Monterey Pines
Yes.. it's strange how trees are so different in only a slightly different climate.
But it sounds like that MX cultivar is suited for a 15 year pulpwood rotation?
The Monterey pines grown here have been selectively bred for timber over the last 80 or so years and are very different to the original stock.
It's not that we cant grow other trees here, it's just the pines grow so fast and the whole processing industry is set up around them. When people do the maths it just works out best financially. Sure you can grow Eucalyptus, Tasmanian Blackwood, Doug fir, Nootka cypress, but it takes twice as long to harvest.
The native species are nice timber, but you are looking at 200-400 year maturity there. Some areas are being managed for timber, but it's small scale specialised stuff.
Cheers
Ian
Yah, Monterey pines in California are now threatened by your crosses from NZ and Australia. The crossed genetics from there are being re-introduced here and that is considered a threat to the wild populations. They are getting better at tree planting sources here of late though. Many firs and pines here are all available (in volume) based on the region where the seeds were collected.
As for why MXs fail here, I think it is mainly becasue of the duration of freezing temperatures here this time of year. The taller they get the more extreme the temps. This year has had a lot of temps to 20 F at night and the high 20 F in the day. The Monterey, Knobcone and Bishop pine native stands do not spread into far northern and eastern California, Oregon or Nevada where the temps are more extreme. Monterey and similar California coastal areas have very mild climates, barely down to freezing on a few nights per year (though this year had major frost as far south as San Diego and the citrus crop is pretty much wiped out down there this year).
They planted a lot of this MX stuff when pulp prices were high. Now pulp prices are low here, and have been for a while. In most cases it seems that the KMX plantations are being abandoned, or ripped up and replanted. Christmas tree farms here come and go for the same reason; quick money is not so quick after all. The trees have to be managed, sprayed, thinned, pruned, and as you say, intensively cared for. A lot of this stuff is also planted here for tax purposes; we plant here on this 105 acre parcel to avoid higher property taxes. They give us a tax break when planting trees on land becasue they tax the trees when they are harvested; they tax at 6% of everything sent to the mills. So if we never harvest, we never will pay the taxes... (some future landowner might and the stands here are always growing).
As for mills being set up to cut certain types of wood, I can see that. Around here they are set up mostly for smaller diameter fir logs. Old growth and big stuff cut here has to be trucked farther to mill, and hence it costs more to mill. Nowhere to mill redwood around here. Also species; many good madrone, oaks and maples are left to burn in slash piles becasue they are not set up to mill that kind of wood here. So it is considered a trash tree on the planting sites. Monoculture is the same here as there in NZ, except here it is almost all Douglas fir. Except here Doug firs were the climax trees already established in these forests along with hemlock. Oregon is a big Doug fir garden now, really. Or farm. 40 year cycles for timber here. George Fenn has it down to 30 years, and he makes money off of thinning. Most thinning here is break even at best (mill lumber pays for the cost to thin the trees).
In truth we are often times stumped as to what to do with large parts of the 105 acres we have here. The planting-harvesting timber cycle is beyond our lifetime. We do not have any children to pass this place along to. So as custodians of the land, for the short time of the rest of our lives, we are having to decide what to do and what makes the most economical and ecological sence. The locals and gov't officials all want us to put in Doug fir like everyone else. Most money, best return for them, yadda yadda. We have planted a mix of species here and left the older mixed species in place.
We have decided to restore a very old 10 acre oak grove here that I am convinced the native Americal Indians cultivated by burning every summer here for 400 years. The trees are well over 250 years now. In the 50 or so years that the stands have been 'untended' the Doug and grand firs are invading their space and outgrowing their canopy. They will all die if they are left untended. We will be cutting down hundreds of firs to restore the area up there. The previous owners logged out all the old growth Doug firs here. Some fir stumps here are over 10 ft across. They were giants. But they left old growth "trash" trees for us. Maples and oaks. This is as far north as natural California Black Oaks thrive and oak stands are becoming rare. We have by far the most mixed species lot in this area.
.png "Love :heart:")
alpacas pyramid grower gone bust. As far as I can figure, free is too expensive with the price of hay these days. We took the llamas to auction and sold the alpacas as a herd to some people in southern Oregon last year. 
