You asked how many acres of forestland the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) manages and if it keeps an inventory of merchantable timber. You also asked (1) how the Metropolitan District (MDC) manages its forestland, how often it selectively cuts, and if its forest management could be a model for the state; (2) for information about Rhode Island’s draft forest management plan and how it addresses merchantable timber; and (3) for the effect of Sudden Oak Disease (a fungus-like organism deadly to oak trees that was recently discovered on rhododendron imported from Oregon) may have on Connecticut’s forests.

SUMMARY

The DEP currently manages 169,250 acres of forestland and another 79,750 acres consists of wildlife preserves, boat access areas, etc. DEP does not keep an inventory of merchantable timber because its focus is preservation. Creating an estimate would involve an extensive amount of staff time, according to DEP’s Don Smith, State Forester.

In 2000, MDC began the process of conducting a comprehensive inventory of its forests and hired a consulting forestry company to assist it. MDC is currently receiving preliminary information that will be the basis for a written forest and wildlife management plan. The plan will be a guide as to where, when, and how often harvests and other management treatments will be performed, according to Leland H. (Bud) Sanders, MDC Manager of Water Supply. MDC harvests every five to 10 years or 10 to 20 years depending on the area involved, according to Sanders. It appears MDC’s model could be a model for the state. Sanders noted DEP would benefit from having additional staff.

Rhode Island’s draft Forest Resources Management Plan provides goals, policies, and strategies focused on the management of tree resources within the state. The draft plan looks to advance local stewardship of the state’s trees and forest resources, attempting to meet the goal of a healthy, sustainable economy and environment in conjunction with the Rhode Island Urban and Community Forest Plan. Rhode Island’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM) recently forwarded the final draft of the plan to its Statewide Planning Program for review and adoption.

Sudden Oak Death Syndrome virus (Phytophthora ramorum) is deadly to oak forests. The Connecticut Agriculture Experiment Station (CAES) confirmed that the virus entered Connecticut on shipments of rhododendron plants from Oregon, according to a November 30, 2004, Hartford Courant article. CAES does not know if the disease will survive in Connecticut. If it does survive, particularly through the harsh New England winter (it has thrived in the humid West Coast environment), and spreads rapidly to the trees, the affect on the state could be catastrophic. Red and white oak trees make up close to a quarter of Connecticut’s trees, according to Jeff Ward, CAES Station Forester.

MDC

Forest Management Plan

MDC is currently developing a written forest management plan. Sanders explained that it is difficult to give an average frequency of harvests because of the variables involved, such as the current age of the forest, how well the forest was managed early in its life cycle, and the quality of the growing site and consequent rate of growth of the trees there, for example.

In general, MDC has found that a managed forest grows faster and therefore can be visited (i. e. , various forest management or silviculture techniques can be applied) more frequently. Thus, early in the life of a forest a 15 to 20 year management frequency is not unreasonable. As the forest matures and approaches the time that the next generation is regenerating, more frequent management is possible (that is, every five to 10 years), according to Sanders.

According to its website, MDC has its own logging crew. Its foresters are trained to harvest trees in environmentally sensitive areas and they cut nearly 300,000 board feet of logs and 60 cords of firewood annually. MDC also sells standing timber to contractors on a bid basis. About 2 million board feet are marketed this way every year.

Management of State Forest Land

It appears MDC’s more frequent management (i. e. , harvesting of wood) could be a model for the state (which harvests less frequently), given that frequency depends on the forest area concerned and type of tree involved (e. g. , oak cannot be cut as often as other trees). Sanders noted that he has the utmost respect for DEP’s Forestry and Wildlife management practices and staff. However, if he “could make one comment relative to DEP Forestry and Wildlife staff [it] is that there are not enough of them. I think they have traditionally been understaffed and consequently State Forests may not be managed to the optimum level they could be. . . . Our timber sale program has traditionally returned in the range of $ 3 to $ 5 of revenue for each dollar of total cost of management, excluding taxes. For this reason, I think adequately staffing the Department is a wise investment for the forests and for the State,” he said.

He also said that public education and information regarding scientific forest and wildlife management is necessary so that the general public and legislators can better understand the science behind, and reasons for, cutting trees and managing wildlife.

RHODE ISLAND

The Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program, in cooperation with the DEM’s Division of Forest Environment and the Forest Resources Management Plan Advisory Committee and other agencies, prepared a draft long-range forest resources management plan as part of the State Guide Plan. The State Guide Plan is a collection of plans and policy documents adopted by the State Planning Council (which oversees statewide planning programs) that addresses the state’s social, economic, and physical development. Rhode Island adopted the last forest resources management plan in 1984.

The draft sets state policy to guide public and private decisions involving tree and forestland use. As a State Guide Plan element, it also is a basis for determining consistency of local comprehensive plans and other plans, programs, and projects with state policies. The draft makes the case for managing forests more closely.

Wood Resources

According to the draft, as Rhode Island’s forests mature, the number of trees large enough to be valuable for forest products has increased. Saw-timber volume averaged 3,875 board feet per acre, an increase of 29% since 1985. White pine is the top species making up 28% of the saw-timber volume.

The U. S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service reports that there are 1. 3 billion board feet of saw-timber in Rhode Island, an increase of almost 23% since the last forest inventory (1998). Also, since the last forest inventory, the annual growth of timber in trees exceeds that harvested (or lost to mortality) by 2. 4 to 1. (The draft states that forest inventory will be kept annually, as of 2003. )

According to the draft, harvesting trees also improves forest health, wildlife habitat, and access for recreation. Based on the USDA Forest Service Inventory data and the Southern New England Stumpage Price Survey, the value of stumpage (trees in the woods) at the time of the last USDA Forest Service Inventory (1998) was $ 120 million. The draft speculates that the amount has increased due to improved market conditions and growth of the forest since the inventory.

The draft also states that in a recent survey of forest landowners 31% reported that they have had commercial harvesting activity on their land; 6% of these within the last five years. Saw timber and firewood are the most common products, each comprising about 32% of the harvests. Other products like floral greens, mushrooms, maple syrup, and witch hazel made up to 5% of the commercial harvests, according to the draft.

We have attached a copy of the draft.

SUDDEN OAK DEATH SYNDROME

Background

A fungus-like organism known as Sudden Oak Death has been killing oak trees on the West Coast since 1995 (it can kill an oak tree in one to three years). The organism has also been found in Curry County, Oregon, and Nassau County, New York, according to a web site of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The organism affects other plants such as the rhododendron. It entered Connecticut on a shipment of infected rhododendron plants from Oregon this past Fall.

USDA appears to have discovered the potential for a problem in the aforementioned Oregon rhododendron shipment in September and informed CAES officials on October 27, 2004. Although the 10,000 plants from Oregon were distributed to over 50 different retail outlets in Connecticut and were nearly sold out, CAES obtained several remaining plants and tested them, according Dr. Louis Magnarelli, CAES Director.

CAES tests revealed the Sudden Oak Death organism on several plants and shipped the samples to USDA for verification, as USDA protocol dictates. USDA verified that five of 14 plants were infected.

Affect on State

Oak trees make up 23% of the state’s trees and 37% of the saw timber that is cut in the state. If Sudden Oak Disease were to take hold, the affect on the state would be major in two ways. First, the industries that use oak wood (e. g. , chair, piano, pallet, door and window manufacturers and lumber mills) and wildlife depending on the trees (e. g. , deer and blue jays) would be devastated. Second, the state would have to eradicate the infected trees. Although some federal funding is available, it could cost the state millions of dollars, according to Magnarelli.

.

Call for National Legislation

Plants shipped to and exported from Connecticut must have phytosanitary certificates indicating that they have been inspected. State officials in other states that export plants to Connecticut must certify shipments. CAES certifies plants leaving Connecticut, Magnarelli said.

Since tens of thousands of plants are involved, inspections usually involve a sample of the entire shipment (similar to USDA meat inspection). This perhaps explains how infected plants were shipped to Connecticut and roughly 27 other states. But tracking down plants in a shipment of thousands because disease has slipped through (as the Connecticut case shows) is impossible without a central bar code system, according to Magnarelli. A December 3, 2004, Hartford Courant editorial (attached) suggests USDA develop such a system.

JH: dw/ts