Maple anyone?

[Slow1]

Looks like there may be a good supply of maple in the Worchester MA area soon... or will they let it be split and burned?

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...008/12/09/worcester_braces_for_loss_of_trees/

I wonder if they will require it to be kiln dried to kill off those buggers or if the trees will be in the open market... Hate to see such things happen in any case eh?

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I believe that they are putting restrictions on the wood, and it is not going to be available for selling to the public. Cant confirm, but thats what I have heard.

 

[Dill]

I really hope this contains the ALH beetle. If this spreads north and is any where near as bad as Dutch Elm was, we could be seeing the demise of the Maple industry. Which is a serious part of the agricultural economy, especially in Quebec.

 

[the_dude]

I'm starting to wonder if our kids will know what trees are. As I figure it, I may not have any trees on my 10 wooded acres in 20 years. I mostly have:

Elm - Dutch elm's disease has got most of them
Oak - no wilt yet, but?
Ash - Emerald ash borer is on its way from 40 miles east
Maple - now this asian beetle will likely makes its way west

I will be left with basswood and cottonwood.

I could plant pine, but my luck they would end up with blister rust.

 

[CowboyAndy]

so is the wood unsuitable for burning once its infested?

 

[Slow1]

Don't forget the pine beetle

My folks are in Colorado. I was commenting on the number of houses around them with little stacks of rounds between trees yet no sign of actual wood burning. Turns out that when the beetle infests a tree it has to come down, then folks just stack the wood "for camp fires"... umm... won't the beetle then just infest the tree it's stacked against? Doesn't seem like a plan that will really make much progress stopping the buggers, but perhaps there is something there that does make sense.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I thought I heard/read something that they don't want the wood moved out of the area and have the beetle travel and infest other area's. Again, not positive....but I swear I heard something of this nature.

 

[mayor mcheese]

Here is a little excerpt of whats going on here in southern Ohio.


If cutting firewood is on the itinerary this autumn, it is illegal to move ash trees, parts of an ash tree, and all non-coniferous (hardwood) firewood
out of Ohio’s quarantined areas. Violators face state fines up to $4,000 and steeper federal fines.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I thought they were going to cut it all down and burn ASAP- not as firewood. Lots of restrictions on moving firewood coming up, as it seems to be a common way that these pests of all sorts spread quickly.

 

[MarcM]

Last I heard, the plan was to chip everything, and that the heat from chipping was enough to destroy the dormant larva. Then off to made into...? Bio bricks? Pellets? Don't know, but I don't think any will be available for firewood. Too bad, Worcester has a lot of nice old trees that in some areas make you forget you're in the third most populous city in New England.

 

[LLigetfa]

They do make kilns for heat treating and the USDA has standards for heat treating. It may just be a matter of time before they legislate all wood to be heat treated which will put the small operators out of the firewood business and drive up the price by more than just the cost to heat treat.

 

[mayor mcheese]

They do make kilns for heat treating and the USDA has standards for heat treating. It may just be a matter of time before they legislate all wood to be heat treated which will put the small operators out of the firewood business and drive up the price by more than just the cost to heat treat.

With this crazy government it would not suprise me one bit. After all it's for the enviorment :roll:

 

[Dill]

I know NY has pretty strict laws about the movement of firewood. But there is a bigger problem here. Its the Asian Long Horned Beetle. We can put all the restrictions on ourseleves but the Chinese don't care. Same problem with the fishing industry.

 

[Slow1]

Oh dear.. looks like this thread could ignite a political firestorm

Invasive species have been a problem for quite some time (and I'll bet the USA has exported a few of it's own over the years). However, whatever the source - the infestation is there and the local/regional policies and how well they are implemented are likely going to determine the success of any containment campaign. Obviously they will fail if the infestation is reintroduced (or introduced to other areas) again. I always do wonder how they track these things back to the origins (or if they bother)... someone imported one as a pet? a couple came in on a boat somewhere and survived the ocean voyage? I seriously doubt we import raw wood (firewood or other uses) from China - do we?

 

[Dill]

From what I've read they came over via infested shipping crate wood. NY, Jersey and Chicago where the first places the ALH beetle showed up.
Here is a very indepth explainiation of what is happening in Mass.
http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=4719

 

[meathead]

wood can’t be burned for heat - any potential host trees in given radius will be incinerated, host trees in greater radius will be treated with insecticide. It’s a genuine shame.

 

[meathead]

Also - commonly thought they came over in wood pallets like Dill said. They have been found living in crate wood in warehouse stock yards.

 

[Slow1]

Based on the slide show in the link that Dill shared (http://www.ci.worcester.ma.us/cmo/pdf/ALBPresentation.pdf) seems that anyone gathering wood ought to be on the lookout for these buggers... some of these signs might be pretty easy to identify on a recently cut tree - those holes bored through branches certainly would seem to be noticeable if you cut through one I'd think.

 

[fishinpa]

Wow. I split a lot of maple that was dropped for me last week and part of it were infested with grubs. I wonder if this is what they could have been?

 

[meathead]

Hope not...I assume the wood was from PA where you are located. There are not any known infestations in your area.

 

[Biglumber]

Slow1,

In Colorado the pine beetle is rampant. I was in summit county last week and the Dillon valley is RED with beetle kill. As far as the rounds that are stacked, you are correct. Talking to a camp host up poudre valley last summer, she said don't burn the rounds stacked around the campground. They had been treated with an insecticide. All of the standing pines in the campground had been sprayed and have a 1 in 3 chance of survival.
The campground had opened 2 weeks late so the forest service could get in there.
Apparently the beetle will thrive until A. they run out of food or B. 30 below for 5 days straight.
Search on Mountain Pine Beetle and Summit County to see how bad the situation is.

Peace