A grove of Douglas Fir being engulfed by Dwarf Mistletoe
Forest Management
Living in a forest comes with responsibilities; trees are dynamic organisms – often competing with other trees for water, nutrients, light & space. In a dense forest these resources become limited so trees become stressed then vulnerable to a variety of maladies such as beetles, root rot infection, or become engulfed with Dwarf Mistletoe.
The Threat
Without a doubt the greatest potential threat to a forest is fire during a long, hot, dry, summer. The weather we cannot control but one should be pro-active and manage a forest to modify fire behavior in order to protect home and property.
Dense forest loaded with potential “fuels”.
Promote your forest’s health and safety by:
Step #1 remove any dead, dying or infected (by disease or insect) trees.
Mistletoe removal; if left unchecked Mistletoe can ruin an entire stand of Douglas Fir. If caught early enough the Mistletoe can be pruned out of the tree however if more than 50% of a tree’s canopy is mistletoe the tree may need to be removed.
Fuel Reduction; after thinning, the removal of dead branches and thinning understory is critical in keeping potential fuels for fire down to a manageable level.
