Come to the Tree Farm Field Day in New Braintree on September 25th!

The 2010 Massachusetts Tree Farm Field Day will be held at the Walker Family Tree Farm in New Braintree on Saturday September 25th.  Preparations are now underway for the event which will feature a tour of the family’s woodlands, landowner workshops, the annual Tree Farm picnic, equipment demonstrations, the Tree Farmer of the Year award, and other events.

A special workshop about how Tree Farmers should update their management plans to meet the revised Tree Farm standards and prepare for next year’s Tree Farm audit will be part of the program.

More information about the Field Day will be added to this website as the summer progresses.

Tickets for the Field Day cost $15 for adults and $8 for children.  To register, contact Greg Cox at 413 339-5526 or email gcox@crocker.com   Reservations are due by September 22nd.

Tree Farmer National Convention in Vermont July 13 – 15th

The 2010 National Tree Farmer Convention will be held in Burlington, Vermont from July 13th to 15th at the Burlington Hilton.  The convention will feature educational programs, a Field Day at Shelburne Farm’s 1,400 acre Tree Farm, tours of Vermont attractions and Tree Farms, and a new two-day program for children aged 7 to 15.

Registration for the convention costs $299 and is due by Friday, June 25th.  There is a special one-day registration for the Field Day at Shelburne Farms on July 15th.  To register for the convention, see www.treefarmsystem.org.

The Vermont Tree Farm Program has set up optional pre- and post- convention tours of Vermont attractions.  The tours include the Trapp Family Lodge & Mt. Washington on July 11 to 13th, The Scenic Vermont & Working Landscape Tour on July 11 – 12th, the Greater Burlington tour which includes a visit to the McNeil biomass energy plant, Dakin Farm & Shelburne Museum on July 12th, the Food & Family Tour visiting Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Ben & Jerries on July 12th,  or July 16th, a Lake Champlain Tour on July 13th, a Lake Champlain cruise on July 14th, a tour of the Montpelier area on July 13th and a tour of the Northeast Kingdom on July 16 – 17th. 

For more information, see www.treefarmsystem.org/2010treefarmerconvention/ 

The Vermont Tree Farm Program is also seeking donations of forest-related products for the Convention’s silent auction.  For information, see www.vermonttreefarm.org 

Chapter 61 Forest Taxes Cut Again for 2010!

New recommended values for Massachusetts woodlands under Chapter 61 and Chapter 61A land for the fiscal year that begins July 1st have been approved and released to local assessors, with substantial reductions for woodlands in both eastern and western Massachusetts.

The 2011 fiscal year is the second year that the values for Chapter 61 & 61A forest land have been devised using a formula MFLA developed with assessors, the Department of Conservation & Recreation and Massachusetts Farm Bureau. The formula is based on average stumpage price values, discounted to reflect that not all woodland growth can be harvested due to site and legal restrictions.

The reductions in the tax valuations for the last two years reflect the continuing decline of stumpage prices between 2007 and 2009. When stumpage prices begin to rebound, the tax valuations will eventually follow suit.

For woodlands east of the Connecticut River, the average tax value for fiscal 2011 is $48/acre, with a value for below average sites of $38/acre and for above average sites of $57/acre.  This average value is 28 percent lower than the fiscal 2010 $67 average rate, and 56 percent lower than the fiscal 2009 $108 average rate.

For West of the river, the average tax value for fiscal 2011 is $75/acre, with the value for below average sites of $60/acre and for above average sites of $90/acre.  The average value is 24 percent lower than the fiscal 2010 $98 average rate, and 57 percent lower than the fiscal 2009 average rate of $173/acre.

The value of land in Christmas trees has been set at $108/acre for fiscal 2011.

Don’t Move Firewood --- Help Prevent the Spread of Destructive Pests!

Invasive pests like the Asian long-horned beetle or emerald ash borer are often spread when people inadvertently move them into neighboring states in firewood. For that reason, state officials are urging residents to not move firewood between states.

Fears of an even greater spread of the Worcester ALB infestation has led forestry officials in all six New England states, plus New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey to begin surveying campgrounds and areas of second homes for possible infestations resulting from Worcester area residents bringing firewood from home to burn when camping before the Worcester infestation was discovered last year.  Surveys have shown that 25 percent of campers in New Hampshire bring firewood from home when they go camping.  Studies in Michigan have found that 75 percent of new infestations of the emerald ash borer were associated with campgrounds and 80 percent of outlying infestations were associated with the movement of firewood.

Vermont has now banned campers from bringing wood with them. New York now bans the importation of firewood to avoid spreading insect infestations.
The National Firewood Task Force has recommended that APHIS develop regulations and standards for the national movement of firewood, and states issue intrastate regulations similar to the APHIS regulations on the movement of firewood across state lines or for distances of more than 50 miles.  Local movement of firewood in a 50 mile radius would be unregulated provided movement is not out of an area under an existing quarantine.
Copies of the Task Force’s Firewood recommendations can be obtained by email from MFLA by emailing Greg Cox at gcox@crocker.com.

APHIS is requesting comments from firewood producers and landowners about the Task Force’s recommendations.  Comments can be sent to firewood@aphis.usda.gov 

For more information, see www.don’tmovefirewood.org