Gardening in Alaska : Harvest bark responsibly

Talk Dirt To Me

Do you love to make mud pies, grow a houseplant, eat veggies, or stop to smell the bouquet on your co-workers desk? Everyone enjoys a bit of green growing around him or her and then there are those that are passionate and needy when it comes to dabbling in the dirt. With this blog, we'll try to satisfy those needs and tell you about what's going on with the Anchorage gardening scene. You know, as I finally learned, it's all about the dirt.

Photographer and gardener Fran Durner (fdurner@adn.com) writes the blog.

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Harvest bark responsibly

Posted by talkdirt

Posted: November 16, 2008 - 2:52 pm

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Bark stripped from mature birch trees in a forest near Goose Lake in July 2008. Anne Raup/ADN

One of my colleagues showed me this photo taken last summer of birch trees with large pieces of bark stripped from them. The trees were near Goose Lake. Most of the area around Goose Lake is either a municipal park or owned by UAA or APU. Which means that whoever harvested the bark probably did so illegally.

If they didn't know what they were doing, the cutters may have also doomed these trees to a slow death. Not to mention the fact that they scarred the trees and made an area of a forest frequented by trail users downright ugly. Tales of similarly defaced trees have been trickling in from other accessible park areas.

I sent the photo around to foresters and arborists for their comments.

--Wade Collins, arborist for the Municipality of Anchorage, was disturbed by the photo. "When the bark is stripped off a tree, the outer 1/8-inch section is removed. This section consists of three layers of cells that compose the bark and are vital to tree health. Below these layers of cell begins the phloem, which transports sugars produced in the leaves to other areas of the tree. It is difficult to not damage the phloem during the bark removal process, which can often lead to girdling (if the cut is too deep) and eventually tree mortality. It is said that 20% of trees that are harvested for bark eventually die as a result. Harvesting in general leads to stress, which can make it more susceptible to insect and disease infestation. It also is unnatural, can eventually lead to tree failure and ultimately sends the wrong message." He added, "The Municipality of Anchorage does have laws against such activity. Violators who are caught can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

--"Its hard to tell when the trees were stripped of their protective bark, but my guess would be about a year ago, maybe more. If it was done correctly, the birch should be OK," e-mailed Stephen Nickel, a forester with the state.

Nickel recommended the book Celebrating Birch: The Lore, Art and Craft of an Ancient Tree by North House Folk School and published by Fox Chapel Publishing of Pennsylvania in 2007. "The (book) should hopefully encourage folks to learn the proper techniques, and code of ethics, to harvesting birch bark, and discourage them from vandalizing an important and valuable public asset."

--"Before buying products made from birch bark, I ask if they used downed trees or took it from trees they own. They should not be profiting from a resource they took from the public, often causing damage, without permission," e-mailed Patricia Joyner with the Alaska Division of Forestry.

Good point to remember now that we are getting into the holiday crafts and bazaar season.

--Arborist Nickel LaFleur wrote, "In discussing what can be done with fellow arborists, our conclusion was 'educate, educate, educate.' That perhaps (the bark stripper) didn't understand the damage that they were doing when creating their art by using bark from a living tree. It is true, birch bark baskets are lovely, but please take advantage of all the downed birch to create your masterpiece, and if you see anyone stripping bark from trees, let them know it's illegal to do so in our parks and to help themselves to downed white birch instead."

You can make beautiful baskets using bark harvested from downed trees. Fran Durner photo.

If you love birch bark baskets, there is a chance to learn how to create your own (using legally harvested bark) at workshops held periodically at the Eagle River Nature Center. Call them at 694-2108 to check on winter programs.

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