Loosing U.S. Farmland

Yesterday the American Farmland Trust released an assessment on the loss of U.S. farmland. The results are quite concerning.  I am guessing the results would be similar for forestland.

American Farmland Trust works with Conservation Science Partners and NRCS to prepare farmland loss report.

American Farmland Trust releases the most comprehensive assessment ever undertaken of the loss of U.S. farmland and ranchland. “Farms Under Threat: The State ofAmerica’s Farmland” sounds a stark warning: The loss of farmland is serious and will accelerate unless we take action.

Among the report’s key findings:

• Between 1992 and 2012, almost 31 million acres of farmland were lost, equal to all the farmland in Iowa. That's 175 acres an hour, or 3 acres every single minute
• Nearly twice the area of farmland was lost than was previously shown
• 11 million of those acres were among the best farmland in the nation - classified as the most productive, most versatile and most resilient land
• Development disproportionately occurred on agricultural lands, with 62 percent of all development occurring on farmland
• Expanding urban areas accounted for 59 percent of the loss. Low-density residential development, or the building of houses on 1-to-20-acre parcels, accounted for 41 percent.

Conversion of ag lands to urban and low-density development between 1992 and 2012.

View the full report here.

Thinning Forests to Save the Birds

This video was just release on You Tube.  We get an early look at the NRCS Joint Chiefs projects featuring two Pennsylvania Forest Landowners.......Enjoy. 

Meet John Hoover, Mike and Laura Jackson, Pennsylvania landowners who are using targeted cuts to manage for diverse forests on their properties. Healthy forests, just like healthy human populations, are sustained by a diversity of ages. Each group has a role to play in maintaining the whole community over the long term.

But forests are becoming homogenous especially in the East, and diverse forests are on the decline. The loss of diverse forests negatively impacts on many different wildlife species, including the golden-winged warbler and cerulean warbler.

Pennsylvania Bear Mange Epidemic Focus of New Study

by Jeff Mulhollem

Penn State University

April 25, 2018

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Pennsylvania's black bear population is experiencing a mange epidemic, and a Penn State research team will work with the state Game Commission to gain a better understanding of the disease and develop strategies to manage it.

Mange is a highly contagious skin disease caused by parasitic mites that results in hair loss and sometimes emaciation and death. It has afflicted mammals around the world for centuries and likely much longer. To learn why the disease has grown so common and severe in Pennsylvania bears in recent years, a small group of biologists, immunologists and entomologists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences will study bear ecology, movement and immune response.

Researchers also will focus on the genetics of the sarcoptes mites and ticks the bears are carrying.

"Mange is a recurring problem in Pennsylvania but it is occurring at an accelerating and seemingly unprecedented pace in bears," said lead researcher Erika Machtinger, assistant professor of entomology and a certified wildlife biologist. "We want to work with the Game Commission to try to figure out what's going on. Different species of skin mites can be found in bears in other states but this severe outbreak of sarcoptic mange is a unique Pennsylvania situation."

Researchers will help a Game Commission crew trap, radio collar and then track 36 bears for two years, analyzing tissue and blood samples taken from the animals. Bear trapping for the study began this month and will continue through the summer. People who see bears with mange in Pennsylvania are urged to contact the appropriate Game Commission region office: Northwest, 814-432-3187; Southwest, 724-238-9523; Southcentral, 814-643-1831; Northcentral, 570-398-4744; Northeast, 570-675-1143; and Southeast, 610-926-3136.

To read the full story click here.

New Publication Available on the Ecology and Management of Northern Red Oak

By Karen Bennett, Forestry Professor and Specialist, UNH Cooperative Extension

Northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) is one of the highest-valued species for both timber production and wildlife amenities. In New England, the species is declining due to regeneration difficulties, dwindling farmland abandonment, and losses from deer browsing.

The new publication, Ecology andManagement of Northern Red Oak in New England, attempts to assemble and evaluate information on red oak ecology, management, and habitat that is especially applicable to New England. Red oak appears to occupy a different niche here than in other regions, and research from those regions may not fully apply.

The authors provide silvicultural and habitat information and recommendations for northern red oak using literature from within and outside the region, coupled with a synthesis of many observations by the authors and practicing foresters. Topics include site factors, regeneration, succession, stocking, growth, quality, step-by-step silvicultural prescriptions, damaging agents, and wildlife habitat.

It is available free of charge. You can access this publication online.

The guide was written by a multiagency, multidisciplinary team to address the specific issues land managers face. The authors welcome comments and questions: 

• William B. Leak (bleak@fs.fed.us) and Mariko Yamasaki (myamasaki@fs.fed.us), U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Durham, NH
• Jeff Ward (jeffrey.ward@ct.gov,) The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
• Ken Desmarais (kdesmarais@fs.fed.us), U.S. Forest Service, White Mountain National Forest, NH formerly NH Division of Forests and Lands
• Karen P. Bennett (karen.bennett@unh.edu), UNH Cooperative Extension, Durham, NH