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Great info thanks a lot.  I’ve been doing quite a bit of study in Centennial woods here in Burlington and have been curious about ice damage, especially in some of the maple trees as I know they can get wonky.  What have you observed about limb growth post-damage?

This comment came in as a letter to the editor.

NW, I just picked up the summer 11 issue and was reading Stephen Long’s story about Mike Greason the forester.I logged for over 17 years until calling it quits in Jan 2011 for economic and personal frustrations with whole Forest Products industry,While I did work over the years for Consulting Foresters I never waited by the phone for their woodlots or timber sales.Mr Greason seemed to have an ethical view of a foresters duty while working with landowners.I will also agree a foresters pay should be based on a set fee not a percentage of gross sales nor do I feel it is ethical for larger logging operations to have “consulting/procurement foresters” on staff,presenting the landowner with the perception of looking out for landowners silvacultural interests.I dont feel foresters should be allowed to market wood from a timber sale either,I guess Im just soured from the corruption/misrepresentation I saw in Southern New Hampshire’s woodlots from consulting foresters who didn’t quite have Mr. Greasons silvacultural morals.

Robert Claxton
Nottingham NH

Hi:
Kind of like Mark in Maine, I grew up with a crosscut saw and an axe, and with a lot of firewood to cut.  We had a good double-bitted “splitting” axe, wedges and a sledge hammer.  Now that I’m much older, I finally learned to put a polished cutting edge on the axe that you can see your reflection in.  In smaller rounds up to 15” or so, the axe explodes the wood.  Probably a lost art, but with a neighbor or two setting the wood up on “chopping” blocks, I can beat most hydraulic splitting rams, and that’s fun for an old man.

Thank you thank you thank you for speaking out on this issue.  I believe it is (and has been) THE major issue threatening the environment globally (but especially in the US since the 1600s).  I recently completed a Master Naturalist course here in NYS and was more than a little surprised and disappointed that population growth was never even mentioned…not once…except where deer were concerned. It was quoted, “There are 1.5M deer in NYS”, and control measures were outlined (hunting, fencing, etc.)  the major gist of which was, that deer are a problem that need to be exterminated so that foresters can grow more maple trees. But the fact that there are 19.3M people in NYS?  Not a mention of their existence or impact. Foresters want to control deer so they can have their commercially valuable monoculture of hardwoods, but fail to acknowledge that their “deer problem” is created by the fact that humans continue to garner every scrap of earth for themselves and mold it to their liking—pushing all other creatures out of habitat – not just deer—even to the brink of extinction.  “Environmentalists” that push for crops of “desirable” woods so more and more people can build more and more houses and furniture? It just doesn’t make sense.  Fifty years ago the youth movement had already figured out that population growth was a problem.  I believed in zero population growth back then – and stuck to that promise in my own life.  I also have refused to build or buy a new house – preferring to take what was already in existence. The insanity of leaving decaying cities behind to bulldoze lovely fields and decimate stands of trees to build yet another housing development named “The Pastures” or “Woodland Hills” to accommodate more people is just pure, human insanity. As noted in another comment on this page, the earth may yet save itself from humanity with a massive virus (or a series of cataclysmic global events), but the lovely earth that used to be – is really gone forever.

Wow! This is a big change on the part of Northern Woodlands. A few years ago I asked the editor to acknowledge the impact of population growth on our forests and he refused. Vermont Woodlands Association also refused. The Forest Ecology Newtwork of Maine is the only forestry related group in New England that I know of that acknowledges the population growth issue on its web site. In fact the director Jonathan Carter recently agreed to serve on the advisory board of the New England Coalition for Sustainable Population. Is there a Vermont forester out there who would be willing to serve on the board or the advisory board of Vermonters for Sustainable Population (www,vspop.org)If we want to preserve our forests and probably even the earth we must stabilize population. The argument can even be made that this is a bigger issue than global warming.

See today’s http://www.vtdigger.org for an op ed on population growth and post a comment there for a larger audience to see.

We are now seeing forest acreage in New England actually declining for the first time in decades because of population growth and development.

Thanks so much for speaking out on this issue.

Sadly, nature usually takes a hand in the overpopulation of any species by introducing a controlling factor. I also believe in zero population growth but it seems that the only folks that choose this option are well educated and usually middle class (or at least economically in a position to make choices!). I have some concern that the people choosing not to breed are the genes that we would prefer to propagate??  Again, kind of a catch 22 situation.  I intend to get a copy of the book mentioned by Carolyn in East Wallingford…. thanks for the suggestion.

Hi Folks:  This is a terrific article.  I teach middle school science and we are currently learning about classification and species.  This is an interesting article that should spark quite the conversation in my classroom!  Thanks.

The leaf pigments that appear red or orange are absorbing light at the other end of the spectrum (blue and presumably ultra violet, the wavelengths damaging to DNA).  They appear red because that is the color not absorbed but reflected.  Chlorophyll appears green because it absorbs at two different peaks, one at shorter and one at longer wavelengths.  You can do “dark” experiments with plants by working in green light.

I can say is, read Stewart Brand’s book, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. Brand takes a hard look at the subject with a clear eye and talks about not only what CAN be done, but also what is ALREADY BEING DONE. Unlike most other writers addressing issues related to overpopulation and climate change, he discusses things on a global scale. It’s an inspiring work, and helps keep the blues at bay.

After reading this book, I thought for the first time that maybe we’re not screwed, after all.

Perhaps the best way we can help the environment is to not have children. My husband and I chose this option and are involved in charities that help needy children that are already here.

Despite the chance of no extra credit-I am the logger,hunter,Con Com,ZBA,etc.To believe there is an acceptable outcome for these numbers is wishful thinking.Potable water,fertile ground,air&residual; chemicals in food today;the concept of feeding all with our assets is at best wishful thinking.Contrary to popular belief there is an end game on all of the numbers games.To think or project otherwise is foolish.The truth to our planet resides in our population numbers,out of control,yet reality.I would apologize if this is considered the wrong venue or a rant.Would there be another realistic observation in my opinion,i would surely entertain the debate. 

                                                            J.L.Hume in N.H.

Dave, I applaud you on discussing this topic. Hopeful is imagining a world and state with greater abundance of intact natural systems and less anthropomorphic fragmentation. How do we get there is the (7 billion $) question. I believe that we must rethink language that we use. The economists speak of economic well-being based on ‘growth’. Businesses are judged on their ability to grow larger. Governments and entire countries are told that they must change their economic policies (less money for people and environment) so they can ‘grow’. We must start judging businesses, governments, organizations, and individuals based on their ability to foster a more natural world while meeting human needs. I believe that our citizens, especially the youth, will stop being observers and take the lead role in fostering major changes in our governments and businesses. I believe that the current world movement for greater social justice also has strong ties with environmentalism and we should celebrate and support this.

As a child in the 1950s I explored the woodlands and fields of our sixty acre farm in Wales Maine and I have a mental picture of that land and to this day when I close my eyes I can see the fields and smell the sweet scent of the forest.  I remember the shapes of boulders, where the lady slippers grew, where to find the checkerberry, teaberry and the wild raspberry patch.  The trees, boulders, mossy places, brooks, springs, bogs and all living things therein.  The deer crossing and how regimented the deer were always crossing the field from the pond on the farm next door across our long field and into the bog and then to the deer yard.  It was the same every day and I wonder if it has changed.

We heated our home with wood and my father harvested hardwood which we hauled out with a horse and wood sled once the ground was frozen with a good coating of packed snow.  The wood was piled behind the barn, always a year ahead in long piles.  The wood was sawed into stove sized logs with a saw that was hooked to a neighbor’s tractor.  The dry wood was then split and put in the woodshed.

I am not a schollar and I am sorry to say I have not read your books but even as a small child I wondered about the history of the land; how it was formed and who lived there in the past. The farm is no longer in our family but it is a pleasant memory I can bring back anytime and anywhere.  It is good to remember that there are many kindred spirits out there who love to roam the land as I do.  But you purssued what you loved and made it your life and are sharing your knowledge and that is a very good thing.

Great profile, Heather!  And hats off to Tom Wessels!  I have enjoyed Tom’s lectures and have been using Reading the Forested Landscape to teach our grandchildren more about the history of our own land here in New Hampshire.  Like Tom, I am a firm believer in the idea that the more you know about the land, the better you will care for it.

We have a similiar acreage (25) to that of Thomas Rehm in Butler, Pa.
Ours is located in Riceville, Pa, about 25miles south of Erie. The climate is a bit cooler and the winters produce considerably more snow cover. To this point I have only located one Butternut on our parcel. The tree is located between our cottage and the highway and I believe to be an offspring from the large rotted stump located beside the the existing tree. The tree is approximately 8” in diameter and seems to be in good condition except for one larger branch that seems to be dead.

This fall was the first time I was at the Cottage to experience the 95% fallout of the Butternut Bombardment. This small tree produced three wheelbarrow loads of nuts. After planting a few hundred of the nuts in another location on the property, I began a mass diposal approach. Groundhog holes, etc.- I don’t have a squirrel population
so I had to take the situation head on.

I was extremely interested in Virginia Barlow’s experience and helpful comments for handling larger volumns. I did not open any of the nuts therefore cannot comment on the presence of the yellow husk critters.

This is my first exposure to canker infestation but I will be following this topic closely.My grandchildren need to also experience the Butternut Bombardment in the future.

Tim Casey -Breckenridge, CO Nov.3,2011

Hi Christine. If you’re able to get a photo of what you are seeing, email it to me and I’ll see if we can get an ID for you. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thanks.

Hi Walter. If you can, email me a photo of the plant you came across, and I’ll see if we can get an ID on it. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thanks.

Hi Rock,
Thanks for your comment.  It would be fascinating to know how those experiments turned out—any effect on the frogs?

Hi Kit,
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed the article.  To the best of my knowledge, wading birds don’t have any special adaptations for dealing with amphibian toxins. But, as I mentioned in the article, skin secretions from frogs are not very toxic, just distasteful apparently (I haven’t tried them myself!).  Toads on the other hand, are presumably avoided by experienced wading birds, since eating one would make them quite sick.  Many snakes however (including Garter and Hognose snakes) appear to be immune to most amphibian toxins, including those from American Toad.  However, when garter snakes were experimentally fed tropical poison arrow frogs (Dendrobates spp.) they had convulsions and one individual died.  Seems like a pretty clear indication that some snakes evolved with certain amphibians.

This morning at 11:00, I noticed something sitting out in the yard bordering the woods on the property. I grabbed my binoculars and saw what looked like a big brown cat. I had seen the same animal earlier this week around 1p.m. walking across our driveway, which is 3/10 of a mile back into the woods. This same animal was spotted in the woods near our house in August around 6:30 p.m. 
Today I was able to see the face in the binoculars and saw white around the chin, and as it walked away saw the long tail. It was brown/tan in color and definitely over 100 lbs.
Catamount???