Next spring, the Forest Service will begin thinning portions of second-growth forest around Nemo Loop to improve blueberry yields in those areas.
The blueberry enhancement project is a collaborative effort between the borough and the Forest Service. It has been funded by a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The grant is part of the USDA’s Southeast Sustainability Initiative. The initiative seeks to partner with Alaska Native corporations and municipal governments to bolster local economies and improve food security throughout Southeast.
Bob Dalrymple, a borough assemblymember and retired district ranger, played a central role in the project’s implementation. “A group of elders approached me and told me they were concerned about losing their blueberry patches out in the second-growth,” Dalrymple said, describing the original motivation behind the initiative.
A second-growth forest has regrown after logging. However, once a forest has been logged, it cannot naturally recover its pre-logging conditions. Second-growth forests are often overcrowded, full of thin, densely packed trees that block light from reaching the forest floor. In a darkened second-growth forest, edible plants on the ground struggle to survive, which can impact wildlife and harm the favorite blueberry patches of area foragers.
The “vaccinium component” of the forest understory — which includes fruiting shrubs like blueberries, huckleberries and cranberries — is “really difficult to get back” once it has died, explained Dalrymple. “Without management,” he said, “(the forest) is completely devoid of understory in 20 to 30 years.” For those leading a subsistence lifestyle, losing these natural food resources would be particularly harmful.
The 2023 blueberry enhancement project will have a larger scope than a similar project Dalrymple undertook around 2015. Like they did years ago, Forest Service contract workers will thin and prune the blueberry lands to allow light to reach bushes on the forest floor.
But this time around, they will also do slash treatment on the pruned limbs to provide easier access for berry pickers. Slash treatments may include scattering, piling or burning fallen plant matter. Performing slash treatments improves soil quality and reduces the risk of insect infestation after thinning.
The Wrangell Ranger District identified 11 areas, comprising about 45 acres of blueberry lands, that would be eligible for thinning, pruning and slash treatment. Each area stretches about 100 feet into the forest on either side of a road. The Forest Service prioritized roadside-accessible lands on gentle terrain to make the blueberry patches available to all.
Dalrymple described the project as “a good example of a collaborative effort, different government agencies working together.” The borough, Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are all involved in the project’s planning and implementation.
He hopes to solicit community feedback once the project is complete and will continue to monitor blueberry growth in the thinned areas. Based on the success of the Forest Service’s previous management efforts, he anticipates that the upcoming project will effectively bolster Wrangell’s blueberry yield.
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