Site Discussions

I’ve seen these clumps of white fuzz for years, only recently did I notice that they are aphids, an interesting note: I don’t know if the aphids glow or if the wooly tendrils that they produce glows, but if you shine a light on them at night, they phosphoresce(sp?)its a bit spooky on a dark night on the way into the woods

I always enjoy reading stories of Lookouts; aka, fire towers, etc. anywhere in the world and asa FFLA Historian try to include all in my on-going “Lookout Library”

I don’t know where to turn. I’m a first time winemaker, 2013. I started with a purchased kit and 5+ gallons of picked wild grapes (26.8 pounds per the scale). I started the bucket adding about 3 gal spring water and 14 pounds of sugar plus 9 camden tablets per recipe for 6 gal of wine. Also 30 drops of pectic. Started 9/22/13 at 12:00 pm. Hydrometer read 1.12. Added Lavlan wine yeast 24 hrs later. Waited and on 9/24 nothing seemed to be happening. Stirred all every 4-6 hours. I had left the top on this whole time since I thought that was to be done. Not seeing bubbles I thought fermentation wasn’t happening so searched the Internet for reasons. Read I shouldn’t have covered until camden had dissipated. Removed the top and let air-out for 24 hrs. Temperature in my basement is 68.8 degrees so that looks okay. Added a second pkg of yeast yesterday at 10 am and this morning the top is covered with skins/debris for the first time. Don’t see any foaming. I’m not sure what to do next…just wait another day? Should I do another hydrometer reading? Any help? Any ideas?

Thanks for any guidance…

Mark

Dave,

It’s nice to know there are public servants dedicated enough to enforce a camping ban in the dark of night, not to mention in the rain…I guess. That public land is really not so public is distressing. Last I checked, there didn’t seem to be hordes of rogue campers anywhere in the Northeast degrading the woods as another commenter suggested. I agree with her about one thing though, you’re not crazy. Thanks.

Ed

Interesting story.

Ted Natti, who was State Forester in NH when I worked there in the 1980s, was fascinated by forest history, the ‘38 hurricane in particular. He told stories of lumbermen stashing white pine logs in our lakes and ponds because the mills couldn’t handle the mass of wood. Nor could the market, I suppose. Those logs are still found today and fetch a high price.

In Ted’s office at the NH Division of Forests and Lands was a cardboard box of old forest-related photos: the charcoal mill at Fox Forest, the 1940s wildfires-and the hurricane. One in particular showed the NH State House lawn littered with downed trees, lying in all directions. I hope they still have those photos.

I’ve learned a lot about hurricanes since moving to FL. :-) One thing to consider when looking at a site is that ‘canes often generate small tornadoes, especially in the northeast quadrant. That could account for some of the patterns.

As long as we tax forestland, it is essential that it be taxed on its current use as opposed to its development potential. The Current Use Program does this.

But the time has come to realize the ecological benefits of wild, self-willed forests—clean water, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, resistance to invasive exotics, and more.

Wild forests are “working forests” too!

Our definition of forest products has traditionally recognized timber, firewood, and chipwood and non-wood forest products such as maple sap.

It is time to follow the UN FAO’s lead and to recognize forest ecosystem services such as water filtration, flood reduction, soil stabilization, carbon sequestration, forest-based recreation, to name a few as forest products.

The Current Use Program should as well.

I’ve heard that mycorrhizae also serve as “communication systems” for the forest, signalling impending infestations etc., triggering the trees defense mechanisms and collective mast production. Is this true, and how does it work?

Dear Dave,

A lot had changed in the world of outdoor recreation with the advent of Leave No Trace Ethics. The old image of a boy scout heading out into the woods wielding a hatchet to cut down trees to build a shelter and a fire is no longer celebrated or taught (although many people still envision this scene when they think “camping”).  The reality is that this “do as you please in the woods” attitude leads to degraded wilderness areas, with birch trees stripped of bark as high as a man can reach, food particles and gray water tainting sources of fresh water, and – yes – high concentration areas of human waste. The “oh well, we’ll figure it out when we get there” mentality also allows for poor planning and this inevitably lead to more injuries and lost hikers.

Are you crazy? No, perhaps the public lands in Vermont do have too-tight restrictions and it certainly sounds like access and education for visitors could be significantly improved. However, some of the items that you mentioned as annoyances – like having to dig a cat hole for your solid waste and camping at least 100’ from a fresh water source – are just common sense and good stewardship of the lands. Do you want to camp where toilet paper or waste is obvious? Do you want to drink water where the previous camper may have placed dirty dishes and soap? Of course not. Leave it better than you found it, my friend.

Thanks for your thoughts and best of luck in finishing the Long Trail.

Sincerely,
Erica Kaufmann

This article pops up in the top 10 in a Google search for “vermont current use” so I’m going to post my gripe here. Hopefully it may help others to avoid the issues we are facing. We have 50 acres in current use and are far from “land barons”, I think it is a great program to keep development from taking over as it has in other states.

The Tax department which runs current use has an insidious new form to be filed by anyone in current use who wants to take a bank loan. It is called the subordination form - this allows the bank first dibs over the current use program in liens against the property. As part of the paperwork process (which will hold up your loan for over a month) there is a “routine” check to “update documentation”. They compare your current use land map to an updated aerial photo with an overlay of the latest grand list boundaries. If the hand drawn sketch from 20 years ago on your old plan happens to look a little different from the online database, get ready to bend over!

In our case the 2 acres excluded from current use for our house on our old plan did not match what the computer screen showed, so we will be paying to add a new exclusion area, plus paying a forester to redo the plan, plus paying taxes on the old exclusion area until we can get it re-enrolled, all because of what boils down to a clerical error!

Now Northern Woodlands is not our forester, but I can only imagine the filing cabinets full of old incorrect maps just waiting to generate revenue for the Tax department and the map makers as people try to get mortgages or take new loans.

It’s these type of shenanigans in government bureaucracy that really stick it to the little guy. If I was one of those wealthy out of state landowners I’d get my land out of current use as fast as I could and put up condos instead.

We’d love to see the picture.

My neighbor had a catamount in his yard about two weeks ago.  He has a picture of same.  I saw the picture and it definitely was a tawny colored, large cat, with long tail.  How exciting!

In-laws were visiting and staying at a local hotel. Saw some autumn olives on the roadside and went out to gather with a plastic cup and a plastic bag.  Nabbed about six pounds in 45 minutes. (Slow, I know, but it was a long week and I was feeling sluggish.) Going to try juicing or leathering them. We’ll let you know how it turns out. 

These also grow on other trees, not just birch.

I am one of a team of volunteers who has started a live count the different species of moths (macros and micros) here as part of the national scheme. Please could you send the details of the effectiveness of different types of light sources and optimum wavelength, so that we can optimize our efforts. Currently the team leader has a mercury vapour lamp to shine on a white sheet.

It has been a banner year for the praying mantis in the fields around our house in Monkton, Vermont. Within 15 minutes of looking for them this past weekend, to share the spectacle with friends, we found 8 individuals. Two were light brown in color and the remainder were green.  The brown individuals were feisty, moving arms and legs and head rapidly and hopping around from arm to hand to ground and were 1/2 inch to 1 inch larger than the green ones we found.

Earlier this summer the brown mantis’ I saw were smaller (1 to 1-1/2 inches) than the green ones I saw, at the same time, so I thought they might be juveniles that would turn green with age.  Now all the brown we see (about 1 brown to every 5 green) are 2 to 3 inches long, and one nearly 4-1/2 inches.

In the last 3 weeks, my husband and I have both seen (on separate occasions) a very large (3 1/2 - 4 inches) praying mantis that is completely BLACK!  We refer to it as the “Ninja Mantis”. Now we make sure we have a camera with us whenever were out so we can get a photo document of this unusual specimen.  I have been searching on line for more information on the mantis, but it has been difficult to find any scientific information referring to a black mantis. Is it possible that we saw a mantis after shedding its “skin”? One of the stories I’ve read online said that they are black for a short time before they recover their green skin….

Now, when I mow the walking paths around our fallow fields I see (guesstimate) 20 or 30 individuals, running toward the tall grass to escape the mower. I wonder if they feel the vibration of the mower and sense danger or if they actually hear me shouting “Hey, clear the path!” and have learned that I will stop to give them a chance to reach safety. Honestly, I don’t mind that it takes 10 times as long to mow the paths, it’s amazing to see so many of these little creatures! 

If you know of any reputable web sites or individuals I can contact to find out more about the praying mantis in Vermont please share the info here.  Thank you!

Nice article, thank you.  Would you be willing to comment on using stumps for growing shiitake?  What time of year is best for felling trees and how long after for inoculation, how much stump should be left, inoculate from the top or from the sides through the bark .... ?

Wonderful, Michael. I’ll look forward to the pictures.

I was a young 20 year old when I was first invited to hunt with a group of older men. Now these older gents were very serious about hunting and how they went about it now they would not allow just anybody hunt with them from their camp. I felt very honored for that. After a long hard day of hunting it was so much fun sitting around talking and listening to their stories! Since then they have all past on.

The question I have is how would I find the person to contact about leasing a small chunk of Paper Company land to lease?

If I’m lucky I might have 20 years left to hunt and that time my goal is to try to start a little hunting club to be carried on.

This is an interesting topic. If you wanted to cover this hill and know the degree of slope, is there a conversion formula to convert from footprint (2 dimensional) to the actual surface area to be covered?

I too love dragonflies. I love watching them and it gladdens me when they chose me as a resting spot to eat their meal and I can see them up, close and personal.

I appreciate the information presented in Todd’s article though it concerns me about netting dragonflies. Their wings, though yes quite strong, are also fragile and I don’t agree that it is “safe” to net them - at least for the dragonfly. When I used to teach field ecology I would instruct the students not to catch insects in flight. A damaged wing is likely to mean death for the insect. Yes, we all meet our end sooner or later but we don’t need to “help” these beautiful creatures along the path to death by netting them and possibly damaging their ability to fly.