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Transcript/ScriptCONNECT Forensic Forestry (TV)
HEADLINE: Improving the Health of Woodland Habitats
TEASER: A forestry specialist helps people manage their woods
PUBLISHED AT: 05/16/2022
BYLINE: Jeff Swicord
DATELINE: Keedsville, Maryland
VIDEOGRAPHER: Jeff Swicord
PRODUCER: Jeff Swicord, Zdenko Novacki
COURTESIES:
SCRIPT EDITORS: EA
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:40
VID APPROVED BY: EA
TYPE: VPKGF
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((Eds: This is a self-narrated feature. There is an accompanying music track.))
((INTRO))
((A forestry specialist from Maryland helps people repair the damage to woods done by humans and maintain the environment for the future. VOA’s Jeff Swicord talks with him about the different steps landowners can take to improve the health of their woodlands.))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) When I’m in the woods I am looking for signs that I know that are there. I can see the way the trees are growing. It tells me something. Let’s put it this way, it’s almost like forensic forestry. You’re going out and you’re looking for signs that are telling you things about what’s happened there in the past.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) Got a master’s in forestry. I’ve worked 30, about 33 years with the University of Maryland Extension doing education and outreach with woodland owners.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) This is kind of interesting in terms of the natural development of these woods here. So all this land was cleared at one time and was abandoned. And basically it started to, you
know, to regrow back.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) It starts out with grasses and things like that and then the woody species come in. And the trees that first come in are those that are totally intolerant. In other words, they are intolerant of shade. They require full sunlight.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) And that’s what you see here. This is the remnants of all the locust trees, black locust trees. So they kind of died out. So what you’re looking at is the earlier trees that have basically fallen to the ground. And those later successional species of like hickory and oak and things like that have now, you know, taken over and that’s what you see in this forest now.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland))
The fact that forests turn carbon, you know, dioxide into oxygen. They protect water quality by reducing erosion. They provide habitat for wildlife.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) Most people are managing for things that directly affects them. They’re interested in wildlife, in conservation. Deer are overabundant at this point. They basically had a large impact on the biodiversity of the forest throughout most of the eastern United States.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jonathan S. Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, University of Maryland)) And a lot of the programing we do is by working with private landowners and going to their property so they can demonstrate that to others. And we train volunteers as well, called the program called Maryland Woodland Stewards. And at the end of the day, what makes me happy I guess is to see that they’ve done some good management on their property.
((NATS/MUSIC))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Keedsville, Maryland
Embargo DateMay 16, 2022 17:14 EDT
BylineJeff Swicord
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
