Site Discussions

Hey there Dave,
As a guy who spent 40 years working in the woods of Vermont and got the hell out in 2013, I can look back with no regrets. I never cut a tree sitting in a cab and the mechanization of our woods workers in order to try to make a living is a sad state of affairs. It doesn’t make things easier, for the reasons you sighted- massive payments on complicated, expensive-to-fix equipment that has a huge footprint that scares off landowners.

Trying to keep woodlots lined up ahead -  it is enough to make you drop a third nut. And then markets for all the wood you cut dries up, or goes belly up, as you try to get your wood trucked on roads that are posted closed for 2-3 months, thanks to our lack of decent winters nowadays.

Small, independent loggers can sometimes find a niche, and with low overhead, you can weather the ups and downs, which is what I did during my career. You might be too poor to paint and too proud to whitewash, but you can survive. I think the day of the boots-on-the ground, saw-in-their-hand logger, is going the way of the cowboy.

Those young loggers you spoke of in Mettowee Valley are optimistic because they have to be. You can’t take on the challenge if you don’t think you have a chance. I know that’s how I went at it. Even on the days when you feel like you’ve been et by a wolf and shat over a cliff, you still head into the woods the next day to cut another hitch. That’s because the vast majority of the people in the woods are there because they love their way of making a living. I just hope when those hurdles get higher than a woodpecker’s hole that they still have the gumption to jump them.

This is so fascinating for me, especially since it will be my 75th birthday.  Loved the article and how it was perceived by those before us.

Thanks for your interest and kind comments. Duckweed are among my favorite plants. Fun biology and easy to work with.

Angela, I live in Norfolk county and a bunch of my trees have the same thing. They look like giant sweat stains and a lot of my trees have them.

I have about 8 butternut trees. The oldest is about 43 yrs. 
My father used to make chicken wired frames and hang the nuts in the carport. Squirrels couldn’t get at them. The nuts were used in maple sugar. So far no disease.

Thank you Dave Mance III and Gerry Lemmo!!  I found 4 caterpillars on a milkweed today (first time) and was able to quickly identify them as future Monarchs!! I’ll be reading up on what to expect, photographing and making sure they are safe and well-protected. (Yes, I am a helicopter Mom, I guess.)  This is incredibly exciting, as the butterfly population in my area (Potomac, Maryland), has been greatly reduced. All the best!

Every so often we would find one of these little guys sleeping under the flap of our spa cover. However this year we seem to have a bumper crop! At the least we find one of them three to four times a week. Same frog? We’ve never see two at the same time as Mary (above). Not wanting the fella to hop into the water because of the sanitizing bromine and the heat, we keep two aquarium fish nets on the deck and gently relocate our visitor to the back or side yard which border woodlands. Hopefully we are doing the correct thing.

I just killed a skunk that had the mange this afternoon. The only small amount of hair it had was on its tail. I didn’t realize that skunks could get mange.

Here is an update/addition for anyone that may be reading this now ancient article (assuming that is okay with NW).

The following paragraph was edited out of the article, but is still relevant.

Clearing an area depends on the level of infestation. If the vine has seeded in recently, this can amount to some simple cutting and pulling. An example of this would be a hedgerow in a yard. Such an area that is not generally tended, other than occasional pruning or raking, is vulnerable to bittersweet introduction. A branch could be down that facilitates the jump of the vine to the tree, and the initial vine growth among the other plants is not particularly noticeable. Like a cancer that has been detected early on, this is when eradication can be completely successful, especially if an eye is kept on the inevitable sprouts, and they are quickly dispatched.

I am noting this now because there is so much land, public and private, that is in the early stages of infestation. Most homeowners, park managers and professional landscapers seem to be completely unaware of invasives. A worker shaping a forsythia that is overwhelmed with bittersweet clips it into one mass as if there is no difference.

I can also tell you that DRA, the land trust mentioned in the article, never followed up with me about my work or the article. They do continue to ask for cash donations!

Just saw a red fox that looked like it had just come from a sheep shearing. I was about fifty feet away and didn’t see any bare skin but it definately had short hair from head to tip of tail.

I also believe wind and altitude play a factor.  Mt Washington’s summit you have 60-80 mph winds but it hits much harder at 4-5000’ than at the Tetons 10,000’.  When I drive 60mph here in Taos at 7000’ I can hold my hand out the window and it feels like a slight puff compared to holding my hand out at 60mph at say 2000’ where the air is much more dense.  Therefore trees on Mt Washington literally get blown off the mountain due to the much greater total energy of the winds. 

One other thought….tree crashing Northeast wet snow and ice, versus powder snow of the west.

Glad to see you point out your FFIM efforts here Ken.

This video reminds me of my early years at the Vermont hardwoods chair factory in Readsboro Vt.
I would operate what was known as a boulder saw which would slice a flat sided chunk of maple into a slab and then the piece would go onto a nearby rip saw to rip squares for the lathe.
In fact once a sugaring spout made it all the way to the lathe where the knife hit the spout.
I don’t know which noise was loudest the actually hitting of the spout by the knife or the cursing of the lathe set up person upon inspection!

Thanks, Dave.  The evolution of labor and manufacturing linked to the evolution of language - right? It illustrates the value of recorded oral history to capture vernacular, idioms of local speech and conjures a lament for the passing of both local language and of the town elder types. Doesn’t matter? Yes it does. Right?

Thank you for your informative article! It’s easy to overlook our gold finches when the warblers are in town.

Give them time, Scott. Around here they’re ripe in late September or early October. Whether they will be edible to you is an open question—they’ll likely be very sour, but many foragers use them to make jam or wine or vinegar. They’ll certainly be edible to animals, though. They’re an important fall food source for the wild set.

Alan, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH—a place with perhaps a similar climate as yours in WI—has been doing long-term studies related to climate change. Check out their site: http://www.hubbardbrook.org/

Gypsy moth caterpillars have done their work in much of Connecticut this year and last. Fascinating to learn more about these fellows. Please include the scientific names.

Glad to read this as it solves the mystery of why so many of the mountains have a brown strip across the middle! Part of the cycle of life.

We live in central pa.  It is late july and we have many clusters of wild grapes on a vine but they are still small and green and look healthy, certainly not shriveled.  Will the mature into anything edible or are they just a weed?