I have a 7 acre area that has grown up...there are regular white oak timbers on both sides of this and all I have growing back up are hundreds of shingle oaks seedlings and one black oak....not a young white oak seedling to be found. I am not ever sure where the shingle oak is that seeded that whole area if that tells you anything.
Sounds like the same problem i am having with box elders... They pop up every where and grow like three to four feet a year... Very hard to control...