The district forester Lisa Pausch is a regular customer in Simbach am Inn. That’s where they come from, the tribes of the future. 5,000 of them have been in Pausch’s territory in the Ebersberg forest for a few weeks. The trunks are still so narrow that one does not recognize that they could one day grow into a massive oak tree. But with a sumo wrestler, you don’t necessarily know it in infancy. According to the 32-year-old, she expects a success rate of 95 percent for oak trees that come through. Investment costs according to state forests: Around 20,000 euros just for the plants. Regular customer Lisa Pausch says: “The oak tree is the Rolls-Royce among the trees.”
The 75,000 tree plants cost 150,000 euros
Twice as many trees as usual will be planted in the Ebersberger Forest this spring. A total of 75,000 are planned, most of which are already growing like in Pausch’s territory near Forstinning. There are also 12,000 trees from a BayWa project.
The Bavarian State Forests cite two reasons for the increase: the storm damage of last summer – and the goal of the Wasserburg forestry company, which has been expressed for a long time, to convert the Ebersberg forest from a forest dominated by spruce to a mixed forest, which it once was. For this purpose, according to the state forests, it is also necessary to fell spruces and more or less replace them with other tree species. Just like what happened in Lisa Pausch’s area.
Lisa Pausch, 32, district forester in Forstinning.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The employees use trees that are said, not without reason, to be more robust and stable than spruces, which are susceptible to storms because of their shallow roots and are popular with bark beetles: 36,000, and thus almost half of the new trees, are now beeches and firs. The other tree species are Douglas fir, Norway maple, service tree, sweet chestnut, linden and hornbeam. In addition, exotic species such as Atlas cedar or Lebanon cedar are used – in small numbers. In order to test, says Sebastian Klinghardt from the state forest, how well they can cope in this environment.
It is an expensive project that the Wasserburg forestry company is carrying out this spring. On average, a tree plant costs two euros, oaks from Simbach are in the upper range, beech and fir trees are a little cheaper. For the 75,000 trees in the Ebersberg forest, a sum of 150,000 euros is raised, and the Wasserburg forestry company is investing a total of around 220,000 euros in 110,000 new plantings. Employee wages are not included.
The greatest threat to young trees lurks in the undergrowth
Back in Forstinning, where regular customer Lisa Pausch, as the youngest district forester in the Ebersberg Forest, directs things in a confined space. The 5,000 Simbach oaks were spaced 100 to 150 centimeters apart over an area of one hectare. Almost all should grow up. Some of them may one day become pieces of furniture. And others, says Pausch, will outlast human generations. In a hundred years, says Pausch, there will be heavy trunks here, forming an oak forest spaced ten to twelve meters apart. That’s the plan. If only it weren’t for the natural enemies of a baby oak.
The greatest threat to young trees is the forest itself, or rather: the inhabitants of this forest. Deer see young oaks as a delicacy and devour everything the tree needs to grow. They see it more as the Rolls Royce of meals. From a deer’s perspective, the destruction of a young oak tree should be extremely plausible. District forester Lisa Pausch sees things differently. “Because of the sweet tooth,” says the 32-year-old, she had the area of 5,000 oak trees fenced in. The deer will hardly like it, but the wild boars do. They particularly like the products from mature oaks, so-called acorns.