The Sitka spruce was introduced to Norway more than a hundred years ago. The species was long popular, but it is now no longer wanted by the authorities. It is not allowed to plant the species in Norway without special permission.
Sitka spruce originally comes from the west coast of the United States and Canada. The first plantings in Norway took place in Western Norway at the end of the 1800th century, first in the Haugesund area and Bergen.
The Sitka spruce was primarily used as a timber tree. In addition to thriving well on the coast, the Sitka spruce grows much faster and also gets much larger than the Norway spruce. In this sense, the spruce was perfect for its use.
In the decades after World War II, there was a lot of planting of Sitka spruce in Western Norway. In the period 1960-75, the planting of Sitka spruce was at its highest in Norway, and almost 25 acres were planted each year. A total of about 000 acres of Sitka spruce have now been planted in Norway. The majority of these are planted along the coast in Nordland, Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Vestland and Rogaland.
The trees grow quickly and can set cones early. Low seed weight means that the possibility of long-distance dispersal is high, which contributes to population growth and expansion of the distribution areas.
Sitka spruce has large branches with thick needles that block most of the light down to ground level. This can outcompete native species that live on the ground. Sitka can also establish itself in treeless landscapes and its unique dispersal properties mean that the distance between vulnerable areas and Sitka spruce forests must be several kilometers to prevent the extinction of protected nature. Lutz spruce generally seems to prefer a cooler and wetter climate than Sitka.
According to the Norwegian Species Database, Sitka spruce and Lutz spruce are considered to pose a very high ecological risk due to their high invasion potential and large ecological impact. Trefadder therefore do not plant these tree species, only Norwegian species such as Norwegian spruce, pine, birch, oak and beech.
Read more about different types of wood.
