Ice Storm 2008

Hello - I thought I'd share with VCLT members and friends that the Franklin Land Trust has information and resources for land owners trying to recover from the December 2008 ice storm.  FLT is a local conservation trust and a good resource for land management issues.

- Megan

FLT offers help with ice-damaged trees
  
Franklin Land Trust is providing information and other assistance to all property owners with tree damage from last week's ice storm.
As landowners assess damage over the next few months, FLT is providing contacts to foresters, land management workshops and other resources.
Check our Web site,franklinlandtrust.org, for links and resources.

FLT is encouraging land owners to assess damage and contact professional foresters and/or arborists to come up with a management plan that would address concerns such as disease, safety, wood quality and quantity, litter and debris in the woods, and potential for forest fire.
The extent of storm damage is still unknown.

"It's going to be a generation or more before the forest in many parts of this area look the way they did before the storm," said Executive Director Richard Hubbard, whose own property in New Salem sustained heavy damage.

"In some cases, you'll see new growth in the next couple or three years. But it's not going to be mature forest for another 30 or 40 years."

The storm damage varies widely. On two FLT-owned properties, one (in west Plainfield) sustained little damage, while the other, in Heath, suffered heavy damage.
"A large portion of the forest was knocked over and the remaining canopy received greater than 50 percent damage," said Will Sloan Anderson, FLT's land steward.  "We want to get the word out that these can be extremely dangerous situations. People should be very careful when working in their woodlots.