Preserving our Beech Trees

More than 30 years ago, as we walked in the woods surrounding our hillside Vermont home, my husband and I admired the beech trees thriving on the banks of a seasonal stream. Over the years, we watched as lesions slowly appeared on their smooth, grey bark. Later we learned about the two independent, invading organisms that cause “beech bark disease”: Initially the tree is attacked by scale, an insect which pierces the bark, leaving wounds that provide an entryway for the fungus which ultimately kills the tree.

Some native beech trees are inherently resistant to the invasive scale and recognizing them makes possible collection of seeds that can provide genetically resistant offspring that could thrive even in decimated forest habitats. The beauty of this approach is that with minimal environmental manipulation, it directly supports the integral woodland role of our native beech trees.

Presented here (For the Trees) are my images created in tribute to our endangered beeches and following the images is a poem, “My Disappearing Beech Trees”, written by my husband, Don Herzberg, commemorating our besieged trees. Proceeds from the sale of these original images will be directed toward the identification of resistant beeches and/or their propagation specifically for repopulating previously devastated areas of forest land. (Details on the Beech Portfolio here).