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Not only does the Canadian Government help the Canadian mills. The State of Maine through the Tree Growth Tax, reduces the property tax on Irving woodlands by about 50 per cent which allows them to grow cheaper trees for their mills in Canada. Remove the tax reduction for trees shipped to Canada and put the border tax on for finished lumber coming into Maine and you will see more saw mills located in Maine.

Sapwood is the nutrient and water conductor, while the Heartwood is the result of development and the aging process of the tree, to support its structure

Great Article!

Kudos, Charles, for this piece about your journey and process. You turned a prodigious task into a labor of love and a beautiful boat.

If anyone searching on the internet happens to come here wanting to know the answers to some of the questions people have asked, here are my thoughts.

1. If the eggs have died from lack of incubation, will the parents eventually give up?
Ans: Yes.

2. Why are their nests so small and weak?
Ans: I don’t know that anyone really knows, but doves are large birds, easy to spot, with few defenses, and building a nest can draw the attention of predators. I’ve seen recommendations to help them by putting wooden platforms or hardware cloth (steel mesh) and nesting material in trees or buildings. In my experience, though, climbing trees draws predator attention, and wooden platforms in particular are obvious and completely defenseless.

3. What about doves nesting in hanging plants?
Ans: This seems to happen more and more often. If your doves succeeded in this way, great! But if you’re looking to help doves nest, I wouldn’t go out and buy a hanging plant. I’ve compiled a small amount of statistics on this, and hanging plants too often result in nest failure, or worse, the death of a parent. Most hanging plants are placed within reach of humans, which means they are within reach of cats and other ground predators. Height is very important. If you want to help them, I’d start by getting your neighbors to keep their cats indoors.

4. Why did my dove call at night?
Ans: Hey, I don’t know everything!

5. Do other birds pay attention to chickadees?
Ans: Anyone with sense pays attention to chickadees. They’re small and scouty and smart and their calls tell other birds about predator motion and threat level. Everyone is safer with chickadees around.

6. Why did they abandon the nest?
Ans: Probably predators. In Dixie, snakes are big. Tree squirrels are another, for those of you squirrel feeders. Ground squirrels less so, I think. Cats are significant near civilization. When I see a mess, I suspect a cat because they like to play with their prey, leaving more feathers. Raptors and crows seem more surgical to me. Insects, especially fire ants, are also killers.

7. Lisa in Oregon: Of course insecticides aren’t good for birds, and there are alternatives, although maybe not easily available. But the doves probably didn’t leave because of the spray. Why did they leave? First, it sounds like there were a lot of wasps nearby. Second, they didn’t have eggs yet, so there wasn’t much to lose. Third, from what I gather, someone was rummaging around just after dark, which is a scary time for nesting birds; a predawn raid would have been smarter. But don’t beat yourself (or your husband) up over it. No eggs were lost, and doves often try more than one site before settling on one. If you’re nice to them, there’s a chance they’ll nest there for their next clutch in May. But porches don’t tend to be very good sites to begin with. They’re too low (meow) and have little transit cover (caw). Oh, and if by any chance the nest is on your light fixture, disconnect it at the switch, and use LEDs. Incandescents are hot enough to ignite nesting material, and subsequently, your house.

Great information about how the people before contact managed the land and game.
I have heard that to take turkey a man would dig a shallow pit to lay in, cover himself up, and spread corn on the ground. He would then grab the turkey with his bare hands.
Is there any basis to this story?
Thanks for your work,
Jim

Well written. Fishers have been introduced back into Pennsylvania in areas that they have been extirpated from. It was exciting to see my first Fisher in an area that once was farmland now connected only by a narrow green-way leading to the mountains. Wildlife species prove to be adaptable and resilient.

Hi Juan - this website should be very helpful in giving you everything you need to know about forest tax law: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/5236.html

Good luck!

I do love the descriptions and pictures so much.

Hi, I am interested in offsetting my taxes which are twice a year Sept. & Jan. I have almost 40 acres and am interested in keeping my forest natural and maintaining its wildlife habitat and protecting its environmental integrity, which is providing a ecosystem service. I have been doing it for 19 years now by myself and need tax relief to continue. How can I apply for this tax benefit?

I’ve got to say, good reading.  I just bought a Truper brand 6lb. maul because I got a new saw for Christmas and probably dropped a few more Ash trees than I feel like processing.  We had the Asian Ash Borer Beatle blight here. 

Anyway, out of necessity, I’ve found that the straight grains, Ash, and especially wild cherry, will make you look like an Old Testament god with nothing but a light single/double sided ax. The maul is invaluable, but if things are frozen, or the wood is right, with a little practice you can almost plank the pieces as you go. 

It’s been ages since we had chestnut here in any number, but I’ve uncovered one rotting into the ground and a few inches in is beautiful wood.  That and walnut, I’d love to have more.  But if you hunt these along with barn wood for craftsmanship, the log rotting on the ground may just be what you are looking for.  Find somebody with a mill and a planer and you’ve got it.

I planted a maple tree in November. It’s late April and nothing is showing growth.

My grandfather, William H. Palmer, was the finishing room superintendent at Cascade when he retired in 1947-9.  My mother and father both went to Berlin High School. My other grandfather was Treasurer of the Berlin National Bank until the Bank holiday of 1933.
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All five of my uncles went to BHS. Art designed machinery for the tube mill. Bill, the youngest, lived in Berlin with Art until he finished high school.
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I clearly remember the “money smell” when I visited as youngster in the Fifties!  I was lucky enough to hear the Sunday bells of the Russian Orthodox Church when I visited the family home at 125 Shepard St.
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I have to consider myself quite lucky to have a family that had such strong connections to Berlin—a fascinating place!

Good info, thanks!

What kind of deworming medication works on moose?

I believe Giovanna Peebles’ Iceland discovery unknowingly strengthened the connection of North America to Atlantis…
“In a 1954 issue of Geological Society of America, Bulletin, Bruce Heezen and others reported on a seamount - an underwater mountain - that has been named Atlantis by geologists and is in the Atlantic Ocean. It has been found to have been an island about 12,000 years ago.”
https://yourspaceyourlife.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/synchronicity-iceland-and-huh-atlantis/

One year we (we?, some stacking help from the wife and kids) bought 120 cords of log length wood. All the wood was cut with a chainsaw, split with a mechanical splitter, and stacked by hand in a hay field. After 6 months of drying the wood was loaded on to a 3 cord truck and delivered. That was the most ever done in a single season. The lesson learned during that season was that pretty stacks don’t earn you any extra money!! Just get it off the ground.

I’d estimate it takes about an hour and a half per notch, Paul. Too many variables to answer how long it takes to build a cabin, but the short answer is a long time. There’s a reason why those scribe-fit log homes cost so much more than stick-framed ones: it’s all time, time, time, time, time.

This past week a Northern Flicker discovered the awesome resonance of my two metal roof vent caps (kitchen and bath). I’m pretty sure it’s louder inside than out!

My husbands grandfather worked for George Vanderbilt and Dr. Schenck.  His parents spent time with Dr. Schneider and he has built his own Biltmore stick. Many stories he could have told.