The Norwegian woods - Sitka spruce disaster

[FishyFolk]

http://translate.google.com/translat...ofe-1.11323170

Just so that the tree huggers out there don't get to worked up next time they see me take an axe to a spruce tree...

And it is as bad as the article says...some of you have seen me mention it in a few vids...

[Pryderi]

We had a sitka plantation on the hill above where I grew up. A better description would be a sitka desert. Impenetrable, dark as night in the middle of the day no wildlife or plants other than dead pine needles and the odd spider on the outskirts. Calling it a desert is unfair as a desert probably hss more going on in it

[Stamp]

I sympathise with you, Sitka is a species which will naturally regenerate given the right conditions. Now they are there it will be almost impossible to remove them completely, Sitka is planted over here but doesn't cause any problems (other than the Desert effect!). We get similar problems with Hemlock in plantations, they regenerate so quick and block out the light for anything else.

I'm not familiar with the topography of Norway but over here we have heathlands, moorlands etc. that we protect and stop trees from growing. The problem is we are stopping nature from reclaiming land to its natural form, these heathlands are man made, we cleared them for timber (not all but a lot) and now have a nativised environment which we protect from returning to woodland. As soon as we start introducing species or removing them nature loses control of the natural order. I fear you are fighting a losing battle against the spruce.

[Pryderi]

Sorry should have said I was talking about Wales...

[saxonaxe]

Ideas introduced into nature by man often have an effect not bargained for at the time of introduction, whether it's an attempt to boost the Norwegian forestry industry with Sitka Spruce or bump off the British Bunny population with Myxomatosis. Plans by some countries to export timber by ripping out their forests may have seemed like a good idea at the time but now they have cronic soil erosion and landslides.

This is not a moan, just an observation...the original idea may look a winner but mankind are a bit too slow to learn at times..

[FishyFolk]

I sympathise with you, Sitka is a species which will naturally regenerate given the right conditions. Now they are there it will be almost impossible to remove them completely, Sitka is planted over here but doesn't cause any problems (other than the Desert effect!). We get similar problems with Hemlock in plantations, they regenerate so quick and block out the light for anything else.

I'm not familiar with the topography of Norway but over here we have heathlands, moorlands etc. that we protect and stop trees from growing. The problem is we are stopping nature from reclaiming land to its natural form, these heathlands are man made, we cleared them for timber (not all but a lot) and now have a nativised environment which we protect from returning to woodland. As soon as we start introducing species or removing them nature loses control of the natural order. I fear you are fighting a losing battle against the spruce.

Norway is more similar to the Scottish highlands if it is to be compared to anything on your islands.
It is mostly mountain and hill country, with a small strip of arable land allong the coast and in the deep valleys in he interior.

Most of the arable land was cultured for hay production, and the livestock (goats, sheep, cattle etc) kept the brush away. Now the birch is moving in as most of these farms are gone. Our forstes was never manged like you do in the UK. So most of what you see here is actual wild forest. But most of it is quite young, as nature has reclaimed much of the old pastures and grass fields.

If you've seen my vids on youtube, most of that is in forest that nature has reclaimed. SOme of it in what was open fields and pastures when I was a kid...

[Rasputin]

Ideas introduced into nature by man often have an effect not bargained for at the time of introduction, whether it's an attempt to boost the Norwegian forestry industry with Sitka Spruce or bump off the British Bunny population with Myxomatosis. Plans by some countries to export timber by ripping out their forests may have seemed like a good idea at the time but now they have cronic soil erosion and landslides.

This is not a moan, just an observation...the original idea may look a winner but mankind are a bit too slow to learn at times..

When I was 16/17 I worked for a timber Co in Lancashire, one year our buyers ( In their infinite wisdom PMSL ) Bought 10,000 standard of cheap New Zealand pine. Because it was an exotic (to N Z ) it grew to maturity in about 10 - 15 yrs which made it very cheap to produce. On the face of it, Brill Idea. In reallity knots the size of coconuts and full of resin, if you dropped it on the floor or tried to saw it, it broke into non usable lengths. It was eventually sold for firewood, a lesson to be learned I think ! All that glitters isnt gold.

[blacksmith]

They have a similar problem in Madeira with eucalyptus trees.If you like cutting trees down go to Madeira and you can cut as many eucalyptus trees as you like.