Take note and keep yersel and bike clean. Hope we don’t lose angry sheep and green wing!

http://tweedlove.com/important-help-stop-the-tree-disease

Too much of an ask I’m afraid. Especially when no one is looking.

Are the FC still taking this seriously?

Can’t really stop the spread of airborne spores and whilst it eventually kills the tree off, there is plenty of time to harvest it before the timber degrades, although it will probably end up as biomass which only requires it to have one resembled a tree. They want to look like they’re doing something. Rant at larch control over.

Can’t really stop the spread of airborne spores and whilst it eventually kills the tree off, there is plenty of time to harvest it before the timber degrades, although it will probably end up as biomass which only requires it to have one resembled a tree. They want to look like they’re doing something. Rant at larch control over.

It is water transmitted hence mud, etc on tyres, shoes, dogs and the like. So transmission can be drastically reduced by preventing access to areas or ensuring strict cleanliness rules.

Infected timber needs to be destroyed and can’t be sold and it infects many tree species (besides larch) at an alarming pace and there are no effective control agents. It is a major threat to Scottish ecology and should be taken deadly seriously.

^ what Shackleton said.

Bad news, and may have a big impact on Tweed valley trails for cycling and walking for a few years, as I can imagine it’s going to spread with the sheer number of visitors.

Not just water spread. “The evidence indicates that P. ramorum spores can be spread over several miles in mists, air currents, watercourses and rainsplash. It can also be spread on footwear, dogs’ paws, tools, equipment, and bicycle and other vehicle wheels. Movement of infected plants is also a key means of spreading it over long distances.” (From FCS website).

My local forest has it. Was flagged a couple of weeks ago. Wood is coming out, much can still be used just as well because there’s some big trees. Smaller stuff is taken out to be pulped really small stuff chipped on site.

It will all be out by oct according to an email. There’s a lot of trees that can be effected including sikta. Large scale infestation would potentially cause real issues.

That’s bad news, hope it doesn’t ravage the area like it has to places here in Wales.  Afan is still recovering from the long-term closure of Penhydd for clearfelling and the Glyncorrwg end is not the same with no trees either.

The recent warm weather possibly hasn’t helped as when it’s dusty people tend not to wash their bikes/shoes/packs as they’re not covered in filth.  Since it started down here in South Wales I’ve almost always washed the bike and my shoes after every ride (been a bit lax on the pack…) and have had the piss taken out of me on occasion by my riding buddies for it many, many times but if it’s slowed down the spread to other areas I visit then it’s worth it.  I also like a clean bike as it lives inside my flat so it’s not really chore!

It does feel like a battle we can’t really win but we can help slow it’s spread down and give the FC/NRW time to harvest the current crop and then replant with resistant tree varieties like they have done at Cwmcarn pre-fire.

They still haven’t a clue how it spreads, what it may or may not infect and make no checks on harvesting or haulage contractors. It is mostly on the bark and needle which is why the milling waste has to be burnt rather than go into mulch. Along with a supposed chain of custody.

Looking busy doing nothing.

On a positive note…wood prices are up massively so a fair amount of money will be made by some people. Hopefully it will be spent on replanting with more native trees as well.

What I’ve never understood is why there hasn’t been any preventative action.

In well known ride spots and at trail centres it would have made sense to put up extensive signage and facilitated a method of washing bikes.

Instead nothing has ever been done.

They still haven’t a clue how it spreads, what it may or may not infect

I’d best go and tell the folk in the lab opposite mine that they need to distribute their data more as it hasn’t quite reached mtb Internet fora yet.

The approach being taken is a pragmatic better safe than sorry approach rather than the **** it approach that you seem to be advocating.

Such great attitudes some of our fellow mtbers have hey?

Fantastic….😐

No one who has ridden with me would consider me to be keen on cleaning my bikes but I always do when riding in different areas. Wash it well before I go, and again when I return.

n well known ride spots and at trail centres it would have made sense to put up extensive signage and facilitated a method of washing bikes.

I think as well as this media campaign you’ll see signage. Also I think maybe forest visitors will have to bear some responsibility for their own actions like cleaning their bikes and muddy shorts, rather than have government agencies somehow do it for them. The horror!

Oh joy.

Give it a few years and the tweed valley will resemble the vast harvested swathes of the likes i witnessed last weekend on Arran, like they’ve been napalmed and left.

Utter vandalism.

It turned up in a little bit of isolated and inaccessible Larch woodland as you come of the M8 heading east into Livingston last year, also in the woods at Callander Park in Falkirk.

Top quality uninformed twaddle!

“In well known ride spots and at trail centres it would have made sense to put up extensive signage and facilitated a method of washing bikes.”

They made the bike washes in Afan and Glyncorrwg free for a while plus signs everywhere about the disease.  Still saw loads of people not bother washing kit and plenty of visitors from afar arrive with dirty bikes.  It only takes one person to take it with them.

Utter vandalism.

Do you get upset when crops of wheat are harvested too?

No, because our farmers generally replant something else, sharpish.

‘Forests’ that I refer to have been lying in their lunar, unplanted state for over 5 years now. Any other similarly irrelevant analogies?. 🤪

On a positive note…wood prices are up massively so a fair amount of money will be made by some people. Hopefully it will be spent on replanting with more native trees as well.

Prices for the wood they have?

It’s called a fallow period. Generally used to reduce the impact of pests and diseases present on site prior to restocking.

Any other similarly uninformed nonsense?

My point was that its a bloody eyesore, I couldn’t really give a toss what it’s purpose is. It’s horrific looking.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-45220635

FCS Conservancy demand that all trees shall be felled within a certain radius of the infection within a certain timescale. So expect some felling soon.

There are definitely two philosophies to handling phytophthora and I would prefer no action. Some of the comments above are ill considered. The market isn’t willing to pay the price for timber that would allow more environmentally friendly forest management. You lot are the market.

European trees coming over here spreading their diseases. This is why I voted for Brexit, to put a stop to stuff like this.

The market isn’t willing to pay the price for timber that would allow more environmentally friendly forest management. You lot are the market.

Oooof

I suspect that some STWers already pay a premium to fuel their artisan wood burners.

A forest doesn’t happen over night. Even after any fallow periods and site prep, planting season isn’t until the winter, they go in at 6″ tall and you’re expecting 120′ trees. It’s hard to change land usage out of forestry without at least off-setting the ground elsewhere with good reason. Felling licence (in Wales at least) stipulates replanting within 5 years. Any funding for planting is weighted towards native trees, which is nice, but not what will make a sustainable timber industry. 5 years is also very little time in forestry management terms.

STWers won’t be boosting the softwood market for their artisan burners, veteran hardwood only, felled by virgins and extracted by unicorns. Biomass boosts the softwood market and prices are the best they have been for ages. This helps encourage neglected woods into management, which is generally good for all, not just the land owner.