Forest Health Conditions in Alaska-2016 - US Forest Service
Transcript Of Forest Health Conditions in Alaska-2016 - US Forest Service
United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
A Forest Health Protection Report
Forest Service Alaska Region
State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry
R10-PR-39
February 2017
U.S. Forest Service, State & Private Forestry, Alaska Region
Debbie Hollen, Director for State & Private Forestry 1220 SW Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, [email protected] Michael Shephard, Deputy Director for State & Private Forestry 161 East 1st Avenue, Door 8, Anchorage, AK 99501, [email protected]
Alaska Forest Health Specialists U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/spf/fhp/ Anchorage, Southcentral Field Office 161 East 1st Avenue, Door 8, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 743-9453 Fax: (907) 743-9479 Garret Dubois, Biological Science Technician, [email protected]; John Lundquist, Entomologist (FHP and PNW Research Station), [email protected]; Steve Swenson, Biological Science Technician, [email protected] Fairbanks, Interior Field Office 3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: (907) 451-2701, (907) 451-2799; Fax: (907) 451-2690 Stephen Burr, Entomologist, [email protected]; Lori Winton, Plant Pathologist, [email protected]; Tricia Wurtz, Ecologist, [email protected] Juneau, Southeast Field Office 11175 Auke Lake Way, Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: (907) 586-8835; Fax: (907) 586-7848 Elizabeth Graham, Entomologist, [email protected]; Tom Heutte, Aerial Survey Coordinator, [email protected]; Robin Mulvey, Plant Pathologist, [email protected] fs.fed.us State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry 550 W 7th Avenue, Suite 1450, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 269-8460; Fax: (907) 269-8931 Jason Moan, Forest Health Program Coordinator, [email protected] University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service 1840 Bragaw, Suite 100, Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: (907) 786-6300; Fax: (907) 786-6312 Gino Graziano, Invasive Plants Instructor, [email protected]; Jessie Moan, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Technician, [email protected]
Cover photo: Aspen killed by aspen running canker along the Taylor Highway.
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Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
FHP Protection Report R10-PR-39
Edited by: Garret Dubois and Tricia Wurtz Contributors: Stephen Burr, Garret Dubois, Elizabeth Graham, Tom Heutte, John Lundquist, Jason Moan, Jessie Moan, Robin Mulvey, Roger Ruess, Michael Shephard, Heather Stewart, Steve Swenson, Lori Winton, Tricia Wurtz. Layout: Carol Teitzel
CITATION: FS-R10-FHP. 2016. Forest Health Conditions in Alaska 2016. Anchorage, Alaska. U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Region. Publication R10-PR-39. 74 Pages
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CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Highlights ......................................................................................................................................................................3
Collaborative Partnerships Reveal Widespread Canker of Aspen in Alaska’s Boreal Forest .............................13 An Integrated Strategy for the Management of Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense)...........................................15 A New Twist on Aerial Survey Design..................................................................................................................16
STATUS OF DISEASES............................................................................................................................................19 2016 Pathology Species Updates .......................................................................................................................20 Foliar Diseases .............................................................................................................................................20 Dothistroma Needle Blight .....................................................................................................................20 Spruce Needle Casts/Blights ...................................................................................................................20 Spruce Needle Rust .................................................................................................................................20 Shoot and Bud Blights ................................................................................................................................20 Gemmamyces Bud Blight .......................................................................................................................20 Sirococcus Shoot Blight..........................................................................................................................22 Yellow-cedar Shoot Blight ......................................................................................................................22 Stem Diseases ...............................................................................................................................................22 Alder Canker ...........................................................................................................................................22 Aspen Cankers ........................................................................................................................................23 Diplodia Gall...........................................................................................................................................24 Hemlock Canker......................................................................................................................................24 Hemlock Dwarf Mistletoe.......................................................................................................................26 Huckleberry Broom Rust ........................................................................................................................26 Spruce Broom Rust .................................................................................................................................26 Stem Decays of Conifers.........................................................................................................................27 Stem Decays of Hardwoods ....................................................................................................................29 Western Gall Rust....................................................................................................................................29 Root and Butt Diseases ...............................................................................................................................30 Armillaria Root Disease..........................................................................................................................30 Pholiota Butt Rot.....................................................................................................................................30 Tomentosus Root Disease .......................................................................................................................30 Invasive Pathogens ......................................................................................................................................30
STATUS OF NONINFECTIOUS DISEASES AND DISORDERS .......................................................................33 2016 Noninfectious Diseases & Disorders Updates.........................................................................................34 Abiotic Damage............................................................................................................................................34 Windthrow ...............................................................................................................................................34 Flooding ..................................................................................................................................................34 Animal Damage ...........................................................................................................................................34 Porcupine Feeding...................................................................................................................................34 Forest Declines .............................................................................................................................................35 Yellow-cedar Decline ..............................................................................................................................35
STATUS OF INVASIVE PLANTS ...........................................................................................................................39 2016 Invasive Plant Program Updates .............................................................................................................40 Elodea update ..............................................................................................................................................40 Treatments on the Kenai and in Anchorage appear to have been successful ..........................................40 Rapid spread in Alexander Lake .............................................................................................................40 Copper River Delta research and treatment trials ...................................................................................40 Permit approved to treat Fairbanks-area infestations..............................................................................40 Survey and analysis of floatplane traffic patterns ...................................................................................40
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Alaska Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse (AKEPIC) now displays both presence and knownabsence data for elodea ...........................................................................................................................43 New elodea infestation found..................................................................................................................43 Orange hawkweed publication .................................................................................................................44 Hope for eradication efforts ......................................................................................................................44 Contaminated potting soil .........................................................................................................................44 CNIPM enlarges its mission; successful workshop in Fairbanks..........................................................45 STATUS OF INSECTS ..............................................................................................................................................47 2016 Entomology Species Update ....................................................................................................................48 Hardwood Defoliators- External Leaf Feeding.......................................................................................48
Alder Defoliation .................................................................................................................................48 Aspen Defoliation ................................................................................................................................48 Birch Leaf Roller .................................................................................................................................48 Large Aspen Tortrix .............................................................................................................................48 Speckled Green Fruitworm ..................................................................................................................49 Miscellaneous Hardwood Defoliation .................................................................................................50 Hardwood Defoliators- Internal Leaf Feeding........................................................................................50 Aspen Leaf Miner ................................................................................................................................50 Birch Leaf Miners ................................................................................................................................50 Willow Leafblotch Miner.....................................................................................................................50 Softwood Defoliators..................................................................................................................................51 Hemlock Defoliation............................................................................................................................51 Spruce Aphid........................................................................................................................................51 Spruce Budworm .................................................................................................................................52 Bark Beetles................................................................................................................................................52 Spruce Beetle .......................................................................................................................................52 Northern Spruce Engraver ...................................................................................................................54 Western Balsam Bark Beetle................................................................................................................54 Other Pest Activity .....................................................................................................................................54 Urban Tree Pests ..................................................................................................................................54
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................................57 Appendix I: Aerial Detection Survey ..............................................................................................................58 Aerial Detection Survery...........................................................................................................................58 Appendix II: ......................................................................................................................................................63 Damage Type by Host Species...................................................................................................................63 Appendix III: .....................................................................................................................................................64 Information Delivery .................................................................................................................................64
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MAPS
Map 1. Map 2. Map 3. Map 4. Map 5. Map 6. Map 7. Map 8. Map 9. Map.10 Map 11. Map 12. Map 13. Map 14. Map 15. Map 16.
Alaska aerial insect and disease detection survey, 2016....................................................................................7 Alaska aerial insect and disease detection survey flight paths, 2016.................................................................8 Distribution maps of forest pathogens...............................................................................................................9 Comparison of flightlines in Alaska and Oregon.............................................................................................16 New sample cell flightline details....................................................................................................................17 Proposed new aerial survey sample design .....................................................................................................17 Distribution of aerially mapped Dothistroma since 2012................................................................................21 Gemmamyces bud blight locations..................................................................................................................21 Statewide surveys of alder canker along major highways in 2016..................................................................22 Road surveys of hemlock canker on western hemlock on Prince of Wales Island since 2012 .......................24 Current and cumulative cedar decline mapped by aerial detection survey in Southeast Alaska .....................36 Map showing confirmed and suspected Orthosia hibisci-caused defoliation 2014-2016 ...............................49 Results of spruce aphid ground inspections in May of 2016...........................................................................51 Results of spruce aphid ground inspections in October of 2016 .....................................................................52 Observed spruce beetle activity within watershed areas in the greater Susitna River Valley .........................55 Spruce beetle and northern spruce engraver damage in 2016 .........................................................................55
TABLES
Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. Table 7.
Forest insect and disease activity detected during aerial surveys in Alaska in 2016 .......................................11 Affected area (in thousands of acres) from 2012 to 2016 ................................................................................12 Common canker fungi of live hardwood trees in Alaska.................................................................................23 Stem, butt, and root decay fungi of live conifer trees in Alaska ......................................................................28 Stem, butt, and root decay fungi of live hardwood trees in Alaska .................................................................29 Potential invasive pathogens and diseases .......................................................................................................31 Cumulative acreage affected by yellow-cedar decline as of 2016 in Southeast Alaska by ownership............37
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Introduction
By Michael Shephard, Deputy Director, State & Private Forestry, Alaska
I am excited to present to you the Forest Health Conditions in Alaska—2016 report. We hope you find it interesting and informative.
This report summarizes monitoring data collected annually by our Forest Health Protection team and some of our key partners. It is provided to you, as one of our core missions, to provide technical assistance and information to stakeholders on the forest conditions of Alaska. The report also helps to fulfill a congressional mandate (The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, as amended) that requires survey, monitoring, and annual reporting of the health of the forests. This report also provides information used in the annual Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States report.
We hope this report will help YOU, whether you are a resource professional, land manager, other decision-maker or someone who is interested in forest health issues affecting Alaska. This report integrates information from many sources, summarized and synthesized by our forest health team. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments.
We also want to let you know about some recent personnel changes in our Alaska forest health team:
New Arrivals: Please join us in welcoming Debbie Hollen, our new State and Private Forestry Director for Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. Debbie is stationed in Portland, Ore., and has wide breadth of experience with the Forest Service and the BLM in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Welcome to Debbie.
Recent Departures: Melinda Lamb has left our team after 12 years to take a position in the Regional Office of the Forest Service in Juneau. Congratulations to Melinda on the new position. Nicholas Lisuzzo has left our team in Fairbanks after 7 years to pursue other adventures in the interior. We wish him the very best.
Seasonal Technicians: Bryan Box worked as a pathways student out of our Anchorage office for the past two seasons. Bryan has been a valued addition to our field-going staff as well as an important part of our post-field-season insect sample processing efforts. Isaac Davis worked as a seasonal technician for our
Fairbanks office this year, while Justin Phillips worked for our
Juneau office. We thank them for all of their help this season.
Did you know you can request for our aerial survey team to examine specific forest health concerns in your area? To do this, please contact our Aerial Survey Coordinator, Tom Heutte ([email protected] fs.fed.us) or other members of our forest health team. Additionally, this report is available online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/ r10/forest-grasslandhealth or in print by contacting Biological Science Technician, Garret Dubois ([email protected]).
Bryan Box
Isaac Davis
Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
Debbie Hollen Melinda Lamb Nicholas Lisuzzo
1
Paul Hennon Retires
Paul began his work in Southeast Alaska spending summers on southern Chichagof Island investigating yellow-cedar decline. Paul joined the Forest Service in 1985, taking on a unique shared position with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and Forest Health Protection in 1986. Paul held this position for his entire career. Although it was a trifle more difficult administratively, Paul clearly demonstrated this ‘trial’ shared position to be a great success.
Important mentors during his early career and beyond include pathologists Everett Hansen, Terry Shaw, and Tom Laurent, and entomologist Andris Eglitis. Over the course of his career, he researched the etiology and ecology of forest diseases and declines (Sturrock et al. 2011). He was persistent in his quest to unravel the mystery of widespread yellow-cedar mortality, using an exemplary multidisciplinary and collaborative approach. Yellow-cedar decline now represents one of the best understood forest declines worldwide.
Prior to retiring Paul was lead author of A Climate Adaptation Strategy for
Conservation and Management of Yellow-cedar in Alaska, General Technical
Report-917, tying together more than 30 years of research into managing this
“I’m REALLY going to miss Paul’s sense of self-deprecating humor, his dead deer pictures, his passion for yellow-cedar, but most of all his very strong support of the Tongass’ silviculture program. He will be sorely missed at our annual meetings.” -Sheila Spores, Forest Silviculturist, Tongass National Forest.
highly valued species. Beyond
yellow-cedar, Paul’s research
interests focused on hemlock dwarf
mistletoe, stem decays, shoot blights
and foliage diseases. His many
professional
accomplishments
include the publication of more than
65 journal articles and receiving
numerous prestigious awards,
such as the Distinguished Scientist
Award, a national award for Forest
Service Research. Equally important, he has been recognized by his peers
with the Western International Forest Disease Work Conference Outstanding
Achievement Award and the Tongass Silviculturist of the Year Award, a testament
to his outstanding outreach and customer service to forest managers.
Besides his internationally-recognized contributions to forest pathology, Paul is hailed as a mentor, collaborator, and all around great guy. We congratulate Paul on his retirement. It has been a great honor to work with him and learn from him!
Paul Hennon boats between field sites in Peril Strait in the early 1980s.
Paul Hennon chops into a yellow-cedar snag to reveal the yellow heartwood.
A Climate Adaptation Strategy for Department of Agriculture Conservation and Management of United States
Yellow-Cedar in Alaska Dustin T. Wittwer,
, David V. D’Amo,rRe,ich C. Cronn
Carol M. McKenzbie, Frances E. Biles
Hennon, ey,
Melinda
S.
Lam
PRaoubl iEn.L. Mulv
FSoerrevsict e
Pacific rNchorSthtwateiosnt Resea
ral Technical Report GPeNnWe -GTR-917
January 2016
2
U.S. Forest Service Alaska Region, State & Private Forestry
Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
A Forest Health Protection Report
Forest Service Alaska Region
State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry
R10-PR-39
February 2017
U.S. Forest Service, State & Private Forestry, Alaska Region
Debbie Hollen, Director for State & Private Forestry 1220 SW Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, [email protected] Michael Shephard, Deputy Director for State & Private Forestry 161 East 1st Avenue, Door 8, Anchorage, AK 99501, [email protected]
Alaska Forest Health Specialists U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Protection, http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/spf/fhp/ Anchorage, Southcentral Field Office 161 East 1st Avenue, Door 8, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 743-9453 Fax: (907) 743-9479 Garret Dubois, Biological Science Technician, [email protected]; John Lundquist, Entomologist (FHP and PNW Research Station), [email protected]; Steve Swenson, Biological Science Technician, [email protected] Fairbanks, Interior Field Office 3700 Airport Way, Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: (907) 451-2701, (907) 451-2799; Fax: (907) 451-2690 Stephen Burr, Entomologist, [email protected]; Lori Winton, Plant Pathologist, [email protected]; Tricia Wurtz, Ecologist, [email protected] Juneau, Southeast Field Office 11175 Auke Lake Way, Juneau, AK 99801 Phone: (907) 586-8835; Fax: (907) 586-7848 Elizabeth Graham, Entomologist, [email protected]; Tom Heutte, Aerial Survey Coordinator, [email protected]; Robin Mulvey, Plant Pathologist, [email protected] fs.fed.us State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry 550 W 7th Avenue, Suite 1450, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 269-8460; Fax: (907) 269-8931 Jason Moan, Forest Health Program Coordinator, [email protected] University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service 1840 Bragaw, Suite 100, Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: (907) 786-6300; Fax: (907) 786-6312 Gino Graziano, Invasive Plants Instructor, [email protected]; Jessie Moan, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Technician, [email protected]
Cover photo: Aspen killed by aspen running canker along the Taylor Highway.
ii
Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
FHP Protection Report R10-PR-39
Edited by: Garret Dubois and Tricia Wurtz Contributors: Stephen Burr, Garret Dubois, Elizabeth Graham, Tom Heutte, John Lundquist, Jason Moan, Jessie Moan, Robin Mulvey, Roger Ruess, Michael Shephard, Heather Stewart, Steve Swenson, Lori Winton, Tricia Wurtz. Layout: Carol Teitzel
CITATION: FS-R10-FHP. 2016. Forest Health Conditions in Alaska 2016. Anchorage, Alaska. U.S. Forest Service, Alaska Region. Publication R10-PR-39. 74 Pages
iii
iv
CONTENTS
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 Highlights ......................................................................................................................................................................3
Collaborative Partnerships Reveal Widespread Canker of Aspen in Alaska’s Boreal Forest .............................13 An Integrated Strategy for the Management of Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense)...........................................15 A New Twist on Aerial Survey Design..................................................................................................................16
STATUS OF DISEASES............................................................................................................................................19 2016 Pathology Species Updates .......................................................................................................................20 Foliar Diseases .............................................................................................................................................20 Dothistroma Needle Blight .....................................................................................................................20 Spruce Needle Casts/Blights ...................................................................................................................20 Spruce Needle Rust .................................................................................................................................20 Shoot and Bud Blights ................................................................................................................................20 Gemmamyces Bud Blight .......................................................................................................................20 Sirococcus Shoot Blight..........................................................................................................................22 Yellow-cedar Shoot Blight ......................................................................................................................22 Stem Diseases ...............................................................................................................................................22 Alder Canker ...........................................................................................................................................22 Aspen Cankers ........................................................................................................................................23 Diplodia Gall...........................................................................................................................................24 Hemlock Canker......................................................................................................................................24 Hemlock Dwarf Mistletoe.......................................................................................................................26 Huckleberry Broom Rust ........................................................................................................................26 Spruce Broom Rust .................................................................................................................................26 Stem Decays of Conifers.........................................................................................................................27 Stem Decays of Hardwoods ....................................................................................................................29 Western Gall Rust....................................................................................................................................29 Root and Butt Diseases ...............................................................................................................................30 Armillaria Root Disease..........................................................................................................................30 Pholiota Butt Rot.....................................................................................................................................30 Tomentosus Root Disease .......................................................................................................................30 Invasive Pathogens ......................................................................................................................................30
STATUS OF NONINFECTIOUS DISEASES AND DISORDERS .......................................................................33 2016 Noninfectious Diseases & Disorders Updates.........................................................................................34 Abiotic Damage............................................................................................................................................34 Windthrow ...............................................................................................................................................34 Flooding ..................................................................................................................................................34 Animal Damage ...........................................................................................................................................34 Porcupine Feeding...................................................................................................................................34 Forest Declines .............................................................................................................................................35 Yellow-cedar Decline ..............................................................................................................................35
STATUS OF INVASIVE PLANTS ...........................................................................................................................39 2016 Invasive Plant Program Updates .............................................................................................................40 Elodea update ..............................................................................................................................................40 Treatments on the Kenai and in Anchorage appear to have been successful ..........................................40 Rapid spread in Alexander Lake .............................................................................................................40 Copper River Delta research and treatment trials ...................................................................................40 Permit approved to treat Fairbanks-area infestations..............................................................................40 Survey and analysis of floatplane traffic patterns ...................................................................................40
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Alaska Exotic Plant Information Clearinghouse (AKEPIC) now displays both presence and knownabsence data for elodea ...........................................................................................................................43 New elodea infestation found..................................................................................................................43 Orange hawkweed publication .................................................................................................................44 Hope for eradication efforts ......................................................................................................................44 Contaminated potting soil .........................................................................................................................44 CNIPM enlarges its mission; successful workshop in Fairbanks..........................................................45 STATUS OF INSECTS ..............................................................................................................................................47 2016 Entomology Species Update ....................................................................................................................48 Hardwood Defoliators- External Leaf Feeding.......................................................................................48
Alder Defoliation .................................................................................................................................48 Aspen Defoliation ................................................................................................................................48 Birch Leaf Roller .................................................................................................................................48 Large Aspen Tortrix .............................................................................................................................48 Speckled Green Fruitworm ..................................................................................................................49 Miscellaneous Hardwood Defoliation .................................................................................................50 Hardwood Defoliators- Internal Leaf Feeding........................................................................................50 Aspen Leaf Miner ................................................................................................................................50 Birch Leaf Miners ................................................................................................................................50 Willow Leafblotch Miner.....................................................................................................................50 Softwood Defoliators..................................................................................................................................51 Hemlock Defoliation............................................................................................................................51 Spruce Aphid........................................................................................................................................51 Spruce Budworm .................................................................................................................................52 Bark Beetles................................................................................................................................................52 Spruce Beetle .......................................................................................................................................52 Northern Spruce Engraver ...................................................................................................................54 Western Balsam Bark Beetle................................................................................................................54 Other Pest Activity .....................................................................................................................................54 Urban Tree Pests ..................................................................................................................................54
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................................57 Appendix I: Aerial Detection Survey ..............................................................................................................58 Aerial Detection Survery...........................................................................................................................58 Appendix II: ......................................................................................................................................................63 Damage Type by Host Species...................................................................................................................63 Appendix III: .....................................................................................................................................................64 Information Delivery .................................................................................................................................64
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MAPS
Map 1. Map 2. Map 3. Map 4. Map 5. Map 6. Map 7. Map 8. Map 9. Map.10 Map 11. Map 12. Map 13. Map 14. Map 15. Map 16.
Alaska aerial insect and disease detection survey, 2016....................................................................................7 Alaska aerial insect and disease detection survey flight paths, 2016.................................................................8 Distribution maps of forest pathogens...............................................................................................................9 Comparison of flightlines in Alaska and Oregon.............................................................................................16 New sample cell flightline details....................................................................................................................17 Proposed new aerial survey sample design .....................................................................................................17 Distribution of aerially mapped Dothistroma since 2012................................................................................21 Gemmamyces bud blight locations..................................................................................................................21 Statewide surveys of alder canker along major highways in 2016..................................................................22 Road surveys of hemlock canker on western hemlock on Prince of Wales Island since 2012 .......................24 Current and cumulative cedar decline mapped by aerial detection survey in Southeast Alaska .....................36 Map showing confirmed and suspected Orthosia hibisci-caused defoliation 2014-2016 ...............................49 Results of spruce aphid ground inspections in May of 2016...........................................................................51 Results of spruce aphid ground inspections in October of 2016 .....................................................................52 Observed spruce beetle activity within watershed areas in the greater Susitna River Valley .........................55 Spruce beetle and northern spruce engraver damage in 2016 .........................................................................55
TABLES
Table 1. Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. Table 7.
Forest insect and disease activity detected during aerial surveys in Alaska in 2016 .......................................11 Affected area (in thousands of acres) from 2012 to 2016 ................................................................................12 Common canker fungi of live hardwood trees in Alaska.................................................................................23 Stem, butt, and root decay fungi of live conifer trees in Alaska ......................................................................28 Stem, butt, and root decay fungi of live hardwood trees in Alaska .................................................................29 Potential invasive pathogens and diseases .......................................................................................................31 Cumulative acreage affected by yellow-cedar decline as of 2016 in Southeast Alaska by ownership............37
vii
viii
Introduction
By Michael Shephard, Deputy Director, State & Private Forestry, Alaska
I am excited to present to you the Forest Health Conditions in Alaska—2016 report. We hope you find it interesting and informative.
This report summarizes monitoring data collected annually by our Forest Health Protection team and some of our key partners. It is provided to you, as one of our core missions, to provide technical assistance and information to stakeholders on the forest conditions of Alaska. The report also helps to fulfill a congressional mandate (The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978, as amended) that requires survey, monitoring, and annual reporting of the health of the forests. This report also provides information used in the annual Forest Insect and Disease Conditions in the United States report.
We hope this report will help YOU, whether you are a resource professional, land manager, other decision-maker or someone who is interested in forest health issues affecting Alaska. This report integrates information from many sources, summarized and synthesized by our forest health team. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or comments.
We also want to let you know about some recent personnel changes in our Alaska forest health team:
New Arrivals: Please join us in welcoming Debbie Hollen, our new State and Private Forestry Director for Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. Debbie is stationed in Portland, Ore., and has wide breadth of experience with the Forest Service and the BLM in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Welcome to Debbie.
Recent Departures: Melinda Lamb has left our team after 12 years to take a position in the Regional Office of the Forest Service in Juneau. Congratulations to Melinda on the new position. Nicholas Lisuzzo has left our team in Fairbanks after 7 years to pursue other adventures in the interior. We wish him the very best.
Seasonal Technicians: Bryan Box worked as a pathways student out of our Anchorage office for the past two seasons. Bryan has been a valued addition to our field-going staff as well as an important part of our post-field-season insect sample processing efforts. Isaac Davis worked as a seasonal technician for our
Fairbanks office this year, while Justin Phillips worked for our
Juneau office. We thank them for all of their help this season.
Did you know you can request for our aerial survey team to examine specific forest health concerns in your area? To do this, please contact our Aerial Survey Coordinator, Tom Heutte ([email protected] fs.fed.us) or other members of our forest health team. Additionally, this report is available online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/ r10/forest-grasslandhealth or in print by contacting Biological Science Technician, Garret Dubois ([email protected]).
Bryan Box
Isaac Davis
Forest Health Conditions in Alaska - 2016
Debbie Hollen Melinda Lamb Nicholas Lisuzzo
1
Paul Hennon Retires
Paul began his work in Southeast Alaska spending summers on southern Chichagof Island investigating yellow-cedar decline. Paul joined the Forest Service in 1985, taking on a unique shared position with the Pacific Northwest Research Station and Forest Health Protection in 1986. Paul held this position for his entire career. Although it was a trifle more difficult administratively, Paul clearly demonstrated this ‘trial’ shared position to be a great success.
Important mentors during his early career and beyond include pathologists Everett Hansen, Terry Shaw, and Tom Laurent, and entomologist Andris Eglitis. Over the course of his career, he researched the etiology and ecology of forest diseases and declines (Sturrock et al. 2011). He was persistent in his quest to unravel the mystery of widespread yellow-cedar mortality, using an exemplary multidisciplinary and collaborative approach. Yellow-cedar decline now represents one of the best understood forest declines worldwide.
Prior to retiring Paul was lead author of A Climate Adaptation Strategy for
Conservation and Management of Yellow-cedar in Alaska, General Technical
Report-917, tying together more than 30 years of research into managing this
“I’m REALLY going to miss Paul’s sense of self-deprecating humor, his dead deer pictures, his passion for yellow-cedar, but most of all his very strong support of the Tongass’ silviculture program. He will be sorely missed at our annual meetings.” -Sheila Spores, Forest Silviculturist, Tongass National Forest.
highly valued species. Beyond
yellow-cedar, Paul’s research
interests focused on hemlock dwarf
mistletoe, stem decays, shoot blights
and foliage diseases. His many
professional
accomplishments
include the publication of more than
65 journal articles and receiving
numerous prestigious awards,
such as the Distinguished Scientist
Award, a national award for Forest
Service Research. Equally important, he has been recognized by his peers
with the Western International Forest Disease Work Conference Outstanding
Achievement Award and the Tongass Silviculturist of the Year Award, a testament
to his outstanding outreach and customer service to forest managers.
Besides his internationally-recognized contributions to forest pathology, Paul is hailed as a mentor, collaborator, and all around great guy. We congratulate Paul on his retirement. It has been a great honor to work with him and learn from him!
Paul Hennon boats between field sites in Peril Strait in the early 1980s.
Paul Hennon chops into a yellow-cedar snag to reveal the yellow heartwood.
A Climate Adaptation Strategy for Department of Agriculture Conservation and Management of United States
Yellow-Cedar in Alaska Dustin T. Wittwer,
, David V. D’Amo,rRe,ich C. Cronn
Carol M. McKenzbie, Frances E. Biles
Hennon, ey,
Melinda
S.
Lam
PRaoubl iEn.L. Mulv
FSoerrevsict e
Pacific rNchorSthtwateiosnt Resea
ral Technical Report GPeNnWe -GTR-917
January 2016
2
U.S. Forest Service Alaska Region, State & Private Forestry