D4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 1,2001
Drought Creates Conditions For Devastating Wildfires
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Widespread drought in
Pennsylvania combined with
the annual shower of colored
leaves and twigs are making
forests particularly flammable
this fall.
The wildfires flaring up across
the state although unfortunate
serve to illustrate the impor
tant role “prescribed burning”
can play in forest management,
said a forest ecologist in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences.
“For thousands of years, fire
played a normal and beneficial
role in forests in the eastern
United States,” said Marc Ab
rams, professor of forest ecology
and physiology. “Fires moved
through the understory of oak
EMI Elects Gary MacDonald
CHICAGO, 111. Gary Mac-
Donald, executive vice president
of Mac Don Industries, Inc., was
elected chairman of the Equip
ment Manufacturers Institute
(EMI) during its 108th annual
convention, Oct. 13-15, at the
Marriott Desert Springs Resort
in Palm Desert, Calif.
MacDonald’s ohe-year -term
as chairman officially began
Nov. 1.
On Jan. 1, 2002, MacDonald
is slated to become co-chairman
of the planned consolidation of
EMI and Construction Industry
Manufacturers Association
(CIMA) organization into the
Association of Equipment Man
ufacturers (AEM).
MacDonald has served on the
EMI board of directors since
1997 and is a former chairman
of the Canadian Farjn and In
dustrial Equipment Institute. As
an active member of EMI, he
has served as EMl’s vice chair
man and second vice chairman.
MacDonald has also served as
a division chairman for Sport at
the 1999 Pan Am Games in
Winnipeg, and is a long-time
member of the City of Winnipeg
Police Pipe Band.
Since 1976, MacDonald has
worked for his family-owned
business, which manufacturers
grain and hay harvesting equip
ment. Headquartered in Winni
peg, Manitoba, Canada,
Mac Don also has offices in
Kansas City, Missouri and Mel
bourne, Australia.
Nov. 1 also marked the transi
tion date for the scheduled
change of other EMI officers
and directors. Joining Mac-
Donald as newly elected EMI of
ficers are: David Woods, chief
operating officer, Charles Ma
chine Works, Inc., Perry, Okla.,
as vice chairman and Dennis
Eagan, president, Industrial and
Power Equipment, Blount, Inc.,
Zebulon, N.C., as second vice
chairman.
Appointed to serve as vice
chairman agriculture was A 1
Rider, vice president, NA New
Holland Ag Business, CNH,
New Holland, Pa. Chuck Hoge,
president, Bobcat Company,
West Fargo, N.D., was also ap
pointed to serve as vice chair
man construction.
Stuart Mac Kay, president of
Mac Kay and Company, Lom
bard, 111., was elected as new
EMI supplier council president
and will be the supplier council
representative to the EMI board
of directors.
Several new directors were
also elected to serve on the EMI
and pine forests every five to 10
years, burning up excess fuel,
eliminating weedy species, and
helping to create the healthy for
ests we have had historically.
“But as a result of fire suppres
sion practices started in the early
1900 s, fuels have built up to un
naturally high levels,” he said.
“Today’s fires are hotter and
more destructive and they’re
killing more trees. The lack of
regular fire also is having a pro
found impact on forest composi
tion. In particular, we have seen
a dramatic increase in red maple,
birch, and cherry.”
Abrams supports the use of
“prescribed burning,” in which
experienced foresters start, con
trol, and end fires as a forest
management tool. “Historically,
As New Chairman
board. They include: Dirk
Hejnal, president and CEO,
Westfalia-Surge Inc., Naper
ville, 111.; and Roger Eve, chair
man and CEO, American
Augers Inc., West Salem, Ohio.
Additional members of the
board include: Serge Bosche,
president, K-D Manitou, Waco,
Texas; William Desmond, vice
president, distribution/planning,
Komatsu America International
Co., Vernon Hills, 111.; John
Fitzgerald, vice president,
Ingersoll-Rand Company, Ship
pensburg, Pa.; Charlie Foster,
president, Farmers Factory
Company, Lee, 111.; Rusty
Fowler, CEO, KMN Modern
Farm Equipment, West Mem
phis, Ark.; William Gehl, chair
man, president and CEO, Gehl
Company, West Bend, Wis.;
Phil Jenkins, chairman, Sweep
ster, Inc., Dexter, Miss.; Robert
Kluver, president and CEO,
Angus-Paim Industries, Inc.,
.Vatertown, S.D.; Bill Lasky,
president, JLG Industries, Inc.,
McConnellsburg, Pa.; Ray Mali
USDA To Measure
Cattle Inventory
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) In January 2001, the
total number of cattle and calves
in Pennsylvania was estimated
at 1,640,000 head. This was a
decline of 10,000 head from Jan
uary 2000.
There were 150,000 head of
beef cows for 2001, again down
from the previous year by 1,000
head, and 610,000 head of milk
cows, down 9,000 head from
January 2000. Pennsylvania’s
2000 calf crop also moved down
10,000 head to 670,000 from its
1999 level.
USDA’s January Cattle
Report Survey is the only
chance to officially measure the
entire Cattle industry in Penn
sylvania and the U.S. in 2002.
Approximately 1,700 cattle pro
ducers will be contacted for the
state of Pennsylvania and 50,000
operators for the U.S.
In mid to late December,
Pennsylvania cattle operations
will receive questionnaires in the
mail and in late December and
early January, respondents will
be contacted by an enumerator
either by telephone or personal
interview. ......
American Indians used fire to en
courage the growth of trees that
produce food for wildlife,” he
said. “Fires also started natural
ly, from lightning strikes.”
A 2,700-acre wildfire burned
recently near Pine Creek in Ly
coming County. Two others
one covering 300 acres and an
other consuming 350 acres
erupted in the Moshannon State
Forest, as did one in the Michaux
State Forest and one in a forested
area north of Harrisburg.
The fires aren’t limited to
Pennsylvania. The drought has
been blamed for the worst out
break of forest fires in the Appa
lachians in a decade, including
150,000-acre bums in Kentucky
and the Smoky Mountains.
Pennsylvania’s Department of
nowski, executive vice president,
Leon-Ram Enterprises, Inc.,
Yorkton, SK, Canada; Ed Mal
zahn, president and CEO,
Charles Machine Works, Inc.,
Perry, Okla.; Bobby Middle
brooks, president, Bush Hog,
Selma, Ala.; Tim O’Malley, vice
president, construction sales,
Daewoo Heavy Industries
America Corporation, Suwanee,
Ga.; Barry Phillips, president,
Gradall Company, New Phila
delphia, Ohio; Andreas
Pielczky, president, Liebherr
Mining, Newport News, Va.;
Robert Ratliff, chairman and
CEO, Agco Corporation,
Duluth, Ga.; Fred Ridenour,
general manager, distribution
and credit, Kobelco America
Inc., Stafford, Texas; Jay
Roszell, president, Volvo Con
struction Equipment North
America, Asheville, N.C.;
Charles Stamp, president.
World Wide Ag Division, Global
Ag Services, Deere and Com
pany, Atlanta, Ga.; and Van
Walbridge, president, Mobile
Tool International, Westmin
ster, Colo.
Pennsylvania
As with all surveys conducted
by the National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS), by
federal law, your survey data is
kept confidential. Names, ad
dresses, and information about
individual operations are con
sidered private information and
are exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Informa
tion Act. Data on individual op
erations cannot be released to
the public or to any other local,
state, or national government
agency under any circum
stances.
National survey results will be
released from Washington, D.C.
at 3 p.m. on Feb. 1. All reports
are available on the Internet
within minutes of the scheduled
release time at www.usda.gov/
nass/.
The Pennsylvania Agricul
tural Statistics Service is a field
office of USDA’s National Agri
cultural Statistics Service. It is
located in the Pennsylvania De
partment of Agriculture build
ing in Harrisburg. The office can
be reached at 1-800-498-1518 or
through e-mail at nass
pa@nass.usda.gDV..
Conservation and Natural Re
sources, Game Commission, and
Fish and Boat Commission all
banned open fire on their lands,
and recommend extreme caution.
The Game Commission also is
sued a smoking ban.
“Western forest fires get most
of the press since they’re more
flammable and catastrophic,”
Abrams said. “Predominantly ev
ergreen, western forests tend to
burn as ‘crown fires,’ or ‘stand
replacing fires.’ To some extent,
it’s expected out there that fire
will bum through the crown, kill
the existing trees, and allow a
new forest to develop.
“Our situation in the East is
different. Most of our deciduous
forests historically burned as low
intensity, understory fires. These
fires kept the forest in an ‘oak
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and pine successional phase’ by
eliminating competing species,
reducing litter, and exposing the
mineral soil. This stimulated
acorns to germinate and grow in
the understory.”
Because fuel loading has
grown quite high, Abrams ex
plains that we may get mixed re
sults in the beginning from pre
scribed burning. We may get the
desired effects in some stands,
but others may bum too hot
until an equilibrium gets estab
lished.
“In the East, we must learn to
think about the beneficial effects
of using fire in our ecosystem
management practices,” he said.
“If we don’t, we can anticipate a
large decline in oak and pine
populations from the present lev
els.”
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