VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Abies balsamea | Balsam Fir 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Balsam fir wood is used primarily for pulpwood and lumber for light
frame construction.  It is also used extensively for cabin logs.  The
wood is lightweight, relatively soft, low in shock resistance, and has
good splitting resistance.  Balsam fir is not well suited for use as
posts and poles because it decays rapidly.  Minor wood products include
paneling, crates, and other products not requiring high structural
strength [5,21].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Balsam fir is a major food of moose during winter.  It tends to be
utilized more when snow is deep and moose populations are high [41].
Moose may browse balsam fir in winter to save energy because the twigs
weigh 8 to 13 times more than deciduous twigs of similar length and
therefore it requires less time and effort to consume equivalent amounts
[41].  Balsam fir is unimportant in the diets of caribou and
white-tailed deer.  Spruce and ruffed grouse feed on balsam fir needles,
tips, and buds, which often make up 5 to 10 percent of the fall and
winter diet.  Red squirrels feed on balsam fir male flower buds, and
less frequently on leader and lateral buds in late winter and spring
when other foods are scarce [5].  Stands attacked by the spruce budworm
attract numerous insect-eating birds, especially warblers and
woodpeckers [30].


PALATABILITY : 
Balsam fir is moderately to highly palatable to moose in winter.
Palatability varies between individual plants.  Green-foliaged
individuals are often browsed heavily, while chlorotic plants are
avoided [5].  This is attributed to the higher nutrient content of
healthy plants with dark green foliage.

The palatability of balsam fir to white-tailed deer and caribou is low
[5].  White-tailed deer may eat small amounts of balsam fir due to its
abundance, but it is not a preferred food [51].

In laboratory experiments, mice and voles preferred the seeds of pines
(Pinus spp.), spruces (Picea spp.), and eastern hemlock over balsam fir
seeds [5].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
In Newfoundland, healthy balsam fir plants with dark blue-green foliage
are more nutritious than plants with yellow or light green foliage.
Chemical analysis of balsam fir browse during the growing season varied
according to color as follows [8]:

                      (percent composition on dry matter basis)
 
foliage color     protein   fat    fiber   ash    N-free     Mg     K  
                                                  Extract

very yellow        4.65    7.54    25.2    2.1     60.60    0.12   0.32
yellow             5.49    8.29    22.01   2.49    61.72    0.18   0.15
light green        6.33    7.71    22.83   2.44    60.69    0.13   0.27
green              6.89    8.08    21.36   3.24    60.43    0.13   0.42
dark green         8.59    7.88    20.67   3.54    59.41    0.09   0.44
dark blue-green   13.54    5.55    26.24   3.68    50.99    0.13   1.01

On logged-over land in Newfoundland, twigs from balsam fir saplings in
thinned stands contained 33 percent more protein and 17 percent more
crude fat than those from unthinned stands [53].


COVER VALUE : 
Balsam fir provides important winter cover for white-tailed deer and
moose.  Balsam fir stands attract ungulates because snow is not as deep
as in adjacent hardwood stands [30].  Lowland balsam fir stands are used
extensively by white-tailed deer as winter yarding areas [21], and by
moose with calves during severe winters [30].  During summer, deer,
bear, and moose often rest under the shade of balsam fir trees [30].
Young balsam firs provide cover for small mammals and birds.  Martens,
hares, songbirds, and even deer hide from predators in balsam fir
thickets [30].  Grouse and songbirds seek shelter during winter within
the evergreen foliage [5].  In Maine, fishers often nest in witches
brooms in balsam fir trees [4].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
The use of balsam fir for rehabilitation purposes is largely unexplored.
It is probably best suited for long-term revegetation.  Nursery-grown
stock is available for outplanting.  Methods for collecting, processing,
testing, storing, and sowing balsam fir seed, as well as nursery
practices for seedling production, have been outlined in the literature
[5,16,24].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Balsam fir is a popular Christmas tree in the East and grown on
plantations for this purpose.  The branches are used to make Christmas
wreaths.  The fragrant needles are used as a stuffing in souvenir
pillows sold in New England [21].

Balsam fir is occasionally used in landscaping.  It can be used in
screenings, mass plantings, and windbreaks but requires abundant soil
moisture for these purposes [21].

Bark blisters contain oleoresin, which is used in the optics industry as
a medium for mounting microscope specimens and as a cement for various
parts of optical systems [21].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Silviculture:  Balsam fir is managed under both even- and uneven-aged
silvicultural systems [22,23,30].  Balsam fir types are usually
converted to other forest types because of their susceptibility to
spruce budworm outbreaks and because of the relatively low value of the
timber [30].

Wildlife damage:  White-tailed deer, snowshoe hares, and especially
moose browse balsam fir reproduction on cutovers.  This often retards
growth but is seldom fatal [30].  In Newfoundland, 4-foot-tall (1.2 m)
balsam fir survived up to 12 years of heavy moose browsing [8].

Release:  Several herbicides are used to release balsam fir from
competing hardwoods.  Balsam fir is resistant to 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T,
glyphosate, and hexazinone [30,40].  

Insects:  The spruce budworm is the most serious damaging agent of
balsam fir.  Historically, cyclical spruce budworm epidemics have killed
trees over vast areas [55].  The most susceptible stands are those
with the following characteristics [30]:

(1)  High basal area or percentage of stand in balsam fir and/or white
     spruce; 
(2)  Mature stands (50 years or older), especially if
     extensive; 
(3)  Open stands with tops of balsam fir and/or white spruce
     protruding above the canopy;
(4)  Stands on poorly drained soils that are extremely wet or dry; and
(5)  Stands downwind of a budworm outbreak area.

Once an outbreak begins, trees usually die after 3 to 5 years of
continuous defoliation.  Johnston [30] has outlined management
principles for spruce-budworm-infested balsam fir.

Other serious insect pests include the hemlock looper and blackheaded
budworm, defoliators primarily associated with mature and overmature
stands [30].  The introduced balsam wooly adelgid, which occurs in
southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, attacks stems,
twigs, and buds and can kill trees within 3 years [21].  

Rots:  Several heart, butt, and root rots cause much decay in living
trees.  Heart rots often infect more than 50 percent of 70-year-old
trees [6].

Related categories for Species: Abies balsamea | Balsam Fir