Eastern Connecticut widespread tree mortality

[Leeroy]

Where's that last picture taken @Dalmatian90 ? I know the others and that sure looks familiar.
I'm in Northwest Rhode Island but have worked a lot over in Northeast Connecticut.

 

[sundance]

WTF...saw this today, never seen trees being taken down leaving the trunks standing.

But I'm guessing it is that town's way for stretching their dollars -- have the tree companies just get the dangerous part of as many trees down as they can.

These are probably far enough off the road not to worry, but I saw other places the trunks will eventually fall into the road, so I'm hoping the town is planning a follow up eventually to take them down, and/or now the tops are gone they'll have the town road crew handle felling the trunks themselves.

View attachment 693308

Our local power company (or their contractor) has started a similar technique. A lot of significant trunks left standing that will be a future hazard. I don't get this plan.

 

[Trapper_Pete]

the rail road here did something similar they have a boom saw that runs down the tracks and can top trees they could care less what it looks like as long as what is left won't fall on the tracks

 

[michael j]

Funny how the laws with those big fines for moving wood helped save the ash trees.

Mike

 

[Dalmatian90]

Where's that last picture taken @Dalmatian90 ? I know the others and that sure looks familiar.
I'm in Northwest Rhode Island but have worked a lot over in Northeast Connecticut.

Sorry for the long delay...I'm pretty sure it was Scotland, Conn. You don't always have town line signs along the back roads.

 

[Dalmatian90]

Came across this article today --

"Aerial surveys conducted through [Rhode Island] DEM have shown that while mortality varies from one area to another, approximately two-thirds of the oak trees in the state have died,"

https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news...cle_a3d6a132-41d0-11e9-8dd5-8b442f2026de.html

I was surprised I could tell the dead areas driving by places in winter. Now I'm a bit nervous waiting to see how many more die this year.

 

[michael j]

I was worried about all the elms and ashes dying. I finally realized there was nothing I could do about it but take advantage of the massive amounts of firewood I’ve had the last ten years or so. The young elms are still dying off.

 

[avason]

My FIL lost all of his oaks on his property. He is down the road from you in Brooklyn. The monster oaks he lost is sad. He is starting to take them down now. These pics don’t do it justice but it is really bad. The pic of the one on the ground is an example of the size of the trees he lost.

 

[al-k]

I'm in north Somers and I have lost over 50 100 year old oaks. About all the ash have died also.

 

[Marine5068]

Nice article that just came out.


https://blog.extension.uconn.edu/20...e-mortality-in-ct-from-invasive-insect-pests/

We're on the edge of the EAB (its been detected but it is not endemic yet), so that's another 5-10 years.

Had bad gypsy moth damage for a couple years, and many oaks didn't leaf out this spring. We didn't see that during the last outbreak in the early 80s so that was somewhat surprising. The fungus that kills the caterpillars finally broke out late last June, so after three bad years it killed the caterpillars after they ate the leaves but before they became moths and laid another generation of eggs in the region.

But then at the beginning of August another significant chunk of Oaks just up and died -- Two-Lined Chestnut Borer and a root rot attacking trees already stressed by dry weather and Gypsy Moths is to blame.

On the six non-wetland acres I have I think I lost (current estimate) three trees direct to gypsy moths...but at least another nine up and died in August. I haven't walked through the woods with flagging tape yet, so I'm just counting what is obvious from the edges.

My town has hired a tree crew for October, but knows it won't even make a dent.

Town south of me is estimating they have 600 town-responsibility trees @ $1,000 each to take down. Their entire public works budget is $800,000.

Not to mention all the yard trees homeowners will need to take down...I can just imagine the insurance companies throwing a fit come renewal time that they won't renew policies before the trees are taken down.

You actually somewhat south into the widespread EAB epidemic. It's half way up into New Hampshire and all the way up to Montreal directly north of you.
Ontario has see infestation in Toronto where over 300, 000 boulevard trees have been removed and all up the Niagara Escarpment through Manitoulin Island up to Sault Ste. Marie.
It's spreading far north of Ottawa too. That's it Northern edge ...so far.