Laurentian Bud Capping

Currently, white pine forests cover only a fraction of their historical area, existing mostly in isolated patches. Recent monitoring of current restoration projects has revealed a high mortality rate in young saplings; this is attributed primarily to the increase in white-tailed deer populations that browse upon the white and jack pine seedlings. Restoring conifer forests has many ecological and economic benefits. Conifer forest also provides thermal cover and is an important winter habitat for a healthy deer population. The objective of this project is to protect seedlings from browse damage through the application of paper bud caps. Species to be capped are white pine, red pine and jack pine under 5 feet tall, with 400-600 caps per acre.