Welcome to the Frederick County Forestry Board (FCFB) Web site.
The contents of each page on our site is breifly described below the 'Spotlight" section. From any page in this site you can access any other page by using the FCFB site navigator found in the upper left column. The lower left column of each page contains links to other Web sites that relate to FCFB page content. You can contact us from any page by using the link provide at the bottom of every page. Every two weeks a new "Nature Notes" appears at the bottom of this home page.
FCFB Spotlight!
- CHESTNUT SCIENCE AND EDUCATION A REGIONAL WORKSHOP
PRESENTED BY THE MARYLAND CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION (TACF)
Saturday, October 4, 2008, 11:00 am to 2:00 pm
Izaak Walton League National Headquarters
707 Conservation Lane Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Featured Speaker: Dr. Carolyn Howes Keiffer
Associate Professor of Botany, Miami University, Ohio
A leader in both chestnut research
Download flyer for more information.- Jonathan Kays, University of Maryland Natural Resources Extension Specialist, has requested we share this announcement about two upcoming GPS trainings with you: 1) BEGINNER GPS TRAINING; and 2) USE OF TERRAIN NAVIGATOR SOFTWARE WITH GPS. A brochure with registration form and
additional information about the trainings is available on the GPS Training page of their Web site.Frederick County student Sarah Delise shares her recent Natural Resources Careers Conference 2008 experience in a letter to the FCFB. Visit the Education programs page to read the letter.
- The newest addition to the FCFB Web site is the Forest favorites page. Visit this page to learn about the favorite trees, shrubs, flowers and critters that live in the forest that have become favorites of the FCFB members.
- The Frederick County Forestry Board is sad to announce that one of our FCFB members, James Riley McCrumb Sr., 74, of New Market, died Saturday, June 21, 2008, at his home. To learn more visit our Board members page.
- Another new page, Big tree program, has been added to the FCFB site navigator. The page contains information about champion trees in Frederick County.
'It's Like a Death in the Family'
After the Wye Oak died in the Eastern Shore town of Wye Mills, state foresters searched for the next-biggest white oak. They found Flora's Oak, which stands 107 feet tall, with a trunk circumference of 22.3 feet and a crown spread of 115 feet. Unfortunately the centuries-old Flora's Oak in Barnesville was uprooted by recent storm.
- Frederick County Public Schools becomes the first school district in Chesapeake Bay watershed to adopt a tree canopy goal!
Frederick County’s Board of Education unanimously voted to support a goal to increase the tree canopy for all Board of Education of Frederick County properties to 20 percent over the next 30 years. Frederick County Public Schools, which currently has 12 percent tree cover, is the first school district in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to adopt a tree canopy goal.
Download the press release for more details.- Natural Resources Careers Conference - 7/20-26/2008
The conference has completed successfully. See the Education programs page to read about participant experiences and see pictures of our two Frederick County participants learning and enjoying the camp.
- Maryland DNR Nursery Catalog - order trees on-line
Last season, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources began taking orders on-line. Their nursery catalog has been on the Web for several years, but you had to print an order form and fax or mail it to order seedlings. Their secure site can be used with confidence. If you include your email address on the order form, the DNR can confirm your order and send planting instructions and shipping notices!
Overview of the FCFB Web site
The Frederick County Forestry Board is dedicated to the forested lands in Frederick County. Go to our Our mission page to learn our purpose and the ways we support the community in promoting forestry concerns.
Are you interested in participating in a state sponsored stewardship of your forested land? Go to our Forest stewardship page to learn about the benefits and responsibilities of this worthwhile program.
Visit the Education programs page to learn about classroom, workshops, demonstrations, training, lectures, seminars and other types of education about forestry in the area. The FCFB Spotlight section above also contains links to recent or future educational events.
The Timber harvest page is a source of information for timber harvest plans, inspections and related topics.
The spring of 2008 will see a major infestation of Gypsy moth larvae to many areas in Frederick County. Many concerned Frederick County land owners attended a FCFB workshop on the Gypsy moth in November and have banded together to combat the problem. Go to the Gypsy moth suppression page to learn more.
Go to the Board members page to see a listing of the 2008 FCFB membership. This page also contains highlights from the latest board meeting ('Board Briefs'). To contact the FCFB use the 'Contact us' link found at the bottom of every page in our Web site.
Visit our Newsletter page to download our printed FCFB Newsletter (the current issue as well as past issues). To be added to the newletter mailing distribution you can contact us and ask to be added to our newsletter mailing list.
The Field trials page contains forestry research result reports for studies conducted locally.
On the Big tree program page you can read about national and state champion tree in Frederick County. Pictures of these magnificant giants are also shown.
The Forest favorites page contains short articles by FCFB members about some of their favorite inhabitants of the forest ... flora and fauna.
Nature Notes – 8/31/2008
Why are black locust leaves looking brown?
Nature Notes is compiled by the Frederick County Forestry Board and appears as a column every other week in the Sunday Travel & Outdoors section of the Frederick News-Post.
It’s late summer and if you look around you’ll see effects of insects that eat the “best” parts of leaves, plants that make people sneeze and diseases that attack apple trees.
Locust leaf miner
A right of summer is occurring again in Frederick County as the locust leaf miner (Odontota dorsalis) begins its assault on black locust leaves, turning them an unsightly brown. This damage is mostly cosmetic and the locusts will bounce back next year.
Locust leaf miner adults overwinter in leaf litter and in bark crevices of locust trees. In early spring, the adults emerge, mate, then lay their eggs on the underside of locust leaves. The larvae hatch and bore into the leaf, eating the succulent material on the inside of the leaf. This type of damage is known as mining. As the larvae mine the leaves, the mines converge, turning the leaf brown.
The larvae mature in the fall. Adult leaf miners chew holes in leaves, called shot hole feeding, and skeletonize them by eating everything except the veins. Normally, the adults do not exist in high enough numbers to defoliate trees.
Courtesy photo
Locust leaf miner larvae bore into the leaves of black locusts, eating the succulent material on the inside. This type of damage is known as mining and turns the affected leaf brown
Goldenrod and ragweed
Two late-summer blooming native plants, goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea) and ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) are often associated with allergy sufferers.
Goldenrod gets a bad rap, since it blooms at the same time as common ragweed, which is the real culprit. The showy yellow blooms of goldenrod attract numerous insects, which help pollinate by spreading its relatively large pollen grains, although this annual also propagates well through its spreading root system.
flowers, not needing to attract insects for propagation, are an inconspicuous green. As it is wind-pollinated, ragweed produces large quantities of smaller-grained pollen, which are the principal autumn antagonist of allergy sufferers. The small ragweed seed, contained in a burr covering, is a winter food for many species of birds.
Apple scab
Many ornamental apple and crab apples are displaying various symptoms of disease, such as fire blight, cedar apple rust or apple scab. The cool, wet spring and moist summer conditions have been ideal for the development of these fungal, viral and bacterial diseases.
You may notice that many apples and crab apples have sparse foliage. This is most often caused by apple scab, a fungus that causes lesions on the leaves, buds and fruits of apple trees. These lesions can cause premature leaf drop and a reduction in fruit from the host tree, as a diseased tree is less likely to bear plentiful fruit. The lesions on fruits also make apples less desirable and therefore less marketable as well. Fortunately, apple scab is rarely lethal to the host plant.
There are a number of fungicides that are effective control of apple scab; however, they act mostly as a preventive, not a cure, so application should begin in early spring when these trees are in bloom. Resistance to apple scab has been bred into a number of strains of these trees, so choosing the proper variety may prevent you from having to worry about this disease.
Courtesy photo
You may notice that many apples and crab apples have sparse foliage. This is most often caused by apple scab, a fungus that causes lesions on the leaves, buds and fruits of apple trees. These lesions can cause premature leaf drop.
Queen Anne’s lace.
A native of Europe introduced in America for medicinal properties that include use of its seeds as a contraceptive, Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) is also known as wild carrot. The scent and taste of the root are very carrotlike, though tough and woody. This prevalent wildflower blooms through the summer into fall with a white flower head that resembles lace.
Queen Anne lace among golden rod (photo by Mike Kay)
Use the following link to download past Nature Notes as a Word document:
