More creative measures used to preserve species amid development
[ North Carolina ] Only two cherry-bark oak trees tower along others in this old forest north of Jacksonville in the far reaches of Onslow County in southeastern N.C. Hunting for the cherry-bark oak and other trees that are becoming rare in the county is becoming harder for the rangers. When accessible trees are finally located, the rangers can spend hours trying to collect the trees’ seeds. Sometimes, their labor yields nothing — bears and squirrels have their eye on the same prize. So do insects that burrow into the acorns and seeds, leaving behind a tiny larvae that eats the inside. Those reasons cause the rangers to devote what time they can to the seed collection and other programs that try to protect forests from natural — and human — predators. After seeds are collected by the rangers, they are shipped to a nursery in Goldsboro to grow into 1 to 2-year-old seedlings.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
www.southernsustainableforests.org