The Lowdown on Glyphosate Ghost Moose and Winter Ticks Clouds up Close Crop Tree Release Bird Fallouts, Naval Timbers, a Corpse’S Foot, and Much More

SPRING ’12

A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT THE FOREST

The Lowdown on Glyphosate Ghost Moose and Winter Ticks Clouds Up Close Crop Tree Release Bird Fallouts, Naval Timbers, A Corpse’s Foot, and much more

$5.95

on the web WWW.NORTHERNWOODLANDS.ORG

THE OUTSIDE STORY Each week we publish a new nature story on topics ranging from the secret lives of mourning doves to the ecological effects of road salt.

EDITOR’S BLOG Dry wood only comes from being covered the better part of a year, split and stacked, under a solid non-leaking covering. In the round, give it another year unless air flow and sun are very high. — Ben, Moretown, VT

From Your Thoughts on Woodstoves

WHAT IN THE WOODS IS THAT? We show you a photo; if you guess what it is, you’ll be eligible to win a prize. This recent photo shows otter scat, identifiable in part by the white flecks from a crayfish’s exoskeleton. Cover Photo by Susannah Bancroft. Photographer Susannah Bancroft took this photo at the Farm School in Athol, Massachussetts, Sign up on the website to get our bi-weekly where students help with the sawing at the mill and the grunt work of slab removal. Sawn timbers newsletter delivered free to your inbox. are made to order for farm projects, and the wood they’ve sawed has been used for a chicken coop, a garden shed, and an egg mobile. For daily news and information, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

VOLUME 19 I NUMBER 1 REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS CENTER FOR NORTHERN WOODLANDS EDUCATION, INC. SPRING 2012 Jim Block Copyright 2012 Madeline Bodin Marian Cawley Northern Woodlands Magazine (ISSN 1525-7932) is published Walter M. Medwid quarterly by the Center for Northern Woodlands Education, Inc., magazine Publisher & Executive Director Tovar Cerulli Andrew Crosier 1776 Center Road, P.O. Box 471, Corinth, VT 05039-0471 Meghan Oliver Carl Demrow Tel (802) 439-6292 Assistant Editor Bert Dodson Fax (802) 439-6296 [email protected] Dave Mance III, Editor Steve Faccio Giom www.northernwoodlands.org Virginia Barlow, Founding Editor Bernd Heinrich Subscription rates are $21.50 for one year and $39 for two years. Canadian Amy Peberdy, Operations Manager Robert Kimber and foreign subscriptions by surface mail are $26.50 US for one year. Stephen Long POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to Northern Woodlands Magazine, Emily Rowe Todd McLeish P.O. Box 471, Corinth, VT 05039-0471 or to [email protected]. Operations Coordinator Susan C. Morse Periodical postage paid at Corinth, Vermont, and at additional mailing offices. Jim Schley, Poetry Editor Bryan Pfeiffer Published on the first day of March, June, September, and December. Michael Snyder All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written Adelaide Tyrol consent of the publisher is prohibited. The editors assume no responsibility Gustav W. Verderber for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Return postage should accompany all submissions. Printed in USA. Chuck Wooster For subscription information call (800) 290-5232 DESIGN Northern Woodlands is printed on paper with 10 percent post-consumer Liquid Studio / Lisa Cadieux recycled content.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 1

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 1 2/14/12 5:25:43 PM Center for Northern from the enter Woodlands Education C

BOARD OF DIRECTORS President As you read this, presses are rolling on our newest publication, More Julia Emlen Than a Woodlot: Getting the Most from Your Family Forest. The book is Julia S. Emlen Associates Seekonk, MA written by Northern Woodlands founder and former publisher Stephen Vice President Long, with contributions from several other authors familiar to our readers. In More Than a Woodlot, Steve explains how to work with a Marcia McKeague Katahdin Timberlands forest ecosystem rather than against it, to produce firewood, sawlogs, Millinocket, ME and veneer. Better habitat for songbirds and other wildlife species Treasurer/Secretary is among the welcome side effects of the kinds of management he Tom Colgan describes. We’ve included an excerpt of Steve’s book on page 28 to give you a taste of what Wagner Forest Management this guide has to offer. Lyme, NH We’re so pleased to see this book join the Northern Woodlands family of publications, Sarah R. Bogdanovitch as it captures the essence of the forest stewardship message that we’ve been writing about Paul Smith’s College for the past 17 years. In light of the continuing spread of anti-logging sentiment in certain Paul Smiths, NY quarters of the Northeast, it’s hard to imagine a better time to get the message out there that Tom Ciardelli forest health and active management are not antithetical goals. Hanover Outdoors This new book will help readers, especially those new to landownership, understand Hanover, NH the ecology and the economics of their woodlots, and will serve as an introduction to Esther Cowles Northern Woodlands’ other educational resources. My hope is that the folks in the post Environmental Educator office downstairs will be wondering what all the fuss is about when they hear the hubbub Hopkinton, NH caused by the first wave of book orders coming into our office. Of course, sales from the Dicken Crane book will support Northern Woodlands. Holiday Brook Farm Speaking of support, I’d like to also bring your attention to the ad on the inside cover Dalton, MA of this issue. We’ve partnered with George Ainley of Fine Windsor Chairs of Perkinsville, Timothy Fritzinger Vermont, to raffle one of his classic chairs, with proceeds benefiting Northern Woodlands Alta Advisors operations. All non-profits need to generate revenue, and we like the idea of supporting London, UK local craftsmen who use local wood at the same time. Sydney Lea Writer, Vermont Poet Laureate Wouldn’t an heirloom Windsor chair by George Ainley go perfectly in that corner, right Newbury, VT next to the window? Peter Silberfarb Dartmouth Medical School Lebanon, NH Henry Whittemore Walter M. Medwid Four Winds Capital Management Hallowell, ME Ed Wright W.J. Cox Associates Clarence, NY

The Center for Northern Woodlands Education, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) public benefit educational organization. Programs include Northern Woodlands The mission of the Center for Northern Woodlands Education magazine, Northern Woodlands Goes is to advance a culture of forest stewardship in the Northeast to School, The Outside Story, The and to increase understanding of and appreciation for the Place You Call Home series, and natural wonders, economic productivity, and ecological www.northernwoodlands.org. integrity of the region’s forests.

2 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 2 2/14/12 5:25:49 PM in this ISSUE

features 25 Dirt and Blossom SYDNEY LEA 28 How to Help Your Best Trees Grow STEPHEN LONG 34 Clouds: More Than Meets the Sky CHRIS BOUCHARD 41 Ghost Moose: Winter Ticks Take Their Toll SUSAN C. MORSE 46 23 46 The Great Glyphosate Debate DAVE MANCE III

departments 2 From the Center 4 Calendar 5 Editor’s Note 28 25 9 Another View: At Work and at Play in the Northeastern Forest REID BRYANT 11 Letters to the Editors 13 Woods Whys: How Can I Tell if My Woods are Old Growth? MICHAEL SNYDER 15 Tracking Tips: Looking for Lynx SUSAN C. MORSE 34 16 Knots and Bolts 23 1,000 Words 32 The Overstory VIRGINIA BARLOW 44 Field Work: At Work Milling Ship Masts with “Duke” Besozzi CAROLYN HALEY 53 Birds in Focus: The Forecast Calls for Birds BRYAN PFEIFFER 54 Discoveries 57 Tricks of the Trade CARL DEMROW 63 Upcountry ROBERT KIMBER 64 WoodLit 67 Mill Prices 71 Outdoor Palette 72 A Place in Mind ALLAIRE DIAMOND

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 3

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 3 2/14/12 5:25:53 PM CALENDAR

A Look at the Season’s Main Events

By Virginia Barlow March April May FIRST WEEK Mars is now as close as it gets to Earth Mice are laying their six to nine eggs, about For moose, heat stress begins at about and will be fully illuminated by the sun. the size, shape, and color of puffed wheat / 58°F. These northern creatures will need This is a good time to view and photograph A vee of geese may be seen overhead, all water for cooling from now till mid- the red planet / Saw whet owls may be singing “Time to go North Again!” / Belted September / First bugs on the windshield / calling, a monotonic “too, too, too, too, kingfishers will nest in deep tunnels they There are many sparrow species here too” – repeated endlessly / You can see dig in sandy banks; sometimes these are now: field, chipping, song, tree, white- red-tailed hawk nests more easily now over 10 feet long / Robins seem to be throated, and white-crowned, to name but when the trees are leafless. They may happy to be back and may be noisy as they a few / It could hardly be called beautiful, be reused soon, either by the original join forces at a loaded crabapple tree / but the resonating song of the ovenbird is occupant or by another raptor / Days are Stoneflies emerging from streams and a most welcome sound / Robin’s egg blue longer and the sun has some real warmth. rivers provide food for phoebes and robins empty eggshells are being dropped on the Spring will soon be here ground by … robins

SECOND WEEK Melting snow may reveal small fruit Crows are building their nests high Smarten up, doggies! Porcupines have and shade trees that have been girdled. in white pines / Wild leek leaves are left the treetops to feed on herbaceous Though many different rodents do this, approaching full size. They are delicious plants at ground level. When the quills at the meadow vole is a prime suspect / to eat now but will yellow and die before the base of the tail are erected, a warning Buff-colored gypsy moth masses that the flowers bloom in mid-summer / In odor is also emitted / The bright red and spent the winter below the snowline are lodges or bank dens at the edge of water, yellow flowers of columbine are opening. more likely to hatch than those exposed muskrats are being born. Cattails or other This wildflower is often found in very rocky to the full force of the cold. Scraping off emergent vegetation are needed by soils / Although yellow warblers spend the these low ones now might be worthwhile / muskrats for both food and housing / winter far away in southern Mexico and The bright red fruits of winterberry holly Needles of roadside white pines have now northern South America, they are among may stay on the shrub long enough to turned brown if they have been exposed to the first warblers to return in the spring feed spring migrants too much road salt

THIRD WEEK The red-winged blackbirds now nesting in April 21-22. Lyrids Meteor Shower. These May 20. A partial solar eclipse will be cattail marshes will use cattail fluff to line meteors can produce bright dust trails visible in most of North America / Many their nests / Well adapted to cold, wood that last for several seconds. No moon defoliating insects eggs are timed to frogs range farther north than other North this year, so it should be a good show / hatch when tree leaves unfurl, a American amphibians. Listen for their Sapsuckers have returned. Their drumming phenomenon well known to the many duck-like call from ponds / Giving birth: is distinctive – a series of fast knocks warblers that are now picking off the fisher, red foxes, gray foxes, eastern followed by a few slower arrhythmic tender larvae / Nannyberry, highbush coyotes, red squirrels, and meadow voles / ones / Peak of egg laying by black ducks cranberry, clintonia, and starflower are The first big flocks of neotropical migrants / There is more to trout lily, our earliest blooming / White-tailed deer will soon give are crossing the Gulf of Mexico or island flowering lily, than meets the eye. The birth, but it’s hard to tell whether or not hopping up through the Caribbean plants arise from corms 10 inches below a female is pregnant. If well fed, they all the surface have nice round bellies

FOURTH WEEK Female fishers, who have been pregnant Many swallow species are drawn to ponds Swallowtail butterflies don’t just visit flowers, nearly all year, are giving birth. Seven to ten where they pick off emerging insects just they need minerals that are more abundant days later, they’re pregnant again / Eastern as they leave the water / Blooming: squirrel in road salt, urine, and dung, which is why phoebes are here, flicking their tails and corn, trailing arbutus, bloodroot, Carolina you often see them sipping from puddles / snapping up flies around buildings. The spring beauty, wild ginger, purple trillium, blue Honeybees are now making a mild-flavored, male’s plaintive song is a welcome sign of cohosh, Dutchman’s breeches, toothwort, light honey from black locust nectar / spring / Turkey vultures are returning. Now shadbush / Blue-winged teal form pairs “Swallows fly high, clear blue skies. common, they were rarely seen in northern during the winter and arrive to nest only after Swallows fly low, prepare for a blow” / New England prior to 1960 / Killdeer can be warm weather has settled in / Sometimes all Northern two-lined salamander eggs have heard day or night, calling above fields and the northern flickers seem to return on the hatched. The larvae will spend two meadows: “killdeer, killdeer” same day – about now (occasionally three) years in small streams

These listings are from observations and reports in our home territory at about 1,000 feet in elevation in central Vermont and are approximate. Events may occur earlier or later, depending on your latitude, elevation – and the weather.

4 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 4 2/14/12 5:25:53 PM EDITOR’S note

By Dave Mance III

Silent Spring – the book that forever changed Today, most of us, like Carson, see nature as a system, and the way the world looks at chemicals – turns 50 it’s been that way for a long while. Integrated Pest Management this year, and when you’re a writer researching (IPM) systems, promulgated into national policy in 1972 (yes, that the herbicide glyphosate for a story like the one old greenie Richard Nixon again), promote the use of chemicals on page 46, you see and feel Rachel Carson’s in a way that is least disruptive to biological control regimes – presence everywhere. Google search “glyphosate” something I suspect Carson would have found very heartening. and you’ll see any number of anti-chemical (She never advocated for no chemicals in Silent Spring; rather, groups using her name as a rallying cry in their crusade her views were in line with other eco-thinkers at the time who against the herbicide, and you’ll pick up a whiff of resentment advocated that you should spray as little as you can, rather than towards the book in the counterarguments made by some spray to the limit of your capacity.) And while “promote” sounds glyphosate users. As is the case with most debates that unfold on abstract and empty, it really does trickle down to the masses. In the web, the arguments are broad, philosophical in nature, and 2006, in the midst of a prolific forest tent caterpillar infestation entrenched in their ideology: Carson and her book have become in our sugarbush, we contracted with an aerial sprayer and doused symbols of the good extreme and the bad extreme of environmental our woods with Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), a bacterium that advocacy. All of this is fair and good in a society that values free Carson mentions in Silent Spring as something that might some- thought and spirited debate, even while it’s a touch distasteful to day be an eco-friendly DDT alternative. We didn’t necessarily assume alliance with or attribute blame to a woman who died 10 use BT because we were models of ecological integrity (though years before this particular chemical was even invented. we were relieved when we found out it was natural and not But what about Carson’s legacy from a chemicals-in-the- synthetic); we used it because the county forester, state forest perspective? Is there some metric by which we can look entomologists, and ag-extension agents arranged for it through back, 50 years later, and see if things are better or worse? Has the IPM framework that Carson’s advocacy helped spawn. Silent Spring had a lasting impact or, conversely, was it just a The opinions of the people I spoke to about glyphosate for speed bump on the way to more chemicals, to more intense this story ranged from “never touch it” to “use it begrudgingly” to environmental degradation? “can’t live without it,” but in each case, there was eco-consciousness If you just scan the headlines on an anti-chemical webpage you behind their logic. Some small woodlot owners are effectively man- might be tempted to think that things are as bad as ever out there. aging their back 40 without chemicals – you can imagine Carson But in researching this story I didn’t find this to be true at all – in smiling. But you also see Rachel’s influence in how a present-day fact, I was running into Carson’s shadow everywhere I looked. paper company is managing a 100,000-acre matrix of clearcuts The most obvious Carson legacy is found in the regulatory in northern Canada – in the fact that glyphosate is a better, more framework that the book helped create. Before Silent Spring, eco-friendly herbicide than the dioxin-laced phenoxy herbicides chemical testing in this country was overseen by the Department they were using in Carson’s day; and in the fact that researchers of Agriculture – a conflict of interest, according to Carson. Today, are looking at the herbicide’s effects on ants and pollywogs and testing is overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency songbirds in these clearcuts and fine-tuning application protocols. (created by the Nixon administration in 1970). The Federal Silviculture is constantly evolving, and foresters are innovating Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (1972) requires and arguing and trying to figure out how they can maximize that every chemical be registered and evaluated in accordance productivity and minimize ecological ramifications on large tracts with a series of “internationally harmonized and scientifically of forest. The image of a helicopter sprayer dousing a clearcut with peer-reviewed study protocols” – these words from an EPA white mist may seem regressive, but talk to the people doing the spokesman. And there’s a clear avenue in this process for public work and you’ll learn that this isn’t necessarily the case. input and participation. In 1962, it took a book to bring Carson’s Over the coming year, I suspect that the media will be full fears to light; today, there are hundreds of Carson heirs across the of homages to Silent Spring, and since the book’s anniversary world weighing in on pesticides, speaking directly to regulators. falls on a presidential election year, I’m sure her name will be The less obvious but perhaps more important legacy, though, evoked in our national conversations about environmental is the shift in our collective consciousness that the book helped policy. But before we get polarized and begin to dwell on EPA engender. Today, Silent Spring is often remembered simply as an inefficiency or Monsanto or whatever else, let’s raise our glass to assault on chemicals, DDT in particular, but Carson’s larger point Carson and Silent Spring – an important piece of environmental was that we need to see nature as a system. This wasn’t necessarily literature. And as we discuss Carson’s legacy in the context of the case in the 1950s, when men just back from the war sought to the environmental problems du jour, let’s take a moment to dominate nature in a peremptory, albeit well-intentioned, way. appreciate just how far we’ve come. NW

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 5

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6 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 6 2/14/12 5:25:58 PM Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 7

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 7 2/14/12 5:26:01 PM By Reid Bryant

8 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 8 2/14/12 5:26:05 PM another VIEW

By Reid Bryant

At Work and at Play in the Northeastern Forest SUSANNAH BANCROFT When I was five, my father purchased the axe that accompanied us At the heart of the through the adventures that defined my boyhood. It was a Hudson work we do is the asser- Bay camp axe from Snow & Nealley, made in the classic style with tion that people, young a lightweight head and a slim, hickory handle. Even then, I knew and old, find value in deep down that this was a fine piece of north-woods craftsman- simple jobs well done. ship, but through boyhood it was simply a delicious hazard. As an introduction My father conceded to teach me to use the axe, despite the to The Farm School, fact that I was of an age and energy level that should certainly we often read Marge have made him decline. We’d go out back and I’d wail away at Piercy’s poem To Be Of fallen logs for hours. But things got serious the day my dad let Use which maintains me fell the white cedar that grew beside our driveway. that “the pitcher cries It was an ugly, lanky tree, and way too close to the house, but for water to carry, and it had a friendly lean and a narrow enough crown that my father, a person for work that in response to my begging, let me “knock her down” with my is real.” It continues little Snow & Nealley. Had he known the upshot of his consent to sadden and amaze he might well have felled the tree himself, for with the cathartic me that the very word Reid Bryant teaches a student at The Farm School “whumppp” of that tree coming off her stump, I found my “work” conjures such how to use a portable sawmill. calling (and perhaps my financial downfall). I’ve spent the better contempt among some young people. Perhaps that is why I love part of my youth, and now my young adulthood, wandering my job so much, for to see a child joyfully pulling his end of the woods with similarly energetic children, and watching them the crosscut, or wiping down the harness leather with saddle joyfully “cut things down.” Looking back over the years and the soap after a long day’s skidding, is to witness “work” taking on stumps that pepper our thinning woodlot, I’ve got to say that the new meaning. Though the work of the classroom certainly has sight of children at work in the woods never loses its wonder. its place, its abstraction rarely satisfies in the simple way that I serve as a teacher and administrator at The Farm School in a tangible lesson can. When a child learns that he is capable of central Massachusetts. Among my responsibilities is the oversight keeping himself warm, or handling a dangerous tool to great of our nearly 300 acres of working forest, which the farm manages effect, or simply tending to the needs of someone or something for cordwood, timber, and wildlife habitat. Nearly all of the work bigger than himself, that child learns that he is powerful. Sadly, that takes place in our forest is performed by children and young we rarely spend time reminding children that they are, indeed, adults. Two thousand children, primarily of middle-school age, capable of great big things. spend a half-week at The Farm School each year, engaging in Education falls flat when it fails to empower learners. At work work that is essential for the survival of the farm. With a demand in a woodlot, a child holds in his hands far more than a saw, or a for forest products to house, heat, and at times feed both staff and peavey, or a splitting wedge. In a woodlot, a child holds the pos- students, there is more honest work in the forest than a couple sibility of a new chicken coop, or chilly toes warmed twice: once thousand kids can accomplish in a year. My job is to let them try. by the work of the splitting and again after dinner gathered around Bradley Teeter, our teamster, and I take groups of kids into the glowing stove. It is the very possibility of real impact that our forest each day to turn trees into the things that we need. At makes this work so compelling, both for me and for the children. our disposal are three working Belgians, a small band-saw mill, a But beyond the possibility, there is something even greater, but hydraulic splitter, crosscut and bow saws, mauls and wedges, and a harder to define, that a child at work is filled up with; it’s the gift tiny sugar shack that houses what is perhaps the smallest commer- that my father gave me, the gift of knowing that I, just a boy, was cially made evaporator. Day after day we follow the horses into the doing a grown-up job. I can’t rightly say why, but that is necessary, woods, share a brief safety overview, and put tools into the hands as necessary as the opportunity of a first tree felled, its branches of children. By way of direction, we simply explain what we need moving across the sky as we all step back and yell, “CLEAR!” from the forest and why, in the clean and linear terms that make With the little percussion that rattles up through our boots when sense to people of all ages. Hemlock boards are required to side the the tree touches down, something very real has been learned. new chicken coop, so we spend the morning felling big hemlock, rotating in pairs to get the crosscut singing. Winter draws near and Reid Bryant is a teacher, farmer, and administrator at The Farm School in Athol, the cordwood pile that feeds the furnace is low, so we buck and MA, which provides farm-based learning opportunities for children and adults. split and stack. Pancakes for breakfast? All the more reason to slop For more information about The Farm School programs, please visit the website buckets of sap back to the bulk tank by the sugar shack. www.farmschool.org, or call (978) 249-9944.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 9

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10 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 10 2/14/12 5:26:10 PM letters to the EDITORS

A Logger’s Take piece of equipment is going to break down next. up, and by 1968, it was sterile. To the Editors: Read your Editor’s Note in the Winter 2011 issue. I’m Here is the hard reality: people with money own land I now have a property in Granville, Vermont. a 54-year-old beat-up logger – cable skidders and and hire people with very little money to work for Everywhere I walk there are all sorts of life forms chainsaws. I’ve been harvesting high-grade oak and them. I doubt I have 10 years left in me doing this to observe and later read about. I am glad I never white pine for more than 30 years. Just this year I work. Who is going to do small-scale, unprofitable lost that boyhood fascination and wonder about the got a biomass contract for low-grade softwood: $400 timber harvesting then? natural world. per tractor-trailer load; eight to ten cords per load. Cameron Cope, Montpelier, VT Michael Deenihan, Essex Fells, NJ

As far as hardwood goes, everything is upside-down. Let’s do some math. One thousand board feet (MBF) of logs equals two cords of firewood, one cord of Son of a Beech Fond Memories of the 9N Ford greenwood $175 x 2 = $350/MBF. That’s the going To the Editors: To the Editors: rate of a top-grade saw log! “Getting to Know Bark” (Winter 2011) was a Like Robert Kimber (“Three Tractors,” Winter 2011), I gem. I always stress bark recognition in my tree also owned a 1939 9N Ford with a Sherman transfer More math: 10 cords stumpage = $330/MBF; saw identification activity and, like the author, wondered case and a Wagner loader, which I used for many log 200/MBF stumpage = $100/MBF. At those prices, why someone did not produce a field guide on bark. years in my woodlot along with an early 1010 JD might as well cut and skid for the sawmill! It’s been Thanks to Michael Wojtech, we now have one. diesel crawler with winch. I was closely attached to like this for 10 years. I guess it’s just a labor of love, Whenever there is reference to carving initials or both machines. because it sure as hell’s not for the money! hearts on beech, I think of how long this has been Steve the Logger, Northford, CT going on. Way back, Virgil penned: I finally retired the 9N and replaced it with a 1980 2600 Ford and mounted the loader on it. However, To the Editors: Or shall I rather the sad verse repeat I did miss that little 9N. In June 2006, I found a late I am a logger, small operation. I work alone, mostly which on the beech’s bark I lately writ. 8N Ford that was in need of a good home and many on smaller, privately-owned woodlots, and most of repairs. It was delivered the next day, and I rebuilt the properties are in Current Use, have manage- I also recall my embarrassment upon seeing my the brakes and put in special seals to keep the ment plans, and I often return to these properties initials carved on a prominent beech by my class- transmission oil out of the drums and brake linings. I to continue the scheduled mandated treatment. room at Cornell. A day later, they presented me with rebuilt the engine, generator, and starter, and installed Throughout the summer, I utilize the low-grade a beech leaf mounted in plastic for a paper weight, a new Zenith carburetor and governor to carburetor hardwood by selling firewood – my most dependable bearing the inscription “To a True Son of a Beech.” rod. What a difference that made to the engine bread and butter. This was all to commemorate my writing “Silvical performance. The new carburetor atomizes the gas Characteristics of American Beech (and Implications in a more efficient manner and reacts immediately to I’m in this business because I love the woods. I do a for Management)” as a Northeast Forest Experiment governor demands. Well worth the investment. very conscientious job: low impact, minimal residual Station bulletin in 1955. Beech and I go way back, damage. I am 57 years old and my body is pretty but not quite as far as Virgil. Anyone who needs help with N series Fords is banged up, but there is no rest for the foreseeable Larry Hamilton, Charlotte, VT welcome to email me at [email protected]. future. I work six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day. Douglas Graham, Goshen, VT I have not taken a vacation for at least 15 years as I earn just enough income to stay aloft. Of course, this career is my choice, although I do not know what else Boyhood Fascination I could do if I were to seek an alternative career. To the Editors, Shrewd Eyes I thoroughly enjoyed Patrick Hackley’s piece on To the Editors: I’m the guy that goes in and does the work that your the plot of undeveloped land where he was able to Just wondering: isn’t that actually a short-tailed publication promotes. Problem is, being the guy with explore nature with his friends as a boy. I, too, had shrew – not a mole – in the lower right corner of the saw and equipment, knowledge and skills, will- that experience growing up in Rockville, Maryland “Mouse, Shrew, or Vole” (Winter 2011)? ingness to work in any weather, drive to push beyond in the 1960s. There were probably over 1,000 Nicole Cormen, Lebanon, NH exhaustion and do a good job means I live at the contiguous acres and they teemed with all sorts poverty level. I have state health insurance, no retire- of amphibian and reptile life. It was always an The editors respond: Nicole, you’re absolutely ment, no sick days, and constant stress over which adventure hiking there. It unfortunately got carved correct. Our mistake.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 11

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 11 2/14/12 5:26:11 PM A Consulting Forester can help you

Markus Bradley, Ben Machin, Mike Scott Paul Harwood, Leonard Miraldi Make decisions about Redstart Forestry Harwood Forestry Services, Inc. managing your forestland Juniper Chase, Corinth, VT 05039 P.O. Box 26, Tunbridge, VT 05077 (802) 439-5252 (802) 356-3079 Design a network of trails www.redstartconsulting.com [email protected] Anita Nikles Blakeman Ben Hudson Woodland Care Forest Management Hudson Forestry Improve the wildlife P.O. Box 4, N. Sutton, NH 03260 P.O. Box 83, Lyme, NH 03768 habitat on your property (603) 927-4163 (603) 795-4535 [email protected] [email protected] Negotiate a contract Herbert Boyce, ACF, CF M.D. Forestland Consulting, LLC Deborah Boyce, CF (802) 472-6060 with a logger and Northwoods Forest Consultants, LLC David McMath supervise the job 13080 NYS Route 9N, Jay, NY 12941 Cell: (802) 793-1602 (518) 946-7040 [email protected] [email protected] Beth Daut, NH #388 Improve the quality of Cell: (802) 272-5547 Gary Burch [email protected] your timber Burch Hill Forestry 1678 Burch Road, Granville, NY 12832 Scott Moreau (518) 632-5436 Greenleaf Forestry [email protected] P.O. Box 39, Westford, VT 05494 (802) 343-1566 cell Alan Calfee, Michael White (802) 849-6629 Calfee Woodland Management, LLC [email protected] P.O. Box 86, Dorset, VT 05251 (802) 231-2555 Haven Neal [email protected] NRCS Technical Service Provider www.calfeewoodland.com Haven Neal Forestry Services 137 Cates Hill Road, Berlin, NH 03570 Richard Cipperly, CF (603) 752-7107 North Country Forestry [email protected] Fountain Forestry 8 Stonehurst DrIve, Queensbury, NY 12804 7 Green Mountain Drive, Suite 3 (518) 793-3545 John O’Brien Montpelier, VT 05602-2708 Cell: (518) 222-0421 O’Brien Forestry Services (802) 223-8644 ext 26 Fax: (518) 798-8896 26 Tree Farm Road, Orford, NH 03777 [email protected] [email protected] (603) 353-9857 Fax: (603) 353-4317 LandVest Timberland Swift C. Corwin, Jr. [email protected] Management and Marketing Calhoun & Corwin Forestry, LLC ME, NH, NY, VT 41 Pine Street, Peterborough, NH 03458 Christopher Prentis, CF 5086 US Route 5, Suite 2, Newport, VT 05855 Swift Corwin: (603) 924-9908 Lower Hudson Forestry Services (802) 334-8402 John Calhoun: (603) 357-1236 57 Fourth Avenue Nyack, NY 10960 www.landvest.com Fax: (603) 924-3171 (845) 270-2071 [email protected] [email protected] Long View Forest Management www.lowerhudsonforestry.com Andy Sheere, Senior Forester Daniel Cyr Serving southeast Vermont Bay State Forestry David Senio (802) 428-4050 P.O. Box 205, Francestown, NH 03043 P.O. Box 87, Passumpsic, VT 05861 [email protected] (603) 547-8804 (802) 748-5241 48 Picz Road, Westminster, VT 05158 baystateforestry.com [email protected] www.longviewforest.com R. Kirby Ellis Jack Wadsworth, LPF, ME & NH Ellis’ Professional Forester Services Brian Reader, LPF, ME & NH Meadowsend Timberlands Ltd P.O. Box 71, Hudson, ME 04630 Jesse Duplin, LPF, ME & NH Jeremy G. Turner, NHLPF #318 (207) 327-4674 Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. serving NH & VT ellisforestry.com 35 Rock Crop Way, Hiram, ME 04041 PO Box 966, New London, NH 03257 (207) 625-2468 (603) 526-8686 [email protected] Charlie Hancock [email protected] www.mtlforests.com North Woods Forestry www.wadsworthwoodlands.com P.O. Box 405, Montgomery Center, VT 05471 New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts require foresters (802) 326-2093 Kenneth L. Williams to be licensed, and Connecticut requires they be certified. [email protected] Consulting Foresters, LLC Note that not all consulting foresters are licensed in each 959 Co. Hwy. 33, Cooperstown, NY 13326 state. If you have a question about a forester’s licensure or (607) 547-2386 certification status, contact your state’s Board of Licensure. Fax: (607) 547-7497

12 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 12 2/14/12 5:26:12 PM woods WHYS

By Michael Snyder

How Can I Tell if My Woods are Old Growth?

Old-growth forests, sometimes simply called “old growth,” are tionally old ones, but just that: really old woods. Accordingly, they are marked by the even the oldest woods presence of exceptionally old, typically large-diameter trees that contain many more are living, dying, and dead. For most forest types in our region, young and middle- this likely means there are trees exceeding 150 years old and aged trees than old some may be as old as 200 (white pine), 250 (sugar maple), or ones. If you’ve got a 400 years (hemlock). range of tree diame- If you do have an old growth forest, consider yourself very ters and at least a few lucky indeed, as truly old forests are exceedingly rare in the lunkers in the mix, northeast. Most of our forests have been cleared for agriculture keep walking and and cutover one or more times over the last few centuries. And looking, you might although much has re-grown, and despite a strong history be on to something of conservation and good management since, trees in the special. Next, look up secondary forests we see today are much younger and therefore at the canopy. Truly significantly different from those that existed previously. old forests have an By most accounts, less than 0.5 percent of the current forest- uneven canopy with land in the northeast is old growth and no region in the eastern many scattered, small deciduous and mixed forest zone has more than 1.1 percent old gaps owing to tree growth. With a couple of notable exceptions in northern New crowns breaking and Hampshire and Maine, most of the last remaining northeastern falling here and there old-growth forests are small and isolated, restricted mostly to over an extended period of time. Young forests tend to have fewer inaccessible steep land and wetlands. Still, if you have some large trees and fewer canopy gaps. particularly large-diameter trees in your woods, say, in excess of If your woods are truly old-growth, you will also notice an 25–30 inches, and there is little evidence of human intervention abundance of dead trees, both standing as “snags” and on the or large-scale natural disturbance, they just might qualify. ground as “woody debris.” Importantly, in old growth this accu- Because tree growth rates vary so much by species and mulated dead wood exists in many sizes and in varying stages growing conditions, diameters can be misleading. Thus, there of decay, reflecting the full range of ages and sizes of the living is no good substitute for measuring the actual age of a tree. trees accumulated on the site over many years. This diversity of Fortunately, you do not have to cut down your prized old tree dead wood provides habitat for a wide range of animals – from to determine its age by counting the annual growth rings on insects to salamanders – as well as critical germination seed- its stump. You can instead count the rings in a cross-section of beds and nutrient cycling for forest regeneration. In old growth the stem extracted as a pencil-sized core from the standing tree you will also notice a greater abundance and diversity of herbs, using a forester’s tool known as an increment borer. Ask any lichens, and fungi, all of which support life forms and processes second-grader who’s had a visit from a local forester and they’ll under-represented in younger forests. confirm that it works like magic. Lastly, truly old forests will exhibit “pit and mound” micro- Except when it doesn’t. No, it is not foolproof. In very large, topography, which reflects where trees were toppled by windthrow very old trees, the innermost rings of wood tend to be decayed long ago but have decomposed, leaving only the pit, where the and this makes an accurate estimate of the tree’s age impossible. trees used to be rooted and mounds of soil that used to contain But fear not. Even without an increment borer you can judge the roots. whether your woods are old growth by other means. In fact, the Beyond all the good ecological science describing them, alternative approach involves a more complete understanding chances are you’ll just know it when you’re in an old-growth of the characteristics of old forests – most of which can forest. All of those attributes add up to make a very different kind be observed while simply walking through your woods and of forest, and when you’re in one, it is a difference you can feel. requiring no specialized equipment. First, accept that old forests comprise trees of many ages and Michael Snyder, a forester, is Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Forests, sizes. Sure, to be actual old growth, there must be some excep- Parks and Recreation.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 13

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 13 2/14/12 5:26:13 PM 14 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 14 2/14/12 5:26:16 PM TRACKING tips

Story and Photos by Susan C. Morse

Looking for Lynx

The missing Canada lynx has been found! Just 20 years ago, the status of Lynx canadensis was largely a mystery in northern New England. While lynx populations existed in nearby southeastern Canada, it was generally accepted that the lynx was extirpated in Vermont and New Hampshire, and that occasional tracks and sightings in Maine involved Canadian transients and not a resident breeding population. Researchers have since demonstrated that Maine has the largest population of lynx in the lower 48. Recent confirmed tracks in New Hampshire and Vermont have inspired the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state biologists to intensify their efforts to learn more. Undoubtedly, those of us who spend many hours afield can significantly add to this body of knowledge. Here are some features to look for: • A lynx’s appearance will differ from a bobcat’s in having these distinctive features: extra-long ear tufts, huge bedroom slippers for feet, a solid black-tipped short tail, and greater “inter-orbital breadth” (i.e., the space between the eyes). • A lynx’s legs and flanks are most often gray or reddish tan, while the legs, flanks, and belly region of an eastern bobcat will often be marked with dark spots and stripes. • Lynx tracks on moist snow, firm mud, or a trace of snow on black ice will reveal that the foot morphology of this species is entirely different from that of any other cat. Instead of robust toes, lynx have tiny, pea-sized toes that are well separated from a relatively small middle pad. In lynx, unlike cougar and bobcat, the center lobe of the middle pad is distinctly higher than the outer lobes. • In certain tracking conditions, bobcat and cougar toe and middle-pad features will be surrounded by a fur impression. Lynx tracks have this outer circle of hair as well, but also have a hair pattern that radiates outward from within the center of the track impression. • Much of the time, lynx tracks in snow will register as Above: The lynx, top photo, has elongated ear tufts and huge bedroom-slipper feet. muffled, indistinct impressions. Diagnostic toe and middle- Note the spotted legs, flanks, and belly of the eastern bobcat, bottom photo, compared pad features can be found, however, if you backtrack awhile to the reddish-brown markings of the lynx. and search for better tracks. Try to find where the animal paused, sat down, walked along a log, or simply traveled Apparently, it heard my approaching steps and waited to see through habitat in which the snow consistency and depth what I was. The dawn-gray creature impressed me as if it was a are more receptive to clear track impressions. Key behaviors, ghost. Indeed, one of the lynx’s many names is “ghost cat.” The like backward spraying of urine and other scent-marking dawn-gray creature peering at me was more like an apparition activities will also help reveal the identity of your mystery than any animal I had ever seen. The lynx who wander among animal. us are like spirits from another world, embodying the raw, While tracking radio-collared cougars in Alberta, I hap- snow-filled purity of another time. pened upon a crouching lynx watching me from thick cover. Susan C. Morse is founder and program director of Keeping Track in Huntington, Vermont.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 15

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 15 2/14/12 5:26:18 PM KNOTS & BOLTS

[ WHOOPS ] [ REMEMBERING ]

Department of Remembering Corrections Carl Reidel

It was brought to our attention that by labeling both Carl Reidel loved Vermont. He was deeply taken with aments and nulets as “yellow birch seeds,” (“The “the genius of the place,” as he would say, quoting Overstory,” Winter 2011) we were not being techni- biologist René Dubos. In his unlikely trajectory from cally correct. To clarify, the three-lobed shapes are the south side of Chicago – the first in his family to scales from a female flower cluster (ament). The graduate from high school – to his peaceful farm- rounded “nutlets” are the seeds themselves. stead in North Ferrisburgh, Vermont, where he died this fall, Reidel came to understand one of the deep paradoxes of environmental awareness. It is in “tranquil settings that people have become most conscious of the very real environmental crisis ament facing our little planet,” he said in September, 1972, as the convocation speaker at the University of tant to the Congressional Research Service, the US Vermont (UVM). Forest Service, and the National Park Service. He That year, Reidel was recruited by UVM to start also served as president of the American Forestry the nation’s first university-wide interdisciplinary Association, vice president of the National Wildlife environmental program. He ran the program until Federation, and on the board of the wilderness advo- his retirement in 2000, and along the way he had a cacy group Forest Watch. remarkable record of care for the forests and people In all this work, Reidel saw how environmental- of northern New England – including service on the ism could tip toward fatalism and a litany of gloomy board of Northern Woodlands, with a term as its statistics. But he also saw how academic and president. political institutions could devour genuine efforts to “Our magazine was making a decision at that time bring deep change – they, like the fox in the fable of to become a non-profit,” recalls Northern Woodlands Henny Penny, often lured the “radical chicken and founding co-editor Steve Long. “Carl was widely her friends,” Reidel wrote, “into his den for further nutlet respected by people from all sorts of viewpoints. He study of the problem … and ate them.” was a terrific leader in a time of transition.” Against this problem, Reidel invoked Vermont. As a boy, Reidel fell in love with the outdoors on “I believe in Vermont,” he wrote in an essay for fishing and hunting trips to Wisconsin and, accord- the Burlington Free Press in 2010. He spoke admir- ing to his son Jon Reidel, at 17 he boarded a train ingly of the fact that Vermont has banned billboards, to Minneapolis to pursue a bachelor’s degree in but protects the right to hunt and fish on any forestry and wildlife. Upon graduation, he took a unposted land; that it has a statewide environmental job in Nevada as district ranger with the U.S. Forest planning law, but allows citizens to carry a concealed Service. firearm without a permit. Reidel saw a way forward Carl Reidel received his MPA from Harvard’s in Vermont’s admixture of liberal and conservative Kennedy School in 1964, and then returned to values, and in the essay he quotes his UVM colleague Minnesota to complete his PhD in natural resources Frank Bryan’s summary of Vermont as “an enigma” policy. In addition to UVM, he served on the faculty of whose people combine “hard living and fierce loyalty the University of Minnesota, Williams, Harvard, and to locality” and who are “feisty, taciturn, honest to a Yale. fault.” “He was a brilliant man of many accomplish- Like the Vermonters he admired, Reidel “spoke ments, but there wasn’t the slightest whiff of truth to anybody,” said UVM professor Tom Hudspeth, pomposity about him,” said forester Virginia Barlow, who joined Reidel’s new program in 1972 – and co-editor of Northern Woodlands magazine. “He yet Reidel was an “adroit diplomat,” who knew, was deeply warm and generous and could improve Hudspeth recalled, when to wear tweed and when everyone’s mood by just walking in the door.” flannel. Reidel served in the Vermont House of Carl Reidel, 74, died of pancreatic cancer on Representatives, sat on the Governor’s Council of November 3, 2011. Environmental Advisors, and worked as a consul- Joshua Brown

16 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 16 2/14/12 5:26:21 PM [ STEWARDSHIP STORY ]

managed so as to prevent harmful effects and achieve the owner’s goals. So after Silvopasturing: Controlling 20 years and lots of money and time invested in failing to make a dent in the Invasives with Livestock noxious understories that plagued much of our woods, I decided that it was time for the “desperate measures.” I grew up on a farm just west of Watkins Glen, New York, and my wife Maria In 2005, we began to fence in small sections of the worst areas to see what and I are now in the process of buying the land from my parents. The farm is would happen. The first step was to mow the brush to get it down to a manageable about half wooded and half open fields and pastures. The wooded portions of height for black angus cattle, sheep, and goats. When the mowing was completed the farm are mostly mature hardwood stands, with oak being the predominant the livestock took over, browsed the stump sprouts, and helped transition the sites species. Unfortunately, plenty of exotic invasive plants, like European buckthorn, to more stable and desirable plants. honeysuckle, and multiflora rose, have long dominated the understory of much of As we’ve come to learn, silvopasturing is a long-term endeavor, and results our woods. usually fall between the yearly changes seen in farming and the decades-long For years, I experimented with every method I could think of to get rid of the changes seen in forestry. But after six years of silvopasturing on our farm, we now invasives, but none were very successful. As a forester, I knew the problem had to have 85 acres of increasingly productive and attractive wooded grazing sites that be dealt with if we were ever to reproduce the same nice trees that currently grow are a win-win for the land, livestock, and people. Our eventual goal is to convert on our land. all 200 acres of the farm to silvopastures – through adding either pasture to the As my family and I became more comfortable with grazing our animals, I began trees or trees to the pasture. to wonder if we could use them to control our invasive plants. Previous experience Silvopasturing isn’t for every acre of woods or every woodland owner, but it has as a forester in Argentina had exposed me to the concept of silvopasturing – the potential for millions of acres of land in the Northeast. Thoughts, experiences, and sustainable and symbiotic production of livestock and trees on the same land. I questions on silvopasturing can be shared on Cornell Cooperative Extension’s new figured if it could work there, why not try it on our farm? silvopasturing forum at http://silvopasture.ning.com. First, I had to overcome the stigma of grazing animals in wooded areas – something normally frowned upon by foresters due to past forest health issues resulting Brett Chedzoy is a forester with Cornell Cooperative Extension out of Schuyler County, from overgrazing. Silvopasturing is different, however, because the animals are New York. Check out his family farm website at www.angusglenfarm.com

Send us your Stewardship Stories We know that many of you are engaged in projects that improve the woods. We’d like to provide examples to our readers of these stewardship projects. Please send us stories of your efforts, and we’ll share them with our readers, either in the magazine or on our website. BRETT CHEDZOY

Brett’s goats chow down on multiflora rose.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 17

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 17 2/14/12 5:26:23 PM [ SKILLS ]

How to a read a deed

In the 1700s and 1800s, it was common for villagers to own small or mid-sized he or she will have to learn how to read nineteenth-century survey descriptions. woodlots on the outskirts of town, which provided them with fuel and building The description below is real and was written in 1878. Let’s pretend that this materials. Today’s woodland parcels are often an aggregation of these woodlots, is your woodlot, and we’ll walk you through the steps of deciphering this deed and if a landowner wishes to try to establish some of the original boundaries, and applying it to what’s on the ground.

Beginning at an oak stump near a spring of water, being the north east corner of a ten acre lot, owned by Phineas Hulet; thence north twelve degrees east twenty rods; thence west twelve degrees north three rods; thence north twelve degrees east eight rods to a stake and stones: thence west twelve degrees north one hundred ninety seven rods (to lands) and formerly owned by W. R. Fowler, deceased; thence south twelve degrees west along the east line of said Fowler,s land sixty-eight rods to lands of E. R. and S. E. Martin; thence east twelve degrees south along the west line of said Martin,s land one hundred sixty rods to the south east corner of said Hulet,s ten acre lot; thence north twelve degrees east along the west line of said Hulet,s lot forty rods to the north west corner of said Hulet,s lot; thence east twelve degrees south forty rods to the place of beginning, containing seventy-five acres.

Your first step is to make a sketch of the geometry conveyed in the deed. Surveying descriptions are, of course, Once your line is established, you’ll need to convert rods based on the four cardinal directions of a compass, and are traditionally based on magnetic north. Each quadrant and chains into feet. Early surveyors flopped a wooden is divided into 90°, each degree into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds – although these latter rod end over end to measure distance. Those with a divisions are for surveyors with fancy instruments. With a hand compass, just focus on degrees, and remember helper and more level land pulled a chain around the that you can never have a bearing greater than 90°, because at that point you’ve entered into a different quadrant. circumference of a property and recorded progress using 8- to-12-inch-long metal pins – the forward chainman When reading a description, start with the first cardinal direction, then turn the given number of degrees toward started with 10 pins and placed one at the end of the the second cardinal direction. We’ve plotted the first course in red. You’ll notice that the description here uses all chain each time it was pulled tight; the rear chainman four cardinal directions as starting points – as was the custom in the late 1800s – while the compass diagram would pull the pins. The two would tally lengths of chain below only uses north and south – as per today’s custom. Were the deed written today, West 12° North would be by tying knots onto a string of rawhide. written as North 78° West and East 12° South would be South 78° East. A rod is 16.5 feet. Four rods equal one chain, or 66 feet. N12OE Ten square chains equal one acre, 80 chains equal one mile. It was not coincidence that the dimensions in this deed included lengths of 40 and 160 rods – they represent easily calculated fractions of an acre and/or mile.

W12ON

E12OS Old surveying chain.

S12OW

18 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 18 2/14/12 5:26:24 PM When you’re done translating the bearings and distances, you should have a sketch that looks something like this.

You’re now ready to take it out into the field and try to relate what’s on the map to what’s on the ground. You’re looking for the southeast corner of the lot in question, and the northeast corner of lands that were owned by Hulet in 1878. With any luck, you already have a general idea of where this is, but if not you can consult the tax maps in the town clerk’s office. Once you find a starting point, see whether there is evidence of the property line: wire fence, maybe, or blazes. If you find something, take a reading with The first step is to try to find your compass and compare it to the deed bearing. Trust your compass. If, for the point of beginning, in this example, you read north 14° east instead of north 12° east, just adjust all case, an oak stump that is angles in the deed by 2 degrees. An easy way to establish a straight line is to at least 133 years old. Good tie a piece of flagging at your starting point and a second one at a reasonable luck! Now if the stump were distance along your compass line. Then walk forward, sight back to the two maple, beech, birch, elm, or flags, and tie a third. As long as you keep at least two flags in sight, you can aspen, you wouldn’t even extend your line indefinitely, and it’s much faster than trying to constantly bother trying. These rot-prone sight along the compass. species disappear in about 30 to 40 years. Red oak (like You can measure rough distances by pacing or with a tape measure. In black cherry, ash, and hickory) extreme cases, you might have to adjust for slope, as on steep hills it’s easy to is semi-rot-resistant, but in all lose 3 to 5 feet for every 100 feet measured. But don’t get overly meticulous. likelihood a stump wouldn’t Start looking for the next corner before you reach the deed distance, and once make 100. If the stump was you’re in the ballpark, trust your eyes more than your tape measure. Precision a white, bur, or chestnut is a relative thing. oak, though, you might get Take along your GPS and get a reading on any corner you find. When you get lucky. The inner heartwood home, it’ll be fun to upload onto Google Earth. Your makeshift survey won’t be of the stump would be gone, as accurate (or legally binding) as a professional survey, but your efforts but a few shards of outer will confirm what you own, and an afternoon spent translating old heartwood might still exist. deeds and looking for centuries-old boundaries is a great way If you strike out with the oak to connect to both your woodlot and the history of the stump, try to find the stake Northeastern landscape. and stones referenced in the third course, a slightly less daunting task. In 1878, the stake was probably made David T. Mance Jr. out of wood, though starting in the early 1900s, many landowners replaced their wooden stakes with iron axles or pipes. Stone piles will probably reflect the geology of the parcel. If stone is abundant, it might be two or three feet high; if not, it could be a ring of single stones that has long been covered in a century’s worth of leaf litter and woody debris.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 19

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 19 2/14/12 5:26:27 PM STEVEN SHEPARD

A decay of mushrooms.

[ ENGLISH USAGE ] So, after our last walk, I set out to improve my knowl- toads, a parliament of owls, a bouquet of pheasants, edge of collective nouns. After all, I’m an experienced an army of frogs, a watch of nightingales, a band of early morning forest walker. If I’m regularly going to gorillas, a bale of turtles, a skein of partridge, and a A Herd of Words be flushed out of my shoes by indignant flights of raft of waterfowl. creatures, I should know what to call them. The habitat-based group is a small collection; it There’s something sensual about early morning Believe it or not, this concept of collective nouns includes a shoal of bass, a bed of oysters, and a pod walks in the forest: the wet smell of sweet mosses, was the subject of serious study as early as the 15th of whales. the wild odor of fungus and mushroom, the pungency century, when Books of Courtesy included them. Groupings based on social commentary constitute of cool, damp air. The cold creeps in and creeps These were social primers based upon the rules that the next collective nouns. These are perhaps the most out, wetting shoes and socks, misting warm breath, governed rural England, central to which was the interesting of all, because they give away society’s biting ear and nose. theme of the hunt. opinion of the animal in question: a shrewdness of An early morning walk in the woods is special for In my own research, I discovered that one James apes, a pride of lions, a murder of crows, a cast of its solitude as much as anything else, its ability to Lipton had already been frustrated enough by hawks, an exaltation of larks, a charm of finches, a make thoughts clear and priorities so easy to assess, the whole-bunch-of phenomenon to research it route of wolves, a skulk of foxes, a plague of locusts, its particular way of putting the dash-around world extensively and write a book on the subject. An a sleuth of bears, and a richness of martens. back into its proper place. Exaltation of Larks, published in 1968, identifies six The smallest grouping of creatures came into There’s something else special about such walks. families of collective nouns, each based on a particular being as the result of transcriptional error. A school All too often (or perhaps not often enough), these characteristic of the animal (sound, appearance, of bass was originally a shoal of bass, but an error quiet, reverential ambles are interrupted in a loud physical characteristic, habitat) or human reaction somewhere along the line changed things. flurry and fuss of wing on brush, of foot on ground, to it (social commentary, transcription error). Lipton The largest collection is based on characteristics of flashing carapace on leaf as some forest denizen obviously put a lot of work into his book, but he of the so-named animal. These include a drift of hogs, loudly announces its displeasure with an imminent cautions the reader, admonishing, “These terms a trip of goats, a singular of boars (one is plenty), footfall on its resting place. And many times, a whole are not intended as scholarly; at most, [they are] an a leap of leopards, a building of rooks, a smack of bunch of things flush from hiding, shattering the innocent summer ramble through unfamiliar fields. jellyfish, a sloth of bears, a kindle of kittens, a gang of serenity of the morning. No enlightenment is promised.” elk, and a hover of trout. To this group, Lipton kindly Something about this phenomenon bothers me: The first family of collective nouns – onomato- adds a worship of writers, my personal favorite. I never seem to know what to call that bunch of poeic – are words derived from the sound made by To Lipton’s six groupings, I would add a seventh. creatures that I so rudely disturbed. Usually, I yell to the group of animals they describe, as in a gaggle It would consist of appropriate neologisms: a my wife, “Look, look, a whole bunch of something- of geese. If nothing else, groups of geese certainly reverence of trees, an odium of politicians, a taciturn or-others!” Somehow, whole-bunch-of just doesn’t do gaggle. Others in this family include a crash of of New Englanders, a jargon of technicians, a float have the soul-satisfying sound of words like gaggle rhinoceros and a clowder of cats. of canoers. and covey and kindle (a cluster of kittens, not the The second group – based on physical appear- A blessing of readers. book reader) – three collective nouns that I do know. ance – includes such notable groupings as a knot of Steven Shepard

20 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

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Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 21

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 21 2/14/12 5:26:33 PM 22 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 22 2/14/12 5:26:37 PM 1,000 words

Photographer Frank Kaczmarek captured the small, private world of developing spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) still in their eggs. The salamanders, which can be found throughout the Northeast, breed in vernal pools in March and April. To get this shot, Kaczmarek removed a small mass of eggs from a vernal pool, placed them on a glass plate, and photographed them using a macro lens and a flash. The eggs, which take six to eight weeks to hatch, were returned to the vernal pool after the shoot.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 23

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 23 2/14/12 5:26:42 PM DIRT AND BLOSSOM

By Sydney Lea Illustration by Liz Ross

24 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 24 2/14/12 5:26:45 PM n the late 1920s, Franklin and Leslie had a lean-to camp in the Toma country, smack in the middle of nowhere at all, back then. Timber got moved on water in those long decades before the lumber companies cut roads almost everywhere. You can drive a car right to the two men’s campsite now. These were old-time woodsmen, and many things they told me are lodged in my memory and fancy, but one is lodged more vividly than any. It had to do with a dead man. Neither, they said, could reckon how he came to be killed. No blood on his body, no other mark of violence. He looked as clean and pure as an altar boy. It was never found out just who the man was, or so my friends insisted. I’m sure the authorities – such as they were in that barely populated region and in that era – did learn his name, but I never challenged either of them, and never so much as asked any of the other old folks about the story itself, let alone about this eerie detail. Even now I don’t

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 25 2/14/12 5:26:47 PM speculate, simply because the victim’s identity was not and is not the point. Indeed, his lack of it seems more so. What sticks in mind went something like this. The brothers were hunting on a certain day, and no matter it was May. This was Depression times, Franklin pointed out. If it hadn’t been for fish in the water and deer on the ground, we’d have starved. No, they didn’t bide their time until some season arrived; they shot and jigged and netted their food year-round. On the morning they spoke of, they were checking snares when a thunderstorm raced in from nowhere, the downpour ferocious. They took for a thicket of cabbagey pine, which clumped in an old burntland that lightning had fashioned ages before. Boughs grew dense enough there to keep them dry. Having pushed inside the pine stand, they scooched down and waited in silence on the weather. Then one of them – Leslie, I think – looked out and noticed the corpse. No, not the corpse, but only the bottom of one bare foot, which glowed with each bolt of lightning. The two hunters knew of course there had to be a body, too; they just NO, NOT THE CORPSE, couldn’t see it. Whenever it had fallen, it must have dropped right over the near brook’s BUT ONLY THE BOTTOM bank, that bone-white under-foot the one thing left to show. They might easily have missed it if they’d sheltered elsewhere. They wished they had. OF ONE BARE FOOT, Neither spoke for a while, but each of them knew what the other must be thinking. WHICH GLOWED WITH Neither liked the idea of what they’d find by the water when time arrived they’d by EACH BOLT OF LIGHTNING. God have to find it. You couldn’t just walk away, they told me, although both Leslie and Franklin admitted they might have done so if there hadn’t been the two of them. We was each others’ conscience, each said, or words to that effect. In any case, they stayed under the pines long after the storm had moved along. Whoever he was, and whatever was left of him next to that stream, wouldn’t be in any hurry himself now. They left the poor devil resting right there until they could puzzle out what on earth to do about him. Those two brothers are long dead themselves, and what they told me they did do at length – for whatever reason, as I say – that’s a bit of a blur. But I do remember their reporting how they looked out from their shelter when it was fair, and suddenly noticed a twisty, lightning-scarred tree: a pear, of all things. Now so far as anyone had ever known, this godforsaken spot had been no settlement, not even for tribal people. There were no white man’s cellar holes, no remnant fire pits. Nothing for miles but woods and marsh and wind. The fruit tree, just into tiny leafage, was the only THE TWO HUNTERS KNEW OF indication that the place might have been lived in after all. And how had the pear tree COURSE THERE HAD survived the fire? TO BE A BODY, TOO; How, further – unless a seed had been carried by a bird or an animal (from where?), and unless it had been dropped just here – was a pear standing on this spot at all? The only THEY JUST COULDN’T SEE IT. answer seemed that someone, in some dim time, had made a dwelling. There must have been a dooryard, or perhaps this tree was one of many that amounted to an orchard. But why pears? (I never asked how they identified a thing so rare in those parts anyhow.) It was barely true spring, the petals of the pear, of thorn and shad, just lately gone by. In fact there remained a few ribbons of ice along the small brook’s sides where it ran under alder shade. The corpse lay down in that darkness. That fringe of ice chilled the hunters’ souls. Their story still chills mine, though that’s to describe its impression oversimply. The hard gully-washer from which they’d sought refuge in the greengrowth had splattered mud on the dead man, but sodden pear flowers, too, which at first they took for old snow. The poor fellow lay naked otherwise, no sign of clothes anywhere they looked. And the dirt-and-blossom trousers, the mask and cap: as one of the woodsmen told me, they wouldn’t make no difference to him now.

Sydney Lea is Poet Laureate of Vermont. The story here is a chapter from North Country Life: Tales of Woodsmen, Waters, and Wildlife, to be published by Skyhorse Publishing in September.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 26 2/14/12 5:26:47 PM ersosimo Lumber Co., Inc. Family owned and operated for 61 years! Our experienced Woodlands Staff is available to assist you in achieving your goals in managing your woodlot. Contact our Woodlands office in Brattleboro, VT today for more information. 1103 Vernon Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301 Tel: (802) 254-4508 Fax: (802) 257-1784 Email: [email protected]

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 27 2/14/12 5:26:50 PM How to Help your Best Trees Grow

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 28 2/14/12 5:26:56 PM By Stephen Long Illustrations by Joe Smith

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from More Than a Woodlot: Getting the Most from Your Family Forest, a new book published by Northern Woodlands. This paperback provides guidance to landowners on the many different values – including financial – inherent in a forest. Covering forest history, wildlife habitat, strategies for keeping land in the family, and a new silviculture tailored for owners of small parcels, it springs from the stewardship ethic long championed by Northern Woodlands.

f we were to arrange optimal conditions for growing the perfect tree, we would provide a site that’s a perfect match for the species’ particular needs. It would begin its life in strong competition with trees of similar size. I’m partial to sugar maple, so let’s assume the tree is a sugar maple seedling growing in a pure stand of at least 7,000 other maples on one acre. Like its cohorts, this seedling is less than one inch in diameter and stands a little more than one foot tall. It grows in these close quarters for 10 or so years and develops into a sapling. The competition forces the tree to grow straight, and as it puts on height it self-prunes, which means it sheds its lower branches because their leaves no longer receive sufficient light. It will take another decade or two for the sapling to reach pole size – a diameter of five inches – and, adhering to Darwinian principles, the most vigorous trees will suppress the less vigorous, relegating them to the understory and then death. The process of self-pruning continues, and the sugar maple develops clear, knot-free wood in its trunk. If the lower branches were to continue living, they would show up as knots, which would reduce the tree’s utility and its value when it was cut later. Thus, competition helps produce a long, straight trunk, free of limbs for 40 feet – the ideal sawlog tree. Without competition, the maple would grow to resemble a yard tree, whose stout lower branches would entice generations of climbing children.

Looking toward the tops of these trees, you can see the crowns are crowded and are restricted in their growth.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 29 2/14/12 5:26:59 PM This cross section of a tree shows an epicormic branch on the left. It starts from a bud on that occur throughout the entire stand. If you want to help the the bark when the tree has a flood of light reaching it after it has grown to considerable best trees along yourself, however, there’s an even more intensive size. Contrast that with the early branch in the center that has been grown over with method of management known as crop-tree release that you can several years of clear wood. use in those areas that have the best potential. If you have good skills with a chainsaw and can reliably fall trees in the direction you choose, this can be a very rewarding use of your time. Chances are you have at least some trees that are on their way to being high-quality sawlog or veneer trees. The nearer they are to reaching this potential, the more obvious they will be. The 18-inch black cherry that’s straight as a gun barrel will doubtless catch your eye. Or maybe there’s a large red oak whose bark is so tight it looks as if it’s growing right out of its skin. If the site conditions are so good they produce these eye-catchers, then they’re right for other trees of the same species, or perhaps associated species. It makes sense to devote your management efforts to these good sites. Cast a wide net and search the immediate area for other trees with good potential. US Forest Service guidelines Standing slightly above its nearest competition, the perfect suggest you aim for 50 to 75 trees per acre. On my woodlot, I’m sugar maple’s expanding crown helps it continue to put on girth. working on two different sites, each an acre or so with 50 crop Then, as if they were involved in a single-elimination tournament, trees, and I’ve been methodically working to release them. the winners of each round move on to compete with each other. On good sites growing trees that are already showing prom- Instead of competing with trees two or three feet away, the tree ising form, a crop-tree release can provide significant returns now competes with those 8 or 10 feet away. The same condition on an investment in time. By removing competing trees, you that got the tree off to a good start – competition – fosters strong, are devoting most of the site’s resources (sunlight, water, soil straight, valuable growth. With the trees now 35 to 45 years old, nutrients) to the trees that have significant potential for eco- the contest is carried out among fewer but larger trees. nomic return. Nature will grow 75 hardwood trees per acre to At this time, when less than one-third of the tree’s height is a very large size, but nature’s choices have nothing to do with made up of a live crown, we intervene for the first time. We’ll financial return. If you make the choice of which trees stay, you choose the keepers and remove those that are inferior in form. can bring those valuable trees to financial maturity faster than The goal of the initial thinning is to maintain the favored tree’s nature would, and you can do so without compromising the good growth rate by giving the crown room to expand, but not site’s natural system. so much room that it compromises the continued development You may have a stand of 10- to 12-inch hardwoods – white of a clear bole. If crown space is opened up too soon, the tree ash, yellow birch, sugar maple – that all got started at about the might develop new branches, called epicormic branches on a same time. By virtue of that competition, they have long ago lost trunk that has already pruned itself. It is important to give each their lower branches and are producing clear wood for the first crop tree space to grow at the appropriate time. The tree will respond by expanding its crown (and thus its capacity for photosynthesis) and increasing the trunk’s diameter at a faster rate. Fifteen or so years later, when the crop trees have tall, clear boles and the diameter growth has slowed, we intervene again by identifying the best trees and removing any competing trees that have poorly formed boles or crown structures that are compromised and at risk of splitting. Now, instead of pole- sized trees, we have trees that have reached the sawtimber stage with 12-inch diameters. They are becoming more valuable each year. Given room, their growth rate increases again, and they’ll soon be ready for another thinning. Finally, when the crop tree reaches its maturity – 100 years or more for a sugar maple – it has developed into a veneer-quality tree worth hundreds of dollars. In a perfect situation, that process is happening throughout the acre, and from a starting point of more than 7,000 stems, an acre can produce 75 perfect 20-inch diameter trees. That’s a lot of value. This illustration shows how a crown-touching crop tree release is accomplished. The Normally, you’d probably work with a forester and a logger shaded trees touching the crowns of the crop trees (marked by a C) will be cut to provide to mark and thin your trees in these periodic thinning harvests more room for the crop trees. No other trees will be removed.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 30 2/14/12 5:26:59 PM 15 or 20 feet of trunk. In a stand like this, identify your crop most dramatic impact on your forest’s value. The reason is in the trees and mark them with flagging. You then give these crop numbers. In a natural process, most of the co-dominant trees trees room to grow by implementing a crown-touching release, in a pole-sized stand are not going to make it to old age – only which means you remove any tree whose crown is touching the a certain number of them will stay in the canopy. Crop-tree crop tree’s crown. release allows you to make the choice of which make it to the During a standard thinning, maybe one or two sides of the next round. There’s no guarantee, of course, that your chosen tree’s crown are freed up. But in a crop-tree release, all four tree won’t succumb to wind, insect defoliation, lightning, or any sides are released. Studies show that trees put on more growth of the other causes of individual tree death, but you can increase when their crowns are free to grow on all four sides. In one the odds of its survival by choosing carefully. Look first at the US Forest Service study plot (a 54-year-old stand of red oaks), dominant trees. They’ve proven their capacity to grow well; unreleased trees added 1.75 inches in 10 years. Trees released if they have good form, all the better. The co-dominant trees on two sides gained 2.75 inches, while those released on all four will benefit most from a release, because you are giving them sides grew 4 inches in 10 years. So a crown-touching release an opportunity they would otherwise have had to compete for. can improve on nature by 2.25 inches per decade. An 8-inch Look for these qualities when choosing crop trees: DBH tree (DBH means “diameter at breast height,” or 4.5 feet • High-value species U-shaped fork V-shaped fork above ground level), which would take 68.5 years to reach a • At least 25 feet tall target diameter of 20 inches without any treatment, could reach • Full, deep, healthy- the target in 43.6 years with two sides released, and in 30 years looking crown, with with four sides released. few or no dead Healthy crowns of immature hardwoods spread outward at branches in the the rate of about a foot per year, according to US Forest Service upper crown research, so the growing space between nearby crowns decreases • Trees with U-shaped by about two feet per year. If you free up a crown by 15 feet on forks as opposed to all sides, the tree will have seven or eight years of freedom to V-shaped expand. A second release will have additional benefits, but an • Nicely formed butt log interval of 10 years is recommended before the second release. • No epicormic Crop-tree release has been proven to work with trees of any branching size, but it’s best to wait until they’re pole-sized, with stems In a stand of pole-sized greater than five inches DBH. That’s where you can have the trees like this, nothing will be sold – it’s strictly a pre-commercial operation. You would fell the adjacent trees and leave them on the forest floor. If some of the trees are not easy to fell, they can be girdled instead – a technique in which two parallel rings are cut into the tree’s circumference to disrupt the flow of water, nutrients, carbohydrates, and hormones. In this way, the girdled trees die on the stump, losing limbs and branches from the crown over time and eventually falling over. When crop-tree release is done in a stand with larger trees, there will likely be some opportunities for revenue. Most of the trees would be sold for firewood, though it’s quite possible that some would have enough quality that they could be sold for sawlogs. It’s hard to imagine a 100-acre family forest blessed with uniformly rich growing sites. More likely, it will have pockets of promise. Consequently, crop-tree release is not a practical approach across an entire stand. Find your best sites, and invest your energy there. I speak from experience when I say that it’s tremendously satisfying to choose the trees and mark them, fell or girdle the competition, and best of all keep track of your progress by measuring suppressed suppressed the trees’ diameters at regular intervals. You might find yourself intermediate dominant intermediate intermediate co-dominant co-dominant taking issue with the adage that money doesn’t grow on trees.

The single dominant crown rules this patch of woods, followed by the two co-dominant More Than a Woodlot: Getting the Most from Your Family Forest, was written by trees to the right. The five intermediate trees still have a chance to grow well, but the Stephen Long with Virginia Barlow, Irwin Post, Michael Snyder, Charles Thompson, suppressed trees will never amount to much. and Chuck Wooster.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 31 2/14/12 5:27:00 PM THE OVERSTORY

Story by Virginia Barlow Illustrations by Adelaide Tyrol

Trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides

Usually called popple in northern New England, and quaking aspen in other parts of the country, this tree’s leaves ceaselessly rustle, even on the quietest summer day. The long leaf stalks are flattened at right angles to the leaf blades, and it takes next to nothing to get the leaves shimmering and whispering to one another. The undersides of the leaves are light gray, the tops bright green, and the trees change color as puffs of wind go by. The small wiggly leaves, somewhat skimpy crown, and stylish, smooth, light green bark make the tree look insubstantial and fragile, but no: it’s the dominant deciduous tree of most northern boreal forests, growing up to the edge of permafrost, with paper birch and balsam poplar as occasional companions. The leaves don’t fight the wind, they shift to let it through, and chlorophyll just below the surface of the silky bark allows photosynthesis even in winter. New England is in the southern part of the range of trembling aspen, but it grows far to the north and west, so far that it is the third-most widely distributed tree on Earth. In our region, trembling aspen flowers open in late March or the beginning of April and, like those of the familiar pussy willow, they are among the early signs of spring. The gray-green catkins open well before the leaves come out, and seed production is finished just four to six weeks later. One closely-watched 23-year-old aspen produced approximately 1.6 million seeds, seeds so light that 200,000 of them weigh about an ounce. Each tiny seed has long silky hairs, which help keep it aloft, sometimes for miles, on the faintest breeze. If it finds a moist landing pad, an aspen seed will germinate in a day or two. The hairs both help anchor the seed and absorb water from the soil until the seedling develops an adequate root system. In spite of the multipurpose hairs and the prodigious seed output, most of the aspens you see have not grown from seed, but have sprouted from their parent’s long lateral cordlike roots to form a genetically identical clone. Aspens can keep producing new shoots, called ramets, this way indefinitely – one clone in Utah was found to have approximately 47,000 stems, spread out over 107 acres. Some people consider these clones to be the largest organisms on Earth and others note that they might be the oldest. Some trembling aspen clones in the boreal forest have renewed themselves ever since the glacier backed off, some 10,000 years ago. Aspens produce a hormone that represses the growth of root sprouts, which keeps the hundreds of offspring from overwhelming the parent tree. High soil temperatures can repress this hormone, though, which is why aspen whips grow so aggressively in abandoned fields. If the parent aspen dies, the hormone no longer represses anything and the ramet may grow six feet in its first year, helped initially by the food reserves stored in the parent’s roots. In light of this, the best way to propagate aspen is to cut the large trees down and let the younger sprouts seize the resources. Aspen is such a choice tree for so many wildlife species that patch cuts or small clearcuts are often recommended when there is

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 32 2/14/12 5:27:02 PM aspen in a forest. Aspens are relatively shade-intolerant, so the older they get the more they suffer from competition. If left to die of old age in the temperate zone, they are likely to be replaced by longer-lived trees that have grown up in aspen shade, producing, in turn, more shade than the sun-loving root sprouts can tolerate. As is often the case with those who live in the fast lane, life is relatively short for the aspen, and in the east, decline by age 60 is the norm. If you cut about a third of your aspen stand every 15 years, you will one day have aspens in several different age classes and this benefits many animals. Ruffed grouse require aspen in all sizes, for they brood their young in sunny sapling stands where protein-rich insects live, they overwinter and breed in pole-sized stands, and they use the male catkins in older stands for winter food. The range of beaver, as well as that of ruffed grouse, coincides with aspen, and they seek it out for food and for dam and lodge construction. Snowshoe hare eat the bark, as well, and often girdle the trees. Aspen diseases are numerous. A stem canker, Hypoxylon mammatum, is probably the most destructive disease in New England, but the species is said to be afflicted by 150 different fungi. The tunnels of a wood-boring beetle, Saperda calcarata, weaken the wood, and the female of this species deposits her eggs in tiny holes drilled into the bark. These seem to be entry points for the Hypoxylon fungus. Approximately 45 percent of the carbon found in terrestrial ecosystems is in forests, and in recent decades some tree species are dying en masse during droughts, droughts that many scientists believe are occurring because there’s too much carbon in the atmosphere. Trembling aspen is one of those susceptible species. Between 2000 and 2004, an estimated 17 percent of the trembling aspens in the western United States were killed by drought, and the story is similar in Canada. It’s not pleasant to think about what might happen if the Earth’s forests become a source of carbon instead of a sink. Not only does aspen come to life early in spring, it also hangs on late into autumn, and the leaves, which in early October are a green foil to maples’ reds, turn a clear yellow after the rest of the forest is in grays and browns. Aspens shine like golden islands on the hillsides of late autumn. Once considered a weed, now trembling aspen is widely used for pulp, for oriented strand board, plywood, pallets, shingles, lath, hockey stick handles, lumber, and core stock for doors. Because it’s tasteless, it is used for tongue depressors, chopsticks, and ice cream sticks. In the 1930s and 1940s, aspen was primarily used for excelsior – a type of wooden packing material. The other day a friend of mine was reminiscing about his early days as a logger, when he used to peel poplar by hand, load it by hand, and truck it to an excelsior mill in Lebanon, New Hampshire, that hung on into the 1960s. How many people even know what excelsior is in this packing-peanut, bubble-pack world? A quick online search suggests that at least one manufacturer, the Dalian Tong Tong Trade Co. in China, still shreds poplar into packing material and it gets a mention as bedding material by a U.S. casket company. If I end up in a box, I hope my nearest and dearest will choose to pack me in excelsior, not bubble pack. And I hope the Dalian Tong Tong Trade Co. outlives me.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 34 2/14/12 5:27:09 PM CLOUDS More than Meets the Sky

Story and photos by Chris Bouchard

I grew up near the water in Brunswick, Maine, where warm mornings are often shrouded in a thick deck of clouds. On the coastal plain, moist south winds cool as they pass over the chilly waters of the Gulf of Maine, causing blankets of fog. It can be mid-morning before the sun breaks free and puffy fair-weather clouds dot the azure sky.

Brunswick, with its distinctive seasons and smog-prone summers, was a good place to be if you were a kid interested in clouds. The sky had personality. I can clearly remember in 1996, when I was 16 years old, a freak late-spring thunderstorm that towered to the unusual height of 60,000 feet. It bore the classic flattened anvil at its summit, and looked eerily similar to the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion.

As the storm neared, the sky began to blacken, and the thunder grew louder. I ran inside and ransacked my room for my 35-mm camera. When I returned, the sky was blacker than I had ever seen it; it was as if someone had unfurled a giant sheet of carbon paper over the sky. Vivid bolts of lightning appeared on the horizon, some of them flickering for close to two seconds.

Elated, I held the camera to my eye and shot the cumulonimbus clouds and the lighting, then after- wards the giant bulbous pouches – called mammatus clouds – that protruded from the underside of the storm’s anvil cloud cap.

It was my first successful shoot of a severe thunderstorm. Or so I thought. A week after the event, my mother returned from the drugstore to tell me that none of the photographs had come out. Apparently, in my haste to dash into the storm and capture the action, I had not loaded the film correctly.

Years later, I went on to become a meteorologist and, perhaps to make up for my failed first attempt, I still carry a camera wherever I go, ready to capture the drama of the skies. Despite years of observing clouds, I never tire of their shapes and their stories. Collected here are a few of my cloud images from over the years, with descriptions of what they signal about the atmosphere. I hope they will pique your interest in clouds and inspire you to head out into the field to watch them in their natural splendor.

Chris Bouchard is a meteorologist at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, VT

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 35 2/14/12 5:27:14 PM Join the Community of Observers Meteorologist Chris Bouchard and a team of naturalists and educators from the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, are seeking your help in establishing a database that tracks clouds and weather patterns, migratory birds, butterflies, and wildflowers. The project is called The Community of Observers program, and the idea is to enlist the help of citizen scientists to track how the landscape is changing, from season to season and, in this era of climate change, over longer periods of time. The group’s aim is to provide a forum for observations – anecdotal as well as quantitative.

The museum’s meteorologists have recently digitized weather records dating back to 1894. These records represent the longest continuous weather data stream at a single site in Vermont, and the trends they reveal offer clues to the nature of change in the region. Weather observers who participate in the Community of Observers program will build similar data sets, and contribute directly to ongoing studies of the weather trends affecting our region.

The museum will also be tracking the migratory patterns of 15 bird species, the populations of 12 butterflies, and the bloom dates of 25 wildflowers. In each case, the species are easy to identify, so that people at all levels of experience can contribute. A new website will map observations and provide access to collected data, including the museum’s records of first bloom dates, which reach back to 1904.

Learn more about how you can become a Fairbanks Observer at fairbanksmuseum.org, or call Leila Nordmann, Program Director at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium at (802) 748-2372.

The mapping tool on the website is limited to Vermont and northern New Hampshire, but there are several other sites for those interested in collecting data outside this region, such as the National Phenology Network (www.usanpn.org), eBird, through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ebird.org), the North American Butterfly Association (www.naba.org), and The Appalachian Mountain Club (www.outdoors.org).

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 36 2/14/12 5:27:16 PM A. CIRRUS Thin, wispy, and made of ice crystals Cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals. They are thin, wispy, and fibrous. Often, long, discrete tendrils of falling snow can be seen on their undersides. They indicate moisture at high altitudes and can signal the approach of stormy weather hours or even days in advance. Because they are composed of ice crystals, cirrus clouds can create interesting optical effects when sunlight or moonlight passes through them.

B. CUMULUS The puffy fair-weather friend These familiar, puffy white clouds often develop B over mountains during a summer afternoon. They may appear on an otherwise sunny day in warmer months, and they indicate that the atmosphere is becoming unstable.

C. HALO Ring around the moon This optical phenomenon is caused by light refracting through tiny ice crystals. It most commonly occurs when light passes through thin, icy, high-altitude clouds, but can also occur with such clouds near ground level in winter months. It appears as rings, spots, and pillars.

D. SHELF Strong winds may be coming your way These dramatic, low-level, horizontal clouds are typically attached to the dark bases of thunderstorms. They form when cold air rushing away from C the core of a thunderstorm forces warmer, moist air around the storm upward, causing condensation. As stable layers of air rise, they may condense into even, distinct cloud layers, giving the shelf cloud a stratified appearance, much like a stack of plates. These clouds typically form during the warmer months, and are associated with strong winds, sharp temperature drops, and sharp pressure rises.

E. CUMULONIMBUS Hulking beasts of an unstable atmosphere Cumulonimbus clouds are the giants of the skies. Reaching heights of up to 70,000 feet, they are massive clouds that most often form during warmer weather when pockets of relatively warm air near the ground rise into cooler air aloft. Thunder and lightning – and sometimes flooding, D hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes – are E associated with these clouds. They often have flattened tops called anvil clouds.

F. WALL Take cover! These dramatic dark clouds are rare in the Northeast, but can spell trouble. They develop at the base of a cumulonimbus cloud that has taken on rotation. Often, this rotation is clearly visible within the cloud, and if it strengthens sufficiently, a tornado may form at its core. If a wall cloud is coming your way, you should take shelter immediately!

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 37 2/14/12 5:27:19 PM Test Your Clouding Skills Think you know your clouds? Head to Northern Woodlands’ website at www.northernwoodlands.org and take our online Cloud Quiz to test your ID skills. The quiz features the paintings of several local artists whose work depicts clouds up close.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 38 2/14/12 5:27:23 PM G. MAMMATUS May mean a thunderstorm is in the vicinity When moist pockets of air descend from a cloud into the drier air below, pouch-shaped mammatus clouds form. These are most often seen hanging below anvil clouds, although they occasionally protrude from other types of clouds as well. These clouds are most common in the warmer months, and often indicate that a severe thunderstorm is nearby.

H. FOG A cloud on the ground Fog is a ground-level cloud that can form in a H number of ways, but most often when air cools to its dew point. While fog frequently forms in valleys and hollows during clear, cool fall nights, clouds enveloping mountaintops can also be considered fog.

I. LENTICULAR A UFO in the skies Similar in appearance to pileus clouds, these thin, lens- shaped clouds typically form over large mountains. Because of their circular shape, they are sometimes mistaken for flying saucers Lenticular clouds form when stable layers of near-saturated air are forced upward by mountainous terrain and cool to the dew point. These clouds sometimes form in stacks.

J. STRATUS Long and low shrouds These horizontal, relatively shallow clouds occur at 1I lower altitudes and are common over the Northeast during fall and winter. They are usually gray in appearance, and can shroud mountain peaks in fog. When accompanied by rain or snow, they are known as nimbostratus.

K. TOWERING CUMULUS Showers and thunderstorms may be near These tall, turbulent clouds appear to explode upward into the skies, and are caused by rapidly rising currents of air. They may or may not produce precipitation, and can sometimes grow into thunderstorms. They are most common when it’s warm, and they indicate that the atmosphere is unstable.

L. SMOG Smoke + fog = smog Smog is a combination of smoke and fog – a loose J term given to clouds caused by pollution. In the K Northeast, smog is sometimes seen when winds transport pollution from large cities. This is most noticeable during the summer months, when high levels of water vapor aid in making it visible. In the winter, areas of concentrated smog can form during a temperature inversion – when cold air is situated below warmer air. Because cold air is dense it resists movement, resulting in very light winds that allow pollution to accumulate from manmade sources, such as car exhaust. Smog is a common sight in narrow mountain valleys during the winter.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 39 2/14/12 5:27:28 PM Thanks for supporting Northern Woodlands through:

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND RENEWALS Your faithful support builds our community of thousands of readers with a vested interest in best stewardship practices.

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Help us increase understanding of and appreciation for the natural wonders, economic productivity and ecological integrity of the region’s forests today and tomorrow.

For more information please contact: Walter Medwid, Executive Director Center for Northern Woodlands Education: [email protected] 802.439.6292 P.O. 471, Corinth, Vermont 05039

40 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 40 2/14/12 5:27:32 PM SUSAN C. MORSE

Winter Ticks Take Their Toll

By Susan C. Morse

he tracks and splattered blood stains in the snow told the story. Hours before, Moose do not grow separate winter and a cow moose trotted through the deep late-March snowpack and, where she summer coats. Instead, the tick-ravaged passed, drops of blood, patches of hair covered with tick feces, and dislodged winter coat is completely replaced with ticks revealed that she was host to thousands of winter ticks, Dermacentor albipictus. a new shiny black coat by July. This poor Moose with heavy infestations of these parasites are miserable by March and cow struggled with winter ticks and must feel as wretched as they look. Our cow might be described by rural Canadians as a malnutrition, yet she survived. Gradual “ghost moose,” because the cumulative effects of her compulsive grooming have ruined her replacement of her damaged winter dark winter guard hairs, exposing an unkempt, whitish stubble of broken hair shafts next coat is occurring at the time this picture to the skin. Were we to actually see the moose’s tormentors, we might observe the shingled was taken in June. attachment of as many as 30 ticks per square inch of flesh. Moose that are afflicted with this many ticks will lose 40 to 100 percent of their insulating hair by April, a condition which may lead to death by hypothermia. According to winter tick authority Dr. Bill Samuel, professor emeritus, University of Alberta, hypothermia is not the only problem associated with winter ticks. Compulsive licking, scratching, and rubbing robs a moose of time that is better spent feeding and resting. In early spring, such a moose is in serious trouble, because this behavior bankrupts the animal’s already meager energy budget at a time when food quality is poor and fat reserves are low.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 41 2/14/12 5:27:35 PM In areas where the moose has non- human predators, vulnerability to wolves and cougars increases as a moose becomes preoccupied with grooming. Heavy tick loads can also lead to chronic anemia, especially in calves. Samuel and his colleagues estimated that a calf infested with 30,000 ticks must replace 57.9 percent of its blood volume in March and April. University of New Hampshire researcher Anthony Musante and colleagues calculated that infestations involving 70,000 ticks may result in the need to replace 112 percent of the animal’s blood volume during the same timeframe. Winter ticks are arthropods that live

on members of the deer family. Their UPDYKE SANDY life cycle begins in the spring, when a blood-engorged female disengages from a moose and falls to the ground, where she lays her eggs. Thousands upon thousands of salt-grain-sized larvae, called seed ticks, hatch from these eggs. So how does a seed tick the size of a pin- head get a leg up on a six-foot-tall moose? In late summer and early autumn, the larvae ascend vegetation, find a spot that’s about torso height, then wait and hope to ambush a moose host. The questing larval clumps sense the approach of a host in several ways, including the detection of carbon dioxide from a moose’s breath from as much as 50 feet away and the shade and vibrations created by the passing animal. Amazingly, larval clumps are made up of multiple ticks whose legs are interlocked, which guarantees that the attaching ticks will pull a “chain” of companions onto the moose. Questing continues well into autumn, depending on the severity of tick-killing frosts and snowfall. By October and November, attached larvae are feeding and beginning to molt into nymphs, which in turn feed and molt into adult ticks. By February, adult ticks are mating and feeding upon moose blood en masse. Peanut-sized adult female tick bodies are swollen with blood and reddish- brown or shiny gray in color. These ticks engorge themselves with blood in

preparation for their departure from SUSAN C. MORSE moose in March and April. Moose die-offs from winter ticks and other parasites are increasing, from

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 42 2/14/12 5:27:39 PM Wyoming to Minnesota, Alberta to Manitoba, though the ticks by themselves aren’t solely to blame. Winter ticks are a native parasite, so they’ve been coexisting with moose for thousands of years. As per the unspoken rule between parasite and host, the ticks shouldn’t be fatal. And it’s possible for a moose to live a long, healthy life, despite heavy winter tick infestations in the winter months. Vermont’s moose biologist, Cedric Alexander, reminds us that in the north-

INST EATETO AUA RESOURCES NATURAL OF DEPARTMENT MINNESOTA east, “high tick outbreaks have been most common when moose densities were at high levels, and high host densities facili- tate a greater transmission and prevalence of parasites.” In other words, if moose populations become excessive, winter tick populations may become excessive. Overpopulation leads to overbrowsing, which leads to reduced nutrition, and a malnourished moose is more likely to succumb to parasites and disease. Moose biologist Lee Kantar suspects that periodic heavy winter-tick-caused mortality in Maine may be the result of a deadly one-two punch of winter tick and lungworm – a nematode that causes bronchitus and lung lesions. “The winter tick/lungworm dynamic is one that Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is acutely aware of and concerned with,” said Kantar. Biologists also worry that the pertur- bations of climate change are affecting moose fitness and vulnerability worldwide. Hotter summers and warmer autumn and spring weather, coupled with shorter winters and reduction of freezing weather (which constrains tick survival and transmission), combine to both stress this iconic mammal and favor its parasites. “Moose face a triple threat in our changing climate,” said New Hampshire moose biologist Kristen Rines. “Increasing temperatures, changing forest species, and increased mortality due to parasites may make it very SUSAN C. MORSE hard to maintain a viable moose population in New Hampshire in the future.” Will our well-watered landscape, boreal forests, and mountainous terrain allow Clockwise from top left: Ghost moose with heavy tick infestation; close-up of feeding winter ticks; unlike moose to cope adequately with increasing moose, whitetailed deer groom to rid themselves of ticks; engorged female ticks in snow. temperatures? Only time will tell.

Susan C. Morse is founder and program director of Keeping Track in Huntington, Vermont.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 43 2/14/12 5:27:42 PM FIELD work

By Carolyn Haley

At Work Milling Ship Masts with purpose. Seeing his work result in the revival of historic water- craft gives that satisfaction, as does fraternizing with master “Duke” Besozzi boat carpenters in shipyards along the New England coast. Besozzi’s chance came in 1989 when he sold some raw logs When Charles “Duke” Besozzi looks at a big tree, he sees bow- to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, which needed eastern white sprits, masts, and decking in its contours. This is a change from pine for decking on the Charles W. Morgan – the only surviving what he used to see when he was a commercial logger for the wooden whaling ship in the United States. That led to sawing out general market. These days he’s more of a broker, locating the specific lengths for deck beams for a reproduction 18th-century specialty timber needed to build or restore wooden ships, then trading vessel, the Friendship, built in Albany, New York, for the processing the logs into the oversized raw material desired by National Park Service. Since then, Besozzi has provided white oak shipwrights. He is constantly on the lookout for large white oak, “four inches thick and perfectly clear for 28 feet” for the Bluenose eastern white pine, longleaf pine, and black locust – the four II, a reproduction of a famous Nova Scotia fishing and racing species most used for maritime construction. schooner. When it was time to replace the bowsprit of the Charles When the phone rings, it usually means someone has come W. Morgan, he came up with 41 feet of a 30-inch-diameter eastern across a tree large and clean enough to warrant the high price white pine. That tree, he says, took two years to find – a tip from a he offers, and Besozzi must hotfoot it to the harvesting site. If no state forester led him to the jackpot in Stafford, Connecticut. heart rot or other significant flaws are revealed when the tree is Once delivered to Besozzi’s yard in Cornwall, Connecticut, a dropped, he arranges for the entire thing to come to his yard. tree goes into the hands of his sawyer, Jeff Woodward. Together Yes, the entire tree – that is, delimbed and stripped of minor they form New England Naval Timbers, a semi-family affair branches. Limbs over 16 inches in diameter still have value, so housed on Besozzi’s grandparents’ land. Woodward, son of they get shipped on a second truck. “Their natural sweep can be Besozzi’s good friend Tony Woodward, has been working in very desirable for shipbuilding,” says Besozzi. “It’s the antithesis Besozzi’s yard since the sixth grade and is now a master sawyer. of regular logs.” “We take big logs and make them into flitches,” says Woodward, Nevertheless, the gamble is on the tree, which gets hauled explaining that a flitch is a large slab intended to be resawn by the on a flatbed tractor-trailer, since regu- COMFORT PEGGY lar logging trucks are often too short. Sometimes for the big boys – the 70- plus footers – Besozzi has to secure special clearance and an escort from the Department of Transportation in order to move the treasure. Mega-trees have always been trea- sures, both to the shipbuilding industry and to Besozzi himself. Though the market for mainmasts and bowsprits isn’t what it used to be back when the King of England reserved the tallest, straightest white pines in the American colonies for the royal navy, there are still boat builders who need very large, superior logs for their custom construction or restoration of magnificent sailing ships, such as schooners and whalers. Besozzi happily supplies these woods, blending a 30-year career in logging with a lifelong fascination for maritime history. Those years took their toll, as Besozzi illustrates with a hand that’s missing three fingers. He wanted a niche that Once a commercial logger, Charles “Duke” Besozzi now sees the masts, frames, and sternposts of ships when he reduced the labor and risk while adding looks at trees.

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 44 2/14/12 5:27:43 PM shipwright, similar in concept to bar stock for metal fabricators. BESOZZI DUKE The ability to render huge trees into workable size is the heart of the company’s business. Besozzi invested in a customized version of the Australian-made Lucas Mill Dedicated Slabber, which can saw the entire length of a 56-foot trunk. This mill normally comes with a 20-foot track, but Besozzi’s is 60 feet long and 62 inches wide, with a bigger motor than is standard and more drop (height adjustment), in order to cut the greater lengths and thicknesses required for shipbuilding. Each pass, he says, takes only about 10 minutes, depending on the width of the flitch. New England Naval Timbers cuts flitches in 4-inch-thick units called quarters and commonly gets half a dozen flitches per tree, each weighing thousands of pounds. The logs are positioned on the mill using a sophisticated laser transit. Then, Woodward explains, “A log lies on the pad while the saw goes through it horizontally, cutting with the grain. We use a chain with fewer teeth, set every 8 to 10 inches and ground to a 10o to 15o angle. We buy our chain 100 feet at Jeff Woodward unloads a white oak log for New England Naval Timbers, Besozzi’s a time from Bailey’s in California, and use a Silvey – the Rolls- semi-family business. Woodward has been working in Besozzi’s yard since the sixth Royce of sharpeners – to sharpen it. Our 70-inch bar is custom grade and is now a master sawyer. made in Oregon.” Sourcing tools from the Northwest makes sense, as that The bulk of New England Naval Timbers’ work is for marine is where stands of mighty timber can still be found. In fact, customers, with the balance serving large-scale landscape Besozzi notes, “Some people look to the West Coast for Douglas architects and high-end furniture makers and architects. On a fir because it’s straight and big and available.” But where pos- given day, Besozzi and Woodward cycle between projects at dif- sible, shipwrights prefer to use traditional Northeast woods; in ferent stages of development, with Woodward handling sawing a restoration, they may need to match existing materials. Hence and inventory and Besozzi manning the phone and venturing the eastern white pine, which, says Besozzi, “doesn’t get slippery into the field. Some of their inventory is post-and-beam stock, under wash. It’s the traditional decking used on old Gloucester Woodward mentions. fishing schooners and Herreshoff sailing yachts, as well as for Maneuvering giant stock in the yard requires more than masts, yards, and bowsprits,” such as in the Charles W. Morgan. conventional skidders and logging trucks – namely, a 40-ton White oak, he adds, is favored for backbone components like excavator. “One white oak from Ohio weighed 30,000 pounds,” the keel, stem, and sternpost, whereas longleaf pine and black says Besozzi. Its 54 feet of length and 31 inches of diameter locust are prized for their rot resistance, and thus are used for yielded 3,000 board feet. Another oak, harvested from an old planking and frames. Regardless of species, says Besozzi, “slow YMCA camp in Salisbury, Connecticut, yielded about 2,500 growth rate is important – the number of rings per inch – for board feet. That wood was used for the Coronet, a wooden-hull density and strength.” And, of course, older trees have the requi- schooner from the 1880s (now listed on the National Register site height and mass. To find them in the northeast woodlands, of Historic Places), which is being restored by the International Besozzi has built a network of loggers, foresters, arborists, and Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island. On aver- landowners who inform him of blowdowns or prime specimens age, Besozzi says, they net 1,000 to 1,200 board feet per tree. they encounter in their work. Currently, New England Naval Timbers is supplying just about “Everybody in the industry is always keeping an eye out for all the wood for a new schooner being built in Martha’s Vineyard: really big ones,” says Besozzi, “because we pay two to five times white oak for the keel, frame, stem, and sternpost, and eastern more for stumpage.” The right trees turn up in unexpected cor- white pine and longleaf pine for the planking and decking. ners of Connecticut, the Hudson Valley in New York, and the Projects like these keep Besozzi involved in the forest he loves Berkshires in Massachusetts; in areas that were never harvested, while helping to keep America’s maritime history alive. He has such as ravines, private parcels; and often in the suburbs, where become the go-to guy for boat builders everywhere, continuing they might have been protected for generations in backyards, the long relationship between the northern forest and the sea. along Main Street, or shading village greens. Leads come from as far away as Pennsylvania and Ohio, where Besozzi hears from Carolyn Haley is a freelance writer and editor working at DocuMania and living in the Mennonite furniture makers. southern Green Mountains.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 45

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 45 2/14/12 5:27:44 PM The Great Glyphosate Debate

It seems almost quaint, or perhaps naïve, to imagine a time, not too- too long ago, when black and white film strips proclaimed the wonders of chemistry and suburban children danced gleefully behind fumigators By Dave Mance III in fluffy, white clouds of pesticide. We live in a more skeptical time today, and for many people, the word pesticide is more likely to evoke images of malformed frogs, Agent Orange, and GMO seeds than it is anything positive.

Among chemical herbicides, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, may be the most scrutinized. Its use is bitterly debated in agricultural circles, and this bleeds over into forestry and into the pages of this magazine. Chances are you know someone who’s using glyphosate in their forest management activities (if you’re not using it yourself), be it for controlling invasive plants in southern Connecticut or regenerating spruce in a clearcut in northern Maine. Highway departments, fisheries managers, homeown- ers, conservation groups, are all using the chemical on a regular basis. And chances are that unless you have degrees in biochemistry and toxicology, you really don’t know what to make of it. How can we reconcile the glyphosate in our sprayers with the copies of Silent Spring on our bookshelves? How can we trust something we don’t understand?

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 46 2/14/12 5:27:48 PM motivated science coming from the anticorporate activists that is, in fact, junk. What is it? Is it harmful? Dr. Keith Solomon, director of the Centre for Toxicology at the University of Guelph and co-author of the book Pesticides and The first step to try to make sense of glyphosate, and the Environment, points out that this testing framework may be herbicides in general, is to figure out what they are and what controversial, but it is practical and not without precedent. “The they do. And the more you talk to smart people who do under- idea here is that the companies who make the profits – not the stand chemistry, the more you hear that, generally speaking, taxpayers – should be paying to test the products,” said Solomon. the toxicity of most herbicides to animals is low. This makes a “This is the same framework that’s used in pharmaceutical testing certain amount of sense, because animals aren’t plants. Plants because it provides a dependable funding source for the testing.” are autotrophic organisms, which means they manufacture their According to EPA spokespeople, “the burden of generating the own nutrients from the water, minerals, and light they take in data to support a pesticide registration rests with the company from the environment. Humans are heterotrophic, which means requesting the registration . . . and the research is conducted we don’t manufacture our own nutrients – we consume them by and evaluated in accordance with a series of internationally eating plants and animals. harmonized and scientifically peer-reviewed study protocols.” Glyphosate kills plants – and this is the clinical version – by The tests are carried out in-house, in contract laboratories, or interfering with the synthesis of the amino acids phenylalanine, at universities. After registration, scientists continue to research tyrosine, and tryptophan. It does this by inhibiting the enzyme the chemical independently in universities and federal labs. 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS), which There’s an additional layer of protection in the fact that most catalyzes the reaction of shikimate-3-phosphate (S3P) and developed countries have their own EPAs that independently phosphoenolpyruvate to form 5-enolpyruvyl-shikimate-3- examine the available pesticide data. phosphate (ESP). When asked how people can trust that the science is good, Simple, right? Solomon pointed out that the standards for good laboratory In nontechnical terms, what’s happening is that the glypho- practices, promulgated into statutory law back in the early sate molecule is blocking a plant enzyme that produces amino 1980s, require that every bit of data collected by a company acids and, as we all remember from high school science class, doing research to support registration of a pesticide or amino acids are the building blocks of life. This disruption pharmaceutical be subjected to audits by regulators such as the occurs in what’s known as the “shikimate pathway,” a biosyn- EPA. “As long as the research is conducted under the guidelines thetic pathway that is specific to plants and some microorgan- of good laboratory practice and has quality control, it’s good,” isms. Since humans don’t have a shikimate pathway, we don’t said Solomon. “Of course some people may go on to interpret have to worry about the glyphosate translocating to our growing the results in different ways, just as they interpret the Bible in points and making us wilt any more than a plant has to worry many ways.” about contracting West Nile virus from a mosquito. Researchers at Cornell, among other major universities, But just because we don’t have the same physiology as a plant analyzed toxicology tests in 1996 and concluded that glypho- doesn’t mean that Roundup (or any of the other 750 U.S. prod- sate is “practically nontoxic” by ingestion, and it’s unlikely that ucts that contain glyphosate) is necessarily benign in humans the chemical would produce reproductive, teratogenic (birth or other mammals. And here’s where things get murky and defects), mutagenic, or carcinogenic effects in humans.* But controversial, because while glyphosate is the active ingredient because science is never 100 percent certain about anything, you in a glyphosate-based herbicide, it’s not the only chemical. And can see where phrases like “practically nontoxic” leave an open- while Roundup is the most common trade name for glyphosate, ing for attack. The web is awash with antiglyphosate stories with there are lots of different glyphosate-based herbicides made headlines like: 50 percent of rats given this died – Why is it on with different ingredients by different companies. The chemical your dinner plate? And, indeed, if you fed rats more than 5,600 company Monsanto introduced glyphosate to the world in 1974, mg/kg of the chemical they would probably die. (To put this but its patent expired in 2000. number into perspective, a proportional dose for a 150-pound Glyphosate has been subjected to hundreds of tests over the human would be 840 g, almost two pounds; table salt would kill past 40 years, and the results are voluminous, though opponents you at 350 g.) But by making an extreme example the rule, and of pesticides point out that most of the data come from research overlooking the fact that rats fed 400 mg/kg a day for most of that is funded by the agricultural chemicals industry, and is their lives showed no adverse effects, such stories give readers a thus junk science, while supporters say that it’s the politically skewed picture of the real-world health risks.

* Read the results yourself at extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/glyphosa.htm

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10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 47 2/14/12 5:27:49 PM saying that people have been trained to respond negatively to fear-words like pesticide. Others took a more philosophical bent, Delivery system and said that people have an easy time rationalizing risk they inflict on themselves (bacon for breakfast) but feel affronted by While the bulk of the scientific literature indicates that risk that they feel is being inflicted on them by someone else (the glyphosate in reasonable doses is nontoxic to animals, Roundup Roundup being used to fight invasive plants in the park). and other glyphosate-based herbicides contain adjuvants Ultimately, it’s up to the EPA to decide how to interpret the (chemical agents that are added to the glyphosate to increase science and render a decision on the safety of a chemical. The its effectiveness) and surfactants (foaming agents that allow the last mandated review began in 1986 and ended in 1993, at which liquid to bond to and penetrate a leaf) that are not necessarily time glyphosate was placed in Toxicity Category III and deemed benign. safe enough to be sold over the counter. (Chemicals in Toxicity “Roundup presents an Category I have the highest unusual situation because the degree of toxicity and those active ingredient (glyphosate) in Category IV the lowest.) is nontoxic to animals, but the The EPA is currently surfactants can be toxic, espe- reexamining glyphosate, a cially to aquatic organisms,” process that began in 2009. said Solomon. These surfac- Beyond the “registrant gen- tants are similar to those used erated data” provided by in common household prod- the chemical companies, ucts and cleaners, and they’re the EPA will be evaluating controversial because the information from inde- manufacturers do not have to pendent testing labs, open disclose them for proprietary scientific literature, and reasons. information submitted by The surfactant POEA the public, so they will be (polyethoxylated tallowamine, considering studies like the a chemical derived from aforementioned umbilical animal fat) seems to be the cord trial as they make most scrutinized “inert” Aerial application of glyphosate. their determinations. The ingredient in Roundup. It’s agency says it wants all the essentially soap (your shampoo contains surfactants), and relevant data gathered by September 2012, and expects to issue because soap dissolves fat and cell membranes are made of fat, a glyphosate decision for comment in 2014 and a final decision aquatic animals such as fish and frogs are sensitive to it (as are by 2015. At that time they’ll either restrict its use or continue to eyes, which you’ll know if you’ve ever been careless with your approve the chemical with no changes. spray-bottle of Roundup – or shampoo). There are glyphosate- based products that don’t contain POEA and are designed specifically to be used in aquatic ecosystems. Recent POEA-related headlines bear out Solomon’s earlier Glyphosate use in the industrial forest Bible reference. In 2009, French scientists exposed human cells to Roundup and found that cell membranes of embryonic, pla- The passion that’s fueling the glyphosate debate goes beyond cental, and umbilical cord cells can be damaged by the surfactant. the question of the chemical’s toxicity, and much of the fervor The finding is controversial, though, because a human being is a comes from the world of crop agriculture. Roundup-Ready more complex organism than a handful of cells sitting in the bot- seeds (seeds of plants that have been genetically modified to tom of a petri dish. And because our skin protects the inner parts resist glyphosate, so farmers can plant, spray their fields with the of the body, the surfactant would not reach your more vulnerable herbicide, and the weeds will die but the crops won’t) are con- cells, which also wouldn’t survive floating in dish soap. troversial, and they open up a whole different line of discussion There’s so much noise surrounding glyphosate and its surfac- about the ethics of creating herbicide-resistant weeds, making tants that it’s difficult to report on any of it objectively, though I third-world farmers depend on chemical companies for seed, think it’s fair to say that the old adage “the dose makes the poison” and clashing with organic farmers over cross pollination. applies here. I asked a number of toxicologists why people seem Glyphosate’s use in forest management is somewhat less to have an easy time evaluating some potentially harmful things controversial, because it’s not being applied to a food crop, and it’s from an analytical, risk/reward perspective (bacon consumption, not being used repetitively at high rates. (Farmers apply it every say, or excess exposure to the sun), but have such a hard time year; foresters apply it once every 50 years.) It’s hard to tease out looking at chemicals in the same way. Some blamed the media, exact numbers, but research suggests that approximately 1 or 2

48 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 48 2/14/12 5:27:51 PM percent of total glyphosate use in the U.S. is in forests; according The bulk of the research suggested that in the short term to the most current EPA data available, about 200 million pounds (1–3 years), clearcutting and subsequent glyphosate application of the chemical was used in the U.S. in 2007. at recommended rates had an indirect effect on small mammals, But this isn’t to say the chemical’s not controversial in the large herbivores, songbirds, invertebrates, and soil microorgan- woods. isms; the chemical didn’t affect these organisms, but changes to The debate surrounding glyphosate use in plantation-style the ecosystem brought about by the clearcut and the subsequent forestry mimics the debate over glyphosate use in traditional removal of the vegetation did, as you’d expect with any ecosys- crop agriculture because, like industrial farming, industrial tem disturbance regardless of the methods used. After about forestry is all about efficiency. In the northern forest, where five years, treated stands were either back to normal or more large companies manage huge acreages to feed the global wood diverse than before the treatment. Several laboratory and field products market, glyphosate is commonly used to help regen- simulation tests clearly demonstrate that amphibian species are erate stands of softwood. vulnerable to formulated Clearcuts are made in fall glyphosate products con- or winter. Once the veg- taining certain surfactants, etation starts to regener- but multiple field studies ate, the chemical may be showed that applications applied from an airplane made at recommended or helicopter, usually rates in forest settings did in the late summer. The not produce any mortality application will kill or sup- or significant toxic effects. press the hardwood seed- Dean Thompson, a lings, shrubs, grasses, and research scientist with the forbs that would otherwise Canadian Forest Service, outcompete the conifer says that after a com- seedlings. The conifers are prehensive review of the left unharmed, because in scientific literature he’s late summer their needles seen “no indication of develop a thick, waxy cov- acute toxicity effects to ering (called a cuticle) that amphibians under real- keeps the herbicide from Testing the effects of glyphosate on amphibians. world scenarios when being absorbed. glyphosate-based herbi- The results of this method of management are significant. cides are used in accordance with their specific product labels.” In one long-term study, wood volume yield increased by 477 When asked about persistence in an ecosystem, Thompson percent in test blocks that were treated with glyphosate. A said that glyphosate is “moderately persistent” in forest soils separate study found that the cost of a cubic meter of wood and that the longevity depends on a wide variety of site factors i tripled when conifers were released by workers with brush saws, ncluding temperature, moisture, microbial activity, and the rather than by the aerial application of herbicide. type of soil involved. In one detailed study conducted in New “In general, foresters, like farmers, would prefer not to use Brunswick, Thompson and co-workers observed the time herbicides,” said Dr. Bob Wagner, Director of the School of required for glyphosate to dissipate by 50 percent to be in Forest Resources at the University of Maine. “Herbicides are the order of 10–12 days, while review of a number of studies expensive, difficult to apply, and much of the public opposes conducted in a wide variety of forest sites across North America their use. Foresters generally use herbicides when there is suggest estimates ranging from 10-60 days. no other economically viable or effective way to meet legal Asked about off-site movement, Thompson said, “Glyphosate reforestation requirements, meet landowner objectives, or meet binds strongly to soil particles, and as a result of that, it has an the objectives of sustainable forest certification.” exceedingly low potential to move into ground water in natural Wagner has been studying glyphosate use for 30 years. He forest ecosystems.” However, there are scenarios where following came to the field as a forestry student opposed to herbicides, torrential rains, the glyphosate that’s attached to soil particles but soon after working for a research program looking for could be carried with such particles into streams, rivers, or other alternatives to herbicides, he began to more fully appreciate the surface waters. complexities involved. “Herbicides are a tool,” said Wagner, “just Every forest disturbance – from a footfall to a treefall to an like fire, animals, and machines. And just like any tool, they need herbicide application – has an effect on an ecosystem, and there to be selected based on many advantages and disadvantages.” is debate about potential harm to an ecosystem if the herbicide A distinct disadvantage would be indirect effects on wildlife, is misapplied (or whether the body of research is adequate to and researchers at UMaine synthesized this data in a lengthy make any definitive declarations). What’s really interesting, report that’s available online.* though, is that unlike glyphosate use in conventional farming,

* http://www.umaine.edu/mafes/elec_pubs/techbulletins/tb192.pdf

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 49

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 49 2/14/12 5:27:52 PM where such charges bounce like paper arrows off big agriculture’s government-supported mandate to feed the world, herbicide use in industrial forestry is decreasing across our readership Glyphosate in hardwoods area. And it’s not because chemical opponents have made the case that the herbicide is unacceptably harmful. It’s because of Foresters in Maine, Vermont, and Pennsylvania whom I spoke widespread objections to clearcutting. to all agreed that glyphosate use in hardwood management has The Ecology Action Centre, an environmental organization probably increased over the past 20 years, though it should be that opposes large clearcuts and plantation-style forestry noted that glyphosate is not the only herbicide being used. in Nova Scotia, recently released a report that sums up their In many parts of the Northeast, dense stands of diseased perspective like this: beech have become a hindrance to hardwood sawlog produc- “While glyphosate may have negligible effects on wildlife, tion. Glyphosate is a very effective tool to use against beech, glyphosate has been an integral component of plantation silvicul- since you can drill a hole in a beech stump, add a capsule or ture. As such, glyphosate helps alter natural plant communities dollop of the chemical, and count on it to spread to all of the and successional trajectories, shifting the Acadian forest to a less root sprouts that have grown from the parent tree. structurally diverse environment and, as such, a less stable envi- Foresters cite the fact that herbicide kills a plant’s roots as a ronment.” key selling point. Trees don’t, as a general rule, die when you cut Foresters can argue passionately about the validity of the last them, which means that with a manual control regime you often clause in that quote, but it adequately sums up the ecological have to come back over and over again to kill the stump sprouts mandate in parts of Canada. and suckers. (Editor’s Note: If you want to learn more about Following a public hearing process, chemical herbicides were glyphosate use as it relates to hardwood management, check out banned on Crown forest lands in Québec in 2001. (Crown lands the story Got Fern? in our Summer 2010 issue.) constitute about 90 percent of the provincial forest land base.) Guy Dunkle, a forester who manages more than 7,000 acres Today, these forests are being managed under an ecosystem-based for Firth Maple in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania, says that in his management philosophy that seeks to take advantage of natural area, herbicide is used on a large scale with tractor-mounted succession patterns rather than clearcutting and planting. mist blowers. “This is the nuclear option,” said Dunkle, “used in This has been a challenge in a region where 16 percent of areas with big problems.” But in many situations, glyphosate is manufacturing jobs are related to timber and pulp production. applied more selectively. There are studies that show desirable regeneration has dropped “We use cut-stump applications where we’re controlling off significantly in certain areas, and there’s concern over how this beech brush,” said Dunkle. “We spray a 50 percent solution of will affect long-term forest productivity. One report from Nova glyphosate and water immediately after the tres are cut. There’s Scotia showed that 87 percent of conifer plantations failed outright no overspray, and one shot kills eight or ten trees. In areas where when herbicide use was discontinued. However, other studies we’re treating trees that don’t root-sprout, we’ll use a small show that chemical-free forest management strategies are working cordless drill to tap the trees like you would a maple for syrup well in certain areas and by certain metrics. One study reports production, then add glyphosate into the hole.” an increase in understory plant diversity that didn’t exist in a chemically-treated clearcut. Another reports that intense mechanical scarification and the resulting diversity of pin cherry and willow trees in a softwood plantation was improving soil struc- Glyphosate in invasive management ture in a way that clearcutting and chemical control never could. While there are strong opinions on either side of this debate In cords and boards forestry, “management” often means in Canada, in 2008 the Québec government reaffirmed its steering forest succession toward a desired mix of economically commitment to ecosystem-based management of public for- valuable species. But as our increasingly globalized world leads ests. (The flip side of this coin is that the province of Alberta to a greater presence of exotic invasives in the forest, environ- suspended their herbicide program in the late 1980s and by the mentalists – many of whom own both dog-eared copies of Silent early 2000s had such large regeneration failures that they rein- Spring and backpack sprayers – are finding the chemical useful stated the program.) in the war against invasive exotic plants that are fundamentally This trend against clearcutting and glyphosate use in Québec altering native ecosystems. reflects what’s going on in Maine, too, where public outcry against Sharon Plumb, invasive species coordinator for the Vermont clearcutting resulted in the forest practices act in 1989. In the wake chapter of The Nature Conservancy (not exactly a group you’d of the spruce budworm epidemic in the early 1980s, 80,000 to associate with Dow-Chemical) speaks for a lot of reluctant 100,000 acres were being clearcut a year. Today, about 15,000 acres, glyphosate users when she says, “It’s an issue I’m really con- less than 3 percent of the annual harvested area in the state, is flicted about.” clearcut. Wagner says that glyphosate application is down substan- “I don’t agree with using glyphosate for growing food,” said tially as a result of this change in harvest practices, as is the forest Plumb. “I am a big advocate for mechanical treatment if it can herbicide research being conducted in the university system. work. But there are certainly cases where judicious herbicide

50 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 50 2/14/12 5:27:52 PM usage is the lesser of two evils, especially when the alternative is sate will never be acceptable. And there are many nonchemical to let invasive plants take over an ecosystem unchecked.” alternatives that the small woodlot owner can use to steer forest Plumb uses the knotweed in her own backyard as an example. succession on their woodlots. (Editor’s Note: See Brett Chedzoy’s “It’s difficult to kill knotweed by digging because of the root silvopasturing essay on page 16 for just one example.) fragments that stay behind,” she said. “So to manually treat it, To others, glyphosate is a safe and useful tool that’s funda- you need to hand-cut the plants, then come back every month mentally no different than a chainsaw. Advocates for herbicide during that entire first growing season to knock back the use will argue that if they’re to manage a forest proactively regrowth, then come back at least once a year for five years and – for timber, for wildlife, for ecological integrity – they need a repeat. That is how I got rid of the knotweed in my own back- full tool box. If herbicide’s a hammer, asking them to manage yard, but it’s just not possible to do this on a large scale.” certain parcels of land without chemicals is like asking them to Plumb says that, when possible, The Nature Conservancy drive nails with a screwdriver. It may be possible, but it’s inef- will mechanically treat ficient and costly. knotweed. But on large Defining the poles properties and big prob- makes it seem like we lems, they’ll use a com- haven’t really progressed bination of hand cutting in our environmental and glyphosate applica- consciousness since the tion. “We’ll do a round of 1970s, when pesticides hand cutting, then we’ll were either a magic bullet come back when the plant or an ecological disaster. is short and wimpy and hit But most people’s views it with foliar spray. This on the chemical fall some- allows us to minimize our where in the middle. And herbicide use.” every forester I spoke to In forest settings, The for this piece indicated Nature Conservancy has that the use of herbicide treated barberry infesta- in silviculture has evolved tions that stretched on for over the past 50 years, and dozens of acres and had is becoming more target- come to completely domi- A forest understory completely dominated by barberry. ed and fine-tuned. nate the native ephemer- I asked Rob Bryan, an als, shrubs, and seedlings. In such examples, Plumb says, “The ecological consultant and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) future of that forest is very much at stake. Propane and grazing certifier from Maine, if herbicide use is allowed under FSC (it could be options for large infestations, depending on the situa- is), and as he walked me through the thought process an FSC tion, but if you chose to treat with herbicide, within a year you auditor uses when approving an herbicide, it struck me as good could knock that infestation back and allow for that forest to common sense. return to a more healthy, natural state. You can then be diligent “First, I see if a landowner has done an analysis to justify about keeping an eye on future infestations and hand-dig those herbicide use versus another approach,” said Bryan. “The test is plants early.” if there’s not an alternative approach, or if the alternative is pro- Talk to people who use the chemical in the invasive-exotic hibitively expensive, or if herbicide is the only effective means, field, and you’ll find that many of them see invasive species or if the herbicide use will create less environmental damage as a cancer on the land and glyphosate as the chemotherapy. than nonchemical treatment – a place with sensitive soils, for You wouldn’t casually dose your woods with it any more than instance, where mechanical treatment would do more harm you’d casually bombard your body with radiation. But if the than good. If the landowner can show that there are no feasible ecosystem’s sick – what choice do you have? or less damaging alternatives, then I check to see if they’ve selected chemicals and application methods that minimize risk to nontarget species and sites – for example, aerial spraying versus backpack versus cut-stump. Finally, the landowners So? need to ask themselves whether the forest can be managed in such a way that herbicide use can be reduced or eliminated over So where does all this leave us – the people without advanced the long term.” degrees in biochemistry or forestry who are looking at the for- If you’re looking for the middle ground that acknowledges est problems on the back 40 and going back and forth about the both the risks and benefits of the chemical, that might be it. bottle of Roundup at the local hardware store. To some of us, laboratory-manufactured chemicals like glypho- Dave Mance III is the editor of Northern Woodlands.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 51

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 51 2/14/12 5:27:54 PM Forest information. Professional assistance. And practical advice for your Woodlands. from the Maine Forest Service 1-800-367-0223 toll-free in ME or 207-287-2791 www.maineforestservice.gov

52 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 52 2/14/12 5:28:01 PM BIRDS in focus

By Bryan Pfeiffer

The Forecast Calls EINSTEIN RUTH for Birds

Songbirds pouring from the skies before dawn. Thousands of hawks gliding past a mountain summit. Rare oceanic birds blown in to shore. Birdwatching like this doesn’t necessarily begin when you go outside. It begins with a weather forecast the day before. Weather can generate spectac- ular birding. Consider the spring fallout, when birds rain from the heavens. Fallout conditions occur when warm air from the south or southwest meets colder air to the north. The collision can produce fog, rain, and swirling winds – weather you might not consider suitable for birdwatching. But these conditions can cause countless birds – migrating north on Writer Bryan Pfeiffer looks for bird fallouts during Tropical Storm Irene. tailwinds – to drop from migration and into view. Topography can also be your partner. If they’re over water, pushing the rare birds closer to land. migrants seek any port in a storm, which means they will pile up It’s one thing to know the local forecast when heading afield, on islands and along peninsulas. When forced into urban areas, it’s another to “see” birds on the way. The National Weather songbirds often move to the nearest patch of trees where they Service’s Next Generation Weather Radar system, NEXRAD, is find cover and food, which is why Central Park in New York sensitive enough to detect birds, bats, and occasionally insects City and Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Boston are legendary spring in flight. Many songbirds rise together to migrate after sunset, birding destinations. and they’re often dense enough to form distinctive radar pat- During spring fallouts I’ve seen trees glowing with dozens of terns that have a different profile from those of clouds and rain. warblers seeking shelter from wind and rain. I’ve encountered Migrating birds move faster than prevailing tailwinds, which exhausted scarlet tanagers at my feet. And I’ve experienced 70 means the radar patterns, when viewed over time in an animated indigo buntings in a single thicket. So dense are birds during a loop, help confirm that you’re indeed looking at birds in the air genuine fallout that you can point your binoculars in most any and show you the direction of the flight. direction to find something flitting or flying. Reading online radar images takes some training, but a few It pays to watch the weather in autumn as well. The right con- dedicated biologists are watching the radar and the skies, and ditions for hawkwatching generally feature cold fronts with weak alerting birders when migrants might be coming. Two web- or moderate winds blowing from the north. Hawks move rela- sites to watch are www.woodcreeper.com and virtual.clemson. tively effortlessly on those crisp days in September and October. edu/groups/birdrad. Visit their tutorials for lessons on radar and They rise late morning with thermals of warmer air generated by migration. A good source of radar data is weather.rap.ucar.edu. autumn sun shining into valleys. After reaching sufficient eleva- Birdwatchers need not be slaves to weather – good or bad. tion, hawks break out of their thermal and glide south on high Head out for birds any old morning this spring. But also real- tailwinds. Meanwhile, along the ocean shore, it’s fine to spend ize that, at the very least, it pays to know which ways the wind a fall day watching eiders, scoters, loons, grebes, gannets, and blows. gulls. But if you want alcids, jeagers, shearwaters, and other odd ocean-going birds, grab your foul-weather gear and get out dur- Bryan Pfeiffer is an author, wildlife photographer, guide, and consulting naturalist who ing a Nor’easter or other weather that generates on-shore winds specializes in birds and insects. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 53

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 53 2/14/12 5:28:02 PM DISCOVERIES

By Todd McLeish

Forest waste has future as fuel

In what has been described as a revolu- tionary discovery, a University of Maine engineer has developed a new process for turning waste from the forest products industries into a hydrocarbon fuel oil. And like many novel discoveries, it hap- pened completely by accident. “I can’t imagine why anyone would have tried this before,” joked M. Clayton Wheeler, an associate professor of chemical and biological engineering. “We would never have predicted that by taking this mixture of organic acids and neutralizing them, we would end up with these products. We weren’t even trying to make a biofuel. We were originally try- University of Maine students Isaac Ghampson and Paige Case are part of a team creating hydrocarbon fuel through ing to make an organic compound called a process called deoxygenation, which uses wood waste as a base. a ketone, but instead we created some interesting products that made us explore “The first time we realized we could pilot plant could make hundreds of liters it further.” make a completely deoxygenated fuel oil, per day, and that will provide enough to The process, called thermal deoxygen- we were using grocery store waste – fruits evaluate the potential for fuel usage and ation, begins when wood waste – ground and vegetables and cardboard boxes,” help to validate the yields.” up tree leaves, needles, and branches he said, noting that the process does – is heated in sulfuric acid and water to not require an uncontaminated cellulose Fungi turn tables on hemlock around 392°F. This breaks the cellulose source, which could make it more attrac- fibers down into calcium salt. The salt is tive to potential industrial partners. wooly adelgid then placed in a reactor, where it’s melted Wheeler described the fuel as some- into an amber-colored oil. The thermal what like light crude oil, which can be As the hemlock wooly adelgid continues its reaction removes nearly all of the oxygen used in a wide variety of ways, from march up and down the Appalachians, from the oil, retaining most of the energy jet fuel to heating oil. Further refine- wiping out hemlock trees everywhere it from the original cellulose – and this is ment would be necessary to meet the goes, scientists have been racing to find the innovation here. In traditional biofuel emissions standards required for use in a way to suppress the population of this manufacturing, the oxygen is removed vehicles traveling on public roadways, but invasive pest. Most efforts so far have with hydrogen, but that’s expensive and he believes that can be accomplished at focused on releasing predatory insects to inefficient. existing oil refineries. consume the adelgid, but they take time “Biomass has a lot of oxygen in it,” While the conversion to biofuel is to establish and are difficult to rear. Wheeler explained. “All of that oxygen “relatively simple conceptually, the effi- Now a University of Vermont research- is dead weight and doesn’t provide any cient implementation of it at high yield er has identified a naturally occurring energy as a fuel. Our oil has less than 1 is going to require a significant process, fungus that, when mixed with a patented percent oxygenates.” and it is unclear what the capital costs will fungal enhancer to boost its effectiveness According to Wheeler, the approxi- be to take it from wood to final product,” and sprayed from a helicopter or directly mately 6 million green tons of available Wheeler said. on individual trees, suppresses the growth biomass from the forest products indus- Next, his research team plans to scale of the adelgid population. try in Maine could produce 120 million up the process in a pilot plant at the “The fungus is already found at low gallons per year of gasoline, diesel, heat- University of Maine Forest Bioproduct levels in the hemlock ecosystem,” said ing oil, and kerosene. In addition, he said Research Institute’s new technology Scott Costa, a UVM entomologist. “When that any material that contains cellulose research center. “In the lab, we can only the adelgid comes into an area, the fun- could be an appropriate feed stock for his make a few liters per week,” he said, “but gus is at such a low level that it doesn’t process, including energy crops, munici- in order to test the value of these prod- affect the adelgid population before they pal solid waste, and construction debris. ucts, we need to have a lot of material. A kill the trees. So we augment the amount

54 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 54 2/14/12 5:28:04 PM of the fungus that’s already out there. Dragonflies scared to death for them to emerge.” This way, the fungus doesn’t have to play She said that there are so many devel- catch-up.” It is obvious that when a predator eats opmental transformations during a drag- According to Costa, when a spore another creature it is having a direct onfly’s metamorphosis that any minor of the fungus Lecanicillum muscarium effect on that prey species, but scientists instability can cause metamorphic failure. comes in contact with the adelgid, it ger- are only beginning to examine the non- Other stresses are known to have similar minates and penetrates the insect, where consumptive effects of predators on prey results, including habitat degradation and it continues to grow and kills the pest. The populations. One study from biologists at fragmentation. fungus then bursts out of the insect’s body the University of Toronto has concluded “We’ve been aware of the sublethal and creates more spores that can infect that the mere presence of a predator can effects of stress, but to see that it is more adelgids in a continuing cycle. cause enough stress to kill some prey increasing mortality is really striking,” In field trials on one-acre forest plots species. said McCauley. “It was also interesting to in Tennessee, Costa and the US Forest Professor Locke Rowe and former post- see the predators having a negative effect NVRIYOF MAINE UNIVERSITY Service used aerial applications of the doctoral researcher Shannon McCauley, on their prey without it having a positive fungus and enhancer and succeeded in now an assistant professor at California effect on the predators.” stopping the growth of the adelgid popu- Polytechnic State University, say that The scientists believe that their find- lation after two years. the larvae of the dot-tailed whiteface ings could apply to a wide range of organ- “Because of the enhancer we mixed dragonfly are so frightened of fish that isms facing stress. Studies on amphibian with the fungus, we were able to apply the insect’s mortality rate quadrupled tadpoles have shown that they respond only 2.6 gallons per acre by helicopter, when they were raised in an aquarium dramatically to the presence of predators. which is a very small amount, and that where they could see and smell bluegill “The next step in our study is to learn suppressed the population by 50 percent,” fish, even though the fish could not get what the actual agent of mortality is,” con- said Costa, who noted that it was “the close enough to eat them. Mortality rates cluded McCauley. “It’s probably more than first time that’s been demonstrated with jumped 2.5 times when the whiteface one factor. And it would be nice to know an insect-killing fungus at such low appli- larvae were raised alongside the larvae of if, when confronted with an immunologi- cation rates. As we put this fungus out predatory aquatic insects. cal challenge, they fare even worse.”

there and it suppresses the population, we “We don’t know what the actual agent DAVID BAY hope the fungus will circulate more and of mortality is, but we suspect that it was give the forest more time to recover.” the energetic costs of responding to pred- Small-scale tests using manual spray- ators,” said McCauley. “In the presence ing on individual trees were also effective of these predators, the dragonflies are on in Vermont and Massachusetts, the latter high alert. They’re feeding less and their site being so successful that he had to immune systems are ramping down.” abandon experiment plots “because all McCauley said that the stresses caused the adelgids were dying.” by the predators may make the prey spe- Part of the challenge of this project is cies more vulnerable to infections and that fungi, when applied to combat a pest, other disruptions to their environment. are considered biopesticides, which must In a second study, the researchers be registered with the U.S. Environmental examined whether the stresses caused Protection Agency and undergo rigorous by the predators carried over into the safety testing. Costa has been working dragonflies’ adulthood. They found that with a Netherlands company that uses 11 percent of larvae exposed to fish died an isolate of a fungus registered in parts as they attempted to metamorphose into of Europe and Asia, where it has under- their adult stage, whereas only 2 percent gone a thorough review by the European of those raised in a fish-free environment Union. He hopes to get the product regis- died during metamorphosis. tered in the United States soon. “We found that the larvae started to “Our next step is to test it on larger push out of their exoskeleton but couldn’t acreage in Tennessee and Pennsylvania,” finish the process,” McCauley said. “If Costa said. “Because it’s not registered yet they are energy depleted, the meta- The mortality rate of the dot-tailed whiteface dragonfly in the United States, we can only spray 10 morphosis process can take longer, and larvae quadrupled when they were raised in an aquarium acres per year. That’s why getting it regis- because the adult exoskeleton quickly near bluegill fish, suggesting that the mere presence of a tered is so important.” starts to harden, it becomes impossible predator is enough to frighten some species to death.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 55

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56 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 56 2/14/12 5:28:08 PM TRICKS of the trade

By Carl Demrow

Make Your Own Vacuum Booster

Vacuum tubing systems have revolutionized maple sugar produc- or 4- foot piece of tubing. Finally, there’s a ball valve on the uphill tion, and more and more sugarmakers are getting into the game, side of this junction that will allow you to close off the spur line. drawn by the allure of making an average of .4 gallons of syrup A simple manifold that looks like this can be made for about $20, per tap, compared to the .25 gallons in a traditional gravity depending on your mainline size and the price of hose clamps system. To get this kind of boost, you need 25 or 26 inches of at your hardware store. The vacuum can now be effectively vacuum, not just at the releaser but in the sugarbush, and herein transferred from the dry line to the wet spur line. Another thing lies a problem. When the mainline is three-quarters full of sap, to remember when building a dual-line system is to maintain less vacuum reaches the trees high up in the sugarbush. proper pitch in both your wet and dry lines. Both lines need to To remedy this, savvy producers use a wet line/dry line sys- have 3 to 5 percent slope to allow gravity to do its job. Otherwise, tem, sometimes called a dual-line system. This entails having sap will pool in any sags in the mainline, blocking the progress two parallel mainlines arranged one above the other. The lower of vacuum and sap. line carries sap, while the upper line transfers vacuum to the far And remember, too, that the dry line will periodically become reaches of your woods. You can think of these two lines as an a “wet” line. When the wet line is frozen, the sap is forced into the interstate highway system for the sap and vacuum. dry line. Once the wet line thaws, things go back to normal. The At each mainline spur (the entrance/exit ramps in the high- dry line will also provide a bit of excess capacity on those few way analogy), you have to tie the dry line into the spur line so days during the season when the trees are really gushing. you can get vacuum to the trees. The equipment dealers would This sort of a system is not for everyone, but if you have long love to sell you a commercial manifold, called a vacuum booster, mainlines (over 1,000 feet), more than 700 taps on a mainline, for each of these junctions to the tune of several hundred dollars and a properly sized vacuum pump, this system will bring high a pop. But there is an easier way. All you’ll need is two mainline vacuum to all the trees in your sugarbush and cooler sap to your tees, a ball valve, and a handful of hose clamps. tank. And for those of you who don’t sugar, you’ll now know The picture here shows a 1¼-inch wet line (blue) and a 1-inch how to impress your sugaring friends by knowing the ins and dry line (black) running parallel to each other. The spur line outs of a dual-line system. coming in perpendicular and attaching to the wet line is ¾ inch. Thanks to the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association for Note that a tee was added to the dry line and necked down to ¾ holding a series of vacuum seminars this past year, and to J.R. of an inch (you could also just use a 1-by-1-by-¾-inch tee and Sloan, of Green Mountain Mainlines in Fairfield, Vermont, for make your life easier), then connected to the spur line with a 3- sharing this trick with us.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 57

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 57 2/14/12 5:28:09 PM 58 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 58 2/14/12 5:28:13 PM Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 59

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 59 2/14/12 5:28:16 PM Complete your collection of Northern Woodlands Every issue provides a fascinating Issue 38: Autumn 2003 Issue 52: Spring 2007 Issue 65: Summer 2010 Nature Conservancy’s New Direction Discovering the Presettlement Forest Old-Fashioned Bee Lining array of stories about all aspects of Adirondack Baseball Bats New Hampshire Homesteaders Tending a Woodlands Garden life in the forests of the Northeast. Efficient Logging A Woodcock’s Spring Show Income Sources from Your Forestland Owl Pellets A Team of Draft Horses Which Caterpillar Becomes Which Butterfly? Issues 1–18—Digital Download Only A Different Kind of Diesel Issues 53–55— Issue 66: Autumn 2010 Issue 19: Winter 1998 Issue 39: Winter 2003 Digital Download Only Biomass Debate Heats Up Clearcutting and Habitat Management The Cedar Family Tree Native Invasives on Your Woodlot Reforesting Lyndon State Forest Issue 56: Spring 2008 A New Look at Gifford Pinchot Habitat for Woodcock Zero Cut Controversy Lyme Disease Marches North The Fisher Diaspora Making a Windsor Chair Long Trail Cleanup Outdoor Wood Boilers Under Fire When the Company Moves to China Favorite Places on Public Land Visit a Water-Powered Sawmill Issue 67: Winter 2010 Issues 40–41— Growing up Outdoors Goodbye to an Elm Issue 20–23—Digital Download Only Digital Download Only How Many White Tails? Issue 57: Summer 2008 Issue 24: Spring 2000 A Maine Logging Camp in 1912 Issue 42: Autumn 2004 Forest Relics Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest Learning Lumberjack Skills Bear Hunting Referendum Marking a Timber Sale Learning to Love Lichens Wind Power Primer Noel Perrin’s Rural Visa Issue 68: Spring 2011 Tree Girdling Native Lumber Identifying Woodland Grasses The Hope Issue Roadless Designation A Tale of 21 Tails Bobcats on the Comeback Appalachian Trail in Canada Issue 58: Autumn 2008 Rebuilding a Trout Stream Issue 43: Winter 2004—Digital Doing Battle with Invasive Species Issue 25: Summer 2000 A Place for Wolf Trees Download Only Circling Scavengers Adirondack Guide-Boats A Fall Feast for Wildlife Issue 69: Summer 2011 Flying Squirrels Issue 44: Spring 2005 North Woods Hunting Camps House Hunting with Honeybees Tree Biologist Alex Shigo Investing in a Woodlot Mike Greason and the Gospel of Silviculture Look Who’s Wearing the Chaps Giant Silk Moths Issue 59: Winter 2008 Trends in Maine’s Log Prices Learning in the Landscape Spring Wildflowers Does Changing Climate Mean a Hemlock Tanneries in Old New York Tamarack and Ships’ Knees Changing Forest? Issue 26: Autumn 2000 The Deep, Dark Woods Issue 70: Autumn 2011— A Buck Sheds his Velvet Issue 45: Summer 2005 The Value of Biomass Digital Download Only Maine’s Forestry Referendum Growing and Selling Veneer Winter Camping in the Maine Woods Forestry at Paul Smith’s College Loons on the Rebound Issue 71: Winter 2012— Forests, Carbon, and Climate Change Medicinal Goldthread Issue 60: Spring 2009 Digital Download Only Landowners Learn About Habitat Certification Comes to Family Forests Issue 46: Autumn 2005 Growing Your Own Mushrooms Issues 27–32—Digital Download Only Timber Theft Springtime in the Turkey Woods Moose Rut Issue 33: Summer 2002 Can the American Chestnut Come Back? Hunters for the Hungry Markets for Low Grade Wood Rare Plants Rediscovered Issue 61: Summer 2009 The Gifts of a Forest Wild Bees in Your Woodlot Fire and Granite Issue 47: Winter 2005 Canoeing from the Adirondacks to Maine Maine Teacher Tours Coexisting with Wolves A Guide to Plants You Shouldn’t Touch Return of the Trout? Blue Jays Natural Disturbances and Forestry Excellent Forestry Issue 34: Autumn 2002—Digital Scouting Cameras Issue 62: Autumn 2009 Download Only Colorful Dyes from the Forest Issue 48: Spring 2006 Issue 35: Winter 2002 Silviculture in Vermont’s National Park Energy from Wood: Chips and Bioethanol The Forest at Quabbin Reservoir Bucks and Bulls in Velvet Apple Ladders Violins from Spruce and Maple The Beaver’s Felling Techniques Logging in a Heron Rookery Liquidation Harvesting in Maine Issue 63: Winter 2009 Mapping Soils Issue 49: Summer 2006—Digital Which Bird Made That Nest? Download Only Issue 36: Spring 2003—Digital A Bygone Industry: Chemicals from Wood Download Only Issue 50: Autumn 2006 How to Make a Holiday Wreath Maine’s Last Log Drive Snow Fleas, Deer Yards, Scotch Pine Issue 37: Summer 2003 Booms and Busts in Grouse Populations New England Sawmill Bucks the Trend Issue 64: Spring 2010 NH Sawmill Uses Every Bit of Sawdust Eeek! 370 Species of Mice Spring Flower Show in the Woods Baffling Beavers The Northern Woodlands Story Why Trees Grow Where They Do Secret Life of Soil Issue 51: Winter 2006— On the Job with a Biomass Buyer The Flow of Wood in the Region Digital Download Only Forgotten Stump Fences

60 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 60 2/14/12 5:28:18 PM Prints and posters of select photos are available for Check out our books! purchase. To order, call toll free (866) 962-1191 or visit NEW: More Than a Woodlot, a Northern Woodlands publication, a www.northernwoodlandsprints.org comprehensive guide to stewardship for the forest landowner in the Northeast. Includes information on successful timber harvests, bird and animal management, consideration of your land’s future, and silviculture, demystified ...... PAPER $19.95

NORTHERN WOODLANDS’ BOOK The Outside Story: Local Writers Explore the Nature of New Hampshire and Vermont, gives readers the inside scoop on local ecology. Local writers, including Northern Woodlands’ staff and regular contributors, explore a broad range of topics, from acid rain to garter snake mating. While the subject is Vermont and New Hampshire, the book appeals to nature enthusiasts across the Northeast...... PAPER $19.95 We’ve got ALL of our archived content online in print format The Tree Identification Book, by George W. D. Symonds. Tree and/or digital downloads (as well as neat merchandise) at leaves, bark, buds, thorns, flowers, and fruit each have a separate our shop: www.northernwoodlands.org/shop section in this book. This book was first published in 1958 and has or use the mail-in order form below for print copies. stood the test of time. Over 1500 black-and-white photographs make the trees of the eastern U.S. easy to nail down. ..PAPER $20.00

The Shrub Identification Book, by George W. D. Symonds. The Please use the order form from the most recent issue: companion to The Tree Identification Book (above). A complete

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SPECIAL: Buy the Tree Identification Book and The Shrub ADDRESS Identification Book together for $36.00!

CITY Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide, by Lynn Levine & Martha Mitchell, is a handy waterproof field guide STATE ZIP designed to be carried through brush, bramble, and snow banks, Method of payment (check one) and emerge unscathed. It uses a novel three-step process to identify tracks & scat of 29 different animals that are commonly QCheck QMasterCard QVisa encountered in the field...... PAPER $19.95

CREDIT CARD NUMBER Trees of New England, by Charles Fergus. Trees are listed alphabet-

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Order books by title, using the magazine’s insert, or check out these and many other books, including kids’ selections, at: www.northernwoodlands.org/shop

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Classified Ads are available at $60 per column inch, with a one-inch minimum. Only $192 for the whole year. All ads must be prepaid. Mail your ad to Northern Woodlands, P.O. Box 471, Corinth, VT 05039, fax it to (802) 439-6296, or email to [email protected]. The Summer 2012 issue deadline is March 26, 2012 .

62 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 62 2/14/12 5:28:24 PM up COUNTRY

By Robert Kimber

Paddling with the Young Guys

When my friend Steve called in early May to ask if I would like to for the first 5 miles, but we soon hit a series of ledge drops that paddle Maine’s Machias River in a couple of weeks, I of course did that “bad-run-of-water” translation justice, and even moved said yes. How long it had been since I was last on the Machias I us to portage the last and trickiest drop. couldn’t even remember. High time I went back again. Steve, who had done this trip within the last five years, We had four days, only enough for the first 40 miles of the remembered running this entire stretch without a second trip. From its start in Fifth Machias Lake, the river heads north thought. So, was the water much higher (or lower) this time, into Fourth Machias Lake, then swings southeast into nearly making these drops more formidable, or were we becoming 6-mile-long Third Lake. From the outlet of Third, it heads due needlessly timid? In any case, Brannin and Noah handled it all south another 17 miles – with Second and First Lakes forming with aplomb and obvious enjoyment. just skinny ponds-in-the-river – to our takeout where the river On our traverse of Third Lake the next day, we could practical- intersects Maine Route 9. ly taste the sweetness of spring in the air: bright sunshine, rafts of My only vivid memory of the upper Machias was of a small, geese, three moose cows and their stilty-legged calves wading the idyllic island in Third Lake that rose high over the water and swampy shallows at the head of the lake. That little island was as provided us with an airy, pine-shaded campsite and sun- beautiful as I remembered it where we stopped for lunch, a short warmed ledges as a swimming beach. The roughly 10 miles swim in the still icy water, and a long bake on the warm ledges. from Fifth to Fourth Lake I remembered as an easy, occasion- Between Third and Second Lake, the bad in the Machias ally riffly run where my partner and I had stopped now and gets worse at Long Falls where, without any debate, we all then to cast a fly. The rest was a blank, but these two memories agreed to portage. Next comes a mile and a quarter of drops lulled me into thinking of the Machias as a mild-mannered that have remained nameless but that the AMC River Guide river. Along with everything else I’d forgotten, I’d forgotten that allows are “significant.” “Machias” translates from the Passamaquoddy not as “Smooth Quick study that he is, Brannin nonetheless had some Sailing” but as “Bad Run of Water.” trouble here. He ran up on a big flat rock, jumped out of the Our companions would be rugged young guys in their late boat, and pushed himself off again like a kid on a scooter. Then twenties: Steve’s son, Ethan, who had recently settled in the a few hundred yards farther downstream, he flipped coming off down east village of Lubec, Maine, and his friends Brannin and a narrow chute, found his footing in the pool below it, lifted his Noah, two brothers who had grown up there. Noah would be canoe over his head upside down, plopped it back on the water my bow man; Brannin would paddle a borrowed solo canoe. right-side up, piled his floating gear back into it, climbed back Brannin runs his own arborist business, and when Noah isn’t in, and headed out unfazed and grinning. off teaching skiing in Colorado, he often works with his brother. I loved paddling with these three young men. Whatever they When we met them on Route 9, they had just come off a job lacked in finesse, they more than made up for in strength, energy, and still had their chainsaws and climbing gear in the back of generosity, and joie-de-vivre. If the meek should inherit the earth, their pickup, along with their food and a few six-packs of beer I hope they’ll have some big-hearted, competent young guys in shopping bags and tucked into a plastic milk crate – not like Brannin, Noah, and Ethan along to help on the unexpected exactly orthodox provisions or packing methods for a wil- Long Falls portage trail and to break out the cheese, sardines, derness expedition in Labrador, but altogether acceptable beer, and good cheer when day is done. for what I pictured as a little four-day riverine picnic. Ethan, for a young man, is an old hand in a Robert Kimber has written often for outdoor and canoe, but Brannin and Noah – though they had environmental magazines. He lives in Temple, Maine. grown up boating on Cobscook Bay and the Atlantic – hadn’t done a lot of river canoeing. But again I thought: No problem, not for this cinch of a trip. They were clearly bright, athletic, and adventuresome. If they had to learn, they would learn fast. As it turned out, they had to and they did. When we set out the following morning from our campsite on Fifth Machias Lake, my memory of an easy-going run to Fourth Lake held true

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 63

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 63 2/14/12 5:28:25 PM wood LIT

Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, insects control the reproduction within their own Drifting: Two Weeks on bodies. Since many species of insects mate with Love, & Language from the multiple partners on a given day, it is natural for the Hudson Insect World a female to have sperm from several males inside By Mike Freeman Excelsior Editions, SUNY Press, 2011 By Marlene Zuk her, but females are able to accept or reject a given Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 male’s sperm, a phenomenon known as cryptic female choice. The best travel writing is never simple, and never That flour beetle in your kitchen – the small In the case of the flour beetle, the female has great just about place. Places by themselves may be easy pill-shaped black bug with the cream-colored band influence over the fate of the sperm inside her. A enough to describe, but capturing the meanings of around its midsection – is not leading the humdrum researcher gathered up some male and female flour those places is far more elusive. existence you might think. With male genitalia beetles, threw in some freshly killed females and Mike Freeman’s Drifting: Two Weeks on the that can turn inside-out and female organs that some starved males, and let the mating begin. The Hudson recounts the author’s solo canoe journey specialize in sperm selection, this frequent flour starved males, considered to be of a lesser genetic from the headwaters of the Hudson River, at the foot infester is a “hotbed of reproductive intrigue.” Who quality, were not as successful at transferring their of Mt. Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, 315 miles knew? sperm as the healthy males – not much of a surprise. downstream to New York Harbor. The book is good Marlene Zuk, for one. Zuk, a biologist and author But this poor sperm transference only occurred when travel writing, a weave of the personal and the histori- is not shy about expressing her adoration of insects. the starved males mated with live females. When they cal. Above all, it’s an intelligent, well-considered book From dung-dwelling flies to the oft-despised earwig, mated with dead females, their sperm was readily that lays the Hudson Valley wide open to the reader. Zuk finds fascination in studying them all. transferred, suggesting that the living females were Freeman meanders into Hudson River history from Zuk points out that the study of reproduction in selectively choosing to reject the starving males’ village to town: Indian Lake, Schuylerville, Albany, insects often leaves off after “the act.” The sperm is sperm: a “thanks, but no thanks,” from the female. Beacon. Like American literature’s most famous river deposited from the male insect into the female, and Zuk tackles a number of topics in mating and traveler, Huck Finn, Freeman seems to crave a diet that’s that. Insemination, however, is merely the tip breeding, from parenting and facial recognition to of odds and ends, where “the juice kind of swaps of the reproductive iceberg. It’s that space of time egg dumping and insect siblicide (haven’t we all around, and the things go better.” between sex and the production of offspring that’s wanted to kill our siblings? Zuk muses). For all her Beaver sign at the start of his journey in the really interesting part. serious admiration of the six-legged creatures, Zuk Henderson Lake evokes a lengthy digression on Take a dung fly, for example. When a male dung maintains a good sense of humor. the author’s youthful worship of Native Americans, fly spots an unattached female, he’ll mate with her, The one thing this book is sorely missing: photo- the subtle erosion of this regard as he matured, even if she’s already been mated several times by graphs. What I wouldn’t give to see a mother earwig the history of the Algonquin and Iroquois in the other flies. After insemination, the male will remain regurgitating food for a brood of her begging young, Adirondacks and their role in the fur trade, and the attached to the female for about 30 minutes. While or a paper wasp choosing the correct photo of a economic engine of the colonial Northeast, before this may at first appear to be a gentlemanly act of face for a sip of sugar water. And who wouldn’t want Freeman comes back to the beaver in front of him, post-coital romance, it’s far from it. The last male to a peek at the genitals of the little chicken flea, almost holy in the twilight. The juice kind of swaps mate with a female is often the successful fertilizer. “bristling with strange knobs, kinks, and coils”? around throughout the entire book. Those 30 minutes of attachment not only prevent Sex on Six Legs delves into genomes and evolution There is no shortage of books on navigating the other males from mating with the female, they allow while entertaining readers with tales of the lengths Hudson. Where Freeman’s narrative stands out is the male to displace the sperm of her previous insect biologists will go to for their research. If you’ve in page after page blending paddling, wildlife mates, using the specialized “scoops and spines” of ever wondered about the sex lives of the ants in that observation, and a freight of intelligent reflection his genitalia to do the job. uniform trail leading to your sugar bowl, this is the on Hudson River history, economics, ecology, pop But it’s not just the male who has postinsemination book for you. culture … you name it. tricks to ensure passing on genes. Many female Meghan Oliver Although Freeman’s descriptions of place are

64 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 64 2/14/12 5:28:27 PM often vivid (“Boarded-up factories pox Mechanicville, taxonomy, the guide has served teachers, students, and the people seem despondent, like some bony anglers, and naturalists for a decade. hand reached in and took out the important parts This year, Voshell released three flashcard sets to of them.”), the heart of this book is in Freeman’s accompany his field guide. The flashcards of Set One wide-ranging rumination on everything from food and cover the major classes and orders of freshwater energy to race relations and the human urge to war. invertebrates. Set Two covers mollusks, stoneflies, Freeman describes himself as “somewhat of an mayflies, and caddisflies, and Set Three covers environmentalist,” the restraint in that phrasing coming families of other insects. from a healthy skepticism of the idea that the natural Each set includes 30 4-by-6-inch plastic-coated world somehow needs a protective fence built around flashcards. One side of each card has a color illustra- it. The tension between protection and exploitation tion – larger versions of the high-quality illustrations – or use and misuse – of natural resources is central in Voshell’s book – and a simple graphic showing the to the book. “Entwining idealism with practicality,” he animal’s size. writes, is hope for the future, not just for the Hudson The back side of each flash card lists the inver- River, presumably, but for humankind. tebrate’s name and taxonomic classification, as well Living Without If I have a complaint about the book, it’s that the as bulleted information about its natural history. For author’s mind is a bit too active, too jumpy, covering example, on the flashcard for Water Beetle Adults in Out is never content to stay there. so much intellectual and personal ground that a Set One, you’ll find concise answers to the following It’s not enough that we’re in it, reader can grow dizzy. Freeman’s tendency to free- questions: What visible features make this a water but out must be in us. associate grows more pronounced as he gets closer beetle adult? Where do water beetle adults live? How Our house in the woods, the wood of our house; to Manhattan. Perhaps that’s understandable, given do water beetle adults move? What does the pres- the ants, bees, wasps, flies and mice in our house, the lower Hudson Valley’s historical cacophony – a ence of water beetle adults tell us about the health the cold in our house, big story every mile. of the aquatic environment? the birds we feed at our window. But it’s hard not to admire Freeman’s mental It’s easy to imagine a teacher using these cards The lines of separation blur and dissolve until gymnastics and the grace with which he drifts from during field studies. Many aquatic invertebrates are I can no longer tell where the woods stop Emily Dickinson to Bill McKibben, or from Storm difficult to see – scarcely the size of your pinky nail. and I begin, the difference between King to Blazing Saddles. This is a fertile mind at With these cards, a teacher can easily show a par- the feeding birds and my own hungry hands. work – at play, too. And the reader profits from ticular invertebrate to a large group, and have basic We are in the territory of the wind, trying to keep up. information about it at his or her fingertips. In the field and it lets us know, constantly Eben McLane or classroom, students can use the flashcards to delve shifting, clearing its throat, more deeply into their explorations of invertebrates. muttering to itself—and under cover of night— A brief “Companion Reference” accompanies pushing at, and sometimes shoving Flash Cards of Common each flashcard set, but it is limited to a description the house an inch closer to somewhere Freshwater Invertebrates of of the information on the flashcards, a glossary of or an inch further away, terms, names of invertebrate body structures, and until one warm night in March North America taxonomic classifications. A few pages devoted when we open the bedroom door By J. Reese Voshell, Jr. to engaging activities (imagine a heated game of and watch the curtain arch into the room, McDonald & Woodward Publishing, 2009 aquatic invertebrate “Name That Taxa” or “Twenty slim, and grey in the dark, Questions” during a lull in classroom activities) the wind fiercely, exultantly, in at last, If you’ve ever watched a caddis fly larva scram- appropriate to various age groups would have added and never more other than now. ble along a stream bottom in its homemade armor of immeasurably to this companion reference. This Perhaps it’s the suddenness of the change benthic debris, you know that aquatic invertebrates kind of supplemental information helps teachers get I cannot accept. are fascinating to observe. What’s more, equipped the most value from the educational materials they All month the snow has melted reluctantly, with a few inexpensive tools, you can collect and purchase. With each set running $29.95, this kind of almost invisibly, its white-knuckled hands identify invertebrates and apply the findings to stud- added value seems appropriate. guarding the secrets it has kept all winter— ies of water quality, biological diversity, food chains, Despite the lack of curriculum supplements, the and now, this fierce warm wind in the night. and ecological adaptations – or to the selection of flashcards make a great addition to the resources I close the door and pull the blankets up to my chin— your next trout fly. available for studying aquatic invertebrates. And with but the wind is in. Back in 2002, entomologist J. Reese Voshell, invertebrates comprising a whopping 96 percent of Jr., published A Guide to Common Freshwater animal species, any resource that encourages their APRIL OSSMANN, from Anxious Music Invertebrates of North America. With its attractive study is most welcome. Four Way Books, 2007 and accurate illustrations, its engaging introduction Alexandra Murphy Used with permission to aquatic invertebrate biology and ecology, and its straightforward approach to identification and

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 65

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 65 2/14/12 5:28:27 PM Celebrating our 80th year

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66 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 66 2/14/12 5:28:30 PM MILL prices

hese prices are for #1 hardwood logs, at least 8 feet long, NY VT NH ME with three clear faces and a minimum 12-inch top diam- DOLLARS PER THOUSAND BOARD FEET eter. In the timber world, this is a log of average quality, not T White Ash 283 338 333 340 a prime sawlog and not a poor one. Landowners should remember that the dollar amount here White Birch 275 221 225 350 indicates what is being paid for logs that have been felled, Yellow Birch 378 475 463 480 limbed, skidded, bucked, and delivered to a mill or buyer. The costs of logging and trucking need to be subtracted from these Black Cherry 550 430 358 400 figures to arrive at the price paid to the landowner. Because Sugar Maple 564 529 392 488 every job is different, these costs vary widely. Negotiating a fair price requires an understanding of markets Red Maple 276 304 288 200 and job conditions. It’s recommended that landowners without Red Oak 392 430 400 325 this knowledge use a forester as an agent. A forester’s fee will Prices compiled February 1, 2012 add to the cost, but their representation will often result in a higher payment for the timber. These data are compiled from interviews with suppliers to sawlogbulletin.org. Please note that many of these prices and buyers and from the most recent print and online versions were reported three months prior to our publication date, and of the Sawlog Bulletin, and are used by permission. For more current prices could be higher or lower. information on the Sawlog Bulletin, call (603) 444-2549 or go

Is this a growing market? Talking Timber with Michael Farrell I would say so. I’ve noticed a lot more people selling and using it over the last few years. I’ve found people generally don’t know about it, and when they see While it’s generally a bad idea to poke a hole into a sawlog, the niche-market it – we have a lot of it up at the Maple Center at The Great New York State Fair exception to this rule is taphole maple lumber. Many sugar maple trees have a – they really like it. second life as furniture, bowls, and other wooden products, as the taphole-stained wood provides an artisan with a distinctive piece of wood to work with and a buyer Is it sustainable? Will people start drilling into trees just to create this gets a product with a story built right in. We spoke with Michael Farrell, head of kind of lumber, and not for sugaring? the Cornell University’s Uihlein Sugar Maple Research and Extension Field Station, I’ve never heard of somebody just drilling holes to make this lumber, and I hon- to learn more. estly don’t see that happening. There are millions of tapped trees, and the vast majority of wood that’s harvested from a sugarbush gets used for firewood, so What’s taphole lumber used for? there’s no supply shortage. You can use taphole lumber for anything you would use regular maple lumber for. The difference is the taphole maple has evidence of tapping from making maple ANDREA FARRELL syrup. Every year, you drill a hole in a tree for sap and that hole will always be in the tree. The tree grows new wood over the hole, but when you saw into it later in life, you can see the hole, and there’s staining that runs vertically with the grain of tree. The staining can run one to two feet depending on the size of the hole.

What makes a good board? Every board is different, and no two trees are alike. The way the trees were tapped and how they are sawn both make for different boards. I like nice clear white lumber where you can see a nice pattern of tapholes with the staining columns running up and down.

What’s a good quality taphole board going for? A taphole board will bring in $4-$6/board foot, whereas a regular board brings in $2–$3/board foot.

Who’s producing these boards? All sorts of people are milling and selling it, though if you’re going to cut your own, you should use a band mill, because you could run into an old metal spout or drill bit. If you hit an old bit, you just change the blade.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 67

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 67 2/14/12 5:28:31 PM 68 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 68 2/14/12 5:28:33 PM The Wagner Companies Family Looking for timberland, hardwood logs, and timber. Excellence and quality in timber harvesting. TLCTM Certified Loggers and SAFTM Certified Foresters.

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Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 69

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 69 2/14/12 5:28:43 PM Ad Index

A. Johnson Company...... 56 Allard Lumber Company ...... 10 Bay State Forestry Services...... 27 Berry, Dunn, McNeil, & Parker ...... 70 Biomass Conference...... 66 Britton Lumber Co., Inc...... 6 Cersosimo Lumber Co., Inc...... 27 Cersosimo Mill...... 21 Champlain Hardwoods...... 59 Chippers, Inc...... 58 Classifieds ...... 62 Columbia Forest Products ...... 21 Consulting Foresters ...... 12 Cookeville Woodworking...... 8 Farm Credit ...... 22 Fountains Forestry...... 6 Fountains Real Estate ...... 58 Gagnon Lumber, Inc...... 70 Garland Mill Timberframes...... 27 Harwood Forestry Services, Inc...... 6 Hull Forest Products...... 59 Innovative Natural Resource Solutions ...... 68 Itasca Greenhouse ...... 10 L.W. Greenwood...... 66 Land & Mowing Solutions, LLC ...... 14 LandVest Realty ...... inside back cover LandVest, Inc...... 14 Lyme Timber...... 69 MA DCR: Don’t Move Firewood....back cover Maine Forest Service...... 52 McNeil Generating...... 68 Meadowsend...... 40 N.E.W.T.: Northeast Woodland Training ...... 6 NEFF...... 8 NESAF Conference ...... 10 New England Wood Pellet...... 68 NJD Publishing ...... 6 Northern Loggers Assoc EXPO...... 8 Northland Forest Products ...... 14 Oesco, Inc...... 56 Ohana Family Camp...... 40 Sam Clark Design ...... 22 Sustainable Forestry Initiative ...... 56 SWOAM...... 6 The Taylor-Palmer Agency, Inc...... 52 Tilton Equipment Company ...... 22 Timberhomes, LLC...... 69 Vermont Coverts...... 56 Vermont Woodlands Association ...... 27 VWACCF...... 52 Wagner Lumber...... 69 Wells River Savings Bank...... 10 Woodwise Land, Inc...... 59

Find all of our advertisers easily online at Northern Woodlands’ Market Place: northernwoodlands.org/issues/ advertising/advertisers

70 Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 70 2/14/12 5:28:46 PM the outdoor PALETTE

3 5 Betsey Garand, Hark II, 17 /4” x 15 /8”, Lift-ground aquatint monoprint and monotype, 2010

Hark: v. to listen attentively, to pay close attention. Symmetry, seedpods, dicotyledons, and ovules; these visual clues remind us of the cross-sectional study of a flower. But Hark is an apt word to describe Betsey Garand’s practice as an “Hark II” is most definitely not a diagram; rather it is an icon artist. Garand grew up on a small, self-sufficient family farm of sorts, a symbol of a life form’s emergence. Garand combines in Hancock, New Hampshire, and credits that experience with observed and invented shapes to form a visual language that is planting the seeds for her future work. As a child she spent both representational and abstract. It embodies what we know countless hours observing the natural world, “…from frogs’ eggs intellectually with what we know viscerally. —Adelaide Tyrol suspended in gelled encasements, plump spider bellies in dew- laden webs, to the pattern of birch bark.” As Garand explains, Betsey Garand is presently Resident Artist at Amherst College in the Department of Art “The infinite variety of form, color, and change inherent in and the History of Art, where she is head of printmaking. Her work is included in many nature significantly impacts my prints and drawings.” public collections throughout the country and abroad. She is the recipient of a Pollock “Hark II” is flooded with sunlight and the translucent fragility Krasner Foundation Grant and has been awarded fellowships at the MacDowell Colony. of new life. Unspecific as a scientific depiction, it does reference Garand may be contacted through her gallery, Furchgott-Sourdiffe in Shelburne, VT, or many things to those of us familiar with nature’s designs. by email at [email protected].

Call for entries: The deadline for Summer Outdoor Palette submissions is April 1, 2012. We will return all materials by May 1, 2012. Call or email Adelaide Tyrol at (802) 454-7841 or [email protected] for details.

Northern Woodlands / Spring 2012 71

10112_WOOD_SPR12.indd 71 2/14/12 5:28:47 PM A PLACE in mind

By Allaire Diamond

Twenty-five weeks into my pregnancy, our resident porch phoebes that friends and relatives shared into my own nest. In the last returned. I first heard them singing on the third day of April, and weeks of my pregnancy, the elements of my normal life faded soon after the pair started scoping out overhangs and corners, into the background of my mind as I prepared for the little tails flicking. These birds have nested within a wingspan of the person who would soon nestle in that space. same spot each of the four springs we’ve lived here. Was I any more thoughtful or creative than the phoebes? Perennially, they seem to toy with building their nest precari- Since I started telling people about my pregnancy, other mothers ously wedged on a wire against a board, and this year was no had described their nesting rituals, fondly recalling that period exception. They perched side by side on the wire, resembling of inward domesticity as a harbinger of the days and weeks avian versions of my husband and me surveying our Civil War- before birth. My first thought on finding out I was pregnant era house, trying to decide which projects we should take on was that my body was no longer my own, and as I found myself before welcoming our baby into it. As always, the birds seemed drawn into the spells of gnawing hunger and overwhelming to decide the wire wasn’t worth the hassle. After applying a few tiredness common to so many pregnant women, I felt like I had daubs of mud to it, they changed course and began devoting all aligned with a sort of ancient, pulsing wavelength of humanity. of their energy to a much more prudent spot, framed by two-by- After years of operating in selfish independence – traveling, fours in a shelf-like corner. pursuing passions, earning degrees – these species-level responses From a hammock swing, I watched the parents ferry bits of made me sense something of what it meant to be responsible moss and grass from a hemlock-lined stream bank across the for another’s life. road. Placing their cargo on the nest, they carefully wedged it into Neither the phoebes nor I made a choice to alter our philoso- place with their beaks. As the nest developed its characteristic phies in this way, to tirelessly gather moss or fold baby clothes. cup, the phoebes helped define this shape by getting in it and Those behaviors simply took over. In a way it was a relief to wiggling around to compress the mud that bound it all together. realize this, to be compelled to act beyond conscious think- It started to resemble a perfect impression of their bodies, ideal ing. Because if this didn’t happen, how could we ever continue for the hours and days of incubatory sitting to come. our respective species? Would phoebes, if they had a choice, The birds’ nesting routine seemed so thoughtful. Biologically devote their lives to building nests, incubating eggs, and bring- speaking, though, it has approximately the same creative value as a ing insects to nestlings that resembled little more than fuzzy reflex. A few winters back, I spent days learning to differentiate Q-tips? If I wasn’t weighed down by my ever-protruding belly, bird nests with naturalist Bernd Heinrich and several fellow swollen feet, and precipitous emotions, would I be so sanguine graduate students. The nests we studied were both breathtakingly about giving up long bike rides, epic hikes, and days of quiet elegant and surprisingly formulaic. For example, most red-eyed reading? Pregnancy made me realize the illusoriness of personal vireos festoon their nests with bits of decorative wasp paper choice and the surprising satisfaction of recognizing myself as whose source may be hundreds of yards away. My mind had a creature of instinct. Like the phoebes, vireos, and other birds trouble squaring these nests, so lovely and aesthetically informed that sweep into our region on waves of nesting hormones each they seemed borne of an inventive mind, with rote species-wide spring, I was experiencing the elegance and beauty of predict- consistency. How could finding the perfect mossy bank or wasp able behaviors and their role in making a family. paper stash not be a creative act? “They just do it,” Heinrich said. Heinrich has called love a “chemical imbalance of the brain “It’s programmed in.” … that causes us to maintain focus on something that carries As spring turned to summer, my own nesting behaviors an adaptive agenda.” Nesting – surely an act of love as well as kicked up. I found myself repeatedly drawn into the baby’s an instinct – helps draw our focus to creating a safe environ- room. The nursery took shape as we gathered its contents from ment for the next generation. It doesn’t prevent the inevitable friends, family, other rooms, Craigslist expeditions – our own mistakes parents make (one day, the adult phoebes crashed into equivalents of wasp nests and mossy banks. I arranged and each other as one left the nest while the other arrived with a rearranged gifts of books, clothes, diapers, toys, and supplies. I bug), but it lays a softer foundation for a new phase of life. sewed crib bedding and curtains from cloth panels I had printed with woodblocks showing the mountains and animals outside Allaire Diamond is an ecologist and writer in Williston, VT. Her son, Ephraim, sometimes our door. I was wedging gifts, hand-me-downs, and wisdom accompanies her during field work.

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Northern Woodlands SPRING 2012