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Article: Red alder: new markets for this hearty tree: red alder is starting to get respect.
- Article from:
- Alaska Business Monthly
- Article date:
- October 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Alaska, of all places, should appreciate a true pioneer like the red alder. The deciduous hardwood tree thrives in exposed mineral soil and is the first tree to take root in places where the ground has been scoured down to rock, a foothold too harsh for other trees. Alder grows where landslides have occurred, along streambeds and in places that were logged in the past. In most of Southeast Alaska, red alder trees line the roads.
Like a good pioneer, red alder not only thrives on adversity, but also helps create the richer soil needed to support the civilized softwoods that come later, like Sitka spruce and western hemlock. Forest scientists are finding that ...