Ask a Question About Forestry
Welcome to the ForestConnect blog to ask a forestry question. Please submit your question in the comment box and I’ll respond as soon as possible. Your comment automatically prompts an email to me so I can respond. One of the specialists will respond as soon as possible. Note that vague questions may result in a vague answer 
, so please be as specific as is possible and is reasonable.
A forest owner recently emailed with concern that she had discovered Emerald Ash Borer on her property. What should she do to confirm?
Forest owners who are concerned about forest pests have two options. In the case of high risk and invasive pests, such as the emerald ash borer, a good starting point is your local office of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Look in your phone book for the closest office or visit www.dec.ny.gov/about/27790.html A second option, espcecially for common disease and insect issues is your local office of Cornell Cooperative Extension. CCE may be familiar with your issue or can connect you to Cornell’s Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. Digital photo’s help.
Regarding emerald ash borer, a good site is http://www.emeraldashborer.info/
[from a forest owner in Western NY] Granted that we are nominally talking about forest property, but I have fields, a stream, and an old pasture in addition to a woodlot. To what extent should I rely on a forester for advice on managing these other parts of my property, and at what point should I look for other experts?
Great question about the breadth of knowledge that a forester brings to your property. Most foresters do not receive formal training in school about ponds, streams, and fields. Some will have taken short-courses or learned by experience after leaving school. It is worth asking what their comfort level is with the questions you have. They should let you know if they are pushing their limits. Other sources for those types of questions are your local office of Cooperative Extension or the Soil and Water Conservation District.
I am working with a client who owns forest land in the Adirondacks. He sells firewood locally which is not subject to sales tax. He now would like to sell timber to a local papermill. Will these sales be exempt from sales tax? I cannot get a clear answer from the sales tax department. Maybe you have people in similar situations.
Thanks you.
I am interested in conducting a forest survey to determine what trees are in my forest and where they are located. I would like to invest in a GPS device that would allow me to get the locations of the tree regions and a GIS system that would display the results of the GPS field surveys. Could someone recommend a GPS device and a GIS system that would accomplish this goal?
Thank you.
Zak
About the upcoming “Forestry Internet Seminars Connecting Owners and managers Across the Nation”, will sustainable forestry, and serial number tracking of sustainable lumber products, be covered?
I am interested in hybrid poplar as a high productivity biomass source. I have gotten conflicting information about chronic disease problems afflicting poplar. Is it viable? Are there other short rotation forest options suitable to upstate NY?
I am looking for information about sustainable forest biomass production. Specifically, what practices are recommended to optimize sustainable production of timber and biomass from typical northern hardwood forestland? What practices are recommended for optimized sustainable forest energy crop production?
I viewed the broadcast this noon over the shoulder of Dale Egbert. I had registered just this AM, and did not have a confirmation email. I still did not have a response by this evening, but did log into the presentation and put my name in on the “chat”. I thought that the presentations would be exactly alike, but I took home some different info form each. I was wondering about continuing ed. credit, I am a member of SAF, but not a CF. I do, however, belong to ACF and need to earn credits for it also. Would the procedure be the same or at least similar for me to obtain credits? Good presentation on EAB!!