JANUARY 28, 2010 ISSUE
New Cooperative Extension Director Jim Hamilton Discusses Ice Storm Damage
Jim Hamilton, the new Watauga County Cooperative Extension director, talks about the effects of the Christmas ice storm on area trees on Monday, January 25. Photo by Corinne Saunders
A meet-and-greet with new Watauga County Cooperative Extension Director Jim Hamilton took place on Monday, January 26, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Agricultural Conference Center in Boone. In addition to welcoming the former cooperative extension agent back to the High Country and into his new position, the event featured a presentation by Hamilton titled “Implications from Winter Storm Damage from a Forestry Perspective.”
Hamilton stressed the importance of being careful in the woods, since “widowmakers,” “barberchairs,” “spring poles” and trees with hairline cracks could injure people if wind causes the trunks or limbs to break all the way or fall.
“Pretty much all the native hardwood trees took a hit” from the ice storm, Hamilton said, naming yellow poplar, black locust, birch, black cherry and maple trees as suffering damage, while oak trees typically lost limbs but did not fall.
For those wondering about what they should do about the forest damage, he said, “nothing: the forest will recover,” and stressed that like a fire or hurricane, an ice storm is a natural event. One option is salvage cutting—“getting what you can for what’s left”—but Hamilton said that is probably only worth it if you were already planning on harvesting and if you can find a logger. Many mills have shut down and the wood profession has taken a hit overall from the recession, Hamilton said.
“The North Carolina Forest Service is currently assessing forest damage,” he said.
Long-term issues resulting from the ice storm include an increased fire risk due to the additional “fuel” (downed trees and limbs), and trees will be more susceptible to beetle, insect and fungi damage because of the “open wounds” they receive when limbs break off.
“On the bright side,” Hamilton continued, wildlife will prosper—namely deer, because of a decreased canopy; woodpeckers, which will thrive with the increase of beetles and insects in trees; and songbirds, which will have increased nesting opportunities from gaps and transition zones in the forest.
Hamilton named river birch, cherry, Bradford pear, maple and other ornamental trees as suffering damage from the ice storm, and advised pruning ornamental trees if the canopy is more than 50 percent damaged, because that compromises the structural integrity of the trees, he said.
Watauga County Waives Fees for Wood Waste
To assist citizens with the cleanup of wood waste and debris (trees and limbs) caused by the ice storm of December 25, 2009, Watauga County is waiving tipping fees for wood waste only—effective January 4—for a three-month period ending at 4:00 p.m. on April 4. This fee waiver only applies to individual citizens transporting wood waste in their private vehicles to the Watauga County Landfill.
Each property owner who pays an availability fee currently receives a waiver for the first ton of debris transported to the Solid Waste Facility. Any fees for storm-related debris and wood waste that exceeds this “free ton” are waived for individuals only, as specified above. For more information, call 828-265-8000.
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