ALPA member Tom Holmes, with help from the Mangement Council, has been wrapping some of the designated trees. Not all trees will be wrapped, but ALPA and the Management Council will continue to monitor the situation.
Februrary 2022
The photo shows one of the oak trees on the south shore of the lake that was taken down by beavers last fall. Because an oak tree can provide shelter and food for many creatures over its lifetime of decades, but only food for beavers for a few days, it is the decision of the Management Council and WMU to wrap the oak trees near the lake to protect them when the beavers again become active. There are plenty of softwoods, their usual diet, for them to eat.
There are very few younger oaks in the Preserve and since deer eat seedling oaks, these “middle-aged” oaks are very important, as our mature oak forest gradually dies. Douglas Tallamy’s new book “The Nature of Oaks” explains their value in detail.
