DEMAND FOR TREE SEEDLINGDS EXCEEDS SUPPLY

John Seifert, Purdue University

In pre-settlement Indiana a squirrel could travel from the Ohio River to Michigan through the tree-tops without ever touching ground. For over a century our Hoosier ancestors laid waste to our primeval forest at an awful pace, for survival, to earn a living from the land. By 1920 fewer than one million forested acres remained of Indiana's original 20 million acres-plus forests. In the last 75 years Indiana's forested acreage has increased four fold. It happened because of support by Indiana citizens and the General Assembly. Indiana has a long and successful tradition of planting both pine and hardwood tree seedlings. As early as the 1930's, Hoosier's were planting seedlings from both state and federal tree nurseries to reclaim land that was once majestic forest. That tradition continues today, but at an ever-increasing rate. The desire to reforest pasture and crop land is the result of current landowner's wanting aesthetically pleasing, natural, productive surroundings, enhanced populations of wildlife species, water quality and green space.

Because of this great desire to plant forest trees, seedlings from the State Nurseries have become a rare commodity. Hoosier tree planters are experiencing a formidable roadblock in Indiana's reforestation effort today and will continue in the fore seeable future. The lack of tree seedling stock has become quite evident the past years. Table 1,"Indiana Nursery Production Statistics" show supply and demand numbers for nursery stock from both Vallonia and Jasper-Pulaski State Nurseries. In each of the last five years, demand has exceeded supply: by 600,000 seedlings in 1994 to the current deficit of more than 1.5 million seedlings in 1999. To look at the deficit another way, about 2,500 Hoosier acres are going unplanted each year.

In an effort to serve as many clients as possible, the State Nurseries have expanded their species selection from 45 to 53 types to encompass many more user groups. These include those who reclaim mine land, stabilize stream banks, provide wildlife food and cover, use trees as carbon credits, and individuals who look long term toward timber production. Table 2 lists the percentage of trees used for wildlife, timber, reclamation and environmental uses. In 1997/98, the State Nurseries discontinued the production of conifer transplants. This was done to increase hardwood seedling production and to allow the private sector to fill this need.

In 1998, the IDNR Division of Forestry also included on the State Nursery price list/order form, private sector nurseries to help meet the seedling demand. Even with the addition of the private nurseries, demand has continued to out-strip supply. Only nurseries within the state boundary were included to protect the public from purchasing seedling/seed lots from outside regional seed zones.

As the demand for seedling increased, the average order size went from 4,48 to 8,46 trees and the number of Hoosiers that received seedlings went down from 9800 to 6500. Add this to prior year's seedling deficit, many potential Hoosier tree planters did not receive any trees. Since October 15 throughout March 1, the State Nurseries have received on average 30 calls per day requesting seedlings. This amounts to an additional 2,700 Hoosiers who will not receive seedlings to plant in 1999.

The increase in desire by landowners to plant trees is not unique to Indiana. Seedling demand is up all across the country, with many regions reporting even greater demand.

Table 3, "Indiana Reforestation Demand on State Nursery System," offers a look at where the demand is coming from. Almost all the programs or initiatives have an environmental emphasis, from clean air to preserving the quality of life for future generations. Most of these programs have either state or federal technical and cost-share assistance provided to the landowner. Three of these programs are too new to determine their current and future impact on tree seedlings.

Data from the Farm Services Agency which administers some of the programs indicates that for the 1999 planting season, a total of $110,000 was requested in Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP)for tree planting, with only enough federal funds to approve half of that amount. In the Conservation Reserve Program, $500,000 was requested for tree planting, but only half has been approved. Essentially what this means is that if the cost-share funds were available, twice as many trees could be planted under these programs, further increasing the demand on the nurseries.

Currently, Indiana has 19,817 acres planted to trees and an additional 5,000 acres in wildlife habitat of which a large part is planted to trees and shrubs under contract through Conservation Reserve Program. This land-use change to trees has resulted in an annual saving of 94,630 tons of soil that would otherwise be eroding into our streams and lakes. Efforts have and will continue at the Federal level to promote tree plantings and natural forests as a way to stem global warming (see Hoover Article - Global Warming: Tree and Warm Season Grass Plantings Can Make a Difference). Young vigorous trees provide one of the most efficient means of storing carbon for long periods of time.

The IDNR Division of Forestry submitted their biennial budget in response to increased seedling demand for FY1999/2000 - 2000/2001 (Table 4).

The one time capital repair and rehabilitation money would be used to expand cold storage, purchase packing equipment and increase the processing area. The State Nurseries can store only about 2.3 of 5.5 million trees that are currently produced. The additional preventative maintenance funds would be used to purchase seed, fertilizer and related materials necessary to increase seedling production. The additional operating money would be used to purchase fuel, utilities and hire additional seasonal workers.

The Natural Resources Commission raised prices for seedlings last fall in a first step effort to help the Division of Forestry increase their production. Additional steps are necessary for them to reach production goals. Currently, the operating and preventative maintenance funds are in the budget. The capital repair and rehabilitation funds requested did not appear in the Indiana Department of Natural Resource budget. Without the additional capital funding, the anticipated target of 6.0 million-tree seedlings for 1999/2000 and beyond will not be achieved. Many more Hoosiers will not have the opportunity to plant trees!

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