For many visitors, balsam fir is the north woodsí best emblem. Its bright green color and lush vegetation exude enthusiasm for life. It holds its cones upright, the model from which Christmas tree lights are drawn. It makes a home or harbor for many of the favorite songbirds. Crush a few of these needles between your fingers, inhale deeply, and you are transported immediately to your favorite places, your favorite memories.

Despite these benefits, the balsam is not a favorite of mine. Following the recent spruce budworm infestation, you might think the forest would have learned a lessonóthat almost any other vegetation would get favored treatment, and the island would finally say ìEnough is enough!î

But no. Regeneration has been totally dominated by balsam fir. It has grown ìinî as much as it has grown up, for it thickly forests a wide area around its shooting stem, with brilliant skirts of color. Just a few years following total devastation by the budworms, the base level of the woods is impassable with thick green brush. Can this possibly be wise?

This is not a good tree (or, when young, a good sapling) to have near your cabin. The thickness of the foliage blocks your view and, eventually, your pathway. Its haven for songbirds is compromised by the fact that it also hosts various and numerous insects you could do without. Worse, at every season it is a torch, waiting to explode into flame.

If you look closely at its twigs, you begin to see why. The needles, which start from various points around the twig, but align themselves in a single plane on either side, are waxed with flammable resin. The stem of the twig is covered with resinous ëblistersí.

In combination, these needles and blisters make a fire very happy.

Donít get me wrongóI like the balsam fir and share the enthusiasm of many people for its color, its shape, and especially its fragrance. I would rather enjoy it at a healthy distance from the cabin, however.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605