[GetmeoutofAR]

loblolly pine, and magnolias climbing the mountainsides around Fayetteville come on give me a break who writes this crap...

[Stormcrow73]

Originally Posted by GetmeoutofAR

loblolly pine, and magnolias climbing the mountainsides around Fayetteville come on give me a break who writes this crap...

LOL I didn't say I believed it either...just reporting something I had read. Obviously there was an air of sensationalism about it.

[GetmeoutofAR]

it was a very interesting arcticle.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Sam I Am

Hopefully the kudzu won't migrate.

Well......hope all ya want, it's inevitable.

I've noticed with a watchful eye the creep of kudzu. It's covering more, and increasing it's area every year.

As for an increase of loblolly pine, that also is inevitable. I, as everyone who grows timber, replace the majority of the oak I sell with loblolly pine. During February, the pine-planters are busy from sun-up to sun-down. That's an awful lot of loblolly going in every year.

Oak is susceptible to a plethora of diseases and vermin, of which we have lost a signifigant number of trees to over the last few years. The oak boreworm has increased a great deal. Loblolly is much more resistant.

Eventually, and I hope it's not in my lifetime, the timber growing will be very sharply curtailed by the kudzu.

The ironic thing is, there are several people holding patents on making ethanol out of kudzu, and are doing it on smaller scales that is not very socially signifigant.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Pine grows disturbingly well in NW Arkansas. Having said that I DONT think its gonna start growing naturally there anytime soon. The elevation is too high, the lattitude is just a little too far north. No loblolly is gonna grow naturally with those kind of winter temperatures. However satelitte data shows it is starting to creep north out of the River Valley. Natural dam has it, Cedarville has it, Rudy and south obviously has it. I don't know how long these patches of loblolly have been there etc. I have no idea why the hills of Eureka SPrings are covered with pine at that lattitude and elevation. Must be the soil type. Even southern McDonald county, Missouri has it, of course much of this is growing at elevations of 800-900 ft. so thats not suprising.

[Stormcrow73]

I would terribly miss the oak-hickory deciduous forests of the Ozarks if those pines keep moving north..

[Aporkalypse]

That isn't happening in our lifetime. There are still tons of these hardwoods in LR and it's far south of the Ozarks.

[GetmeoutofAR]

Originally Posted by Aporkalypse

That isn't happening in our lifetime. There are still tons of these hardwoods in LR and it's far south of the Ozarks.

agreed