Stewardship Leaves
Forests for the Future
Newsletter for the New Jersey Forest Stewardship Program
Contents
Forest Stewards
receive Awards at
Tree Farm Day................. 1
Landowners Needed to
Implement Emerald Ash
Borer Biological Control
Release Program.............. 2
Spring 2016
Forest Stewards Receive Awards
at Tree Farm Day 2015
2014 George Pierson
Forest Steward of the
Year Winners
Bruce Estell (R) and
his son Brett own
and manage the
44+ acre
Stewardship forest
in Sussex County
near Tranquility.
They earned the
award by managing
their forest in an
outstanding fashion.
Doug Tavella is their
consultant forester.
New Jersey Tree Farm
Day Celebration to be
held on June 3rd.............. 2
Emerald Ash Borer Found To
Attack White Fringetree..... 3
Utilization & Marketing
(U&M) Municipal
Outreach Fall 2015........... 3
A Visit to the Forest of
Henry Tamagni II............. 4
Mount Vernon FarmsA Busy Forest with
a Rugged Past.................. 5
Forest Stewards of
the Year Bruce and
Brett Estell.................6 & 7
Bob Williams Earns
National SAF Award.......... 8
Atlantic white-cedar
Log Mining...................... 9
Giant
Hogweed-Invasive.......... 10
Editor’s Log
Tree Feature.................. 11
Calendar of Events......... 12
New Jersey Tree Farmer of the Year
Boy Scout Camp No-Be-Bo-Sco
of the Northern New Jersey Council
The Camp is
located in Hardwick,
Warren County,
New Jersey.
Scout camp representative Bill Kallesser
accepted the award
for their outstanding
forestry efforts. Their
consultant forester is
Steven Kallesser of
Gracie & Harrigan
Consultant Foresters.
Spathius
LANDOWNERS
BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!
Oobius
Tetrastichus
Biocontrol release tree with parasitized larvae
(on branch) and eggs (small cup)
If you are interested in participating in the NJ EAB Biocontrol Program,
please contact: Rosa Yoo, Forest Health Specialist, NJ State Forest Service,
rosa.yoo@dep.nj.gov, 609-984-3861. If you do not have 40 acres, ask your
neighbors if they want to help.
Landowners Needed to Implement
Emerald Ash Borer Biological
Control Release Program
To be a part of the Optimal Stewardship and/or Farmland Assessment sites for biological control release
program, landowners should have the following:
• 40 acres of forested area
• No less than 25% ash
• Ash trees in relatively healthy condition
• Variety of size classes
• EAB detected in close proximity to the release site
• EAB densities should be low to moderate
• Easy to access to release sites
• 100 meters (328 feet) or more from a
road or non-forested area
Since its discovery in 2014 in NJ, the tree-killing emerald ash borer (EAB) has since been detected in 15
municipalities and six counties. As a means to manage
EAB, the State Department of Agriculture and State Forest Service have been working with the USDA Animal
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to obtain and
release biological control agents in NJ. Currently, there
are three types of stingless wasps that are being released in the United States. These species specifically
parasitize various life stages of the EAB. The two larvae
parasitoids are Tetrastichus and Spathius, and the egg
parasitoid is Oobius. Currently all parasitoids are reared
and shipped from the USDA lab in Brighton, MI. Parasitoids must be released in the field the same day as it
is shipped to the NJ Department of Agriculture building
in West Trenton.
The parasitoids are released in the spring, mid-summer, and late–summer for two consecutive years. In
the third year, the site is revisited again to recover
adult parasitoids. Each release site is visited multiple
times per release, approximately every other week for
6 weeks. The parasitoid wasps are released from small
cups or artificially infested branch pieces, which are
attached to ash trees with a nail and string. Ribbon and
metal tags are used to label the release trees. The cups
or branches are left in the field for at least 6 weeks to
insure adults emerge and disperse.
New Jersey Tree Farm Day
Celebration to be held on June 3rd
sessions and a silent auction, tree ID contest, presentation of NJ Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year (NJOTFY)
and NJ George Pierson Outstanding Forest Steward of
the Year (NJOFSY) awards, and a special 70th Anniversary celebrating past recipients of the NJOTFY Award.
As always there will be a healthy breakfast and lunch
provided as part of the registration fee.
New Jersey Tree Farm Day (TFD) is to be held the first
Friday in June and this year it falls on June 3rd. This
year TFD will be held at the Diocese of Camden, a 900
acre property in Franklin Township Gloucester County at
1300 Tuckahoe Road. It will be a special day celebrating
the American Tree Farm System (ATFS) 75th Anniversary and NJ’s Tree Farm Program’s 70th Anniversary! The
event will be held from 8:30 am -3:30 pm. Highlights
will be visiting sites which have had prescribed burning,
planted and natural regeneration, thinning for firewood.
Additionally, resource specialists will run concurrent
Look for registration information in the mail towards
the end of April and on the NJ Forestry Association
website or call Dennis Galway 908-595-9133. Please go
to the NJ TF web site at https://www.treefarmsystem.
org/new-jersey and contact your consultant forester for
additional information.
2
Emerald Ash Borer Found To Attack White Fringetree
By: Rosa Yoo, New Jersey State Forestry Service
Most recently, Dr. Cipollini observed that EAB will
not necessarily attack white fringetree as ash
trees become scarce, but rather that white fringetree has equal likelihood of EAB infestation as ash
in the same area. In several sites, he found EAB
infested white fringetree adjacent to healthy,
seemingly non-infested ash. Preliminary observations
of EAB infestations on white fringetree suggest
that although EAB are able to successfully complete
their life cycle, developmental failures are commonly
observed.
The emerald ash borer (EAB) was first detected in the US in 2002 and in New Jersey in 2014.
As its name suggests, EAB is primarily known to
attack ash trees, up until recently. In 2014, Dr.
Don Cipollini, a researcher from Wright State
University
discovered
EAB
attacking
white
fringetrees
(Chionanthus
virginicus)
in
Ohio,
the first record of EAB attacking a non-ash host
in the US. In its native range, EAB have been
known to infest non-ash hosts including Asian
species of elm, walnut and Pterocarya sp. (wingnut).
Although some host range tests were done
in 2003 to investigate host range and host
preference in the US, white fringetree was not
included in these studies.
Dr. Cipollini looked
specifically at white fringetree because of its
close relationship to Fraxinus species on the
phylogenetic table. Chionanthus is not only in the same
family as ash, Oleaceae, but it is the most closely related plant to ash than any other genus within the Oleaceae family. And to date, EAB infested white fringetrees
have also been found in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Although white fringetree is not commonly found in NJ,
a small corner in southwestern Jersey is in the native
range for white fringetree, and it is becoming a more
commonly planted landscape tree. Research continues
to better understand the impact of EAB on not only white
fringetree, but other potential alternate hosts as well.
To
access
Dr.
Cipollini’s
webinar,
go
to
www.emeraldashborer.info and go to Emerald Ash
Borer University, then EAB on Demand.
Utilization & Marketing
(U&M) Municipal
Outreach Fall 2015
During the Fall of 2015, approximately 20 municipalities that were severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy were visited to provide a U&M
Toolkit. The U&M Toolkit includes information
on wood utilization and marketing, a municipal
questionnaire that inquires how the municipality
and its wood resource was affected by Sandy, a
complete NJ Forest Industry Professionals Directory which includes the NJ Approved Foresters,
urban tree care professionals, professional loggers and a sawmill listing. While meeting with
these municipalities the importance of maximizing utilization of debris to avoid trees and wood
waste in landfills and if they were interested in
a Community Forestry Management Plan if one
was not on file. This will assist in planning and
implementation should/when future adverse
events occur was also discussed. The U&M
Program is also interested in assisting forest stewards. More info: Jon Klischies at
609.984.0867, jon.klischies@dep.nj.gov.
Chionanthus virginicus native range
Chionanthus virginicus
flowers
Photo Credit:
grownative.org
3
A Visit to the Forest of Henry Tamagni III
When asked what living on your forest means
to you, Henry said, “it’s the lifestyle.” It is very
quiet in his forest. He manages his forest for
firewood to sell and some lumber products, but
his main passion is wildlife. He follows his forest
stewardship and woodlot management plans
As you can imagine, Henry
keeps busy pursuing a full time
manufacturing business outside
his home forest, following his
life style of caring for his trees,
hunting in his lush green forest
and fishing in the deep blue sea.
Henry lives in Salem County near Pittsgrove in
the Maurice River Watershed. The first subtle
hint that a main interest of Henry is hunting and
wildlife management, is that his mailbox at the
lane entrance is painted in hunter’s camouflage
colors. The gently winding paved lane leads
through agricultural fields into his 113 acre forest.
A new barn, which harbors his wood processor
for firewood production, farm equipment, a riding
mower, an old forwarder and grapple for logging,
and an ATV, is located by the site of the original
farm house.
Just a little way further into a forest opening, is
Henry’s new log home built of tongue and groove
white pine logs from Pennsylvania. The picture
perfect log home is accented with a rock fireplace
chimney and the whole scene fits perfectly in its
forest opening.
About 100 feet from the side of the home is a
5,000,000 BTU Classic Model boiler made by
the Central Boiler Company of Greenbush MN.
Henry feeds the boiler with oak firewood cleared
from his wildlife openings and his forest stand
improvement thinnings. The boiler heats a 400
gallon water supply that provides radiant heat in
the floors and hot water for the rest of the house.
His monthly gas bills are near zero.
written by his consulting forester Craig Kane.
Blue bird boxes are placed along field edges. A
large grouping of purple martin nesting gourds
hang near the barn and plots of corn, apple
trees, and clover for deer and other wildlife are
in the open fields. As a side benefit, wildlife
food openings have been created by removing
some of the dead and poorly formed trees in
sanitation cuttings, forest stand improvement
thinnings, and crop tree releases. Hunting is
one of Henry’s passions. He controls the deer
population by hunting. In his trophy room, along
with other wildlife harvested mainly in Canada,
are mounted heads of large deer hunted on his
forest. Venison, and deep sea fish that Henry
catches, are favored foods in the household.
Henry, accompanied by Shadow, his faithful black
lab retriever, uses the ATV to ride the extensive
forest trails to access his predominately oak
forest stands. As to be expected, there are some
pitch and shortleaf pines, perhaps 20% of his
trees, in this central upland area of southern
New Jersey.
Henry, his faithful black lab, and a
16-inch DBH white oak
Tongue and groove
white pine house logs
Henry has laid out a network of
access and protect his forest
He loads and transports his thinnings and logs
with the help of a 1990s Massey Ferguson
Treever (forwarder) equipped with a grapple.
Most of the trees he harvests will be cut and split
into firewood sizes with his processor which is a
Model 1610 Multitek fuelwood processor powered
by a 25 H.P. gas engine, with a capacity of 2 to
3 cords per hour, 12-foot maximum log lengths,
and 18-inch log diameters. Henry sells firewood,
uses it to fire his boiler, and to burn in the stone
fireplace of his fine log home.
4
A handsome white-tailed
deer from the Tamagni
Forest
Mount Vernon Farms
A Busy Forest with a Rugged Past
Management objectives for the three tracts include:
• Protect and enhance aesthetics, cultural resources,
and scenic beauty
• Protect the water quality produced by the
springs on the property
• Sustain production of natural resources with
an emphasis on firewood
• Provide, maintain and establish new access
roads and trails
• Reduce or eliminate undesirable vegetation
• Remain eligible for Farmland Assessment
In the 1880s, it took a
family, a large family,
to eke out a living on
the 300-acre Williams’
rocky, forested, dairy
farm. That is what
Isaac Williams and
his wife did with
the help of their 15
children. Evidence of
their home, barn, and
Foundations remain on Issac Williams 1880s farm,
now part of Mount Vernon Farms. Platz photo.
out-buildings remain
as remnants of stone
foundations. This property has been divided and is in Vernon
Township in Sussex County, close by the abandoned mining
town of Williamsville.
Projects and products include: Forest Stand Improvement
on 14 acres and the resulting cordwood, firewood sales and
delivery; control of invasive plants, vines, and hemlock woolly
adelgids; Christmas tree and nursery stock sales; growing and
planting seedlings for reforestation; repair damages caused
by Hurricane Irene; sales of leaf mulch; management of ATV
damage; and working with cross-bow hunters to control deer
populations.
In 1985, Elmer Platz created the Mount Vernon Farms by
purchasing three properties within a two miles radius:
• Part of the Williams’ Farm —13.0 acres
• Blueberry Ridge Farm — 7.8 acres
• Mountainview Farm —7.4 acres
These total his 28.2 acre Mount Vernon Farms.
The rugged rocky terrain presents many of the same
challenges today as it did to Isaac and his kin who labored
largely by hand and horse 130 years ago. Today, the three
combined tracts now provide a greater variety of products to
a different and more mechanized “family” by following up-todate stewardship management plans.
Elmer, a physical therapist, is the proprietor of the Farms.
His practice and home are located in the Mountainview Farm
atop a ridge overlooking the Kittatinny Mountains. Some of
his patients complete their therapy as they regain physical
shape with the additional exercises of climbing stone stairs
and hiking trails winding through the cut-your-own christmas
trees “with a view.”
In his “spare time,” Elmer, recipient of the 2013 Outstanding
NJ Tree Farmer Award, contributes to many organizations
including: as National Treasurer of the American Physical
Therapy Association and serving on the Board of Directors of
the New Jersey Forestry Association.
Elmer manages the three Mount Vernon Farms hands-on; but
he has many associates including forestry consultant Dennis
Galway who, knowing Elmer’s management desires, wrote
the three, 10-year-management plans and objectives for the
properties. A certified tree expert monitors the success of
insecticide applications for woolly adelgid control on 6 acres
of native hemlocks. On Elmer’s Williams Farm tract, local
historians work to restore cultural artifacts and the Garden
State Black Powder Association holds muzzle loading events
there, conduct Fall Woods Walk events for their membership.
The Association plans a “sugar camp” demonstration in the
sugar maple stand for community education.
In the Blueberry Ridge Farm tract, all-terrain-vehicle riders
are a vexing problem and Elmer works with the local off-roadvehicle association to help manage ATV use.
5
2014 Pierson Forest Steward of the Year Winners
Bruce and Brett Estell & the Holz Hausen
Bruce Estell and his son Brett
own and manage the 44+ acre
Stewardship
forest
in
Sussex
County near Tranquility, NJ. They
are the recipients of the 2014
George Pierson Forest Steward of
the Year awarded by the State of
New Jersey. They earned the award
by managing their forest in an
outstanding fashion. Doug Tavella is
their consultant forester. The Forest
Stewardship plan for the property
was created by the Estells and Tavella in 2010. The property has been
in the Estell family since Brett’s
grandfather purchased it in 1968.
Brett is the family manager.
Your first view of the Estell
property, in Sussex County, is from
Decker Pond Road. You will see
a sign advertising “camp wood
and cedar posts”, a retail firewood
stand, and Tree Farm and Stewardship Forest signs. As you get closer,
there may be a few wide, attractive,
8 to 12-foot long, hardwood planks
with a bark edge leaning against
a tree nearby and some burls for
carving on a shelf. These are in the
firewood area for self-serve sale.
You can drop your payment in a lock
box attached to the stand.
In the background is a very long,
L-shaped, 6-foot tall and 4-foot
wide firewood stack drying in the
air. If you want firewood delivered,
just call the number on the hanging
sign. Incidentally, the Estells found
that advertising their firewood
as “camp wood” increased their
sales by attracting campers to buy
their product in addition to their
traditional household market.
not suitable for logs. A few strong,
damaged trees and snags were left
standing for a wide range of wildlife
species.
Other practices followed in the
stewardship plan, and not related
to the storm, included controlling
Japanese
barberry
and
other
invasive plants on 3 1/3 acres to
date and thinning 6½ acres of
trees for Forest Stand Improvement. These improvements were
accomplished in cooperation with
the Natural Resources Conservation Service cost-share programs. The thinning program
provides slash for more wildlife
habitat piles and wood for their firewood market.
The Estells have created an
efficient network of year-round loop
roads and trails for management
access, fire and pest control, while
protecting soils from erosion. One
problem that deserves attention is
a very heavy deer population. Bruce
and Brett are able to protect some
planted seedlings with cages. In
addition to a thriving mix of 85 to
105 year-old mixed north central
hardwoods, there is a stand of 40 to
60 year-old eastern redcedar mixed
with upland hardwoods. This is the
source of the small cedar fence
posts they sell.
(continued on page 7)
Recently, the Estells held a timber
sale of about 10,000 board feet of
trees damaged or toppled by Hurricane Sandy. Their professional
forester, Doug Tavella, marked the
trees to be harvested and these
were cut, bucked to log lengths, and
hauled out by a professional logger.
Brett cut firewood from tops and
other parts of the damaged trees
6
Hidden from view is a Holz Hausen “wood house” that Brett Estell built.
Brett explains, “Technically, it is not a house, but it is a
round, bee-hive shaped, carefully stacked pile of firewood
based on an age-old German method of stacking and
drying firewood. It uses a smaller footprint than most
traditional stacking methods.”
If the Holz Hausen is piled the traditional 10-foot diameter and
10-feet tall, it would contain 785 cu. ft. of wood or about six
cords. The 7-foot diameter, 7-foot tall version will have volume
of approximately 269 cu. ft., or two cords of wood. The Holz
Hausen often uses a pole to tell if the firewood is reasonably dry.
Before the pile is started, a pole is inserted in the ground and
a paint mark is applied at a point 80% of the pole height above
ground (e.g. at 8 feet on a 10-foot pole). The outside wood
pieces of the pile are laid horizontally. As the pile progresses in
height, firewood is stacked vertically in the center. The pile is
finished when it reaches the top of the pole.
Air enters the pile and is pulled to the center which acts as
a chimney directing the air up through the stack. This action
dries the wood, and as it dries, the pile shrinks, and the paint
mark on the center pole is revealed. This is an indication that
the wood has dried enough to heat your home or campfire.
How long it will take to dry depends on location of the stack,
amount of sunlight, wind and other weather factors.
Remnants of stone walls lie on the property line and along
abandoned tree–filled pastures.These are a reminder of the long
history of use the 44-acre property has seen. Nearby, a large
subdivision overlooks Lake Tranquility. The busy activities of
that community contrast with to the quiet serenity of the healthy
Estell Forest where wildlife, trees and wildflowers abound,
thanks
to
the
cooperative efforts
of the landowners,
forest
consultant,
state and federal
agencies and their
personnel.
For further information on how to stack a Holz Hauen visit:
• http://thechimnp.ca/eyswee6seasoningwood.html (Build a Holz Hausen by Edward Zurmuhlen)
• www.backwoodshome.articles2/fluckiger132.html (Build a Holz Hausen by Doug Fluckinger)
7
Bob Williams Earns
National SAF Award
Changes Made to the
NJ Forest Stewardship
Cost-Share process
Forest consultant Robert R. (Bob)
Williams, CF, owner of Pine Creek
Forestry, LLC in Laurel Springs,
NJ, was awarded the 2015 W, D.
Hagenstein Communicator Award
by the National Society of American
Foresters (SAF) Board of Directors.
The award was presented at the
SAF annual convention in November
in Baton Rouge, LA. The award
“recognizes an SAF member who
displays the ability, talent, and skill to lead innovative and
exemplary communications initiatives and programs that
increase the general public’s understanding of forestry and
natural resources at the local, regional, or national level.”
Presented annually, the engraved award consists of a
cash honorarium of $500.
Hello Forest Stewards,
The NJ State Forest Service (SFS) thanks you and your
consultant forester in helping you participate in the NJ
Forest Stewardship Program (FSP). The FSP has been
suffering from its own success in providing an earlier
payment schedule than we currently have due to the
number of stewards interested and level of funding.
We now have 2,150 plans covering 175,000 property
acres implementing sustainable forest resource management which provide ecological services such as
healthier forests, forest products, wildlife habitat and
clean water and air.
NJ is part of the 20 northeastern states in receiving
funds from the United Forest Service and those funds
only go so far in providing much needed cost-share.
Our state is unique in that we provide cost-share for
plan development. Many other states absorb their allocation into their general budget and provide no costshare. That’s fine, for them.
The nomination materials state that he is “…widely
recognized as the point person for forest issues in
southern New Jersey and beyond. He is regularly quoted
by members of the media, which view him as a reliable
and passionate forest steward capable of articulating the
importance of forest management to a lay audience.”
His nomination, assembled by Dr. George Zimmermann,
Professor of Environmental Studies at New Jersey’s
Stockton University also details his outreach both to
policymakers and directly to the general public.
Revisions to the cost-share application and reimbursement process need to be revised to prevent a continued backlog of payments to you, the Forest Steward
in the nations most densely populated state. The SFS
will proceed as is until federal Fiscal Year 2017 with
our core FSP funding from the USFS to the NJ Forestry Association (NJFA) then cease new applications.
However, the direct application of funds to NJ Forestry
Association will continue until those who have been
waiting for reimbursement have been reimbursed.
The cessation will take approximately 2-3 years depending on funding from the USFS. During this time
SFS will and consultants can recommend potential
Stewards (applicants) to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for funding opportunities.
Williams’ passion for forestry is also evident in his outreach
to the public, as is evident in his 2009 documentary, A
Working Forest, which he funded with his own money.
Through conversations with many of his personal contacts
in the natural-resources community, the video provides a
detailed explanation of why forest management is crucial
to the conservation of the country’s natural resources.
Bob is only the second member
of the NJ SAF Division to receive
a prestigious award from the
National SAF. The text of his
acceptance speech can be read
here:
https://njforests.org/
wp-content/uploads/2015/11/
comments_SAF_Award.pdf
Congratulations Bob!
As mentioned, this change is necessary to stop the
backlog of those Stewards waiting for payment. Not
making these changes will push the waiting list to
4-5 years and beyond and that is not conducive to
promoting the benefits of a stewardship plan. When
those waiting are finally reimbursed we will commence
a sign-up period, details to follow, so we will not develop another backlog. SFS has revised the cost-share
application as fillable PDF via regional office and posted that to the following webpage: http://www.state.
nj.us/dep/parksandforests/forest/stw_inc_prog.html.
We have also made a few minor changes to the criteria of a Forest Stewardship Plan which is also posted
at the same web site.
Bob Williams
communicating
8
Atlantic White-cedar Shingles and
Cedar Log Mining in New Jersey
The source of Atlantic white-cedar for shingles, and
other decay resistant products, in New Jersey has been
from standing trees and “mined logs.” Mining for logs.
Sounds strange doesn’t it? Mining and lumbering were
combined in the swamplands of southern New Jersey. In
1817 a sunken forest of fallen Atlantic white-cedar was
discovered in the Great Cedar Swamp which stretched
for seven miles across the neck of Cape May peninsula,
following the shores of Dennis Creek and Cedar Creek
that drain the swamp’s overflow.
Usually, cedar shingles and lumber are cut from
standing trees that are hauled to the mill. However
buried trees, many thought to be felled by hurricane
some 500 to 1,000 years before they were found in
the amber-colored swamp water and red muck near
Dennisville. This preserved the buried trees so that
their fiber was as clean and smooth and strong as it was
when the green branches of the cedar were waving over
the swamp.
Cedar mining was an important industry in South
Jersey until about the 1880s. Many a building in New
Jersey, Philadelphia, Wilmington and the West Indies
were shingled with either sunken or standing New
Jersey Atlantic white-cedar. Then, as cheaper
western red cedar lumber was brought in from the Pacific
Northwest, the industry fell into a decline.
Log mining surged again around the Great Depression
of the 1930s, when jobs were few. A small company
of men who were removing peat for fertilizer from the
swamplands near Haleyville in Cumberland County
discovered another sunken forest. Logs buried from 4 to
20 feet deep were mined and hauled to the Dennisville
sawmill to be sawn into planks and shingles.
The men who went out into the swamps to mine the
submerged cedar were called “swampers” or miners.
Armed with “progues,” which are iron rods about 12
feet long and pointed at one end, the swampers poked
around in the deep muck until they strike a log. When
the rod strikes a log the swamper chips off a piece with
the sharp point of the tool, which brings the chip or
splinter to the surface. By the appearance of this chip
the “miner” can tell at once whether the tree he has
tested is sound. If so, he measures the length of the
log by prodding along to the log end. Then he and his
helpers shoveled off the muck until the log was in view.
With log saws, very much like those used to cut ice from
lakes, the logs were cut into lengths. If the water was
deep enough, many of the sawed-off sections floated
to the surface. The logs were pulled out to dry and
eventually hauled to the saw mill.
As of 2016, the Schairer Brothers Sawmill, located near
Egg Harbor, specializes in sawing Atlantic white-cedar
logs. Their logs come from standing trees. Currently, state and private forest landowners and research
scientists are working to replant and restore the AWC
forests which have severely declined in areas along the
U.S. east coast.
References: Mining Ancient Cedar, a blog by Peter Stemmer Sept 25, 2010; Cedar Mining in New Jersey’s Sunken Forests,
Batsto Citizens Gazette, Summer Fall 1986; and The WPA Guide to New Jersey, 1938.
Photos: 1930 scenes from the George Pierson collection.
9
NEW JERSEY INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKE TEAM WWW.NJISST.ORG
Giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)
Family Name: Apiaceae - Carrot family
Native Range: Eurasia
NJ Status: Emerging Stage 0 – Absent or
very rare. It is moderately threatening native
plant communities.
Description:
• Large biennial or perennial, 8’ - 15’ tall
• Stems rough-hairy and hollow, 2” - 4”
wide often with red-purple splotches
and ridges
• Dried stems persist into winter
• Federal noxious weed
• DO NOT TOUCH! Exposure to sap
can cause severe skin reactions: light
sensitivity, blistering, inflammation,
and potential blindness
Commercially Available: No, used to be.
Purple, hairy stem
Flat top flowers
Pointed teeth leaves
Leaves:
• Alternate, sharply and coarsely
lobed with pointed teeth
• Up to 5’ wide & 10’ long
• Seedling leaves are less
deeply lobed
• Short, dense hairs below and
at base of leaf stem
Flowers:
• Flat-topped, umbrella-like clusters
of 50-150 small, white flowers
• Each cluster can be up 5’ wide
• Blooms June-August
Fruit:
• Dry, flat, 2.5” oval
• Narrow, brown resin canals
• Ripening in August
Dry, flat fruit
Habitat:
• Roadsides, edges, open woods,
meadows
• Prefers rich, moist soil, part-shade
• Once planted as an ornamental
Look-alikes:
There are many native and non-native species
in the carrot family, all bloom in flat-topped
umbels. The following are most easily confused
with giant hogweed because of their large size.
The leaves on each of these are the
defining difference of each species.
Cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum)
• Common, large (though still smaller
than giant hogweed), native perennial of
moist soils
• 4’ - 9’ tall
• Stem deeply ridged, green or purplish,
covered in soft hairs
• Leaves compound, with 3 coarsely
toothed leaflets, 2’ - 2.5’ wide
• Flat-topped cluster 6” - 12” wide with 10
- 30 small white flowers
• WARNING: Can cause skin reactions
similar to but less severe that hogweed
Purple-stem angelica (Angelica atropurpurea)
• Native perennial of moist soils, 4’ - 8’
Stem smooth, waxy, purple
• Leaves doubly compound, with
dozens of leaflets, 1’ - 2’ wide
Poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)
• Invasive, moist soils, 4’ - 9’
• Stem smooth, purple blotches
• Leaves glossy, fern-like, 1’ - 2’ wide
• Numerous, white clusters, 1” - 3” wide
• See NJISST fact sheet for more on this
plant
Wild
•
•
•
•
parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
Non-native perennial, 2’ - 5’
Stem hairy, grooved
Leaves yellow-green
Yellow flower clusters, 4” - 8” wide
10
Editor’s Log |
Tree Feature
Article by Charles J. Newlon, illustration by Barbara J. Newlon
Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, is well known
by its pesky “sticker balls,” a nuisance underfoot when
used as a landscape tree. The wood has a reddish tint
and its sap was used as a chewing gum. The leaves are
star-shaped.
Other common names include:
redgum, sapgum, starleaf-gum, blisted,
hazel pine, incense tree, and alligator tree
Characteristics
Size
Large tree, 80 to 120 ft. tall by 3 to 4 ft. dbh.
Max. 155 ft. tall x 6 ft. dbh.
NJ’s Champion Tree has a circumference is 18’ 10”
• The tree’s natural range is from New Jersey south
to Florida and across the southern states to Texas.
Shape
• It is a common bottomland species and it is an
aggressive pioneer species.
Long, straight, often buttressed trunk;
small oblong or pyramidal crown.
• Prized for its multi-colored fall foliage and
hated for its nuisance “sticker ball” fruit.
Leaves
Alternate, star-shaped. 3 to 7½ in. diameter.
Finely serrate. Fragrant when crushed.
• Finished lumber can be stained to look like oak,
cherry, maple, and mahogany.
Twigs
• Only native tree in NJ that has star-shaped leaves.
Leaves are fragrant when crushed.
Shiny; green to yellowish-brown;
slender to stout; and with or without corky wings.
Value to Wildlife:
Used to a small extent by wildlife. Seeds are small.
They average 82,000 seeds per pound. Goldfinches,
purple finches, squirrels and chipmunks eat the tiny seeds.
Beavers use the wood.
Flowers
Monoecious; greenish. Male flowers hang in
2 to 3 in. clusters; female flowers hang in round clusters
on long slender stalks.
Fruit
Uses by Native Americans:
The Cherokees, Choctaws, Houmas, Koasatis and
Rappahannock’s used parts of the tree in varied ways,
especially the sap as chewing gum, bark and roots as
medicinals. Purposes include: as an anti-diarrheal aid,
dermatological aid, or gynecological aid; and as a sedative
to reduce fevers.
0ne to 1½ in. diameter “sticker-balls”;
an aggregate of spiny capsules: many tiny seeds.
Bark
Mature bark is grayish-brown, furrowed into
narrow, slightly rounded, flaky ridges.
Wood
Uses by Colonists and Pioneers:
Used to make furniture. They peeled the bark and returned
to scrape off the resin-like solid and chewed the hardened
clumps of gum.
Weighs 34 to 37 lbs. per cu. ft. Hard, straight,
close-grained wood. Heartwood is bright brown,
lustrous and tinged with red. Sapwood layer
is thin and creamy white.
Uses Today:
The fragrant resin is used: in soaps, incense, and cosmetics;
as a fixative in perfumes, adhesives, and lacquers; to flavor
tobacco; for cabinets and furniture; as veneer for decorative
and interior layers of plywood; for flake-board, boxes and
crates.
Hardiness Zones
It can be expected to grow in Zones 5-9. Except
for the pesky capsules, it is a very attractive large
landscape tree. A fruitless variety is available.
11
2016 Calendar of Events
NJ Envirothon
May 14, 2016 - Saturday
North Branch Park, Bridgeton, NJ
Contact: Richard Belcher, richard.belcher@ag.state.nj.us
Spring Forest Stewardship Tour
May 14, 2016 - Saturday
Location TBA
Contact: Lori Jenssen, njfalorij@aol.com
Tree Farm Day
June 3, 2016 - Friday
Diocese of Camden, 1300 Tuckahoe Road
Contact: Dennis Galway, dgalwaydsl@verizon.net
Free Program
Sponsored by: Rutgers
Cooperative Extension,
New Jersey State Forestry
Services, New Jersey
Forestry Association
Backyard Forestry
in 90 Minutes
Held Monthly every Thursday
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
At Forest Resource Education Center (FREC)
495 Don Connor Blvd Jackson, NJ 08527
Contact: Lori Jenssen, njfalorij@aol.com
Farmland Assessment deadline August 1st, 2016
To register visit:
www.njforestry.org
Wild Expo
September 10-11, 2015 - Saturday & Sunday
Colliers Mill WMA, Jackson Township
Contact: Michelle Smith, Michelle.Smith@dep.nj.gov
Upcoming Topics:
Fall Forestry Festival
October 1, 2016 - Saturday
FREC Jackson, NJ
Contact: Rick Dutko, rick.dutko@dep.nj.gov
Woodland Stewards Training
October 20-23, 2016 - Thursday-Sunday
Camp Linwood MacDonald, Sandyston, NJ
Contact: Lori Jenssen, njfalorij@aol.com
May 12, 2016
Calm and Focus Kids: Spend Time
in Nature
June 09, 2016
Growing Shiitake Mushrooms
July 14, 2016
Collecting Seed and Growing
Wildflowers
August 11, 2016
Raptors in Your Trees
The Young Forest Project
Growing Wildlife Habitat Together
New Jersey Forest Stewardship Program
NJ Department of Environmental Protection
State Forest Service
Mail code 501-04 PO Box 420
Trenton, NJ 08625-0420
Stewardship Leaves Forests for the Future
New Jersey Forest Stewardship Program
Editor
Associate Editor
Charlie Newlon, Certified Forester
Barbara Newlon
Articles and photos by the Newlons, unless otherwise identified. Please send questions, comments, or ideas for future articles to:
Jon.Klischies@dep.nj.gov.
There are many different stages of
forest growth. In NJ, we have a need
for younger forest. This particular forest
habitat is preferred by many creatures
both rare and common.
Is your woods considered young, old or
somewhere in between?
Learn more: www.youngforest.org
and contact your State or consultant
forester.