Site Discussions

Enjoyed this insightful article.  I’ll be in a little less hurry to carry on vigorous pruning knowing that my attempt toward immediate tree beautification may lead to problems later on.

Just wanted you to know that I’ve got two opossums who found a home under my home’s crawlspace, that have been here for about 8 years now. They are Great Grandparents and having known me since birth, are actually quite tame. I just thought I’d mention this, because it seems to me as if your guess on the life span of these little guys is way off. A few of their Grandchildren are also still around and doing fine. They have got to be at least 5 years old, again, making me wonder where the information about them living only one or two years up here came from???

Don’t forget about the frequent apparent hybridization between red and black spruce in various ecological regions in the northeast.  In North Central Maine we call them “blackish” or “redish” depending on the dominant parent. Manley’s index from New Brunswick is a common “metric” And you just thought you could tell them apart!

Does anyone know of someone who got fungal pneumonia from working with diseased butternut wood? This seems like it could be likely when a woodworker used butternut wood that had fungus growing in it.

Dave:  You were looking for comments about the 69,000 acre Nature Conservancy deal in the Adirondacks.  Except for environmentalist activists and backpackers, this deal with NYS is not at all popular in the North Country.

    This transaction is one more blow to the forest industry in the Adirondacks as well as the many hunting and fishing clubs that will be displaced.  Among those clubs to be evicted is the famous 12,000 acre Gooley Club out of Indian Lake.  Gov. Cuomo says this deal will make jobs but the few guiding jobs created will in no way make up for the hundreds of lost forest industry jobs.  Of course, as usual, there was the threat of endangered species.

    Some were concerned that the Conservancy was put in a financial bind with this purchase.  That’s not likely!  The most recent issue of Forbes 400 magazine reported that in 2010 TNC took in $527 million in private donations.  This deal hardly dented their checkbook.  With a cash hoard like that they can make deals they shouldn’t be making and that is what happened in the ADKS.  New England states beware.

    Environmentalists and backpackers complained about limited access involving sporting camp leases. (Despite the 2.6 million acres currently in state lands.)  So what happens when the state takes over?  Gates go up and land is classified as wilderness - we have a million acres already - largely limiting access to youthful backpackers.  It is the height of hypocrisy.  Senior citizens are gradually being run out of the Adirondacks - and not so gradually in this instance.

                            Don Wharton

I loved your article! I have a photo of Winterthur’s flower-bedecked Christmas tree, with money plant (sometimes called “silver dollar” plant) used at the top in place of a spray of stars.  Winterthur’s volunteer staff collected flowers from the site’s fields and gardens all year long, drying them over the summer and fall.  The trick with most flowers is to pick them while they’re still in bud, or quite early; they’ll hold their colors better.  Hydrangeas, roses, violets, catmint, yarrow, and many other common garden favorites, in addition to the plants you recommend, will dry beautifully and will add color to a tree—the beauty of which most people who see one, will never forget.

Often, splitting the difference for the sake of peace is badly flawed strategy, but in this case, it would make sensible policy. Depending on the split. The one I like would allow paddlers to drive to an existing (but currently private) takeout/putin just upriver of the Hudson gorge.  This would permit use of a long, wild stretch of the river with benign water conditions below Newcomb and provide canoe access—but no more—to the area’s ponds.  More difficult to figure is access to OK Slip Falls, deep in the gorge, likely to be very popular and thus in danger of being destroyed because of its beauty.

First, let me say I’m in the timber business and I own a camp in the Adirondacks.

Can we please have some wilderness areas left in the world? Why do we feel we have the right to imprint the human population on every square inch of land.

It seems to me the people who are doing all the crying about NY State buying this land are the ones who have had access for the past century and who have worked very hard to keep the rest of us out. I applaud the State and look forward to seeing this wonderful wilderness area. The Property Rights Foundation, how can this be, they never owned the land, how can they have property rights. The State didn’t take away anybody’s property rights. Finch Pruyn did what was best for them, as the rightful property owner they are the one’s with the property rights. Lucky for the rest of us the Nature Conservancy and the State of NY were there to ensure the property would become available to all of us.

Acorns! Butternuts! Pine cones! You can make a sweet angel from a jack pine cone -body,acorn-head,and two milk weed pod pieces-wings. My kids have always loved making these and they look really nice! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Do you know of any studies done to determine whether recreational/commercial trapping reduces the incidence of mange in wild furbearers?

Very nice Meghan! Chris,Mark and Steve forecast the weather a few times a day here on our local radio station 97.7

Hi Stuart,

Nice to hear from you. I was up deer hunting this past weekend on Shatterack. I kept thinking the deer that live there must have some mountain goat dna in their blood to be able to go up and down those steep ledges.

Give me a call (802) 439-6292 or an email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) and we can talk Rupert and logging history up there.
Dave

I FOUND THIS SITE WHILE LOOKING FOR “DEER HUNTING IN VT IN THE 1950’S
I IMMEDIATELY TUNE IN WHEN I SAW SHATTERACK MOUNTIAN. MY FAMILY OWNED A LARGE PART OF SHATTERACK - ABOUT 300 ACRES, IN THE 1950’S & BEFORE.WE OWNED WHAT WAS CALLED THE OXBOW. WE HAD A FARM ON THE UPPER END OF EAST STREET, RIGHT AFTER THE LOURIE FARM.
WE USED TO CUT LOGS & SKID THEM W/ A HORSE DOWN TO THE HEADER BY THE ROAD. I WORKED FOR A LOGGER IN THE MID ‘50S & BUILT A SKID ROAD DOWN FROM THE TOP OF SHATTERACK TO HAY FLATS ON THE KENT HOLLOW ROAD. IT WAS TOO STEEP TO COME UP FROM HAY FLATS SIDE. JUST CURIOUS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CABLE LOGGING YOU MENTIONED. WE LOOGED OFF A PRETTY GOOD PART OF THE HAY FLAT SIDE OF SHATTERACK. DO YOU KNOW THE NAME OF THE CABLE LOGGER?
THANKS FOR A REPLY

Hello Mr. Long,
thank you so much for an interesting and wonderful article on making Windsor chairs.  I haven’t learned so much and laughed so hard reading an article before.  Your story about the front legs was funny and entertaining.  I can see myself in that same situation some day.  I’m searching the internet for a class on Windsor chairs and found your northernwoodlands.org article.
Best Regards & Happy Holidays,
John H.

Interesting article, thanks!

Yesterday in Lindsborg, KS I saw a shallow-cupped nest.  The whole nest was on the flattish side.  It was made entirely of cedar bark and was underneath a large red cedar.  Any ideas on the bird who made that nest?

The story is very well told.  I think it would have given me chills even if I wasn’t Isaac’s father.

A great article about the nostalgia of deer hunting in Vermont. Yes, we old hunters remember the great meals, camp camaraderie and many good days in the woods. For too many of Vermont’s dwindling number of hunters, the memory of actually seeing deer and bucks 25 years ago, is what keeps us buying licenses and not becoming migratory deer hunters, spending our vacations and dollars in New York, Ohio or Texas where there are good game populations.
While earning my wildlife degree at UVM one of the key concepts taught was that habitat was the keystone of healthy herds. Unfortunately, much of Vermont has become marginal deer habitat with little early successional forest,agriculture or openings of any kind. While most of the US is enjoying record populations of deer and growing numbers of hunters (the latest USFW report shows an increase of 9% in hunters while VT has had more than a 9% decline)who are spending 33% more on their passion, we see declining numbers. It is hard to keep a young hunter committed when they go the whole season seeing few deer, so the future will not be brighter unless we change logging practices, educate landowners about habitat and get the VT F&W re-engaged in supporting game populations as a high priority. I am not another unhappy hunter as my wife and I have harvested two nice bucks this year on our 200 acre, high elevation Windham home site. Last year I took the heaviest archery deer in the state. The good news is that VT has great deer genetics, the whitetail is a wonderfully resilient animal and with a little habitat work we can have great hunting again. We do need to get started on this before all the old hunters with long memories depart for the Happy Hunting Grounds and I don’t mean Iowa.

1st December 2012: Coming home from Dorset at 10:30 pm we saw a large catamount run very fast across Route 30.

Dave - not much seen up here in north Starksboro yet - by me anyway. Seen some nice looking deer hanging from some neighborhood buck poles, though, so I am keeping a good thought - and am also glad I got a doe permit for muzzle-loader this year to improve my odds. It seems as though with a warming climate that the weather most conducive to hunting is now early December - I’d be curious to know what folks think of that.