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Quick—name something that grows in Indiana and contributes billions of dollars to the state economy each year.
 Did you guess "trees?"
If not, you're not alone. Most people recognize Indiana for its corn and soybean production, but very few realize the scope and economic importance of Indiana's forest industry. It may come as a surprise to learn that forests, which cover 20 percent of the state, contribute more than $9 billion to Indiana's economy each year. The state ranks first nationally in the production of wood office furniture, wood kitchen cabinets and hardwood veneer, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Division of Forestry.
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| Scientists at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center are developing an American chestnut hybrid that is resistant to chestnut blight. HTIRC plant breeder Jim McKenna hand-pollinates an American chestnut with blight-resistant pollen. (Photo by Tom Campbell) |
Another little-known fact: Indiana is home to some of the highest-quality hardwood trees—black walnut, northern red oak, white oak—in the nation. These trees are highly valued not only for fine furniture, paneling and veneer, but also as sources of food and shelter for wildlife.
At the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC), a joint U.S. Department of Agriculture - Purdue University research facility, a team of forestry scientists is working to make our forests even more valuable by building better trees. Their research also promises to make our forests healthier by developing trees resistant to devastating pests, such as chestnut blight and emerald ash borer. These and other efforts at improving Indiana's hardwood trees could bring together two goals not typically thought of as complementary—protecting wildlife habitat and promoting the wood products industry.
The future of forestry
One long-term goal of a team of Purdue tree researchers is to use their recent advances in gene discovery to develop domesticated trees, the forestry equivalent of agronomic crops like corn and soybeans.
"Our goal in gene discovery is to domesticate trees, just like corn was domesticated over thousands of years," says Rick Meilan, associate professor of molecular tree physiology at HTIRC.
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| Research at the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center (HTIRC) focuses on tree improvement for increased forest productivity and reforestation in the Central Hardwoods Region. Purdue was recently chosen as the lead institution for a National Science Foundation research center. The Center for Tree Genetics will build upon genetic research already underway at HTIRC. (Graphic courtesy HTIRC) |
"If we can produce trees for specific purposes, such as making furniture or plywood, and intensively manage those trees like agricultural row crops, we can make more efficient use of our limited land resources without treading on wilderness areas," he says. "I think this is the future of forestry."
Meilan is part of a team of HTIRC scientists working to identify genes that control qualities desirable in trees, such as insect resistance, wood quality and flower production. Once the genes are identified, Meilan and his colleagues will bring them together to develop what they call "elite" quality trees for timber production. They hope to one day produce trees with these characteristics and make them available to nurseries across the state, to be used in timber plantings by either private citizens, who wish to transform idle agricultural land into forests, or timber companies looking to replant their land.
Meilan says he sees tree domestication as a partial solution to myriad problems associated with human population growth, such as loss of agricultural lands, encroachment on wildlife areas and increased consumption of natural resources.
"I'm not suggesting that we have genetically modified trees growing in our national forests," he says. "But this kind of technology could allow us to increase our yields and create tailor-made trees to meet society's needs for forestry products without encroaching on areas that have been protected from harvest."
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