Grand Haven forester urges shift to long-term stewardship as volunteers raise $30,000 for "Save Our Forest"

Larry Burns, who identifies himself as a city urban-forest steward, told the Grand Haven City Council on July 6 that the city's work on hemlock, oak and beech threats is shifting "from reactive to long-term strategy and stewardship." He framed the city's roughly 200-acre forest as both a decades-old civic asset and a working ecosystem that requires active management.

Burns summarized the principal threats: hemlock woolly adelgid, elongate hemlock scale and spruce spider mite for hemlocks; oak wilt for oaks; and an advancing beech bark disease complex that, in some regional studies, has led to 70'90% losses. He said the city uses dinotefuran to protect hemlocks on a three-year cycle based on literature showing 2.3'2.7 years of active protection. "It's a treatment, not a cure," Burns said, adding that the city currently has treated about 69% of trees at Lake Forest Cemetery and about 51% in Mulligan's Hollow in the current cycle.

On oak wilt, Burns described two tactics: trenching (using a vibratory plow to sever root grafts) and targeted double-girdling plus herbicide to protect adjoining stands. He said the city has used drone surveys to find early epicenters and is coordinating treatments with local schools and property owners when outbreaks appear.

Beech bark disease, Burns said, unfolds over decades and calls for nuanced interventions. He described a "Jenga Juggernaut" approach of selective thinning and staged removal to avoid a rapid collapse into an impenetrable "aftermath" forest that would hinder regeneration. To support long-term replacement, Burns said a Wisconsin geneticist and a culture lab in Holland are propagating beech-bark-disease-resistant stock; he reported about 80 disease-resistant propagules are currently being grown for later planting to replace removed trees.

Burns also outlined partnerships: the city is working with the University of Minnesota, regional universities, USDA and state agencies, Ottawa County Parks, volunteers and donors. He said the city signed an MOU with Ottawa County Parks to coordinate management on adjacent county property and highlighted volunteer and donor support.

Public comment and council members praised the presentation. Jeffrey Miller, a resident who addressed council, urged donations to the Grand Haven Area Community Foundation ' "Save Our Forest" page, noting the community had already raised $30,000 toward the effort and that those funds could be used as matching dollars for grants. Burns said the fundraiser paid the first phase and that an additional $30,000 would support a propagation phase.

Burns framed the program as a multi-decade effort to extend the lives of sick trees, stop spread where possible and manage regeneration so the forest persists. He closed by saying the city will continue treatment cycles, monitor outcomes and try to replace removed trees with disease-resistant stock where appropriate.

The council did not take formal action on the presentation; Burns asked for public support and fundraising assistance. Next steps identified in the meeting: continued treatment cycles, completion of a three-year management plan for beech removal by the registered forester, and fundraising/propagation activity to provide replacement stock.