Tisbury is supporting an effort to diminish the impact of the invasive Southern pine beetles on woodlands within its borders, possibly employing a tool that hasn’t been used within Massachusetts yet.
On Wednesday, Jan. 10, the Tisbury Select Board unanimously approved supporting an application with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to permit a device called a burn box to be used to deal with the infestation.
Tisbury Fire Chief Greg Leland told the board that an infestation of Southern pine beetles was spotted in Phillips Preserve — a Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation property — in July and received permission from the state to cut down trees to contain the outbreak. Cutting down infested trees helps create a buffer zone to keep the troublesome insects from infesting other trees.
“The initial estimates were 60-something trees and it ended up being about a hundred,” Leland said, adding that the beetles spread farther than anticipated.
Southern pine beetles are an invasive species native to the southern United States and Mexico, and the insects burrow into pine trees and cut off their circulation. An outbreak can lead to multiple generations of beetles infesting one tree to the next if left unchecked.
Leland said an infestation killed all of the pine trees on about an acre of land in the preserve, which all had to be taken down. The felled trees were inspected by an off-Island company, and while some of them were taken for lumber, the remaining wood needs to be disposed of in another fashion.
“Because it’s still infested, they can’t mulch it and transport it off the Island without the possibility of spreading southern pine beetles,” Leland said.
The foundation is reaching out to MassDEP for a special permit to burn the infested wood using an “air curtain incendiary device” called a burn box, which Leland said is widely used in states like California, Colorado, and Montana. The chief described the device as something similar to a dumpster that burns the loaded wood within itself. The equipment helps prevent fires from spreading while getting rid of the tree, according to Leland.
Leland said the foundation couldn’t do a typical burn because there wasn’t a “real water source in that area” where the felled trees were located. He also said that while the device would produce smoke, it would be less than from an open burn.
If the foundation’s application is successful, Leland said this would be the first time MassDEP had approved such a device in the state. “They’re not looking to do it on a large scale in Massachusetts, but they understand the unique circumstances we have here on the Island and they’re willing to work with us,” Leland said.
The goal is to complete the process before the tourist season since most of the homes around the area are summer homes, Leland said.
Tisbury finance committee chair Nancy Gilfoy said the public should be notified when the burn would happen. Leland said while he will work with Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation once the permit was acquired, the notifications would be primarily coming from the conservation group since the burn will take place on private property. “The communications center will be notified every day as well because you will be able to see the smoke from the mainland and we don’t want to get false calls,” he said.
Besides Phillips Preserve, the tiny beetles have also been spotted in the West Chop area. Local and state officials have worked to mitigate the impacts of Southern pine beetle infestations in other parts of the Island, including within Manuel F. Correllus State Forest and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank’s Ripley’s Field Preserve.
“This is the problem we’re going to see Islandwide,” Leland said.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation executive director and licensed forester Adam Moore told The Times on Friday that southern pine beetles have also been spotted at the Island’s western areas, likely blown over by wind from Long Island in New York.
“They’re multiplying and something we’re contending with and it’s something we’ve been dealing with for some time,” Moore said.
Although tree cutting efforts have been done on the Vineyard in response to southern pine beetle infestations, Moore said the insects have spread and more tree thinning measures will likely be needed over the winter. On Friday morning, Moore was at Phillips Preserve conducting a forest inventory in preparation for potential cutting to provide a better chance for more trees to survive.
Moore said the beetles are less active during the winter because of the cold. Moore said that a warming climate has helped the insects to spread farther than they could before.
“Our winters are not as cold as they used to be and aren’t killing them all off,” he said.
Moore anticipates the southern pine beetles will be something the Island will need to actively deal with over the next decade.
“It’s going to keep us busy,” he said.
Draft response to pine die off.
I hope SMF will also look into the Hugetkultur composting method and replant. For a long time before chainsaws, chippers and trucks people site composted logs. Trench or mound composting similar to the Hugelkultur might be worth a try.
What is it?
Hugelkultur is a composting method that uses large pieces of rotting wood as the centerpiece for long term humus building decomposition. The decomposition process takes place below the ground, while at the same time allowing you to cultivate the raised, or sunken, hugelkultur bed. This allows the plants to take advantage of nutrients released during decomposition. Hugelkultur, in its infinite variations, has been developed and practiced by key permaculture proponents such as Sepp Holzer and Masanobu Fukuoka for decades.
This information is from the NY state website.
What You Can Do To Help
Removing Dead Trees that Pose a Safety Risk
Dead pine trees pose a safety risk. Remove standing dead trees if they have the potential to fall on people, structures, roads, or utility lines. However, dead trees no longer have living SPB in them so they can be left standing if they do not pose a safety risk..
“Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation executive director and licensed forester Adam Moore told The Times on Friday that southern pine beetles have also been spotted at the Island’s western areas, likely blown over by wind from Long Island in New York.”
First they cause their car alarms to go off on the ferries, and now they are responsible for the Pine Beetles.
What is next from New Yorkers, Rudy Giuliani buying a retirement home here?
How are private homeowners supposed to deal with this infestation of pines? I probably have an acre of tall pine trees directly across the street from Sheriff’s Meadow. I could never afford to cut them all down if they’re infected. Will there be funding/grants for this?
Would love to see an article in the Times regarding how many species have moved northward because of the temperatures rising on our planet—lobsters, beetles, and how many more?
Do what you can to get rid of them! Hopefully you don’t have Spotted Lanternflies. They will devastate your open spaces.