The Rural Voice, 1985-12, Page 16Safeguarding
the
woodland
Why are so many maple trees dy-
ing? How should a woodlot be
managed? What's the best way to
sell timber? Mary -Lou Weiser -
Hamilton asks the foresters who
know.
by Mary -Lou Weiser -Hamilton
14 THE RURAL VOICE
While driving, people are
often disturbed by the
number of maple trees
they see dead or dying along the road-
side. Fortunately, the problem is
most critical on roadsides, and does
not indicate full-scale die -back in
woodlots, according to Ministry of
Natural Resources officials.
Along roadsides and laneways, and
in towns and cities, maples are the
victims of road salt, herbicides, and
construction activities. Construction,
according to Marvin Smith, a forester
with the Wingham branch of the
Ministry of Natural Resources, often
changes the soil level and causes com-
paction and root disturbance.
But maple die -back in woodlots
and on farm property, while not as
widespread, still merits concern, and
there are a number of measures that
can be taken both to protect woodlots
and realize their economic potential.
Sugar maples, unlike silver maples,
cannot survive in a wet area. Smith
has seen pockets of die -back in
woodlots which he says can normally
be attributed to poor drainage. A
newly drained field will lower the
water table in a nearby bush, allowing
maples to establish a deeper root
system. But if those drainage ditches
eventually fill in, a deeply rooted tree
will die. Beaver dams can cause the
same problem by making water tables
fluctuate.
Fungal infections will also cripple
and eventually kill trees if allowed to
spread in a woodlot. One of the most
common is the eutypella canker,
which forms near the base of a tree
and spreads quickly if the tree is not
cut down. John Lambie, resource
management supervisor with the
Owen Sound branch of the Ministry
of Natural Resources, recommends
cutting infected trees so they fall with
the canker to the ground. This
method will avoid disease transmis-
sion if the tree is not being removed
for firewood immediately.
It is sometimes difficult to identify
the cause of the death of trees because
it often takes between two and five
years for a tree to die, says Smith. He
recently drove by a farm with maple
trees lining both sides of a long
laneway. "The farmer had just
started adding fill to build up the
laneway, and it was spilling over, sur-
rounding the maples. I would fully
expect these trees to die in five years.
I see it now, but if we were called in
five years from now, it would be dif-
ficult to pinpoint the problem."
Sometimes the casualties are simply