HAWLEY — Are beech trees taking over your forest land, making it both less valuable as woodland and less attractive to wildlife?
The Massachusetts Forest Trust will be holding a “Beech Control Tour” Saturday, Aug. 19, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Taverntop Trust woodlands on South Road. The 90-acre Taverntop Trust property has been owned by the Cox family since the 1920s. The woodlands there have been managed since 1975 and it has been a certified tree farm since 1983.
According to Gregory Cox, one of the landowners, part of the woodlands were severely damaged by a 2008 ice storm. With the threat of the tree-killing emerald ash borer, the family was advised to harvest the largest canopy-forming, overstory trees to allow a new hardwood forest to naturally regenerate.
Also, as part of the 2015 wood harvest, more than 400 cords of poor quality beech in the understory were removed to give other hardwood species a chance to seed in and grow.
Although the American beech is not “foreign,” many foresters consider it an invasive, because it is capable of growing quickly and supplanting more valuable hardwood trees like maple, oak and ash. Also, its seeds are a “last resort” as a food source for deer, moose and other forest-dwelling animals that prefer the seedlings of other hardwoods.
The Hawley tour will show the results of the 2015 harvest and subsequent beech control efforts. There will also be discussion on how landowners can use similar methods to avoid having their forests overwhelmed by beech over time.
Participants should meet at the intersection of South and Plainfield roads at 9 a.m. Wear long pants and bring bug spray. If there is heavy rainfall, the tour will be postponed. For more information, go online to:
www.massforestalliance.net
or call Greg Cox at 413-339-5526.
The Massachusetts Forest Trust, which is part of the Massachusetts Forest Alliance, is a non-profit group that educates landowners, loggers, foresters and others about good forest management and safety.