As Michigan Department of Natural Resources crews attempt to clear the thousands of fallen, broken trees and branches from historic late-March ice storms that left a 12-county disaster area in northern Michigan, they are in a race against time.
Tree-killing pests such as native pine bark beetles thrive in areas with stressed, damaged pine trees and fresh pine debris — and after the late March ice storms, northern Lower Michigan has wide-ranging areas with those conditions. It could lead to population explosions of the beetles and cause further losses to forests beyond the damage already done, DNR spokeswoman Kerry Heckman said.
“It’s about 60 days after trees are wounded when beetles can move in,” she said. “That can significantly impact the forest. Other trees that would survive but that did sustain damage, if the beetles get in there, they will kill those trees.
A Michigan Department of Natural Resources employee works to clear a state forest road in the Pigeon River Country State Forest in Otsego County on April 20, 2024.
“We need to get in there and salvage before this can happen.”
The DNR is working to advertise and quickly complete salvage timber sales in the storm-struck areas, an effort to not only reduce pest infestations but also wildfire risks, which are currently high to very high across most of Michigan. The DNR’s Forest Resources Division is prioritizing red pine salvage sales to forestall pine beetles. Biofuels facilities or other purchasers of the salvaged wood products would receive them at a discounted rate off typical market prices, Heckman said. Salvage sales of other tree species will be available in coming weeks.
With the current risky, dry conditions, DNR officials urge the public not to burn tree debris from the ice storms, but instead take branches and debris to one of 17 collection and disposal sites set up in northern Lower Michigan. A list of the collection site locations is available at Michigan.gov/icestorm.
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At one branch and brush collection site in Emmet County, on a Little Traverse Conservancy parking lot south of Harbor Springs, a massive industrial wood chipper and conveyor belt system arranged by county officials mulched the debris and it was loaded into semi-truck trailers for shipping to a biofuels energy facility in Gaylord.
“The amount of brush people brought was just enormous,” said Amy Lipson, a conservation specialist with the conservancy.
DNR forestry officials urge the public in ice storm-affected areas to salvage and clean up as much affected pine as possible before June to reduce bark beetle regeneration. Avoid piling logs and branches, as it reduces drying time and invites increased beetle production. Prioritize removal of trees that have tipped or lost branches, followed by those trees that are severely bent, and then those with the fewest intact branches.
More tree diseases create risks
Conifers, especially red pines, are also susceptible to Heterobasidion root disease, or HRD, spread by fungal spores that enter from cut stumps and travel through root connections to other nearby trees, creating pockets of dead trees. HRD is present in several locations of Emmet County and one location in Montmorency County. If working within a 5-mile radius of a known HRD infection, DNR officials urge treating pine stumps within plantations with approved chemicals to prevent new infections.
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Due to the threat of oak wilt disease, another fungal infection introduced through oak tree wounds, oak salvage and cleanup should be postponed wherever possible until after the high-risk period that began in mid-April and ends in mid-July, DNR officials said. Deterioration of storm-damaged oak and other hardwood will occur more slowly than with pine, allowing up to two years to complete salvage.
DNR staff are working to remove debris and allow the on-time opening of state parks, forests, campgrounds and trails in the ice storm areas. Most of those locations that remain closed are in the central portion of the affected area. A map with parks’ status is available on DNR’s ice storm recovery page.
Some 3,400 miles of state forest roads were impacted by the storms, Heckman said. DNR has been able to clear 205 miles of roads to date, but some 975 miles remain impassible, she said. “That’s equal to the distance from Mackinaw City to Atlanta, Georgia,” she said.
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“We are prioritizing access into areas prone for wildfires, as we are right now starting wildfire season,” she said. “We have also emphasized access for fish-stocking locations and tree-planting, locations where we are planting seedlings. And then access into major travel corridors used by the public.”
DNR officials also urged caution for paddlers and anglers in northern Michigan rivers and streams, as they may encounter far more woody debris in waterways than in typical years.
Contact Keith Matheny: [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DNR clears trees from ice storm, more threats loom to Up North forests
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