Released: January 22, 2008

‘08 a Likely Year for New Conservation Tree Plantings

MANHATTAN, Kan. – This could be a banner year for state residents’ ordering the low-cost tree and shrub seedlings the Kansas Forest Service offers annually through its Conservation Tree Planting Program.

“From a soil-moisture standpoint, Kansas is in the best shape it’s been in years. Plus, this winter’s combination of harsh weather and rising fuel prices have been demonstrating – once again – that various types of windbreaks and some additional protection for outdoor animals can be a very good thing,” said Joshua Pease, KFS conservation forester.

So far, spring 2008 buyers appear likely to range fairly widely, Pease said. Suburban Kansans with weather-exposed homes on small-acre lots are now qualified for the program. Farm producers with woodlands, wildlife habitat and/or aging windbreaks were hit hard last year by tree-damaging weather, including last May’s tornadoes, early September’s high winds in the west, and December’s ice storms.

The program began taking orders in December and will continue doing so into May. Because seedlings have the best odds if planted by late March or early April, Pease will start shipping March 17.

Qualifying for the program just requires a buyer to agree to use the seedlings for conservation.

Program trees and shrubs can become living barriers to block ugly views, to reduce wind speed or highway noise, and to prevent road-covering snow drifts. They can mark property lines plus create habitat for songbirds, game birds or other wildlife. They can protect livestock or crops, as well as provide firewood or Christmas trees. If planted on shores, they can stabilize the bank, help control soil erosion, and filter out pollutants before rain runoff reaches a pond, stream, river or lake.

“More and more people appear to be using our trees and shrubs simply for stewardship or ecological reasons,” Pease said. “Of course, people also are using them to take the edge off of Kansas’ weather extremes – to improve their overall quality of living and perhaps reduce their heating and air conditioning costs. As a group, though, they’re having a real impact on our overall environment.”

The tree planting program offers more than 30 species, selected for hardiness in the central High Plains, he said. The plants are one to two years old. Most are bare-root and 12 to 18 inches tall.

Special offerings include four types of mixed-species bundles meant to benefit wildlife – the songbird, pheasant (western Kansas), quail (eastern Kansas) and wildlife mast (nut-producing) bundles.

All other plants come in one-species bundles of 25. Order forms and more information are available at any county or district Kansas State University Research and Extension office or on the Web at http://www.kansasforests.org/conservation/.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News