Coniferous Cone Harvesting
Answered by: Richard Alan Miller
Question from: Tim Hodgson
Posted on: October 16, 2006

I am a resident of the Yukon and recently noticed a person harvesting pine cones.

Is there a market for cones for reforesting?

Harvesting seed cone is a very specialized business, and requires serious training. Mostly, what you have seen was a harvest of spent cone (no seed) from the ground). Many cones throw their seed in the fall, and then fall to the ground in early spring (e.g. Ponderosa pine). That cone is called a "bright" and is used in the floral trade.

Seed cone must be picked from the tree, not the ground. That means someone must be able to climb a tree to get that cone. This is one of the specialized training needed for that industry. Cone on the ground is used for decorative only, not reforestation. I have written a book on harvesting decorative cone in Alaska.

I will see if I can’t upload it onto my website (http://www.nwbotanicals.org) for your \ access. If not, feel free to write directly for it as a download.



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