Joe Ball was truly a leader for family forest owners in Kentucky. He was especially driven to fight for the small private woodland owner’s ability to benefit financially from their woodlands.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) has been extremely busy this past year. While some employees were deployed to fight wildland fires across the United States, others remained in the state to continue providing technical assistance to woodland owners while promoting our agency’s mission. Part of that mission includes being prepared for the unknowns out in our forests. KDF employees receive Incident Command (IC) Preparedness training that can be applied to various types of emergency and natural disaster situations. Many forestry staff members hold IC qualified positions as sawyers, saw teams, dozer operators, firefighters, and other specialized jobs. These staff members can be quickly mobilized to provide emergency assistance.

Can you make pure maple syrup in Kentucky? The answer is a resounding “Yes, you can!” In fact, there are a growing number of Kentucky woodland owners who are doing just that, and they recently wrapped up another season of maple tapping, boiling, and bottling.

How are your new year’s resolutions progressing? Statistics show that 23% of folks quit their resolutions within two weeks. Only 19% actually complete resolutions. I fall somewhere in between. Failing to continue or complete resolutions happen for a wide variety of reasons. I am sure that our good intentions fail because our habits need to change to accomplish these lofty goals.

On December 10, 2021, an EF4 tornado, with wind speeds in excess of 190 miles per hour, ripped through 170 miles of Kentucky. All of Kentucky was in shock as day broke on December 11 and news outlets reported the devastation found in cities such as Mayfield. As damage was assessed, it became obvious to local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff that in addition to impacts to homes and businesses, many Kentucky agriculture and woodland owners along the tornado’s path were severely impacted as well. Farmers found entire barns gone, poultry houses in ruins, livestock missing, and miles of fencing destroyed. Acres upon acres of woodlands and associated timber resources had been severely damaged as well.

White oak (Quercus alba) is considered the most important hardwood tree species in the eastern United States. Most, regardless of whether focused on wildlife, timber, or recreation, agree. White oak is also one of the most widely distributed of all the oaks, growing on a wide range of soils and sites throughout a very large geographic area. For this reason, white oak is considered a cornerstone species when managing for healthy and diverse upland oak forests.

If you haven’t realized it yet, trees are incredible organisms! Not only do they make their own food, but they are generous with their leftovers. Through a process called photosynthesis, they can feed themselves while at the same time, helping to maintain life on this planet. No big deal. Their leaves soak in sunlight and pull carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the atmosphere and mix it with water absorbed through their roots to create sugars and oxygen. The sugars, which contain carbon (the “C” in CO₂), is then distributed throughout the tree, from the roots to the branches to the buds. Oxygen (the “O” in CO₂), the other byproduct of photosynthesis, is then released back into the air.

There’s a new invasive insect attacking trees—the spotted lanternfly. While this invasive insect has been attracting attention for a while in the Northeast, gathering in large numbers and feeding on trees, last year it was detected in southeastern Indiana, just across the river from Kentucky (Figure 1). Spotted lanternfly poses a major risk to trees in forests, landscapes, and orchards. While we don’t want to find spotted lanternfly in Kentucky any time soon, the sooner it is detected after it arrives, the more options will be available for managing it. Join us in a search for this unwelcome insect!

The oak group is one of the most important groups of trees on the North American continent, possibly even the entire northern hemisphere. The oak genus (Quercus) is comprised of 200 to 300 different species worldwide with 60 to 70 species native to the United States. There are 20 oak species believed to be native to Kentucky. There are many species of oaks, and they are numerous across the eastern United States. In fact, Kentucky’s forests are classified as Oak-Hickory type because approximately 75% of our forests are composed of oaks and hickories. In addition to their diversity and dominance in our forests, they are economically important and are often a foundational species of many ecosystems.

The Kentucky Tree Farm Committee is responsible for administering the Tree Farm program in Kentucky. One of the most difficult but enjoyable responsibilities of the committee is selecting the annual Tree Farmer and Logger of the year award winners. Read on to learn about the most recent Kentucky Tree Farm Committee award winners.

Weather events such as tornadoes and ice storms are major weather events that can have significant impacts on Kentucky woodlands and their owners. Following storms it is important to take extreme caution when entering any wooded areas with storm-related hazards such as downed power lines and trees, storm debris, and widow-makers (loose branches and hung-up stems high in the canopy).

Maple syrup producers judge the quality of a sugarbush tree based on two characteristics: total volume and sugar content of the sap yielded by the tree during the tapping season. Larger sap volumes and sugar contents are directly correlated with higher syrup production. In 1946, C.H. Jones, a researcher at the University of Vermont, developed an equation for estimating the volume of sap required to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Known as “Jones Rule,” this equation has been revised over the years to accommodate changing maple syrup standards and is presented below in its current formulation.

Many times in natural resource management, decisions are situational and dependent on either the site-specific environment or the overall goals of the landowner. A prime example of this is dealing with, and finding a balance with, wild grapevines (Vitis spp.) in your woods. Some of us may be more familiar with the benefits of the cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinefera), but there are over a dozen identified species of wild grapevines in the eastern United States. Grapevines can be viewed negatively by foresters from a timber-production standpoint. However, those with a wildlife interest believe they are an integral food and cover component within a forest. Where you fall is dependent completely on the goals of your forest management plan, but there are ways to balance both timber production and having a healthy amount of grapevines in the woods to provide wildlife benefits.