It was the best of times, and the worst of times...

[bfitz3]

Walking the woods today, looking for dead standing wood, my heart sank.

I have many large beech trees in the 15-20 inch diameter range. Sadly, lots of them are showing signs of beech bark disease. Lots of white fungus on the bark, numerous trees showing bark cracks, some have lost 30-50% bark around the girth of the tree.

4 years ago, the previous owner of the land heavily harvested the maple. Now, it's about to lose much of the large beech. It's really depressing.

I guess I know where my firewood will be coming from in the future.

Sigh.

 

[mark cline]

I'm seeing some of the same fungus here and there on my beech . I love burning beech , splits easy and alot on my property which needs to be thinned.

 

[Applesister]

I have a hollow beech next to a trail in the woods. Im convinced barn owls live in it. 100 years of owl poop sitting in the bottom.

 

[Knots]

The beech on my property get the beech blight. They continue to grow and produce nuts for the wildlife, but they don't have much value. They will be my main source of firewood, along with the black birch that gets gnarly, for the foreseeable future.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I have a hollow beech next to a trail in the woods. Im convinced barn owls live in it. 100 years of owl poop sitting in the bottom.

I guess it's safe to say you don't have your picnic table under there in that spot?

 

[Pellet_Pete]

Look for lion's mane mushrooms (aka bear's head tooth) come August or so - that's good eating!

 

[bfitz3]

Ugh. A nice summer walk revealed some vastly turned canopy and more obvious damage/symptoms to many trees.

I read that the only management possibility of the disease requires "timely harvesting" of infected trees. Anybody know what constitutes timely in this situation? At first sign? Within two years of infection? Also, how long does a tree typically survive after infection?

 

[mark cline]

What is the infection? If
the tree has any value, such as for lumber, then harvest now to get the most
Value. If it's intended to be firewood, then when needed but before much heating value is lost.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

My beech trees have had the splits and puckered spots on them for years now. It's not a rapid progression, not like loosing a tomato plant,you've got lots of time to figure it out.
Does suck though, but I was on the fence as to clear one side of my land or not and I think a nice sunny yard is in my future.

 

[Pellet_Pete]

Value is certainly a consideration, but "timely" might also mean time-of-year since beech typically suckers profusely, creating a dense understory of clones that are all genetically identical to the parent tree, and hence vulnerable to the Neonectria fungus. There's much debate on the topic, and a lot depends on the quality of the site you're on, but I got a bit of "woods wisdom" from a reputable logger I know who insists that summer is the time to cut beech because it won't sucker as vigorously. I think this is probably true for underbrush and small trees, but I'm not sure about the big ones.

I don't know what markets you have our your way, but in the Northeast, beech logs of good quality - which are not common - typically go to plywood, but don't fetch very high prices on account of the unpredictability of log quality given the prevalence of the disease.

 

[bfitz3]

My property was heavily harvested four summers ago right before I purchased it in foreclosure. The old owner hired loggers to take everything of valu, then had firewood harvesters starting up when the bank got the property.

My question about timely harvesting is with the idea of identifying host trees and trying to stop the progression of the disease. My guess is there is nothing I can do other than harvest what I need from the worst trees available. There is WAY more than I can do. I'd like to keep as much canopy as possible too... Hiking through the old woods is becoming a battle of will agains raspberries and 6' thistle.

 

[Oldman47]

Get

... Hiking through the old woods is becoming a battle of will agains raspberries and 6' thistle.

Get a brush cutter or a string trimmer with a brushy cutter head and just swing it from side to side as you walk your paths. Raspberry canes are very easy to clear because there really isn't much meat to them. Around here raspberry canes are considered an early indicator of degrading forest soils.

 

[bfitz3]

Yeah...a trimmer is in my future. As for soil quality, I live on a combination of glacial wash and dune sand. I think the raspberries etc are arriving due to the increase in light hitting the forest floor. There are numerous 1/2 acre clear cuts and a good percentage of the woods have lost probably 50% of its canopy. Areas with remaining canopy are showing very few 'weeds' popping up.