Hemlock Restoration Study Update

Hemlock Restoration Study Update

With the arrival of spring in the southern Appalachians we returned to our hemlock restoration studies in western North Carolina to apply slow release fertilizer on the required treatments.  This task was much more enjoyable without having to work with snow on the ground or wildlife messing with our trees!

During the first two years of the hemlock restoration study we installed game cams in order to get an idea of deer populations near our plots and how this related to browse on the hemlock seedlings.  To our surprise browse was almost entirely absent on our trees even though deer were frequently photographed in and around our trees.  In addition to deer we captured several bear, bobcat, turkey, coyote, and other wildlife pictures.