Forest Health

In this issue: Check in on AI and its capacity to provide accurate and specific advice. Register for the spring session of our "The Woods in Your Backyard" course. Learn about a new national refuge in southern Maryland and about one couple's work on their natural areas. Read about Sugar Maple in our "Native Trees of Maryland" feature and about incised fumewort in our "Invasives in Your Woodland" feature. And more!

The term “Incised fumewort” may not be familiar to many readers of this column, as this plant is a relatively new arrival to North America. It was first identified in the US only in 2005. Since then, new populations have been identified in Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, and as far west as Tennessee and Illinois.

In December 2024, US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the creation of Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge. The first donation of 31 acres from The Nature Conservancy is one of several planned over the coming months of more than 300 acres. USFWS officials  will continue to work to secure voluntary conservation of up to 40,000 acres of important wildlife habitat within four watershed-based focus areas in Maryland.

Paula Whyman ʼ87 and her husband bought 200 acres on a peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she undertook the daunting task of clearing invasive plants and encouraging native plant life on this long gone-to-seed cow pasture and orchard—an experiment she's written about in her new book, “Bad Naturalist: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop.”

AI advice for your woodlands is getting better, but be sure to be specific in your request so you receive information from local and trusted sources.

Since its debut as a regular Branching Out feature in 2016, "Invasives in Your Woodland" has profiled a wide variety of invasive plant species that threated the health of Maryland's ecosystems.

Registration is now open for the Spring 2025 session of “The Woods in Your Backyard” online course. Our course is designed primarily for small-acreage property owners who want to learn how to care for or expand existing woodlands, or to convert lawn space to woodlands.

Publications to help you better manage your woodlands.

Regular readers of this feature will note that the vast majority of species highlighted here are not native to North America. This issue, however, looks at a Osage-orange, a species that is both native to North America and that has been introduced to new environments in such numbers that it is considered invasive in many areas.

American holly, Ilex opaca, is a real show stopper of a tree especially during the winter holidays. Among other benefits, it is extremely valuable to wildlife, particularly, birds and migratory birds overwintering in the region.