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January 10th, 2017|Tags: big trees|0 Comments

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By Doyle Irvin, American Forests

The Pioneer Cabin Tree. Credit: Scott Jungling via Flickr.

What happens when you punch a truck-sized exit wound into a living organism? Luckily for the Pioneer Cabin Tree, the inevitable was postponed for more than a century. An iconic destination in the Calaveras Big Trees State Park in California, the tree was carved through in the 1880s at the bequest of a nearby hotel owner who wanted to compete with Yosemite’s Wawona Tree, another carved behemoth which toppled in 1969. The Pioneer Cabin Tree’s tunnel was big enough to drive a car through, and until a few years ago, you could do just that (recently the tree had only been accessible to hikers).

California was hit by a major storm system known as Pineapple Express, and reports are showing it to be the most powerful storm in the region in more than 10 years.

“The storm was just too much for it,” says the Calaveras Big Trees Association in a Facebook post.

The fallen Pioneer Cabin Tree. Credit: Jim Allday via Facebook.

A major aspect of its appeal (besides the big hole, or, actually, in juxtaposition to the big hole) is that the tree was still alive. That may have been a bit of a stretch, however.

“It was barely alive; there was one branch alive at the top,” a volunteer reported to SF Gate. She also shared that the tree had become “very brittle.”

Although a precise calculation of the tree’s age is still to be conducted, many placed it at more than 1,000 years. That may seem like a good, hearty life, but keep in mind that sequoias are known to live more than three millennia.

So, rest in peace, Pioneer Cabin Tree. You were robbed of your future.

The post Obituary: The Iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree Has Toppled appeared first on American Forests.

Farm field days show participants the most innovative farming methods.

The New Year is here and most of us are making resolutions about how to improve our lives in 2017. Well, we at the Natural Resources Conservation Service believe that learning about farming and conserving natural resources should be at the top of everyone’s list of resolutions. How can you make that happen? By signing up for a farm field day. Field days will give you plenty of opportunities to learn about how good agriculture is done and boost your knowledge of how to conserve and protect natural resources.

If you’re fortunate enough to be in or near Wisconsin, be sure to visit the Lower Fox River Watershed. It’s just south of Green Bay and home to the Great Lakes Demonstration Farm Network where you can see leading-edge conservation practices that are specifically designed to help farmers reduce how much phosphorus enters Green Bay and improve water quality in the Great Lakes.

Created by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Great Lakes Commission, the Great Lakes Demonstration Farm Network, the first of its kind in Wisconsin, highlights conservation systems that are best suited for farms and farmers in the Lower Fox River Watershed. At field days, members of the network show aggies and non-aggies alike how traditional and new conservation systems can reduce soil erosion and nonpoint source pollution that picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters.

What will you see and learn at one of the network’s field days? Here are a couple of examples. Visitors to a field day held this summer by operator Scott Theunis at the Tinedale Farm in Wrightstown saw some great examples of innovative conservation systems in action. Scott highlighted conservation on his dairy operation. If you were there, you would have seen how planting radish and applying cover crops can improve soil health, and been able to compare the condition of a corn field that has not been tilled with one that was tilled with conventional methods.

“This is an example of the commitment these demonstration farms are making,” said Barry Bubolz, NRCS District Conservationist and Area Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Coordinator. “Trying something out of the box and learning from trials to help other farmers, and figuring out what works.”

At another field day in the Lower Fox, Dan Brick, of Brickstead Dairy in Greenleaf, highlighted the application of manure on a corn field. His visitors saw a manure surface applicator unit capable of putting 10,000 gallons of manure on the field. It was done without disturbing the soil, and Brick and neighboring farmers could not see (or smell) any evidence during the time of the application.

Dan’s guests also saw runoff caused by rain enter an edge-of-field monitoring station on his property. Edge-of-field monitoring helps farmers improve and verify the effectiveness of agricultural conservation practices and systems installed on their farm. The monitoring equipment is installed along the edge of a field and the quality of water draining from the field is tested year-round for a period of four years.

“We can show how producer’s investments pay off, in putting conservation practices on the ground,” said Tom Krapf, NRCS Assistant State Conservationist. “This shows the general public how producers are connected and how we’re helping farmers improve area water quality.”

With many field days held April through August nationwide, there’s sure to be one near you. Contact your local USDA Service Center to ask about farm field days in your area. And while you’re at it, speak with the folks at your local NRCS about how they can help you protect and conserve natural resources on your property and in your community.

Happy New Year!

Participants learned how the edge-of-field monitoring station works and various interseeding approaches.

Welcome to Week 2 of the #MyPlateChallenge!

The MyPlate Team welcomes you to Week 2 of our 5-week New Year’s Challenge! Last week we focused on the Dairy Food Group and physical activity. This week we’re adding another food group to the mix… fruit!

So, what foods are in the Fruit Group? This food group includes all fruits and 100% fruit juices. Focus on whole fruits—fresh, canned, frozen, or dried—more often for added dietary fiber. In addition to fiber, fruits contain many essential nutrients that are typically under consumed, including potassium, vitamin C, and folate (folic acid). Healthy ways to add fruit to your day:

• When choosing canned fruits, select fruit canned in 100% fruit juice or water rather than syrup.
• For a boost of vitamin C, add winter citrus fruits, like lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits to recipes or enjoy on their own.
• Try main dishes that incorporate fruit, such as fish with pears or chicken salad with apple.

This week we want you to focus on Fruit by starting with small changes at breakfast. You don’t need to overall your entire meal, just think about small adjustments you can make to include more fruit. Some options include:

• Top cereal with bananas or raisins, or mix fruit into low-fat yogurt.
• Add frozen berries to pancakes or oatmeal.
• Whip up a batch of fruit smoothies and freeze in ice cube trays. During the week, pop out the cubes for a quick on-the-go breakfast.

Check out our newest #MyPlateMyWins video for ideas to help you make other small changes at breakfast:

If you cannot view the above video, please visit this link: https://youtu.be/cKeuCuBQjcU

Visit our MyPlate Tip Sheets for more healthy eating tips or share your own tips and real solutions using #MyPlateMyWins. Don’t forget to follow MyPlate on Facebook and Twitter, join or use SuperTracker, and sign up for email updates.

January 6th, 2017|Tags: Forest Digest|0 Comments

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Find out the latest in forest news in this week’s Forest Digest!

Bristlecone pine. Credit: Marshal Hedin via Flickr.

• Climate Change Threatens to Destroy the Planet’s Oldest Tree Species — Futurism.com
  As temperatures continue to rise, one of the world’s oldest tree species, the bristlecone pine — some of which are more than 5,000 years old — is at risk of going extinct as its frigid mountain ecosystems begin to warm due to climate change.
• Ghost forests signal what’s to come due to accelerating sea level rise — Newsworks.org
  A Rutgers professor, Ken Able, and a graduate student, Jennifer Walker, explore “ghost forests,” forests of dead, drowned trees peaking through marshes created by increasing sea level rise due to climate change.
• One of England’s most historic forests is in danger of becoming a fracking site — TheCanary.co
  Sherwood Forest, a royal forest located in Nottinghamshire, England, and famous for its association to the legend of Robin Hood, has found itself in the midst of a controversial battle to prevent becoming a fracking site.
• Ash dieback—insect threat to fungus-resistant trees — Psy.org
  According to new research from the universities of Exeter and Warwick, it has been revealed that ash trees that are resistant to killer dieback fungus are actually more vulnerable to pest attacks.

The post Forest Digest — Week of January 2, 2017 appeared first on American Forests.

Knowing the maximum size of a tree can help a planner or manager avoid future conflicts between roots and sidewalks or branches and power lines. A technical manual published by the U.S. Forest Service can help cities decide which trees are best to plant in specific areas. (Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service)

In the cramped environs of U.S. cities every inch counts, especially if attempting to make space for nature. But now city planners and urban foresters have a resource to more precisely select tree species whose growth will be a landscaping dream instead of a maintenance nightmare.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station recently published a technical manual and launched the most extensive database available cataloging urban trees with their projected growth tailored to specific geographic regions.

“Knowing a tree’s maximum size can avoid future conflicts between roots and sidewalks or branches and power lines,” said Greg McPherson, research forester for the Forest Service and lead author of the technical report and database.

The products are the culmination of 14 years of work, analyzing more than 14,000 trees across the U.S. Where prior growth models typically featured only a few species specific to a given city or region, the newly released database features 171 distinct species across 16 U.S. climate zones. The trees studied also spanned a range of ages with data collected from a consistent set of measurements.

About 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas and depends on the essential ecological, economic and social benefits provided by urban trees and forests. More than 14 years of work is now part of a U.S. Forest Service technical guide and database to help urban foresters and city planners more precisely select the kinds of trees best for their community. (Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service.)

“There are very few studies, if any in the world, which can compare to this in terms of scope with regard to the number of trees studied, the species analyzed, the geographic range and ages, and so forth,” McPherson said.

Advances in statistical modeling also have given the projected growth dimensions a level of accuracy never before seen. Moving beyond just calculating a tree’s diameter or age to determine expected growth, the research incorporates 365 sets of tree growth equations to project growth.

“Although tree growth is the result of complex processes, growth equations capture changes in tree size with age in a surprisingly simple and accurate way,” said Natalie van Doorn, a Forest Service research urban ecologist and co-author on the study.

In addition to predicted tree growth, the manual provides species-specific data on foliar biomass, or amount of foliage, that is critical to projecting uptake of air pollutants.

Written in a way to be accessible to non-technical users, the technical report gives step-by-step instructions on how to use the equations to calculate tree dimensions, biomass, carbon storage and other features of interest to urban foresters.

“The research and publication were done with the urban forester and city planner in mind,” said van Doorn. “Urban trees benefit communities in innumerable ways, and it’s this information that can help communities make the most of these natural resources.”

The planting of trees in urban area is more than esthetics. Tree size and age influence management costs and ecosystem services derived from urban trees. (Photo Credit: U.S. Forest Service.)

Since 2000, per capita consumption has risen as consumers increasingly enjoy sweet potatoes beyond the holiday table.

Chances are that if you order a side of fries at a restaurant, you need to specify whether you’re asking for white potatoes or sweet potatoes. Food trends that support the consumption of more healthful, colorful and unique foods have helped to encourage sales of sweet potatoes in the form of fries, chips, ready-to-cook and heat-and-eat preparations, expanding consumption of the orange tuber well beyond the holiday table.

Domestic consumption of sweet potatoes has grown considerably since 2000 with annual per capita availability (a proxy for consumption) rising from 4.2 pounds to reach a record-high 7.5 pounds in 2015. The marked rise in domestic demand has been encouraged by promotion of the health benefits of sweet potatoes – rich in vitamins A and C, high in fiber. Expanded demand has also been supported by the increasing variety of sweet potato products available in restaurants and for home preparation.

To meet rising demand, sweet potato production has increased substantially in recent years, achieving a record-high production of 3.1 billion pounds in 2015. The 2015 harvest was a high-water mark in a 15-year trend of expansion that began in 2000 when U.S. production was just 1.3 billion pounds. In 2014 and 2015, sweet potato production increased by an average of about six percent per year.

New crop production hit a slight snag in early October of 2016, when Hurricane Matthew arrived in North Carolina. The storm brought record flooding to many areas of the State, which is the largest U.S. producer of sweet potatoes. Although some loss was inevitable, greater damage was avoided with much of the crop having already been harvested when the hurricane hit.

Beyond U.S. borders, consumers are increasingly enjoying sweet potatoes and, like North Carolina, several of the other key growing States enjoy access to southern ports that provide a locational advantage for meeting export demand. With expanded sales to markets that include Canada and the United Kingdom, aggregate U.S. exports have steadily risen in recent years in parallel with climbing domestic demand.

In 2015, U.S. sweet potato exports reached a record-high 409 million pounds and exports for 2016 are poised to reach approximately the same level. Both internationally and here in the U.S., sweet potatoes are increasingly becoming a colorful addition to holiday-and everyday-dining tables.

To find out more, follow market analysis and outlook on vegetables and other commodities on the ERS website.

Consumers are finding new ways to enjoy this tasty tuber-the sweet potato.

January 5th, 2017|Tags: American ReLeaf, Climate, Pests and Disease, whitebark pine|0 Comments

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By Eric Sprague, American Forests

Summit Lake. Credit: Michael Lehenbauer via Flickr.

As I reached Summit Lake, it was hard not to think that this was one of the wildest places I’ve been. A Barrow’s goldeneye was swimming in the small lake that lies 6,000 feet above sea level. Along the shore mountain chickadees were flocking in the surrounding trees and above the treeline-ringed Rocky Mountain peaks located in Alberta, British Columbia and Montana.

Summit Lake is a three-hour hike from the Cameron Lake trailhead in Waterton National Park in Canada. Along with its sister park in the United States, Glacier National Park, and several U.S. National Forests, First Nations and other public and private lands, Waterton Lake National Park is part of the 18 million acre “Crown of the Continent” ecosystem. With grizzly bears, wolves, lynx and wolverines, the Crown is one of the only North American ecosystems that still retains its full complement of habitats and native predators.

After taking in the view at lunch, Parks Canada scientist, Cyndi Smith, redirected our gaze to the surrounding subalpine forest of Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, subalpine larch and whitebark pine —  the last of which was the focus of our hike to Summit Lake.

An Ecosystem in Peril

In 1910, a fungal disease known as white pine blister rust was introduced to North America near Vancouver, Canada by humans. Over the next 100 years, the fungus spread throughout Western North America and has devastated species of white pine — most notably the whitebark pine.

Combined with other human-caused stressors, including climate change, unprecedented bark beetle outbreaks and the long-term policy of suppressing wildfires, whitebark pine populations are in dire straits. Whitebark pine, which can live more than 1,200 years, is listed as endangered in Canada’s Species at Risk Act and a candidate to be listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

The subalpine ecosystems of the “Crown of the Continent” are some of North America’s most wild places, but yet they are still suffering due to human actions. Without intervening, these ecosystems could change for centuries, if not forever.

A Positive Outlook

Whitebark pine tree with the “red flagging,” a symptom of blister rust infection. Credit: Eric Sprague.

The good news is scientists and conservationists have developed forest restoration strategies that will help whitebark pine withstand the blister rust and provide time for the tree to adapt to a changing climate. These actions include growing and planting blister rust-resistant whitebark pine trees and mimicking natural fires to limit competition from other species.

Whitebark pine is a great example of how people have influenced our native forest ecosystems given its remoteness, but the need for restoration exists across the country, including your local parks and favorite wooded haunts. In the Eastern U.S., much of the forest has grown back in the past 100 years or so as farms were abandoned for richer soils in the midwest. Like out west, eastern forests are also changing due to a growing number of stressors, including climate change, pests and pathogens and invasive plants. Oaks are the most abundant eastern tree species by volume (think lots of big trees), but oak seedlings are all but absent in many locations for numerous human-influenced reasons like a lack of natural, low-intensity fires that would eliminate competition.

What We’re Doing about It

The U.S. Forest Service has estimated that up to 82 million acres of national forest land are in need of restoration. Local communities in partnership with agencies and conservation groups are beginning to embrace forest restoration as strategies for reducing severe wildfires, protecting drinking water sources and maintaining recreation opportunities. More and more studies also show that restoration is a significant economic driver. For example, the Institute for Sustainable Development in Oregon, showed that every million dollars spent on restoration activities generates up to 28 jobs.

American Forests is committed to working with our partners to restore forests in some of America’s most important ecosystems. For example, in the Northern Great Lakes, we are supporting projects that reintroduce wildfire in jack pine forests to create habitat for the endangered Kirtland’s warbler. In the southeast, we are helping partners convert loblolly pine plantations to biodiversity-rich longleaf pine ecosystems. And, in the Central Appalachians were are re-establishing native red spruce forests on former mine lands. Like the sign says in the antique shop, “if you break it, you buy it.”

The post Crown of the Continent: An Ecosystem in Peril, Thanks to Humans appeared first on American Forests.

Una señora haciendo compras usando sus beneficios de SNAP (cupones de alimentos).

Todos sabemos las recomendaciones de comidas saludables y  los consejos que ofrecen los expertos en cuanto a la buena salud. Pero el comer saludablemente no es tan fácil como simplemente seguir todo lo que oímos de los médicos y nutricionistas. A veces, el acceso a comidas saludables es limitado debido al vecindario donde uno se encuentra. Otras veces, no alcanza el dinero para las opciones de comidas más frescas o nutritivas. Y aun en otras ocasiones, el impedimento a alimentos saludables puede que sólo sea cuestión de saber dónde buscar en su tienda o bodega local.

Es ahí donde el Servicio de Alimentos y Nutrición (FNS, por sus siglas en inglés) del Departamento de Agricultura de EE.UU. está enfocándose — mejorando los alimentos disponibles para aquellos que servimos, sin sacrificar la satisfacción al paladar. FNS es la agencia federal encargada de administrar el Programa de Asistencia de Nutrición Suplementaria (SNAP, por sus siglas en inglés; anteriormente conocido como el programa de cupones de alimentos o food stamps). Y no hay razón por la cual los recipientes de SNAP tengan  que sufrir un abastecimiento inferior de comidas saludables.

FNS continúa sus esfuerzos de difundir información para los hispanoparlantes que se benefician de nuestros programas de asistencia pública. Además de una página web titulada ¿Qué se está cocinando? (What’s Cooking) que contiene cientos de recetas en español para platos ricos y de bajo precio, también acabamos de publicar un manual nuevo “Guía para Tiendas Saludables.” El mismo documento, “Healthy Corner Store Guide” también está disponible en inglés.

El fin de dicho documento es educar a los dueños de tiendas o bodegas pequeñas a cómo mejorar el acceso y venta de productos saludables. Esto pudiera involucrar ideas en cómo mejor mercadear la mercancía, encontrar mayoristas que vendan comidas más saludables a mejores precios, y cambiar la colocación de los alimentos en los estantes para  resaltar los productos frescos y saludables. Por ejemplo, productos sanos pudieran ser posicionados a nivel de vista cerca de las entradas a las bodegas para que sean los primeros artículos que uno ve cuando entra al local.

Las bodegas o tiendas pequeñas tienen mayor prevalencia en comunidades de bajos ingresos. Las áreas de bajos ingresos tienen radicalmente muchas más tiendas de autoservicio que las áreas de mayores ingresos. Es más probable que los jóvenes hispanos asistan a escuelas con tiendas de autoservicio y de venta de bocadillos cerca de sus colegios.

Muchas tiendas o bodegas no promueven hábitos alimenticios saludables. Las bodegas suelen vender pocos productos frescos, granos integrales y productos lácteos bajos en grasa. Los adolescentes que viven cerca de las tiendas de autoservicio consumen más bebidas endulzadas con azúcar que aquellos que viven más lejos. Y hay estudios que indican que la proximidad a las tiendas de autoservicio dentro de un vecindario está asociada a mayores índices de obesidad y diabetes—enfermedades que desproporcionalmente impactan a los latinos.

Ya que los latinos acostumbran a hacer muchas compras en estos tipos de tiendas, es nuestra meta que aquellos que estén haciendo compras con sus beneficios de SNAP puedan comprar alimentos saludables para ellos y sus familiares. Y le agradecemos a los dueños de estas bodegas que están tomando los primeros pasos a esta transformación.