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June
5, 2002
The trees
on your land are among your property's most valuable resources. Because
of their versatility and the multiple benefits they offer, they can
be put to work in creative ways to enhance agricultural productivity
and make your land a more pleasant environment for living and working.
And by planting new trees or saving and caring for existing trees,
you help reduce the threat of global warming by retaining carbon dioxide
in trees rather than in the atmosphere.
Extra Duty for Riparian Trees. Natural forests along streams can do
more than providing the erosion control and filtering functions they
fulfill well. If orientation to the wind is right, riparian forest
can be an effective windbreak for adjacent fields or buildings. Such
streamside forests can also serve as prime wildlife habitat and places
for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, or general enjoyment of nature.
They can also serve as locations for specialty crops that require
shade or moist growing conditions, or sites for high- value hardwoods.
More Uses for Windbreaks
Windbreaks can do far more than protect from wind and snow. If your
climate and soil are right, windbreak trees can produce nut or fruit
crops. When incorporated into your overall windbreak management, thinning
operations can harvest trees for timber or as Christmas trees. Specialty
crops interspersed between tree rows can produce additional income.
And with the variety of species characteristic of a good windbreak,
you provide a home for wildlife and opportunities for hunting.
Using Trees to Improve Aesthetics
Shrubs and trees planted close to farm buildings increase privacy,
as well as providing energy savings for heating and cooling. In the
open landscapes of the plains or semi-arid ranges of the interior
West, trees provide a human scale and help create a feeling of intimacy
for an isolated farmstead or ranch.
Using
Trees in Open Country
Instead of removing trees from grasslands and open range, leave them
in place. Individual trees can provide welcome summer shade for livestock
as well as people. A V-shaped group of planted trees, a small grove
or row of trees can provide needed shelter for spring calving and
protection during severe weather.
Using Trees as Sound Barriers
Leaves, branches, and twigs all absorb and diffuse sounds. Many sounds
are absorbed by the vibration of the tree parts, and heavier branches
and trunks deflect sounds. If you live close to a busy highway or
other source of undesirable sounds, properly placed tree plantings
can significantly reduce noise.
Trees Increase Property Value
Natural and planted stands of trees along with plantings near homes
and buildings add value to property. One study shows that, on the
average, trees contribute as much as 27% of appraised land value of
non-agricultural land. The same study reported that land that was
two-thirds wooded appraised at more than 36% higher value than open
land in the same area. Another study indicated that landscape trees
near homes and buildings constituted nearly 20% of the total value
of the property.
Your Trees Benefit Earth
A hidden benefit of trees on your property is their capability to
capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide
is the chief culprit in the increased threat of global warming in
recent decades. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees take
carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, storing the carbon in their
wood. In return, trees release life-giving oxygen back into the atmosphere.
Recent studies estimate that a single row windbreak of evergreens,
one mile long, will contain about 1,900 cubic feet of wood trapping
and storing carbon equivalent to 54 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Cornell
Cooperative Extension Yates Association
Last updated: 5/31/02
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