Stormwise: Integrating arboriculture and silviculture to create storm-resilient roadside forests

Abstract

The band of trees within 30 m of roads (i.e., roadside forests) is often left unmanaged during traditional forest management activities because of liability concerns about inadvertently causing a vehicular accident or damaging utility lines during harvests. The trees in these same neglected forests often cause extensive utility outages and road blockages during extreme weather. Building on the prescriptions developed in Connecticut , the authors, utility companies, state foresters, highway departments, and forest landowners initiated a collaborative project—Stormwise—that is developing and testing practical, cost-effective, and proactive protocols that integrate silvicultural and arboricultural practices. The goals are to reduce the risk of damage during extreme storms, increase habitat diversity, recover underused volume, and maintain aesthetic appeal. Immediately adjacent to utility and road corridors, trees are pruned using ANSI standards, and at-risk trees are removed. To the interior, crop tree management is used to develop trees with wind-firm, open-grown characteristics along with subcanopies of short-stature trees, native shrubs, and herbs. Seven study areas have been established along 2.3 km of roadside forests. Lessons learned about tree selection and coordination from implementation at three areas are being incorporated into treatments scheduled at the remaining sites. Results of treatments and monitoring will be used to inform communities and stakeholders about the management of roadside forests.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 20th Central Hardwood Forest Conference

Citation

Ward, Jeffrey S.; Worthley, Thomas E.; Degnan, Thomas J.; Barsky, Joseph P. 2017. Stormwise: Integrating arboriculture and silviculture to create storm-resilient roadside forests. In: Kabrick, John M.; Dey, Daniel C.; Knapp, Benjamin O.; Larsen, David R.; Shifley, Stephen R.; Stelzer, Henry E., eds. Proceedings of the 20th Central Hardwood Forest Conference; 2016 March 28-April 1; Columbia, MO. General Technical Report NRS-P-167. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 119-132.