TOPIC: Take a look at this and let me hear your thoughts

My wife and I drove to the mountains this morning and I was fit to be tied after seeing what was happening. I have witnessed many prescribed burns, but nothing on this magnitude. You can imagine...I wasn't very happy:(
Hugh

http://www.smokymountainflyguide.com/Choosing%20places%20to%20grow%20ginseng.htm

It won't be good for the native woodland perennials or your ginseng much this year if they have already started to come up. But next year they will be fine from what I have experienced with similar situations like this.

The trees look fairly good and did not get scorched too bad. I have seen this done before and the trees were burnt much worse but did recoup well the following year. Check for morels in that area next spring too. Sometimes they grow well in an area the year following a controlled burn.

With that said, I still would have been shocked to see this as well, but I know why they do it.
Latt

Seems like very poor timing to me...

Sure 3-4 year old ginseng or older will be OK, but any first year 3 leafers that were up and probably some 2 year old that are not that stout are now toast and will never be back.

What ever the reasons are for doing this type of burn... if they had just done it 3-4 weeks ago it would have been much better.

If you can find those responsible and explain to them how this will affect any first year ginseng plants that were already up (as in dead and gone forever)... I would do that. And of course ginseng is just one of many.

TNhunter

I agree timing was bad for sure. Makes you wonder why educated forestry folks would pick the time they did. They did the same thing in South Western Ohio a couple of years ago but did in in late March just prior to anything sprouting. We went down to hunt morels and some of the areas were still smoldering a week or so after. Trees were burnt as high as 20 to 30 feet up but I think they all survived.
Latt

Yeah guys, There are a couple of things that I sure agree on. 1: Why would any well educated person in this field not realize that great damage would be done by burning a whole mountain (over 1000 acres) off just as all the natural forest plants were emerging. They also know, well and good,that many mountain people supplement their incomes by digging seng. I certainly believe that this burn could have happened a couple or 3 weeks earlier and the damage would have been much less.
This is just an ongoing series of bad relationships between the people in the mountainous counties and the US Forest Service. I have already mentioned that I had tried on several occasions to get in touch with the area supervisor about ginseng that I and others had planted in the National Forest and about the selling of permits for a given plot. They would never answer the phone or return calls where I left messages asking them to get back with me. It's not hard to understand why feelings have always been strained between tax payers and political appointees. It won't get any better with things like this taking place.
Hugh

Hugh-

I would be exasperated if that had happened to me. I read your report on your website, and just preceding it were you photos of newly emerging sang.

Have you voiced your opinion to the USFS? If this had happened to me, I feel sure that I would have had at least a conversation with the local USFS folks about my dissapoijntment. These USPS employees are public servants [or so I'm told] and have to listen to the locals. Wether or not they do something with what they have listened to is a whole 'nother question. Send them a letter with you impressions, and send it to the local office as well as the regional office, since they are not returning phone calls.

The timing of this controlled burn is definitely in contention.

Whitjr,

Thanks for your thoughts about this matter. It is really frustrating to see this and not be able to do anything about ongoing situations like this. Last year they sprayed weed killer on hundreds of acres on another mountain close by. It never stops.
I contacted the Newport Plain Talk Newspaper as soon as I got home from the trip. I also gave them my website to look at. I was hoping that maybe it could be brought before County Commissioner's who would have a much stronger say so that I could. I've never heard anything else from them. I had hoped to be able to help others in my county with better methods of growing and harvesting ginseng, but I seem to take one step forward and slide three steps back. Oh well!

Hugh

Hugh I think those guys are federal. not answerable to the locals much, is my take on it.