Logging in Caledonia tied to invasive beetle

FREMONT - Motorists traveling west along U.S. Highway 10 into Waupaca County may have noticed a large swath of trees recently cleared on private land near Cane Drive in the Town of Caledonia.

What appears to be clear cutting is actually a salvage harvest before the ash trees are decimated by emerald ash borer (EAB), according to Michael Schuessler, Tax Law Forestry Specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

EAB is an invasive, wood-boring beetle that kills ash trees by eating the tissues under the bark, according to the DNR. Symptoms of infested trees include crown dieback, shoots emerging from dormant buds along the trunk and branches, and tunneling and exit holes beneath the bark.

All of the property along that stretch of the highway is “swamp hardwood,” according to Schuessler, and is heavily dominated by both black and green ash, which are common in wet, mucky soils, he said.

The properties where the timber harvesting is taking place are about 70 acres and 20 acres. Both parcels are enrolled in Wisconsin’s Managed Forest Law (MFL) program, which allows private landowners to manage forests sustainably while receiving property tax incentives.

Land enrolled in the MFL program is managed according to a plan approved by the DNR, which includes selective or rotational timber harvesting to maintain forest health. When the management plans for the parcels were written, Schuessler said EAB was present in Wisconsin but was still in the southeast part of the state. EAB has now been confirmed in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

“Fast forward 12 years and EAB has killed nearly all the ash in this area,” Schuessler said. “The harvest that was completed was simply a salvage harvest, attempting to salvage as much ash as possible while it still had some value.”

He said the prognosis for these ash dominated forests is not favorable regardless of being salvaged or not.

“Nearly all the ash will die and these sites will revert back to a lowland grass,” he said. “High deer numbers, heavy grass coverage and saturated soils will prohibit most if not all desirable tree species from regenerating.”

According to the DNR, EAB is expected to kill more than 99% of white, green and black ash in Wisconsin.