From staff reports
The Allegheny National Forest has been experiencing the impacts from a multitude of native and non-native invasive species, along with declining health of many forest areas in recent years.
This has affected achieving some of the vegetation conditions in the forest plan, the Forest Service said in a press release issued Friday.
Because of the continued expansion of significant, damaging invasive forest insects, diseases, and plants in the national forest, and the intermingled nature of forest land ownerships across that landscape, a collaborative approach was determined as the best way to address forest health issues on the High Allegheny Unglaciated Plateau, the service said.
Subsequent meetings became more focused, with the collaborative tasked with identifying specific threats and developing strategies to address each threat.
Initially, five threats were identified, then three additional threats were added. Strategies for the last three threats are being developed.
Here is a rundown of the threats and strategies detailed in the press release:
1. Age class distribution: The Allegheny Forest is an even-aged, overly mature forest. Failing to regenerate declining forest areas and diversify the age of forest vegetation on the forest poses a threat to sustaining a diversity of wildlife habitats, maintaining forest resilience, providing interspersion of forest ages and forest types, and returning economic values to local communities.
Strategies: Considering larger continuous areas of regeneration (not being limited to small 40 acres oasis type projects) for better regeneration results. Consider shelterwood and regeneration harvest instead of intermediate thinning treatments. Consider accelerating pace of forest regeneration activities to more quickly balance overall age classes in Management Area 3.0.
2. Emerald ash borer: Within 15 years, 80 to 100 percent mortality of ash trees due to emerald ash borer is anticipated on the ANF. Within five years, 80 percent of ash trees that have died from the ash borer will fall or break. Falling trees will affect safety near oil wells, roads and trails.
Strategies: Expedite timber sales focused on recovering economic value of dying ash trees. Evaluate the specific timber harvesting allowances for various management areas as denoted in the forest plan.
3. Safety and aesthetics: Hazard trees along travel corridors affect public safety, roadways, utility infrastructure, etc.
Strategies: Create a monitoring and trail maintenance plan. Develop a system for recording concerns from forest users. Develop a communication strategy to explain public safety concerns caused by these hazard trees and what’s being done to address them.
4. Loss of diversity: Every loss of a species reduces resilience. How do we maintain diversity or replace lost species? There are also additional forest health threats not yet observed on the Allegheny Forest, such as sudden oak death, Asian long-horned beetle to consider.
5. Loss of hemlock impacts riparian areas, streams, watersheds, aesthetics and wildlife. In addition, hemlock woolly adelgid has been present in the region since 2013.
Strategies: Protect the hemlock population and habitat. Identify areas to mitigate impact of hemlock mortality from pest disturbances and consider replacing ecosystem services provided by eastern hemlock by replanting. Use biocontrols for hemlock woolly adelgid in conjunction with chemical treatments.
6. Black cherry mortality threatens future diversity. This species is experiencing fewer seed crops and seedling regeneration challenges, defoliation from the fall webworm and cherry scallopshell moth, a native forest pest.
7. Non-native insects and diseases: The region is experiencing numerous invasive plant and animal species that are posing immediate and looming threats to the health of the forest. Insect threats include: Gypsy moth, beech bark disease, hemlock woolly adelgid, sirex woodwasp, emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, spotted lanternfly, elongate hemlock scale, winter moth, oak wilt, white pine decline and beech leaf disease.
8. Non-native plants: The most threatening invasive plant species on the Allegheny Forest is buckthorn, which has been found on nearly 20,000 acres of the southern half of the forest. Like many non-native shrubs, buckthorn leafs out early in spring and retains its leaves late into fall, shading out spring wildflowers and tree seedlings. Once established, buckthorn is very difficult to eradicate.
The collaborative should finish its work by early November and the facilitator will submit recommendations to the forest supervisor by the end of the year.
