233 stands/bushes from Minnesota to Nova Scotia (see 

 map). In terms of overall health, more than 90 per- 

 cent of the sugar maples in these stands are consid- 

 ered healthy. Across the range of sugar maple, there 

 has been an slight, but overall, increase in the health 

 of sugar maple since the project started. For air pol- 

 lution, the data from NAMP suggests a weak associa- 

 tion of decreased health in sugar maple and high lev- 

 els of wet nitrate and wet sulfate deposition. Many of 

 the measures showed conflicting responses, and 

 these are being examined Although there are some 

 cases of management-related effects (overlapping, 

 etc.), in general there was not a significant decline in 

 sugar maple caused by managing for maple syrup 

 production. 



The natural mortality (trees that died, excluding 

 cut or overcrowded trees) averaged less than one 

 percent per year, which is lower than what is indi- 

 cated as normal for these stands; hence, there has 

 not been a widespread dying of sugar maple. In fact, 

 since 1988, we have seen an overall improvement in 

 sugar maple health. This overall improvement is asso- 

 ciated with recovery from damage from a host of 

 stressors; pear thrips in Vermont and Massachusetts; 

 forest tent caterpillar and maple webworm in New 

 York; forest tent caterpillar in Ontario; severe drought 

 in Michigan and Wisconsin; and extremely cold tem- 



peratures in Quebec, as well as others. However, 

 these stressors can reoccur, become established in 

 new areas, or landowners anywhere in the northeast- 

 ern United States and southeastern Canada can have 

 problems in their individual stands or plantings. So 

 despite the good report from sugar maple's annual 

 physical, areas of concern still exist. 



Traditional risks to sugar maple are not the only 

 concerns. With the new global economy and the in- 

 crease in world trade come new threats to our trees 

 and forests. Ships and products from all over the 

 world carry the danger of new insects and diseases. 

 One of the latest hitchhikers to North America is a 

 serious threat to sugar maple. The Asian long-horned 

 beetle {hnoplophora glabhpennis) from China was discov- 

 ered in Brooklyn, New York, in 1996. A very large 

 beetle (50 mm), the adults bore into trees for egg- 

 laying, creating dime-sized holes that can reach 30 

 mm into the heartwood of trees. Since landing in 

 New York, the beetle has attacked primarily maple 

 (sugar, Norway, silver), sycamore, and boxwood. An 

 eradication program in now in progress. 



Bob Cooke, forester with the USDA Forest Service, 

 and US National Coordinator for the North American 

 Maple Profect, is in Durham. New Hampshire. 

 For further information, call him at 603-868-7709. 



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