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Burl Poaching

Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world and among the oldest. Their wood has long been used for lumber, but the recent popularity of their burls is leading to a black market that may endanger protected Redwood forests.

Burls are part of how redwoods reproduce (they also produce cones filled with seeds, but their seed viability rate is relatively low). They are knobby, woody growths that contain dormant bud tissue. If the parent tree dies, the buds can sprout one or more clones of the tree, thereby preserving its genetic material. The burls first begin to develop when the tree is still a seedling. Typically they form near the base of a tree, although they can also form higher up, including near the crown and on branches.

Burls have complex wood-grain patterns that are prized by many who work with wood and those who buy their products. This value has caused demand for burls to out-pace legal supply, leading to illegal poaching in state and national parks. Thieves cut the burls from trees, leaving the redwood vulnerable to disease and infection. Burls often create a collar around the trunk; if the entire collar is removed, the tree may become girdled, meaning sugars can no longer move from the leaves down to the roots and the tree will slowly die. Poachers will even sometimes cut down a redwood to get at burls higher up the trunk or in the branches.

Catching poachers isn’t easy – many parks simply do not have enough staff to patrol at night when thieves are most likely to strike. Burls are large and heavy so some parks are trying to close-off road access to make it more difficult to get equipment in and out of the forests. Poachers who are caught face jail time, community service, and fines. Some states are trying to make burl poaching a felony as an added deterrent.

Experts are asking consumers to be aware of where the wood in anything they want to buy comes from. If people stop paying for poached burls, the black market value will plummet and the poaching will stop.

RE

Photo Credit: U.S. National Park Service

References: https://www.columbian.com/news/2014/jun/15/redwood-poaching-spreads-to-national-forests/

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