Christopher A. Nowak

Evaluating hybrid poplar clonal growth potential in a three-year-old genetic selection field trial

Abstract Survival, growth, and insect and disease damage of 54 hybrid poplar clones were compared in a three-year-old genetic selection field trial located in the St Lawrence River Valley, near Massena, New York, USA. Clones were grouped into growth potential classes using cluster analysis and indices of total growth and canker severity. Statistical significance of growth potential classes was tested using discriminant analysis. Seven of the 54 clones examined (DN16, NM6, NE17, D51, DN38, DN55 and NE21) were recommended for additional evaluations in larger scale clone-site trials. The technique presented in this report facilitates hardwood clone performance evaluation for a wide variety of desired products.

Performance Standards for Assessing Vegetation Management on Rights-of-Way: Case Study of New York State DOT's Roadside Rights-of-Way Vegetation Management Program

Rights-of-way vegetation managers are increasingly focused on environmental stewardship. Managers are interested in practices that will produce and demonstrate economically-sound, socially-responsible, and environmentally-sensitive decision making and operational practice. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) have developed over the past decade to frame and advertise organizational efforts in environmental stewardship, but, to date, these systems have been only strategic/tactical in nature. They have not directly pertained to operations and field performance. In this paper, the authors present a new system for use in framing environmental stewardship activities via a set of performance standards that combine strategic, tactical and operational-level elements of vegetation management on rights-of-way. These performance standards are based on some of the process- and procedure-oriented elements from EMSs, planning elements from forestry certification systems, and a six-step operational-level model the authors developed for Integrated Vegetation Management. To date, the authors have a set of performance standards that include 10 principles and 42 criteria. These performance standards are presented to stimulate critique and discussion of what environmental stewardship is for rights-of-way vegetation management.