Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
623 <br /> Ms. Anne Barnes, Chair Page Four <br /> Orange County Commissioners September 18, 1981 <br /> 5 I would like to point out here that the Service Forester and I are <br /> helping to make decisions that may amount of hundreds of thousands <br /> of dollars difference in the County Tax fund. It is not uncommon <br /> for a tract of land valued at $180,000 to be reduced to $17,000 be- <br /> cause a landowner is following a Management Plan. Follow-ups must <br /> be made to be sure the recommendations are being followed. <br /> We also have to stay abreast of government programs which pay cost- <br /> sharing payments to landowners doing reforestation and timber stand <br /> improvement work and other state and federal tax credits and incentives <br /> that may be of value to our forest landowners. <br /> The Forest Service has four large tree nurseries across the state <br /> which make tree seedlings available to private landowners at cost. <br /> These trees are ordered by residents in minimum lots of one thousand <br /> trees and delivered to their door or wherever designated by our <br /> Assistant County Ranger. We have now implemented a program through <br /> the Orange Soil and Water Conservation District to break this down <br /> even further. The District is purchasing the trees in thousand-lot <br /> bundles and breaking them down so a private landowner may purchase <br /> a smaller number of trees at minimal cost to take care of small <br /> erosion problems, plant a windbreak, Christmas trees, etc. This <br /> program was started last year and was a success, • <br /> PEST CONTROL <br /> Orange County had a Southern Pine Beetle epidemic in 1972, 1973, and <br /> 1974. I answered over fifteen hundred on-the-ground requests in <br /> Chapel Hill alone in 1973. We had special crews, federally paid, to <br /> cut and remove beetle-infested trees, and a Pest Control Ranger position <br /> that was supplied by federal funds to help us handle this enormous <br /> workload. The funds for this position were discontinued in 1977 with <br /> the subsiding of the Southern Pine Beetle problem. We still average <br /> well over one hundred and fifty requests per year from urban landowners <br /> wanting advice and diagnosis on insects and diseases that may be <br /> effecting their yard trees. <br /> The Forest Service makes periodic aerial surveys over the county to <br /> detect insect and disease problems such as the Southern Pine Beetle. <br /> These spots are plotted on aerial photographs with the spots being <br /> checked on the ground by my assistant and me. Landowners are then <br /> contacted as necessary. Cut-over forest areas are also plotted at <br /> this time so we can contact landowners and inform them of services <br /> and programs available to help them reforest if they so desire. <br /> It is extremely important that our county forestry personnel be <br />