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There is a LYME DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP the fourth Thursday of the month at the Concord Public Library, 129 Main St., Concord, MA 7-9 pm.  It is open to those who would like to share their experiences and learn more about present legislation and resources, and information on the internet.  The next meeting will be September 25, 2008.  No meeting in August.  For more information call Rose at (978) 369-2396 or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

We had a sprinkler repair company cut a large root (ten inches) right at the base of the tree.  The tree is approx 25 yrs old, and the main trunk is probably 18 inches in diameter.  Will this tree die?  I don’t want to pay the repair company because they cut the root without asking, and we think the tree will be damaged, but it may take 2-4 years to know for sure that there will be damage.

What do you recommend?  Thanks,

Please visit the websites below to learn more about OWBs and the victims they have claimed throughout the U.S.:
http://www.myspace.com/freedomofair
http://www.freewebs.com/freedomofair
http://burningissues.org

The problem is this as quoted by the U.S. EPA: “Current outdoor wood-fired heaters are substantially less efficient and more polluting than other home-heating devices.” That pretty much sums it up. An OWB creates on average 72 g/hr of pm 2.5 particulate matter as compared to other forms of heating (even with wood) of: OWB = 72 g/hr Conventional Wood Stove = 18 g/hr EPA Certified Stove = 6 g/hr Oil Furnace = 0.07 g/hr Gas Furnace = 0.04 g/hr Secondly, these DON’T I repeat DON’T save a person money. These cost around at minimum $10,000 to install and operate before you even throw your first log on the fire? So when someone claims “I can’t afford my bills” well they sure could afford $10,000 to buy on of these monstrosities. I know I don’t have $10,000 to throw down on anything much less, something like this. So don’t believe the “I’m so poor I can’t heat my home” argument because it is all bogus. So in closing would you want this across from your house?

Walter—

I highly recommend the forums at the website http://www.hearth.com. The “Green Room” has many discussions about solar, and the “Boiler Room” has lots about wood gasifying boilers. We are currently installing a wood boiler at our home and already have solar electric and hot water systems in place.

In general, the thinking seems to be that heating a house in New England entirely with solar hot water is not a good way to go. You’d need a very large number of collectors for the winter (8-12, maybe more), and would need to drain/cover/remove all but 2 or 3 of them in the summer to keep the system from boiling. The current thinking is to install enough solar to provide all of your domestic hot water during the non-heating season, then use a wood boiler for both during the heating season.

Good luck!

I’m looking for tips how to install a wood boiler (EKO 40) into my existing oil boiler heating system with 4 heating zones and using the oil boiler as an back up which will automatically jump on if the wood boiler fire goes out.  I was hoping to use my existing thermostat and pump system form the oil boiler.

Very nice usable information and advice. Our home has eastern exposure, no tall trees around close urban area. I am thinking to install sun water heating system and electric collection panels. At this moment searching for information and costs associated with it. If you or same one has ability to help us we appreciated.

There is a LYME DISEASE SUPPORT GROUP the fourth Thursday of the month at the Concord Public Library, 129 Main St., Concord, MA 7-9 pm.  It is open to those who would like to share their experiences and learn more about present legislation and resources, and information on the internet.  For more information call Rose at (978) 369-2396 or e-mail Roseruze@verizon.net.  The next meeting is scheduled for July 24, 2008.

We were just at an Energy Fair in Custer, Wisconsin. We will be converting our curved roof barn into our home (barn footprint is 36 by 104 feet, and 25 feet to-the-peak). We are looking at alternative sources of energy for heating/cooling the structure and thought that the Energy Fair would ba a great place to get educated. We wanted information on Wind Turbines for electricity generation, solar for both PhotoVoltaic and passive heat capture, etc. We currently heat our ~2,000 sq ft (totally uninsulated) 150 year old farm home with an EMPYRE 450 outdoor wood burner, using pallet wood. Only way we can afford to heat it!

While wandering around the exhibits at the Energy Fair my wife, my step son and I unexpectedly came across the GARN booth and got excited…..highly efficient burn, nice reservoir of stored heat, and we CAN put it into the basement (formerly milking parlor) of the barn/home. Pretty awesome.

The information we got from the GARN GUYS alone made our 3 hour drive to the Energy Fair worth the trek. 

My wife particularly likes (a) the fact that there is negative air pressure ‘at the door’ - so no more smelling like a fireplace after loading the burner, and (b) we can have the unit inside the house - so no more getting all bundled up just to go out and load the burner.

I agree - we WILL be buying a GARN for the heating of our soon to be converted, new home. We will sell our 3 year old EMPYRE outdoor wood burner (which has and continues to function admirably for us) and move to the GARN.

Requesting permission to post article on our website…
minnesotalymeactiongroup.com

Great article!!!!!!!

Thanks, Laura

I had the good fortune to host Charlie last month when he was in RI for a lecture on his studies. (What a great guy to walk in the woods with!) One of the interesting topics in his lecture was the various names of trees found in the town survey archives, e.g. “pepperidge” as an early term for Nyssa sylvatica. This might be an interesting topic for a magazine article.

like it

Requesting permission to print a copy of this article for display at our monthly support group meetings and at our Lyme run/walk benefit coming up?

Minnesota Lyme Action Support Group
http://www.mlasg.com

The areas in the migratory flyways for ducks and geese are where Lyme disease has been well documented since the late 1970’s. There was a lengthy article in Scientific American in late ‘70’s or early ‘80’s. At Cornell University there was a Dr. Aaron Moen who did deer population studies at numerous locations in North America, and correlated the deer densities when transfer of disease normally in animals are transferred to humans (often through intermediate hosts as the mouse). He believed that having deer populations in the range of 10% to 20% of annual new growth available for deer consumption should be the goal in order to minimize disease transfer. Unfortunately, Fish and Wildlife want to manage populations at 100% of carrying capacity to optimize hunter success i.e. sell more licenses. The public that wants to “save Bamby”, does not realize that deer multiply faster than rabbits as long as food is available. A doe will have one offspring in her first year, and if food is available will have twins or triplets each year for the next 12-14 years. You do the math. The denser the people populations are at the wildlife interface, bad disease things will appear. I worked with Dr. Moen for twelve years on a deer study and population management on a privately owned 14,000 acre research forest in Kentucky. Results could be seen and documented within 24 months.
The bad thing about the Lyme Disease bacteria is, being very similar to that causing syphilis, and living in the nervous system; what will be the long term medical outcome, with or without proper diagnosis, and treatment, we still do not know…dementia and ultimately death. Not a pleasant thought, but a reality. Mac.

I’m a 49 year-old man who was diagnosed last August with what appears to be chronic Lyme Disease.  I say “appears to be chronic” because of the 10 or so co-infections; the extensive progression of the disease that SPECT and MRI studies of my brain have revealed; and because I have no clue just when I was infected - it could have been YEARS AGO!
Anyway, after 8 months of treatment, including a complete change in diet; dietary supplements; and about 100,000 milligrams of doxycycline, I’m beginning to feel relief from the (almost exclusively) mental effects of this devastating disease.  But the hard part for me is knowing when I can safely discontinue taking antibiotics (though I do intend to maintain the healthier lifestyle I’ve learned and internalized through all of this).  Does anyone have any experience with long-term treatment, and if/when it is ever safe to discontinue 400-mg/day antibiotic use.  I’m very concerned about some of the studies I’ve found that indicate that long-term antibiotic use can be harmful.  Thanks.

Requesting permission to include this article when I mail out information to people with questions about Lyme Disease and Deer Ticks.

Excellent article!
Thank you.

Lois Legendre
Lyme Alert, Inc.
307 Front Street
Richmond, Maine 04357
PH: 207-737-2205
http://www.lymealert.com

A very clear update on the updating of wood boilers. About time. I suppose I will be next in line to get one installed in my house. At present I have an oil burner, which is a cash cow for the oil suppliers, and as far as I am concerned, is draining away all my savings.

Hey all,

I like this article.  You definitely helped readers understand something about how researchers and foresters count trees without giving them the big load of trigonometry and calculus I had to work through in forestry school.

Unfortunately, you missed on one important (to a forester) “point”.  When using a penny or other type of angle gage, your eye remains over a central point, not the penny.  Foresters usually use a prism calibrated to bend light at the same angle you created with the penny and string.  Because the angle is projected from the prism, the prism stays over one point.  When you use a penny, the angle is projected from your eye and defined by the width of the penny and length of the string.

Thanks for the great work you do informing all of us about forests.

—Jon

I certainly understand your being frightened after being told such a large animal is in your neighborhood.

You (or your neighbor) might want to contact the NY Department of Environmental Conservation to let them know about this animal. Just a heads-up: people tend to misjudge the size of animals, particularly predators. From what I’ve heard from scientists in the field, chances are good this animal is actually smaller that it appears.

I think it’s important to keep your livestock safe no matter what type of animals are in your neighborhood. Not being a farmer myself, I checked out the NY DEC Web site for info on livestock protection and found this:

“It is much easier to prevent depredation from occurring than it is to stop it once it starts. Contact your Regional DEC Wildlife Office or the USDA APHIS - Wildlife Services, 1930 Route 9, Castleton NY 12033, Phone (518) 477-4837 or visit their web site for more information.”

There are some basic things that everyone who lives near wildlife can do: don’t feed pets outside, don’t let pets roam free, don’t approach wild animals, keep your garbage locked up tight, keep an eye on your children, and make sure they know never to approach any strange animal without the animal owner’s permission.

My neighbor said he saw a really large coyote the other night, however he said it looked like it weighed about 80lbs. or more. Is it possible that it may be a wolf. I have baby goats and other animals on my farm that would be easy prey if it is a wolf. Please reply soon I am concerned and want to know what I should do if it is a wolf. I stay at home alone with my 2 & 5 year olds and want to take the proper actions. Please email me if you can, I think people in the neighborhood are also concerned, including the hunters.