By Ryan Trapani
Some define a forest’s health by its resilience to disturbances, while others by its mere biodiversity in flora and fauna. Many who make a living in the woods base their definition upon the products that can be ascertained from thereof. At the Catskill Forest Association (CFA), we believe it is a mixture of all these parameters. One general definition of an extremely healthy forest is one that affords the landowner many opportunities: maple sugaring, wood products, wildlife habitat, recreation, forest edibles, hunting opportunities, etc.
Last week, I had the opportunity to go camping in the Catskill Forest Preserve’s Slide Mountain Wilderness Area, where I was able to devote plenty of time to thinking about “forest health.” Tramping around I couldn’t help but to ask the question, “Is this a healthy forest?” Fresh in the back of my mind was a recent CFA woodswalk on American ginseng, when CFA brought its members onto state land and showed them where they might find this wonderful plant. Although illegal to harvest there, the intention was to show landowners ginseng’s preferable conditions so that they might plant it on their own properties that afforded similar conditions. The forest contained mature trees of sugar maple, red oak, ash, and basswood. The forest floor contained an abundant and diverse mix of tree seedlings and herbaceous growth. The opportunities there were many. It could be tapped for maple syrup. Poor quality trees could be thinned out in order to enhance the growth of valuable timber crops. Larger cuts could be made in order to provide young forest habitat to enhance certain wildlife species since young tree seedlings were already present. Forest edibles and medicinals abounded: ginseng, nettle, mushrooms, to name a few. Mature red oak trees could be released from competition in order to enhance acorn production for hungry wildlife while enhancing hunting opportunities. The options were many there. Clearly, this forest offered many opportunities. It was a healthy forest.
Now back to my camping experience. I had a great time camping in this State Wilderness Area, but was it a healthy forest? No and yes. In many ways, it did not meet my expectations. Unlike the ginseng woodswalk, this area lacked a healthy understory. The only tree seedlings found growing were mostly American beech, striped maple, red maple, and fern. There should have been others, but the deer had already eaten them. There was very little herbaceous growth, since herbs never grow beyond the deer browse height of five feet. Although many blame the scarcity of ginseng on poaching, the white-tailed deer does browse it, as fresh nibbles testified on our ginseng walk.
Some forests are healthier than others for a variety of reasons. Some are plain lucky since they exist in an area where deer browse pressure is low for a variety of reasons coupled with good site conditions. However, the forest health conditions experienced during my camping trip are not exclusive to that area. Unfortunately, they are growing. Humans have relinquished their role as participant in the forest to random natural disturbances and the white-tailed deer. Forests that contain both little sunlight and high deer browse are most at risk of affording fewer opportunities into the future. Vegetation that requires abundant sunlight — berry and nut species — or does not grow above deer browse height are most at risk. In general, areas that have experienced limited hunting and forest management for a few decades or more are even more at risk. In many cases, the conditions created under these circumstances are a forest floor containing only plant species — native and non-native — found unpalatable to deer. Such a forest may be offering diminishing returns or opportunities into the future — perhaps a true definition of unsustainability.
On a brighter side of things, all of this can be avoided. We should not simply blame deer and the undesirable vegetation they leave behind. It is currently illegal to cut trees on state forest preserve, so enhancing forest health there is out of our hands for now. Besides, many people travel there not to measure forest health, but to seek solitude and exercise, or so I think. However, if you own a few acres or more, you can make a difference. Forests can be made “healthier” by knowing which trees should be cut, which should be left behind, when, where, and how many. As in a garden, the proper allocation of sunlight can bear many fruits of one’s labor, and how fruitful is a garden left to random disturbances and deer browse anyway? If you are interested in measuring and possibly improving the “health” of the forest on your property, contact CFA. We might be able to shed some light on the matter. www.catskillforest.org
