Forestry Tip of the Day: Fall is a great time of year to survey for the presence of new Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) infestations. MPBs fly once per year from mid-July to Mid-September. Property owners are encouraged to survey their lands for the presence of newly infested trees beginning mid-September of each year. A step by step Bark Beetle Field Guide (www.bit.ly/BoCoMPB) is available to help identify currently infested trees. Why is this important?? For the past three years we have seen declining beetle impacts across the State. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but the declining beetle numbers provides hope for the future. Research has shown that landowners…

Super Man had his red cape and a big “S” on his blue uni-suite.  It no doubt helped him to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, and bounce bullets off his chest.  Check out our new super hero “uniform,”  donated by Linda Martin, of Wee Creekers and printed by the awesome folks at American Dream Silkscreen Company. It doesn’t bestow any super hero powers  to its owner. But it will help  protect you from brier and branches, as well as allow you to be safely seen in the forest. And it also says, “I’m a SUPER CHAMP,” because the only way you can get this long sleeve shirt is by earning…

Have you ever gone to a work site and forgotten an important gear like a scrench? It is not only frustrating but can cost you precious time.  That is why I now keep specific task related tools in gear boxes.  I can now confidently throw a specific gear box in the back of the truck and know I have what I need. Here are a few tips, 1) Make sure you check your gear box before putting it away. Re-supply it with any needed items or replace broken tools. 2)I found that transparent gear boxes work best. It allows me to see items without having to open the lid. With that…

Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: How to Correctly Prune a Tree Forestry Tip of the Day: Did you know that you can cause long-term damage to your trees if you prune them incorrectly? We often see landowners incorrectly prune a tree by either placing their final pruning cut too far away from the trunk of the tree (leaving a 1 to 2 inch branch stub) or cutting too close to the tree trunk (cutting into the “branch collar”). Leaving a short branch stub can lead to long-term tree health problems decades from now. As the short stubs decay they have the potential to transport rot fungus into the center of the…