the loss of life and property was as great. The tragic Metz and Au Sable - Oscoda fires coming so close together did much to awaken public interest and to stimulate forest fire control. `Remember Metz and Au Sable' became a fire prevention slogan that helped materially to keep public interest alive and to secure support for more adequate protection efforts."

Thus ends the narrative descriptions of our worst fires by Mitchell and Robson. They went on to list dozens more serious fires that occurred through the 1930s and `40s. Catastrophic fires with great loss of life are much less likely today, with our modern methods of fire detection and control. Still, it's well to remember that fires still happen and even relatively small fires can burn houses and barns.

Spring is the time of year when we experience the most fires. Most of these are caused by careless debris burning. Remember Metz and Au Sable and Forestville and all the other towns that burned along with the millions of acres of forests. Remember, too, that "Only you" can prevent them.

CONSIDERING A HARVEST? SOME POINTS TO PONDER
by Lauri LaBumbard, Marquette/Alger Conservation District Forester

Is there a timber harvest in your future? Do you know what to expect from a harvest? Do you know where to turn for help on getting started? A harvest will be a much more pleasant experience if you do your homework and know what to expect ahead of time.

The first consideration should be your goals for the woodlands. Do you wish to improve habitat for whitetail deer? Maybe songbird habitat is important to you. Do you wish to improve the stand for long term growth of high value timber? Are you hoping to pay off the cost of the forty acres you just acquired? These are all logical goals.

The next consideration should be whether or not your woodlands are in need of a harvest. What will be the result of a harvest on the woodlands at this time? How about the result of a selective harvest versus an even-aged management approach? The differences will depend on the type of forest that you have (i.e., aspen vs. jack pine vs. sugar maple, etc.).

Once goals are set and harvest needs are known how do you know who to turn to for the actual harvesting? How do you find the right logger for the job? What goes into a good contract? Should the sale be done on a lump sum basis, or by mill scale?

All these QUESTIONS!!! To answer some of them, we're going to run through an actual harvest with a real landowner, a real forester and a real logger.

Tom and Kay Johnson had purchased 40 acres in Marquette County which would be used primarily for hunting and recreation. Initially, the Johnson's goals centered around forest health. They didn't want to see older, declining trees go to waste. After talking with forestry professionals, they learned that harvesting could be done in a way that would improve habitat for deer. Habitat, then, became another management goal. Income from a timber sale would help to pay off the property costs and to make some camp improvements, but financial goals were definitely secondary to forest health and habitat improvement.

Never having been through a timber sale, the Johnsons needed some information. "We were scared," says Tom. "We didn't know what to expect." They'd read about the Conservation District in a newspaper article and called for an on-site appointment with me, the Conservation District Forester. Together, we walked through the forest and looked at a number of situations. I learned about the Johnson's goals and about their property. The Johnsons learned about thinning around oak trees to increase crown size and mast (acorn) production, clearcutting aspen (even-aged management) to produce thick, lush growth of young aspen for deer browse and grouse habitat, and about how jack pine can be thinned a number of times, but eventually needs to be clearcut if jack pine is to come back. (Both jack pine and aspen require full sunlight in order to establish a new stand of trees.)

After meeting on the site, I wrote a management plan for the Johnsons. The plan included a map of the property which showed the different forest types (stands), as well as a soils map. The plan also had a written description for each stand and suggested management prescriptions.

Since the Johnsons had no experience with timber sales, it was suggested that they hire a forestry consultant to handle a timber sale for them. They were given a list of consultants from which they could make inquiries and eventually hire one. They hired Ken Salo of Republic to handle their sale. Says Ken, "I've handled timber sales where I've never met the landowner in person. However, I prefer to meet with the landowner on site. It gives me an opportunity to find out exactly what the landowner wants and it gives the landowner an opportunity for a little education."

The Johnsons met with Ken on the site. Ken found out what was important to them, then explained that the bidding and sale could be handled in a number of ways. Bids could be sent to a large number of loggers; this would create a greater amount of competition for the wood, hence the highest possible price. Another option would be to select a smaller group of loggers that are known to do good work on the type of property that the Johnsons own. Competition would not be as great, but they could still expect a good, fair price for their wood. They selected the latter option.

In selling the wood, there were also two options. In a lump sum sale, the volume of wood to be sold would be estimated, based on a sample cruise of the woodland. The wood would be sold for a sum, based on that estimate. The advantage of this type of sale is that the landowner generally has all the money in hand before cutting begins, or shortly thereafter. The disadvantage is that the selling price is based on an estimate, however good that estimate may be.

The second option is to sell the wood based on scale. The landowner receives payment for the actual volume of wood taken out. The advantage of this type of sale is that the landowner gets paid for what is sold, exactly, and the logger pays only for what is cut. One disadvantage is that there is usually a lag time between the time the wood goes out and the money comes in (usually two to three weeks). Also, there must be an element of trust between the landowner and logger, since the landowner generally will not see every truckload that goes out.

The price that a sale brings will depend on a number of things. the timber market at the time of the sale, the distance from the property to the mill, the logistics of the property (road system or lack of, streams to be crossed, etc. ), the type and quality of pulp or timber, and the number of bidders who ho receive a bid notice will all factor in to the price received for timber. Two offerings for the same property could bring very different results depending on timing and the way a sale is handled.

As it turned out, the Johnsons hired Charlie Dillon to do the logging. According to both foresters and, most importantly, the landowners Charlie did an excellent job on the woodlands.

In this case, the landowners did their homework, they contacted resource professionals to help them reach their forest management goals and they found a reputable logger to get the work done. If there is a harvest in your future you might consider doing the same!

If there's a harvest in your future, remember these key points:

• Define your goals for owning the property. Wildlife habitat, timber production, recreation and aesthetics, or all of the above. You'll be happier with the harvest results if your objectives are worked into the harvest plan.
• Get professional forestry assistance. This may be through your Conservation District, a consulting forester, an industry forester, MSU Extension, MDNR or a combination of several.
• Have a management plan written. You need to know what you've got and what your property's potential is. A timber cruise will be an important part of the plan, if you harvest.
• Get competitive bids for your timber. You'll get a better price if there's some competition.
• Hire a professional logger. A consulting forester can help you determine who will do the best job on your particular property.
• Have a good contract written. A contract should protect your interests and spell everything out for all parties involved. Again, seek professional assistance.
• Check references. This applies to any and all of the professionals that you work with.

Be a part of your harvest! If possible, visit the property while it's being logged. Sure, the property's going to look a little out of sorts while the logging's being done. Done properly, however, you'll see the forest come back more vigorously than ever. Enjoy the changes that take place in the years immediately after harvesting.

PINES OR NOT?
By Bill Cook, MSU Extension Service Forester

Hey, we sure have a lot of pines in the forest! They're easy to see in the winter, with all the leaves off the trees.

Actually, most of the "pines" aren't pines at all. Most of them are probably cedar, fir, or spruce. We have only three native pines in our forest, white, red, and jack. An exotic, Scotchpine, has established itself in a few places. The other species of common evergreens, or conifers, are not pines. And then, there are a handful of not-so-common conifer species.

Within the family Pinaceae, there are about 210 species throughout the world, with about 90 species in the genus Pinus and about 35 Pinus native to the USA. In the U.P., the family is presented by 4 pines, 4 spruces, 2 larches, 1 fir, 1 hemlock, and Douglas-fir. Cedar is not a member of the Pinaceae family.

So, what makes a pine, a pine? The easiest answer is that Michigan pines have either 2 or 5 needles bundled at the base by a small, papery wrapping called a "fascicle". The cones are also more woody than the cones from other conifers. There are also a host of botanical differences that are less obvious.

The most common pine in the Upper Peninsula, by volume, is white pine, followed by red pine and jack pine. In terms of the number of trees, reverse the order. White pine is also Michigan's state tree. The species has the distinction of being Michigan's tallest tree and played a key role in the settlement of the region. It has five needles in a bundle, with cones 3-7 inches long. It's a beautiful tree with many uses.

Red pine, or Norway pine, is one of the most commonly planted tree species. Most plantations are red pine, although white spruce, jack pine, and European larch are common, too. Red and jack pine natural reproduction depends upon wildfire, a factor largely eliminated in our modern landscape. Red pine is one of our swiftest growing trees and is excellent material for lumber and pulp. It has the longest needles, up to 6 or 7 inches long, with two needles per bundle.

Jack pine is the scrappy cousin. It has the remarkable ability to grow on some of our poorest sands and won't reach the size or age of white or red pine. About three-quarters of jack pine cones are "glued" shut. It takes a temperature of about 120 degrees to open these "serotinous" cones. Typically, it's a wildfire that generates enough heat to melt the "glue". For several days after the fires pass, the seeds fall on aperfect seed bed of scorched vegetation and mineral soil. While jack pine provides good fiber for wood pulp and can also be used for lumber, its major claim to fame is probably its habitat association with the endangered Kirtland' s warbler.

Surprising to some, all conifers lose needles each year. This is obvious to anyone who has a big pine in their yard. The older needles are shed in the fall the same as the leaves from deciduous trees. Tamarack loses all of its needles each fall, making it a "deciduous conifer".

Pines are important elements in our landscape, for many reasons. Thermal cover and protection from severe weather are key wildlife habitat features. Bald eagles prefer dead tops of tall white pine for nesting. The contribution to forest products is significant, although Michigan is primarily a hardwood state and imports most of its softwood needs. Pines comprise about 11 percent of Michigan's wood volume, about 9 percent in the U.P. forests. The species group also conjures up rich images of the forest and evokes striking aesthetic values. Numerous lakes, roads, towns, and other place names reflect the presence of pine trees.

The next time you notice a stand of beautiful pines, make sure they are really pines, and enjoy the view!