01-10-2017, 05:28 AM
Shout out to a gal from HPP who asked a good question ystdy at the boat dock. Q: Did I burn diseased wood to treat healthy trees. The answer is yes! Over the span of one year I treated an assortment of healthy Ohia by using the wood ash from both diseased trees that had been recently cut down, as well as logs that had been lying in the forest for years. All of the ash treated trees are experiencing new growth today. She was concerned that the fire would drive spores out of the dead wood and into the forest. However, I was told by Irene, the forestry stewardship gal at the DLNR that all you have to do is heat treat wood in order to kill the CF pathogen, (but who has a huge wood kiln lying around?) However, logic dictates that raw fire is hotter than a warming kiln so it's likely an instant kill for fungal pathogen. We have so much dead Ohia that while some of it's value is in structural materials, the larger value may lie in use as soil amendments. There is some evidence that the smoke is actually good for the forest but I'm still working on mining the supporting data for that one so give me time.
My feeling is that if Ohia had been as pretty dead as it is alive, it would already have been denuded along with the Koa which was a major nitrogen fixer for the islands. We are now seeing a rise in fast growing, invasive, nitrogen fixers because of it. Albizia and Gunpowder tree to name a couple. Then there is one with parasol leaves and sticky, banana bunch style seed pods that grow lightening fast and do not die when you cut them down that I do not know the name of, looks like tako arms reaching out of the ground. These trees will suffocate Ohia as well within the next decade if nothing is done. The super soft wood means they aren't as good for storm protection as the hard slow growing wood of Ohia. Think of what happened to the top heavy Albizia during Iselle. Ohia must be maintained and from all angles it looks like no easy fixes but a lot of good old fashioned hard work.
My feeling is that if Ohia had been as pretty dead as it is alive, it would already have been denuded along with the Koa which was a major nitrogen fixer for the islands. We are now seeing a rise in fast growing, invasive, nitrogen fixers because of it. Albizia and Gunpowder tree to name a couple. Then there is one with parasol leaves and sticky, banana bunch style seed pods that grow lightening fast and do not die when you cut them down that I do not know the name of, looks like tako arms reaching out of the ground. These trees will suffocate Ohia as well within the next decade if nothing is done. The super soft wood means they aren't as good for storm protection as the hard slow growing wood of Ohia. Think of what happened to the top heavy Albizia during Iselle. Ohia must be maintained and from all angles it looks like no easy fixes but a lot of good old fashioned hard work.