FORESTSAMERICAN WINTER/SPRING 2019
Forests in Focus PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS See the inspiring photography that earned top honors in our annual Forests in Focus photo contest BE PART OF THE SOLUTION JOIN AMERICAN FORESTS
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AF_FP Ads.indd 1 11/8/18 10:38 AM VOL. 125, NO. 1 CONTENTS WINTER/SPRING 2019
Departments
2 Offshoots A word from our President & CEO
4 Treelines PROJECT SHOWCASES: Read about our work planting trees for healing and nurturing in a Boston community and restoring fire-stricken land in the San Bernardino Mountains. FROM THE FIELD: From Texas to Baltimore, follow what we’ve been 32 up to in the field. PROFILES: Learn about our partnership with Alliance Data and how two of our supporters are returning to their roots by being involved in conservation. CHAMPION TREE SHOWCASE: The noble fir ACTION CENTER: Learn the 40 challenges facing the new congress as well as recent legislative victories for forests.
40 2018 Forests in Focus Photo Contest Winners See the stunning photography that earned top honors in this year’s Forests in Focus photo contest. 14 24 46 Earthkeepers MAKING FORESTS GREEN AGAIN How Dana Walsh has devoted her Features career in the U.S. Forest Service to restoring fire-stricken forests, particularly in the Sierra Nevada. 14 24 32 48 Last Look A Wolverine The Other Seeking Ancient Read what our Facebook community had to say about Revival Champions Cypress our Forests in Focus People’s By Paula MacKay By Whit Bronaugh By Jessica Dixon Choice nominees. Read a personal narrative Find out about superlative Discover the mysterious, of work to conserve the trees whose characteristics swampy ecosystems of COVER PHOTO by Everett Bloom wolverine population in make them champions the Wolf River’s Ghost the Northern Cascades of a different order than Section and Reelfoot Lake in as climate change poses a the measures for our Tennessee and the cypress
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PEGGY YAEGER; DAVID HAGGARD; ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO; WHIT BRONAUGH ZOO; PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT HAGGARD; DAVID YAEGER; PEGGY LEFT: FROM TOP CLOCKWISE threat to their habitat. National Register. forests they cover.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 1 offshoots
Volunteers from Bank of America gather before planting 200 seedlings in Detroit in May 2018.
our cities. I can still remem- k Living in an area with low tree canopy Forests for All ber the first time I saw a tree can raise temperatures by 5-7 degrees canopy map and how it cor- during the day and up to 22 degrees at BY JAD DALEY related with income in the night, when health risks from heat stress Washington, D.C. area. The are greatest for people living in homes WHEN I THINK ABOUT MY MOST correlation is nearly perfect — afflu- without air conditioning. sobering moments of 2018, many of them ent areas have lots of trees, and lower k Nationally, urban trees remove more tie to our nation’s growing income areas mostly do not. than 17 million tons of air pollution each inequities defined by factors It turns out most cities year and prevent 670,000 cases of acute like income and race. From in the U.S. have this same respiratory symptoms. yawning income gaps to chill- pattern, with race also serving These, among many other health ing examples of people being as a predictor of poor tree and happiness benefits of urban trees, targeted on the basis of race, canopy. In Sacramento, Calif., are why American Forests is launching gender or sexual orientation, for example, the city’s tree a new campaign for “Tree Equity” to we live in a time defined by canopy gaps align closely with assure that all people have these benefits. these disparities. its communities of color. Our tree planting and tree care work in So, what can forests do to make This matters when you come to cities are carefully targeted to places America a more equitable and inclusive understand just how essential tree where underserved neighborhoods are country? It turns out a whole lot. canopy is to the safety, health and also underserved with trees. Let’s start with the troubling happiness of people in cities. But, the challenges in lower income
disparities in tree cover distribution in Consider this: areas that don’t have adequate tree BARBER EMILY PHOTOS:
2 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS
EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher Jad Daley Editorial Director Lea Sloan Managing Editor Ashlan Bonnell Contributing Editor The powerful U.S. forest sector, the sional apprenticeships and other career Michael Woestehoff opportunities with private businesses Editorial Assistant Liz Harper source of 2.4 million jobs already in like The Davey Expert Tree Company. Art Direction and Design areas like forestry and manufacturing, This is a perfect match: our com- Brad Latham munity tree planting partnerships are American Forests (ISSN 0002-8541) is published is a great way to turn trees into new quarterly by American Forests, 1220 L St. NW, based in underserved neighborhoods Suite 750 Washington, DC 20005. Periodicals jobs in rural areas. where unemployment can run 3-4 times postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address the national average. Davey, and other changes to American Forests, 1220 L St. NW, tree care companies, have thousands of Suite 750 Washington, DC 20005. cover go beyond just health and hap- jobs waiting to be filled in the currently American Forests’ mission is to restore threat- ened forest ecosystems and inspire people to piness. Economic opportunities are tight labor market. By bringing these value and protect urban and wildland forests. scarce in many of these communities, actors together, American Forests is (202) 737-1944 and people do not always have access creating a win-win for tree care com- www.americanforests.org to the right educational credentials and panies and these new workers while AMERICAN FORESTS personal networks to break into the assuring that the urban forest move- BOARD OF DIRECTORS Richard Kabat, Chair booming economy across our cities and ment will have the skilled professionals Kabat Company, Washington, DC nation more broadly. in place to care for our urban trees. Jeff Elliott, Vice Chair and Treasurer That’s why American Forests is But, it is not just urban areas where Iridian Asset Management, Westport, CT Bruce Lisman, Immediate Past Chair building on our Tree Equity campaign people are lacking economic opportuni- Private investor, Shelburne, VT with a new “Career Pathways” initiative ties. Many rural areas also have high Jad Daley, President & CEO (ex officio) to create a ladder of opportunity from unemployment and limited opportuni- American Forests, Washington, DC lower income neighborhoods into the ties for new job growth. The powerful William H. Bohnett President, Whitecap Investments LLC, urban tree care industry. U.S. forest sector, the source of 2.4 Jupiter Island, FL Powered by a generous grant from million jobs already in areas like forestry Donna Dabney The JPB Foundation, and matched and manufacturing, is a great way to turn The Conference Board, New York, NY Rod DeArment by support from Bank of America and trees into new jobs in rural areas. Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, DC other corporate funders, we are leading a Last fall’s American Forests maga- William Hazelton national initiative that links community- zine flashed this potential in action Chubb Group, New York City, NY Jeffrey Prieto based tree planting programs into profes- with our story on turning white oak Los Angeles Community College District, trees into whiskey and wine barrels. Los Angeles, CA This sustainably managed forest Elisa Rapaport Rapaport Family Charitable Trust, products business, led by our partner Rockville Centre, NY and industry leader American Stave Jonathan Silver Greenbanc Company, is an example of how rural Global, LLC, Washington, DC Robert Steinberg regions can carefully leverage their Steinberg Family Foundation, Greenwich, CT forests in sustainable and locally appro- Mary Wagner priate economic development. U.S. Forest Service (Retired), Ogden, UT David M. “Max” Williamson We know that American Forests Williamson Law + Policy, PLLC, Washington, DC can’t impact all of the forces driving inequity in America, but we see a moral imperative to do our part. The examples I have described are just a few ways we can do good for America’s forests and people in one fell swoop. Much more is to come. Thanks for your support to make it possible!
Volunteers plant trees in the Tenderloin
PHOTOS: EMILY BARBER EMILY PHOTOS: District in San Francisco in September 2018. treelines INFORMATION TO AMUSE, ENLIGHTEN AND INSPIRE
PROJECT SHOWCASE Food Forests Nurture the Community Healing the Past, Growing the Future
BY LEA SLOAN THE FOOD FOREST that was planted a few dozen enthusiastic Epsilon vol- last fall on a triangle of land in Dorches- unteers, we planted fruit trees: Asian ter is about more than trees in this pear, persimmon, medlar and hardy under-resourced area of Boston. It’s kiwi, as well as perennial strawberries about healing from the past and launch- and blueberries. ing a bright new future for Boston Pivoting on an idea as old as the dawn green spaces. of agriculture and as primal as growing With the support of our corporate what you eat and sharing it, the H.E.R.O. partners — Alliance Data and its Hope Garden (Healing, Empathy, Epsilon business, American Tower and Redemption, Oasis) will be a place for Bank of America — Ameri- neighbors to talk to neighbors as they “The project is an example of can Forests is working to plant or pick, finding commonalities that fill a critical gap in Boston’s run deeper than diversity, that are about how, when organizations come urban forestry capacity. We food and about life. together, local communities are helping local partners “When you garden and produce food become empowered. This is a incubate a new citywide from the seed that you’ve planted, there’s urban forestry nonprofit, pride in knowing that you created and garden for the community, Speak for the Trees Boston. nurtured this thing that is yours,” said by the community.... with a As recommended in the Judith Foster, community founder of the little help from their friends.” Vibrant Cities Lab’s step-by- concept of H.E.R.O. Hope Gardens, of step guide to implementing which there are now five. — DAVID MESHOULAM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER OF urban forestry, a community “We want to bring back hope to the SPEAK FOR THE TREES BOSTON must have a strong anchor community,” said Foster. “You see all the institution. An anchor orga- violence that has been going on. There’s nization convenes diverse stakeholders, a lack of hope, there’s a lack of self- advocates for sound policy, educates worth, there’s a lack of nurturing, if you the public about the value of trees, de- will. So, we are hoping to build a spot velops tree canopy data, and plants and where people can come and just reflect, maintains trees where city agencies get involved, get their hands dirty, plant cannot. While Boston has many great something and watch it grow, nurture conservation organizations — including it and repair themselves, as we repaired some focused on urban food and trees, this spot into something new.” such as the Boston Food Forests Coali- The mission of the project is on tion — there was not a single group point with American Forests’ core focused solely on tree canopy in Boston, values for urban forests work building a surprising fact for a city of its size. a national movement and in cities One of the first projects of this new like Boston, our newest Community organization saw community members ReLeaf city. This effort is bringing the come together to create a green space concept of Tree Equity to underserved on vacant land for healing, nurturing neighborhoods and building local
and health. Shoulder-to-shoulder with capacity to grow and manage Boston’s THE TREES BOSTON SPEAK FOR
4 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS Mass. State Senator Nick Collins (navy coat) and Representative Liz Miranda (red coat) joined H.E.R.O. Hope Garden founder Judith Foster (red hat) and the team to install the new garden in Dorchester.
urban tree canopy in the communi- munity strength directly empowers our growing their own food in shallow ties that are most lacking in the many customers and associates, eliminating wooden raised garden beds. But, half social, economic and environmental barriers and creating long-term eco- of the space was not being utilized. We benefits trees provide. nomic sustainability. We’re eager to see worked closely with local organiza- These values are also shared by how this transformation emboldens tions to bring to fruition their vision of Epsilon, an Alliance Data company the stability of this and surrounding planting fruit trees. The project is an based in Wakefield, Mass. As noted communities in Boston.” example of how, when organizations by Danielle Ricketts, Alliance Data’s David Meshoulam, executive come together, local communities senior corporate affairs specialist, director and co-founder of Speak for become empowered. This is a garden “Speak for the Trees’ unique approach the Trees Boston, explained, “Members for the community, by the community.... in creating a multipurpose space for of the community introduced us to this with a little help from their friends.” Dorchester residents is the kind of empty plot as a space to transform. innovative collaboration that we seek It was a foreclosed corner lot filled Lea Sloan writes from Washington, D.C., to invest in and encourage others to do with grass and rubble where local and is American Forests vice president of communications.
SPEAK FOR THE TREES BOSTON SPEAK FOR the same. We understand how com- neighborhood residents were already
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2018 | 5 treelines
PROJECT SHOWCASE CALIFORNIA is no stranger to wild- and became a staff member in 2006. fire. In the San Bernardino Mountains ReLeaf helps the community where of Southern California, one project she and her family have spent much Out of the Ashes is working hard to reforest areas that of their life, which was part of the BY LIZ HARPER were previously burnt. reason she first became involved. Nagy Mountain Communities Wildfire coordinates hundreds of volunteers for ReLeaf (ReLeaf) is administered ReLeaf’s planting events and works to by the Mojave Desert Resource secure funding each year. Conservation District (RCD) and For as long as ReLeaf has existed, works with several partners, including American Forests has been its sole funder. CalFire’s San Bernardino Unit. The In partnership with CalFire, seeds project exists to oversee the reforesta- are ordered, planting is coordinated tion of private land within the San at the Southern California Edison Bernardino Mountain communities, nursery near Fresno, and delivery particularly land affected by the bark is scheduled in the San Bernardino The diversity of trees and beetle devastation of 2003 and the Mountains. Henry Herrera, a Cal Fire wildlife in the area is an wildfires of 2003 and 2007. Over 14 forester, is the fourth such partner important aspect of the project. growing seasons, ReLeaf, CalFire Nagy has had. Herrera also does and several additional partners have environmental reviews and determines The areas where ReLeaf worked together to plant nearly where reforestation is most needed to plants are meant to become 500,000 trees. receive permission to plant from land- healthy forests and be able Cheryl Nagy, the project coordi- owners and to help organize plantings. nator for ReLeaf, was a volunteer The seedlings that are ordered are
to sustain themselves. when the project started in 2004, grown for around a year and a half in NAGY 6 AND 7: CHERYL PAGES
2015
2012
ReLeaf has had a visible impact on areas like this hillside on the Hubert Eaton Scout Reservation in the San Bernardino Mountains. As shown here by photos taken in 2012, 2015 and 2018, the trees planted by ReLeaf have thrived.
6 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS a nursery before they are sent south. checking not only that the trees have she conducts site visits, she’s able Then, the seedlings are stored in a established themselves, but that they to witness how much healthier the cooler located on Hubert Eaton Scout are able to sustain the life and the landscape is becoming thanks to the Reservation until they can be planted. environment around them,” Nagy says. work they are doing. The weather must be just right, a The seedlings that have been planted “You look at some of the areas tricky determination in an area that over the last 14 growing seasons include where we planted last year and five experiences both intense wildfires and a mix of Jeffery pines, ponderosa pines or 10 years ago and see the size of the flooding. But once it is, Cal Fire crews and sugar pines. In 2020, Douglas-fir trees; They’re amazing,” Nagy says. and volunteers gather to plant the will be added to that list. These species “We’re seeing the habitats coming seedlings. Herrera and his crews help are all carefully chosen. back. We’re seeing the birds, the demonstrate the best way to use the “We chose the species that grew squirrels, the deer, the mountain lions. given tools to plant the trees, then join in the area prior to the disaster, and They’re all coming back now.” in with volunteers to do the hard work. species that do not come back on their The diversity of trees and wildlife in own,” Herrera says. “We want to bring Liz Harper was an American Forests fall the area is an important aspect of the back a lot of the diversity and help those editorial intern and is a senior at Ohio project. The areas where ReLeaf plants trees that just aren’t reproducing.” University, studying journalism with a are meant to become healthy forests As someone who has been pres- minor in English and a specialization in and be able to sustain themselves. ent for the entire duration of the communication studies. “When we’re in the field, check- project, Nagy has a birds-eye view of ing those success rates, we’re also the project that not many do. When
2018 PAGES 6 AND 7: CHERYL NAGY 6 AND 7: CHERYL PAGES
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2018 | 7 treelines
FROM THE FIELD GREEN KINGFISHER. Altamira ori- ole. Vermillion flycatcher. Before my LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS recent trip to the southern tip of Texas for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Fes- Emily Russell, Director of Major Gifts tival, I knew these creatures merely by their vibrant names. But, having now been on my first official birding expe- dition, representing American Forests alongside my colleague Eric Sprague, director of forest conservation, I can now — somewhat — confidently spot them in their natural habitat, the Texas thornscrub forest. American Forests has intimate knowledge and experience in this ex- traordinary ecosystem, having worked in the Lower Rio Grande Valley for more than 20 years and helping to plant more than 2 million thornscrub trees over 4,266 acres. Birders have also been flocking to this area for many years; the festival celebrated its 25th anniversary this fall. American Forests helped mark the occasion by planting a tree in honor of the festival — a lasting symbol of the important connection between wildlife and their natural habitats. American Forests has placed great focus and attention on the Rio Grande Valley for good reason. With increasing human development and encroachment, the region faces many challenges of protecting its remain- ing native habitats, such as the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, where American Forests is partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and connecting critical wildlife corridors through our partnership with the local organization Friends of the Wildlife Corridor. Through this work, we can ensure our feathered friends, and other keystone species, have a place they can still call home.
Emily Russell, director of major gifts, and Eric Sprague, director of American ReLeaf, were at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in November, meeting with avian enthusiasts to discuss the crucial role of healthy forests among threatened bird species and promoting American Forests’
decades of work in this region. RUSSELL EMILY BARBER EMILY
8 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS Ian Leahy, American Forests’ director of urban forests programs, shares with Bank of America volunteers about the effects this project will have on the neighborhood.
and Baltimore Parks and Recreation came out to help create and fill planter boxes and plant trees around the block. At the center of our inspirational day was Carrollton Ridge Community As- sociation’s president, Cynthia Tensley. Cynthia has been a longtime Car- rollton Ridge resident, and it is evident she has the passion for continuing to make her neighborhood a warm and inviting space for everyone. She was happy to talk to anyone who would lis- ten about the history of the neighbor- hood and the close-knit community that has been created. The neighbors took notice of our work as well. Many of them stopped by during the planting to ask about the work we were doing. They were very grateful and are really looking forward to having an outdoor community space to gather. I left the planting physically tired, but mentally rejuvenated and inspired. Being able to interact with the resi- dents that will get to enjoy this space really inspires you to push through the fatigue and continue helping more communities like Carrollton Ridge. American Forests’ mission of creating healthy and resilient forests in cities creates benefits such as cooling the summer heat and filtering urban pol- BALTIMORE, MD. lutants. But, as I saw that morning, it Sarah Schmid, Corporate Giving Manager also creates a focal point that helps the community grow together and become even more invested in their neighbor- I RECENTLY HAD THE CHANCE As we drove through the area, I hood. I look forward helping American to help with an American Forests’ couldn’t help but notice all of the beauti- Forests continue this great work in Community ReLeaf planting in ful Baltimore rowhouses. The historic communities all over the country. Baltimore’s Carrollton Ridge neigh- architecture speaks to the culture of the borhood. Being a relatively new city, but the neighborhood was really employee at American Forests, I was lacking green space. Luckily, we had a very excited to get my hands dirty and big group to help solve that problem. see first-hand the impact our pro- More than 30 employees from
EMILY RUSSELL EMILY BARBER EMILY grams have in an urban community. American Forests, Bank of America
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2018 | 9 treelines
PARTNER PROFILE research study conducted by the Texas social and economic benefits to cities Trees Foundation to understand the across the country,” said Danielle Rick- impact of urban heat islands, which etts, senior corporate affairs specialist Alliance Data impacts metropolises, like Dallas and at Alliance Data. “We recognize that our its surrounding region, where Alliance natural environment is under increasing CORPORATE ANALYTICS and the Data’s headquarters are located. As part strain, and we’re proud to help introduce great outdoors are a new perfect pairing of broader efforts to manage urban heat Speak for the Trees into the Boston thanks to Alliance Data, a leading global island effect, Alliance Data has been market, where it’s obviously needed and provider of data-driven marketing and working to expand tree canopies in large has the potential to have a huge impact.” loyalty solutions. A leader in their indus- metropolitan areas across the country The H.E.R.O. Community Nurturing try, Alliance Data in cities, such as Garden in Dorchester is designed to be is on a mission to Dallas, Chicago, a community greenspace that connects unlock the value Columbus and San youth and adults to nature while also pro- of data to provide Francisco. viding opportunities to grow and share insights and drive efficiencies in global Through American Forests, food. The trees planted in the garden will conservation efforts. To help accomplish Alliance Data partnered with Speak contribute to a healthier environment, this goal, they decided to offset the envi- for the Trees Boston, a new nonprofit help mitigate high temperatures and ronmental impact of the company’s print dedicated to improving the tree canopy sequester carbon that would otherwise productions by partnering with Ameri- in the greater Boston area. Together, remain in the atmosphere. can Forests to plant trees in cities and the organizations collaborated to “We always want to be thoughtful large landscapes. Not only does this effort transform a formerly empty lot into about what we’re doing,” Ricketts says. make a difference for the environment, a community garden, food forest and “We don’t want to just put trees in but it also provides Alliance Data with a gathering space in Dorchester, Mass. the ground. We want to completely meaningful way to engage their associ- “Empowering organizations, like understand the full impact of where we’re ates and revitalize the communities in American Forests and Speak for the planting, what we’re planting and the which they live and work. Trees, to partner with municipalities to effects it’s going to have 10 years, 20 years, After partnering with American plan and use trees and green infrastruc- 30 years down the road, as well as the Forests in 2012, Alliance Data funded a ture in development will help deliver environmental and economic impact.”
Employees from Epsilon, an Alliance Data company based in Wakefield, Mass., joined American Forests, Speak for the Trees and members of Dorchester community nonprofits to help plant the newest H.E.R.O. Hope Garden. SIEH SAMURA
10 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS DONOR PROFILE Bruce and Carol Barge
BRUCE AND CAROL BARGE consider themselves lucky to have spent their childhoods growing up in forested, rural areas — Bruce in Minnesota and Carol in Colorado. “We took it for granted, living out in open space and nature,” Carol says. “As we’ve gotten older, we’ve realized we can’t take it for granted.” Realizing the importance of preserving forests like those they grew up in, the Barges describe their interest in conservation as “coming back to their roots.” Bruce and Carol have been American Forests Sequoia Circle members since 2014, and, being avid nature lovers, they’re also involved in other local and national environmen- tal causes. This past fall, they hosted a reception in support of American Forests at their home in Napa Valley, Calif. JOIN Conservation through tree planting appeals to Bruce and Carol and Bruce Barge at their Carol, in part, because of the home in Napa Valley, Calif., THE long-term results. accompanied by their “Planting trees is making a dog, Carly. contribution that will provide SEQUOIA benefits for decades and even centuries into the future,” Bruce says. “It produces very tangible benefits.” CIRCLE Because of its impact on future generations, Bruce advocates for more young people getting involved in conservation, for both environmental and economic reasons. He considers the field of Your annual leadership gift of conservation critical in tackling issues like climate change that $1000 or more helps American will increasingly impact people worldwide. Forests plant keystone species — like Carol exudes this same passion. In 2015, she and Bruce took the giant sequoia — and protect and part in a local effort to protect 519 mature oaks in their home- restore native forest ecosystems. town of Napa that were at risk of being removed for real estate development. Today, those oaks are still standing. Learn about the exclusive benefits for Sequoia Circle members “If you can preserve those trees rather than have a sapling at americanforests.org/sequoiacircle planted in their place, that makes a difference,” Carol says. or by contacting Emily Russell, In recent years, the Barges have become more involved in Director of Major Gifts, at conservation and want to continue that work, especially locally [email protected] in the Napa Valley and Sonoma region. or 202-370-4522. “There’s so much science around what plants and trees do to help the environment,” Carol says. “Tree planting is so straight-
MAX FORSTER MAX forward, the payoff is so immense, and that tree gives back to the
SIEH SAMURA environment for decades.”
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2018 | 11 treelines BRIAN KELLEY
ACTION CENTER sylvania, can meet their forest buffer goals — planting 900 miles of forested A New Congress and Recent buffers a year — in partnership with the federal government. Legislative Victories The bill also sparks innovation. There are key provisions from the Timber Innovation Act, that will THE START OF A NEW CONGRESS, The bill also delivers conservation provide funds for research and devel- like the start of the new year, is an results on private forestlands in criti- opment of wood-building construction important time to count blessings and cal conservation areas, by increasing as well as wood innovation grants. dream big for the coming year. investments in outcomes-oriented Additionally, it reauthorizes authorities The 116th Congress began on the public-private projects through the directing U.S. Forest Service and state heels of a remarkable legislative success Regional Conservation Partnership counterparts to tackle forest health, in December: the 2018 Farm Bill passed Program (RCPP). This program wildfire and drinking water protection. with strong bipartisan support and provides funding to conservation Simply put, this legislation is a brings important federal tools and re- groups and farmers to work together win-win for Americans and America’s sources to strengthen America’s forests. to cut pollution and improve forests. The challenge for the new This legislation will create jobs and water quality, in part by restoring Congress is to tackle the issues that timber, restore water quality and improve forested lands. this bill did not address. At American wildlife habitat by investing in collabora- It also focuses new attention on Forests, we are dreaming big. We see a tive approaches to managing our national forested buffers — which are critical future where resilient, healthy forests forests through the Collaborative Forest for water quality — thanks to Senator thrive. To get there we need to signifi- Landscape Restoration Program (CFL- Robert Casey of Pennsylvania and his cantly increase the federal commitment RP). Previously, the CFLRP reached commitment to making the Conserva- to address pest and disease infestation, its authorized funding cap, so no new tion Reserve Enhancement Program rebuild stronger forests across the projects could be added. This provision work better for landowners. These country, and ensure our forests are a doubles the allowed spending cap to $80 improvements will establish a new part of a climate solution. With the million a year and extends the program level of transparency and account- support — and voices — of members like authorization for five more years. ability and ensure states, like Penn- you, we will succeed!
12 | WINTER/SPRING 2018 AMERICAN FORESTS CHAMPION TREE SHOWCASE Noble fir
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Abies procera LOCATION: Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Wash. NOMINATED: 1999 NOMINATED BY: Dr. Robert Van Pelt HEIGHT: 251.67 feet CIRCUMFERENCE: 316 inches CROWN SPREAD: 44 feet TOTAL POINTS: 579
DID YOU KNOW? Noble firs are high-altitude trees native to the Cascade Range and Coast Range mountains of the northwest. Trees that are a fraction of this champion’s age are popular
BRIAN KELLEY choices for Christmas trees.
PLANT A SEED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS AND INCLUDE AMERICAN FORESTS IN YOUR ESTATE PLANS.
Our Evergreen Society members are lifelong friends who, through their wills, trusts, retirement plans or life insurance, help American Forests plant legacies, one tree at a time.
Learn more about the Evergreen Society by visiting americanforests.org/EvergreenSociety or by contacting Jennifer Broome, Vice President of Philanthropy, at [email protected] or 202.370.4513.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2018 AF_Evergreen-Society-Ad_1.indd 1 10/23/18 1:06 | PM 13 A Wolverine Revival BY PAULA MACKAY ZACHARY WINTERS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY
14 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS ON THE EVE OF THE 2015 SUPER BOWL, five words, like five toes, made an indelible track in the landscape of my mind. Easy Pass trap just triggered. Let the wolverine games begin. I received the text from U.S. Forest Service biologist John Rohrer, who had been live-trapping wolverines in Washington’s northern Cascade Range every winter since 2006. Over the past decade, he and Scott Fitkin — a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife — had captured 14 individuals in the rugged Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. A Wolverine Revival They equipped each wolverine with a satellite telemetry collar, allowing modern technology to record the movements of these athletic carnivores through some of the wildest terrain in the Lower 48. Scientifically, the North Cascades Wolverine Study put wolverines back on the map of the Pacific region, with fur trappers having erased them by the early 1900s. Now the collaring project was
John Rohrer coming to an end. And examines a so were my chances of wolverine captured on meeting a wolverine Super Bowl
ZACHARY WINTERS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY Sunday, 2015. face-to-face.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 15 A Wolverine Revival
My husband, Robert Long, and I had ventured east over the mountains from Seattle in hopes of actually seeing one of the wolverines we study with noninvasive (non-capture-based) tech- niques. We knew the odds weren’t in our favor; we’d be in Eastern Washington for only a few days, and Rohrer and Fitkin had yet to work up a wolverine this season. Fortunately for us, their luck was about to change. Just before dawn on Super Bowl Sunday, we rendezvoused at Fitkin’s home in the Methow Valley, where a layer of fresh powder muffled the surrounding forest. I could hear my teeth Cathy Raley and John Rohrer converse chattering in the morning quiet, probably more at the Easy Pass trap site. because of nervousness than the penetrating cold. During snow-free months, the jaw-drop- pingly scenic drive between the valley and the Easy Pass trailhead takes about an hour. But from Map depicts sample late November into May, much of this stretch of activity areas for the North Cascades Highway is closed to auto- Seated on the rear of Rohrer’s snowmobile, collared wolverines in the North mobiles due to dangerous avalanches. I winced at the sight of the first avalanche slide Cascades. In other words, welcome to wolverine country. looming just ahead. We dismounted our machines to assess the situation: the slope was a steeply angled sea of giant, glacier-blue snowballs, creating a surface so slippery I had to walk on all fours. Fitkin, however, was characteristically undaunted. Riding solo, he revved his engine hard and started to climb up, up, up the slide until — uh oh — he was coming back down, in reverse. “Didn’t expect so much ice,” Fitkin said with a calm grin as he arrived by our side. We shoveled out a route for our sleds and were on our way again. As we were crowning the second slide, a snow- mobile appeared from the opposite direction. The driver, part of Rohrer’s crew, had been sent out earlier to see who or what had triggered the trap. “It’s a wolverine,” he yelled over the roar of our motors. Robert edged his sled in next to ours and gave me a high five. Another half hour and we were trudging through the Easy Pass parking lot toward the nearby trap. Sounds like a lion, I thought to myself as we approached the wooden box — the wolver- ine’s low rumble resonating through the ground. The box was sturdy enough for a lion, too, con- structed from logs much thicker than my thigh. Rohrer and Fitkin hoisted the trap’s door just enough to allow Forest Service wildlife biologist Cathy Raley to peek in with a flashlight, which already bore toothmarks from a feisty wolverine. Raley said the marks were made by Logan, a subadult male captured three times during winter
2013–14. At the first capture, in December, the team ZOO PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT ABOVE: SERVICE; FOREST U.S. RALEY, CATHY LEFT: OF FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT JEFF HEINLEN, WASHINGTON
16 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS LEFT: CATHY RALEY, U.S. FOREST SERVICE; ABOVE: ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO
JEFF HEINLEN, WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE wolverine capture (Melanie). processing thestudy’s first Keith Aubry in2006, FACING PAGE: PAULA MACKAY; TOP RIGHT: ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO; BOTTOM RIGHT: JOHN ROHRER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST JOHN ROHRER, U.S. RIGHT: BOTTOM ZOO; PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT RIGHT: TOP MACKAY; PAULA PAGE: FACING
18 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS A Wolverine Revival
noted several puncture wounds to Logan’s head and body, apparently inflicted by another wolverine. By March, his wounds had healed completely. “No collar, and this isn’t Logan,” Raley pro- nounced, two fiery orbs peering back at her from inside the box. Raley could identify previously captured wolverines based on their distinctive chest and throat patterns; she’d perused thousands of photos since initiating the collaring project with research wildlife biologist Keith Aubry in 2005. Aubry, now an emeritus scientist at the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, had observed a slow but steady increase in reli- able wolverine reports from the North Cascades beginning in the mid-1990s — piquing his inter- est as an expert in rare carnivores. “We had evidence of wolverine occurrence, but we had no idea about the status of their population,” says Aubry. “Here was an opportunity to learn about an elusive and little-known carnivore.” Gazing through the trap’s doorway, I could make out the weaselly form of a wolverine — smaller than I’d pictured given the animal’s larger-than-life reputation. Though wolverines are the second largest member of the mustelid family (surpassed only by sea otters), they typically weigh less than 40 pounds. This individual, another male, looked to be no bigger than your average border collie. But wolverines are notoriously tough for their modest stature and are known to Above: A wolverine visits a camera defend their food from station paired with more sizeable predators, a scent dispenser. including gray wolves and Left: Special K visits a camera grizzlies. Fittingly, Rohrer station in 2016. and Fitkin planned to call Facing page: Robert our visitor “Lynch” if he was Long deploys a scent dispenser in new to the study, in honor the North Cascades. of Seattle Seahawks legend Marshawn Lynch. Next, we went into full MASH mode. The experienced crew carved a makeshift operating table out of snow and erected a tarp overhead for cover. Then, the always- Tracking collar and ear tags? Check. Data forms? respectful Rohrer gave us a pep talk about safety Check. We were ready to roll. Rohrer sedated the and inclusiveness before running through his wolverine with a jab stick, and gently lifted him
FACING PAGE: PAULA MACKAY; TOP RIGHT: ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO; BOTTOM RIGHT: JOHN ROHRER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST JOHN ROHRER, U.S. RIGHT: BOTTOM ZOO; PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT RIGHT: TOP MACKAY; PAULA PAGE: FACING checklist one final time. Medical supplies?Check . to the snow-table about 10 minutes later. From
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 19 A Wolverine Revival
this moment forward, I felt like I was the one deeply immersed in a dream. Sprawled out before me was the most iconic wan- derer of the wild north. The wolverine’s huge feet, designed to carry him across frozen landscapes in search of food and mates, were equipped with crampon-like claws — essential tools for scavenging carcasses in hard-packed snow. His long, burly body, which measured nearly 45 inches from nose to bushy tail, was insulated with dense, dark brown fur, complemented by lighter lateral stripes “And how do I do that?” I asked the research along each of his sides. Combined with his broad assistant who was giving me instructions. head and short, rounded ears, the animal’s stocky “We have plenty of Vaseline,” he replied. frame evoked that of a small bear, for which wolver- I watched Rohrer examine the wolverine’s ines are often mistaken when seen from a distance. formidable teeth and jaw, capable of cracking the But most striking of all was the wolverine’s smell femur of an elk as though it were a pretzel stick. — a powerful muskiness that permeated the air and “Broken incisor and a well-worn canine — not a settled into my nasal passages. Even when I went to young animal,” he said. Also, not an animal you’d Top right: The bed that night, my fingers still held the scent. want to upset with a rectal thermometer. wolverine's paw For the next 45 minutes, my assignment was I glanced at my clock: time for my first read- is designed for long-distance travel to check the vital signs of the sedated wolverine ing. After placing the stethoscope’s eartips into on snow and ice. while others assessed his health and tailored my ears, I positioned its chest piece along the Below: The author his tracking gear. In addition to monitoring his fold of the creature’s hairy armpit. There it was: monitors the heartbeat of the heartbeat, I would have to keep a close eye on his the heartbeat of a wolverine, not all that different sedated wolverine. body temperature. from my own. I counted 32 beats in 15 seconds — within normal bounds. But his temperature was slightly elevated at 102.4°F. “Pack some snowballs around his groin area,” somebody suggested. I scraped slush from the ground and whispered, “Sorry, buddy,” as I proceeded to cool down my patient. Before I knew it, Rohrer was carrying the wol- verine back to the box, his neck newly adorned with a telemetry collar. Now, there was little for us to do but wait for him to sleep it off. For the next two hours we stood around in the snow, chatting about football and wolverines and the universe in between.
“Go baby, go!” The relief on Rohrer’s face mir- rored my own as the revived wolverine leapt from the open trap and ran into the forest. The process had gone like clockwork and our captive was
free. Miraculously, we had even finished in time SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY THIS PAGE: MACKAY PAULA
20 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS Wolverines require persistent spring snow for their reproductive dens in the North Cascades.
to make it back to Fitkin’s house for the second animals came from British Columbia. Their half of the Super Bowl. Turns out we had a much return is good news from a conservation perspec- better day than the Seahawks, who infamously tive, as the Cascade Range once again hosts all passed the ball rather than letting Marshawn of its native carnivores — save the grizzly bear, Lynch run it with only one yard to go for the which is the focus of an winning touchdown. The pass was intercepted active recovery plan. by the Patriots. To date, three successful Sprawled out before Lynch lost out on the wolverine-naming front, reproductive dens have been me was the most iconic also. Our photos confirmed that the animal we’d documented in the state — trapped had already been dubbed Special K when two in the North Cascades wanderer of the wild north. he was first (and last) captured by the project and one further south in The wolverine’s huge feet, in February 2012. The team couldn’t collar him the William O. Douglas back then because he didn’t respond sufficiently Wilderness near Mount designed to carry him across to the sedative. Special K was photographed by a Rainier. Indeed, wolverines remote camera in the summer of 2012, and then are definitely on the move, frozen landscapes in search disappeared until Super Bowl Sunday. with multiple animals of food and mates, were Rohrer and Fitkin ended up trapping Special confirmed west of the crest K five more times that winter, at three widely and at least three adults now equipped with crampon- distributed sites. The tenacious wolverine was occupying Washington’s like claws — essential tools apparently no worse for the wear. His telem- southern Cascades region. etry data revealed that his activity area from To get there from the north, for scavenging carcasses in March–December 2015 was a remarkable 1,000 they had to cross Interstate mi2—not quite breaing the (2010) record set by 90 near Snoqualmie Pass, a hard-packed snow. his presumed father, Rocky, at 1,155 mi2. That’s 15-mile section of which is about the size of Yosemite National Park. being retrofitted with wildlife crossing structures. Genetic tests of hair and tissue samples col- Tragically, this critical mitigation comes too late lected from Special K and other wolverines who for a 37-pound male wolverine who was killed by
THIS PAGE: ZACHARY WINTERS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY THIS PAGE: MACKAY PAULA have recolonized Washington suggest that these a vehicle on I-90 in June 2018.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 21 A Wolverine Revival
Despite the wolverine population’s ongoing expansion, our research community remains cau- tious about the future, which holds no guarantees for a wide-ranging, snow-dependent carnivore. “People are so excited that wolverines are back,” says Raley, “but we don’t know if they’re going to stay.” Raley worries that the narrow north-south band of wolverine habitat in the Cascades is vulnerable to development and disturbance given Washington’s rapid growth and the increasing number of people keen to live or play in the mountains. Climate change is another wild card for wol- verines. Throughout North America, wolverines require persistent spring snow for their repro- Special K prepares to exit the Easy Pass trap. ductive dens. Scientific models predict reduced snowpack and earlier spring snowmelt in the
AMERICAN RELEAF PRIORITY ECOSYSTEMS
NORTHERN ROCKIES AND CASCADES
Since 1990, American Forests has planted 6.6 million trees in the Northern Rockies and Cascades.
Since 1990, American Forests has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to plant 630,000 whitebark pine (the highest-elevation pine found in the Northern Rockies and Cascades) across more than 2,550 acres in the U.S. and Canada — accounting for more than 40 percent of all whitebark pine restoration since 2006.
American Forests also contributes to research on the implications of climate change, water supply benefits and direct seeding, supported cone collections, and the sowing of rust-resistant seedlings in nurseries in this region.
In 2013, American Forests helped the U.S. Forest Service remove and reforest 3 miles of forest roads along LeClerc Creek in the Colville National Forest. This project improved core habitat recovery areas for three endangered or at-risk species: grizzly bear, woodland caribou, and bull trout. Canada lynx have also been sighted in the area. TOP: PAULA MACKAY; BOTTOM: ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT BOTTOM: MACKAY; PAULA TOP: TOP LEFT: ZACHARY WINTERS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY LEFT: TOP
22 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS Robert Long (left) and Keith Aubry working in the field in the North Cascades.
decades to come, leading the U.S. Fish and Wild- promise to be a game-changer for our monitoring life Service to propose listing wolverines in the efforts in the Cascades and were recently used in Lower 48 as threatened under the Endangered a multi-state wolverine survey conducted across Species Act (a final determination is pending.) Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Some people wonder why climate change is And Special K? As far as we know, he contin- a concern for wolverines in Washington if their ues to roam the North Cascades, having last been population — presently estimated at 25–50 photographed in 2016. Maybe he even has kits animals — is growing. Aubry points out that the out there somewhere — carrying his genes into current recolonization event and global climate the future and trying to fill the void created by change are operating in two very different time humans in the not-too-distant past. frames and warns that climate change will impinge on wolverines before the end of the Paula MacKay is a freelance writer, field biologist century if existing trends continue. and communications consultant for conservation. “One of the ways they could wink out is if they For the past two decades, she has studied wild become isolated from their source population, predators with her husband, Robert Long, with and then you have inbreeding depression and whom she co-edited “Noninvasive Survey Methods other potential population problems,” Aubry says. for Carnivores” (Island Press, 2008). Meanwhile, with the 10-year collaring study now complete, we are exploring ways to monitor Washington’s wolverines over the long-term. Remote cameras, coupled with hair-snagging devices, provide a cost-effective means to survey animals across vast areas like the Cascades — though wolverines are much more likely to frequent baited stations in winter, when it’s difficult or impossible for researchers to access stations for rebaiting. To help address this problem, Robert got creative in his role as a senior conservation scientist with Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. He collaborated with wildlife biologist Joel Sauder (Idaho Fish and Game) and engineers at Microsoft Research to develop an automated The author takes scent dispenser that releases a programmed to the trail in wolverine country, amount of liquid lure on a daily basis, eliminating North Cascades. TOP: PAULA MACKAY; BOTTOM: ROBERT LONG, WOODLAND PARK ZOO PARK WOODLAND LONG, ROBERT BOTTOM: MACKAY; PAULA TOP: TOP LEFT: ZACHARY WINTERS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE FOREST WINTERS, U.S. ZACHARY LEFT: TOP the need for winter revisits. The scent dispensers
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 23 The Other Champion Trees BY WHIT BRONAUGH
24 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS IN AMERICAN FORESTS’ NATIONAL CHAMPION TREE PROGRAM, size isn’t everything: It’s the only thing. By definition, every adult tree, champion or not, is at least 13 feet tall. Even the tallest human has to look up to the smallest tree. It’s no wonder that their size is what strikes us first. But, there are many other 1,500 superlatives that can be celebrated years old without using a measuring tape or craning our necks. The approximate age of The National Champion Rocky Mountain juniper, located in Cache National Forest in Utah.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 25 While Methuselah may be the oldest, pictured here is the National Champion Intermountain bristlecone pine.
THE OLDEST TREE rings to a hundredth of an inch or less each year Our fascination with big trees runs deeper than (although, with global warming, it has grown faster height, girth and crown spread. Trees grow continu- in the last 50 years than ever before). Under more ously throughout their lives, so bigger trees are favorable conditions, most trees grow much faster, usually older trees. Their longevity demands our but which one is the champion of speedy growth? respect, awe and humility. While most canopy trees outlive the oldest humans, some trees live to be truly THE FASTEST GROWING TREE ancient. Peter Brown, Director of Rocky Moun- The General Sherman giant sequoia is often touted tain Tree-Ring Research, has tabulated 15 North as the fastest growing tree because each year it adds American tree species, all conifers, that can live more than 1,000 years. Foxtail pine, coast redwood, Rocky Mountain bristlecone 2,833 BCE pine and western juniper can live into their 2,000s, and the oldest giant sequoia lived Year in which to the exceedingly ripe old age of 3,266. But, Methuselah sprouted, there is one tree that far outlasts them all. the oldest living tree The oldest living tree in the world is Methuselah, an intermountain bristlecone in the world. pine that sprouted in the White Mountains of California during the Early Bronze Age around 2,833 BCE. This champion survivor was already 1,000 years old before the last woolly mammoth died, before we domesticated horses and before we invented the alphabet. The Ancient One, as it is referred to, turned 2,000 during the Iron Age, 3,000 during the reign of Roman
Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and 4,000 The General during the construction of Notre-Dame in Paris. Sherman giant Methuselah’s 4,851 annual rings, covering 64,870 sequoia is often touted as the full moons and more than 1.7 million sunrises, fastest growing encompass all of written human history. Imagine tree because what Methuselah would say if it could talk. each year it adds three-quarters of The cold, dry conditions of the White Moun- a ton of wood.
tains severely limit the growth of Methuselah’s NOTED OTHERWISE UNLESS WHIT BRONAUGH BY ALL PHOTOGRAPY STANG J. DAVID BY RIGHT, TOP INSET PHOTO,
26 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS The Other Champions
three-quarters of a ton of wood. But, that’s absolute THE HARDEST WOOD growth. Whether it’s people or trees, we are most Most of the growth of a tree eventually becomes impressed by growth relative to one’s size, usually wood that serves as the support structure for measured in the upward direction. the living tissues. The strength of a tree, and the According to the Guinness Book of World properties of its wood, depend largely Records, the fastest upwardly growing tree in upon the wood’s density. To establish a America may be the naturalized royal paulownia, champion of wood density the standard a native of China. It can grow as much as 20 feet in procedure is to compare woods with 4,500 lbf its first year under ideal conditions. Its super power, the Janka hardness test. Place a steel shared with only a handful of the 60,000 tree species ball, 11.28 millimeters in diameter, onto The Janka hardness in the world, is its use of C4 (instead of C3) carbon the wood and press down until half the of the rough bark fixation. This modification of photosynthesis uses ball is embedded (making a circle with carbon dioxide more efficiently so that the stomata an area of 100 square millimeters). The lignum-vitae — the — those little pores on leaves used for gas exchange pounds of force (lbf) required to make hardest wood — can remain closed longer, thus saving water so the hemispherical indentation in the in America. important to growth. wood is its Janka hardness value. Among American native trees, the poplars and The hardest wood in America, and cottonwoods stand out with a growth potential of fourth hardest in the world, is found up to 8 feet per year, depending on the species and in the rough bark lignum-vitae, a small growing conditions. No wonder hybrids of these tropical tree that extends north into trees were chosen by tree farmers — they can turn a the Florida Keys. It has a Janka hard- profit in little more than a decade. The rapid growth ness of 4,500 lbf, about three to four of cottonwoods is also evident in the National times harder than most oaks. Second Register of Champion Trees: the Fremont, eastern, place goes to desert ironwood at 3,260 black and plains cottonwood champions are among lbf. This Sonoran Desert tree has wood that the 11 largest broadleaf champions in America, even is likely twice as hard as any wooden floor you’ve though cottonwoods only live about a century. walked on.
Left: National Champion Rio Grande cottonwood, pictured here, boasts a circumference of 352.2 inches, a height of 115 feet and a crown spread of 80 feet. Right: The success of the rapidly-growing cottonwood is evident in the National Register of Champion Trees, including this champion black
ALL PHOTOGRAPY BY WHIT BRONAUGH UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED OTHERWISE UNLESS WHIT BRONAUGH BY ALL PHOTOGRAPY STANG J. DAVID BY RIGHT, TOP INSET PHOTO, cottonwood.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 27 Coulter pines have the heaviest cones, weighing more than 8 pounds.
28 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS The Other Champions
While the coconut is the biggest tree fruit, Giant sequoias have the slender fruit pods of the northern catalpa, the thickest bark, pictured here, can be twice as long. measuring up to 2 feet.
THE HEAVIEST WOOD diameter, look-out-below coconut, although the As you might expect, the hardest woods are very slender fruit pods of the northern catalpa can be heavy, but the correlation is not perfect. Desert twice as long. Among conifers, sugar pines have the ironwood does come in second in the weight longest cones (up to 23 inches), and Coulter pines category at 75.4 pounds per cubic foot. However, have the heaviest (more than 8 pounds), while the champion heaviest wood is that of the aptly giant sequoias have the thickest bark (up to 2 feet). named leadwood, found in southern and eastern Florida. The biggest one is only 30 feet tall and 2 THE NORTHERNMOST TREE feet in diameter, but its wood is 84.5 pounds per Trees can generally grow as far east, west or south cubic foot. That’s more than 35 percent heavier as the continent extends but in the north there is a than water, so you’ll want to pick a different tree if limit that few trees can reach, and none surpass. you need to make a raft.
THE LARGEST LEAF, FLOWER AND FRUIT SIZE You wouldn’t have much of a tree without a lot of wood holding it up, but you wouldn’t have any wood without leaves to make the food that grows the wood, flowers to reproduce the tree, fruits to dis- perse the seeds, and bark to protect the living cam- bium. The champion of leaf size is the coconut palm with fronds up to 18 feet long. Florida royal palm leaves are not far behind, relative to most trees, with 12-foot leaves. The tree with the biggest simple leaf (not divided into leaflets like the compound leaves of palm, hickory or ash) is the bigleaf magnolia with leaves up to 36 inches long and 12 inches wide. Bigleaf magnolia also has the biggest flower of any
North American tree or plant, with blossoms a Coconut palm trees boast both the largest leaf size and the largest fruit. foot in diameter. The biggest tree fruit is the 1-foot
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 29 This treeline is located at roughly 12,000 feet above sea level in the Sawatch Range in Colorado.
Winter cold, however, is not the problem. More Peninsula in the extreme northwestern corner of than a handful of tree species thrive in the region the Northwest Territories, but isolated clumps of of Snag, Yukon Territory, Canada, which holds the small trees may be found at a similar latitude north lowest recorded tempera- of the Brooks Range in Alaska. About a dozen tree genetically ture in North America at species are found in these areas although the only -80°F. Trees endure such ones to reach tree size are tamarack, white and 40,000 identical trunks bitter cold with special black spruce, balsam poplar, quaking aspen and chemicals that cause water Alaska paper birch. to freeze into a glass-like Which of these is the champion northernmost 106 acres solid (a process called tree? Tree-sized white spruce have been found vitrification, if you want to within a few miles of the Beaufort Sea in northern sound impressive). This Yukon Territory. But according to the renowned prevents the formation of Arctic ecologist, E. C. Pielou, balsam poplar is the 6,600 tons deadly ice crystals that can most northern tree. If so, it wouldn’t look like much puncture cell walls. next to the 421-point champion in Sequim, Wash., year old Instead, the northern but it would be a champion survivor out on the 80,000 root system limit of tree growth is northern edge of what is possible for trees. Which- largely determined by sum- ever is the true northernmost champion, its reign These are some of the eye-popping mer cold that restricts pho- won’t be for long as global warming pushes treeline tosynthesis and growth to northward. If you don’t require the champion statistics attributed to the quaking less than 10 weeks. Beyond northernmost tree to actually be tree-sized, then the aspen called The Pando, or Trembling the northern treeline, all crown goes to feltleaf willow. The biggest specimen, available energy has to be in Thompson Pass, Mich., is only 91 points, but, as a Giant, located near Fish Lake in Utah. put into leaves, which make shrub, its range extends to the north side of Banks the food, and roots, which Island, some 530 miles north of the Arctic Circle. store the food. There’s little left over to make wood Of course, the growing season problem of to support a taller plant, so the “trees” are restricted northern treeline is mirrored in the high elevations to the stature of shrubs. Treeline in North America of mountains. Since treeline is higher at lower reaches its most northern point on the Tuktoyaktuk latitudes, the highest growing trees in the U.S. are
30 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS The Other Champions
found in Colorado and the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The champion is out there, blasted into a twisted, stunted form, just 12,000 feet above sea level. It could be an Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir or Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine in Colorado, or a foxtail, whitebark or limber pine in the Sierra Nevada. The challenge to find it is yours.
THE TREE COVERING THE LARGEST GEOGRAPHICAL AREA An individual tree’s success may be measured by its size, age or number of offspring. But, the success of a tree’s species is measured by its population size and geographic distribution. The champion Ameri- can tree for geographic area, and possibly number of individuals, is the quaking aspen. It ranges from Alaska to Newfoundland, Canada, covering 110 degrees of longitude (nine time zones), and from north of the Arctic Circle to central Mexico, some 49 degrees of latitude. That’s more than half the distance between the equator and the north pole. Quaking aspen not only covers more of the globe than any other North American tree, it also represents a challenge to the crowns of both General Sherman and Methuselah. Perhaps you’ve heard of Pando (meaning ‘I spread out’), also called the Trembling Giant. This individual, but clonal, quaking aspen, composed of about 40,000 genetically identical trunks all connected by a vast root system, grows near Fish Lake in Utah and covers 106 acres. At an estimated 6,600 tons, it is nearly five times heavier, and bigger in volume, than General Sherman. And, its root system may be 80,000 years old, making it 16 times older than Methuselah! If that age is correct, Pando began its life right around the time our Homo sapiens ances- tors first left Africa, when we still shared the planet with other human species.
There are many other superlatives of trees one could consider to recognize additional champi- ons. Which is the most huggable? The most beau- tiful? The most inspirational? The most loved? A matter of opinion, you say? Exactly. So, get out there, whether into the back of beyond or your own backyard, and based on the superlative of trees that inspires you the most, find and crown your own champion tree.
Whit Bronaugh is a nature enthusiast, author, photographer, scientist and educator. He recently Top and bottom: The largest American tree for geographic area, and possibly completed his first novel, “The Amazon Triangle.” number of individuals, is the quaking aspen.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 31 SEEKING ANCIENT
Navigating the swampy waters of western Tennessee BY JESSICA DIXON DAVID HAGGARD DAVID MARK BABB, owner of Ghost River Outfitters, hoists my kayak up the muddy bank, avoiding the exposed roots of a downed tree. I stand up and steady myself on a branch as he pulls the kayak around the tangle of roots and back into the Wolf River, a Mis- sissippi tributary, completing the portage with routine ease. A na- tive Memphian, he has paddled this river all his life. Babb and a friend, both fire- fighters, founded Ghost River Outfitters in 2004. For years, they’d get off work at the fire department and spend a day on the river, often venturing into their favorite part of the Wolf: The Ghost River Section. Friends kept asking to join, so they’d buy another boat. “Word just got out,” Babb says. “People would call, and if we were available, we’d drive up.” Ghost River Outfitters still operates by word-of-mouth, now run mostly by Babb and his son, attracting people like me who crave wild spaces. The Ghost River Section, a nearly nine-mile stretch of river from LaGrange to Moscow, Tenn., spans five ecosystems, and my excitement grows with each bend in the river. Yager Bridge — the put-in point in LaGrange — spans an The trees at Reelfoot Lake upland forest populated by oak, are fully leafed from May
DAVID HAGGARD DAVID through September. hickory and ash.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 33 SEEKING ANCIENT CYPRESS
The Ghost River Section is not a journey for It is a Tuesday, and we are alone on the river. The novice paddlers. Locals have traversed this stretch outfitters here are family-owned, and they share a of the Wolf for generations, but in the 1990s, Wolf sense of responsibility for this pristine part of the River Conservancy members installed trail markers river, which escaped channelization. to help adventurers who suddenly find themselves “A lot of paddling has a reputation for partying, in a river turned swamp. but we cater to more experienced paddlers who respect and appreciate nature,” Babb says. So far, there’s no need for strict regulations or The cypress swamp itself has remained untouched, but other parts of the river did not enforcement — the Conservancy, outfitters and local escape human impact. “I could tell you,” Babb says, “as soon as 20 geocachers and canoe clubs treat this other-worldly years ago, it was not uncommon for me to pass place like a beloved community elder, worthy of people on the bridges with their pickup trucks
full of trash, throwing it into the river and waving DIXON JESSICA PAGE: AND ON FACING BELOW PHOTOS respect and some help with yard work. because they didn’t think anything of it. You don’t
Gafford leads Dixon into the Ghost River Section: an eerily beautiful cypress swamp.
34 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS Left: Cypress knees, a symbol of the swamp, provide a unique obstacle for kayakers. Below: Spirit Lake, a currentless expanse, lies on the far side of the Ghost River Section. PHOTOS BELOW AND ON FACING PAGE: JESSICA DIXON JESSICA PAGE: AND ON FACING BELOW PHOTOS
see that anymore. This effort to clean up the river and let it restore itself has changed a lot of people’s attitudes.” So far, there’s no need for strict regulations or enforcement — the Conservancy, outfitters and local geocachers and canoe clubs treat this other- worldly place like a beloved community elder, worthy of respect and some help with yard work. “My fear is one day we may lose that and have to come up with regulation that can be enforced to pro- tect it, because it’s too easy to damage,” Babb says.
To help me understand the ecosystem, Babb has invited along Jim Gafford, a white-bearded river guide with the Conservancy, which has been protecting this area since the mid-1980s, saving it from a logging attempt in 1995. I ask how Gafford became involved with the Conservancy, and he brushes aside the esteem woven into my question. “I had always been active in volunteering and paddling,” Gafford says. “So, in 2011, when I saw an advertisement for river guides with the Wolf River
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 35 SEEKING ANCIENT CYPRESS
Conservancy — and they “I grew up in Memphis,” enticed me with beer and Babb says, “and just like pizza — I just showed up, and I have not regretted it.” most Memphians, what we Gafford paddles his used to take for granted — one-person canoe ahead of me, drifting just past earshot you could just drive out in and waiting for me to catch up, telling me about this land the country and camp and he so clearly loves. He points enjoy nature — became less out Virginia sweetspire due to bloom later this year, motions and less available. Now, to an old maple with its rose- we just have tiny pieces colored seed pods hanging like a delicate chandelier where we can do that.” above our heads, and I sense he would be equally happy greeting these familiar friends alone. He is utterly self-sufficient in his conversation with the river, and I am lucky to listen. After a granola bar pit-stop around mile four or five, the river banks start to drop, urging flood waters to overflow their channel and saturate the wooded land on either side. Here, in the bottomland or Below: The bald wetland forest, we begin to see water-loving species cypress growing in Reelfoot Lake have like American hornbeam, catalpa, sycamores, river stood their ground birches and the tree I’ve traveled to see: bald cypress. since a series The first cypress trees, with their knobby of earthquakes flooded the forest knees poking above the water’s surface, thrill me, in 1811-1812. hinting at what is to come.
Only one of those channels will lead us where we want to go: the cypress swamp. “I grew up in Memphis,” Babb says, “and just like most Memphians, what we used to take for granted — you could just drive out in the country and camp and enjoy nature — became less The river’s left bank begins to fall away, and and less available. Now, we just have tiny pieces chutes extend into the forest. where we can do that.” “If you pick the wrong chute,” Gafford says, We continue paddling toward what looks like “that eventually gets to dry land, and you won’t a dead end surrounded by tall grasses. A small, have a way out. The river just kind of disappears hand-painted sign instructs us to “Turn Here.”
unless you hit the right areas.” We do, entering the swamp with hushed voices, HAGGARD DAVID ABOVE: DIXON; JESSICA LEFT: HAGGARD DAVID RIGHT: FAR
36 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS Left: Sunrise at one of Reelfoot Lake State Park's fishing piers. Below: Strong winds and rapidly dropping temperatures combine to create these dramatic ice formations, which typically appear for a brief time in winter.
hearing only the lapping against our boats, our paddles breaking the water’s surface. Tall grasses and spatterdock open into a vast, disorienting maze of bald cypress trees, their knees bumping the sides of my kayak as I steer around wide trunks and thin branches just starting to push their needles. With innumer- able channels and the eerie cypress silhouettes, I A blue heron navigates the sky more grace- understand how the Ghost River Section earned fully than I steer my kayak, landing in the swamp its name. These bald cypress and water tupelo are with us, just out of sight. I ask what wildlife Babb likely hundreds of years old; their bases fan out and Gafford usually see along the river: herons, near the water’s surface, several feet lower than fish, turtles, otter, water snakes. Sometimes a
LEFT: JESSICA DIXON; ABOVE: DAVID HAGGARD DAVID ABOVE: DIXON; JESSICA LEFT: HAGGARD DAVID RIGHT: FAR the high-water mark indicated on their trunks. deer. The bald eagles are coming back.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 37 The next day, I drive from Memphis to Reelfoot Lake, two hours northeast of the city. Reelfoot Lake formed when earthquakes in 1811-12 caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards, flooding a bottomland cypress forest. Though it has 14,000 acres of boatable water, the lake is shallow — only five feet deep — and covers remnants of a sunken forest dotted with ancient Native American ceremonial mounds. The lake’s shoreline is rimmed by trees; some of the big pre-quake trees are 300-500 years old. A handful of cypress stand in the lake, gnarled and stunted, still alive but no bigger than they were in 1812. Much of the Mississippi River floodplain was turned into farmland, so Reelfoot Lake provides a portal to the days before development. Most of the land around the lake is a wildlife refuge; 244 acres are state park land. Ranger Jerry Hall drives Top: While not After about half an hour of tricky paddling, me around the lake in a small pontoon boat — the on their historic we emerge into Spirit Lake, a still expanse Atlantian forest of tree stumps beneath the surface migration route, pelicans have surrounded by cypress and tupelo casting stark precludes speed boats and jet skis. visited Reelfoot reflections on the water. With no current to help Before we set out on the pontoon, Hall received Lake for about us along, I start to find the edge of comfort, laying a call about a wounded bald eagle. With around 35 the last 15 years. Bottom: The my paddle across my lap to rest my wrists. By the active nests, they often field such calls. pelicans' new far side of the lake, I am grateful for the swiftest “How do you catch a bald eagle?” I ask. migratory route current yet, funneling the water into a channel Hall pauses, his expression wry: “We got big thick now brings them to Reelfoot each once more, flanked by grassy banks and signs gloves and a little bit of courage.” fall, in October of civilization. We approach one of the surviving trees in the and November. Moscow’s Bateman Bridge marks the end of lake, bearing a large osprey nest. As we slowly
our trip, but my journey continues. motor by, Hall relying on decades of experience HAGGARD DAVID PAGE: AND FACING THIS PAGE
38 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS SEEKING ANCIENT CYPRESS
and a few buoys to avoid submerged trunks, an osprey emerges, gliding across the lake in search Situated along the Mississippi River, Reelfoot Lake of dinner. Situated along the Mississippi River, hosts incredible flocks of birds each year, from Reelfoot Lake hosts incredible flocks of birds each year, from pelicans to hummingbirds. pelicans to hummingbirds. It is just past peak bald eagle season when I visit in April, but I strain to see one Hall has spotted in a shoreline tree. Egrets and herons are less elusive, lifting their spindly legs as they poke around the cypress knees at the water’s edge. The rangers here lead guided canoe and kayak trips in spring and fall — humid Southern sum- mers are better suited for pontoons — so visitors can explore the lake’s more remote areas. Ranger Hall drives around as much of the lake as he can before a storm blows in, steering us back toward the nature center, which houses a sanctuary for injured birds — typically eagles, hawks and owls — that can’t be rehabilitated. One of the eagles lets out a squeaky whistle, leaving me searching for the source. “They use red-tail hawk cries for eagles in mov- ies,” Hall explains. I part from Ranger Hall and wander the lakeside boardwalk, wondering what lives these trees have seen drift by below their branches. After I return home, I will learn that in the last three years, people here noticed burned cypress needles — the pesticide Dicamba is thought to have become airborne in the fog. No trees have
died, but the potential long-term Top and bottom: effects are unclear, so the Rangers and The pelicans' new migratory route the community are watching closely, now brings them working to do right by the trees. to Reelfoot each The oldest of these were vibrant fall, in October and November. saplings, needles growing in the sun, long before this land would be called Tennessee. I imagine they know these plainspoken men are part of a commu- nity of locals who love the land. Who quietly do their work to protect these places — sometimes paid and some- times not — asking only for people to get on the water, out amongst the trees, and marvel. It is an easy thing to do.
Jessica Dixon is a writer and curious soul living in Denver. THIS PAGE AND FACING PAGE: DAVID HAGGARD DAVID PAGE: AND FACING THIS PAGE
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 39
1 2018 FORESTS IN FOCUS PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS
40 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS
1 GRAND PRIZE WINNER 2 “Desert Canvas” PHOTOGRAPHER: Everett Bloom (CA) LOCATION: Joshua Tree National Park, Calif.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: “Star trails during a full moon. This is about 4 hours of photos. The tree is illuminated from behind by a car’s headlights, and I definitely like this more than the usual front illumination. I try not to light paint anymore since it’s annoying to people who are enjoying the parks after dark and is not necessary if you have some moonlight combined with a long exposure.” complete awe. I took this with my D750 the pounding surf captures nature in at Cape Flattery on Thanksgiving Day. motion. The photograph is taken during ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: What’s so amazing to me is how the clus- early morning, as the sun dramatically Everett is a nature enthusiast who ters of trees are perfectly placed on top backlights the billowing mist. The three enjoys photography that captures the of the rock stacks, constantly battered by dominant rock outcrops forming a beauty of the natural world. He hopes the waves and wind — completely natural triangle are excellent composition. The to one day use photography to promote and raw, yet peaceful and majestic. The almost monochromatic color adds to the conservation efforts. entire hike to this point was cloudy and powerful mood of the picture.” rainy. Once we reached the end though, WHY WE LOVED IT: the sunlight pierced through the fog and — Lou Mazzatenta, “I love this picture! I actually had to make clouds, the rain stopped, and, for me, Former National sure it wasn’t a composite because the the view at that moment stopped time. Geographic Photo Editor placement of Polaris, the star around Mother nature gave a show that day I’ll and Photographer which all others revolve, is so perfect. never forget.” The backlighting of the Joshua Tree puts WINNER: BIG, the exposures of the tree and the uni- ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: 3 BEAUTIFUL TREES verse in perfect harmony. I love the way Nick has always loved photography, ever the branches glow. This is a superb image since he was a kid to be exact, running and one that I enjoy looking around with a polaroid and a 35mm. He “The Watchman” at over and over again!” has followed his passion through travel photography over the years, and in 2016, PHOTOGRAPHER: Arthur O’Leary (OH) — Chuck Fazio, American he began Nick Hanyok Imaging. He helps LOCATION: Muckross Abbey, County Forests Artist-in-Residence businesses and marketing agencies on Kerry, Ireland the east coast through commercial work and captures love stories of elegant and PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: WINNER: FOREST 2 adventurous couples from California to “This was taken in an old Irish monas- LANDSCAPES Maryland with his lifestyle work. See tery. These Yew trees are a long-lived more of Nick’s work at www.nickhanyo- species once believed by the monks to “Cape Flattery” kimaging.com, or follow him on Facebook symbolize eternity.” and Instagram at @nickhanyokimaging. PHOTOGRAPHER: Nick Hanyok (MD) ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: LOCATION: Cape Flattery, Wash. WHY WE LOVED IT: Arthur is an amateur photographer “The photographer made the right specializing in nature and landscapes, PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: decision to photograph Cape Flattery, but with an interest in all photography. “I am constantly amazed by nature, and the furthest northwest tip of the United He currently resides in Columbus, this shot takes me back to a time I was in States, on a day when rising mist and Ohio, with his wife, Brooke. They travel
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 41
the leaves reaching toward the sun to the water droplets reminding us of the necessary elements to create a thriving natural world.”
— Emily Barber, Marketing Manager, American Forests 3
5 WINNER: FOREST WILDLIFE as much as possible in their free time. her husband love to hike and explore Arthur looks forward to continuing to the natural beauty of Kentucky and grow in his craft so he may share his pas- Tennessee. Photographing nature, “Cubby Hole” sion for travel and lifestyle photography. especially the forest floor and fauna, is her passion. She belongs to the local PHOTOGRAPHER: Dave Shaffer (WI) WHY WE LOVED IT: photography club APS, which has LOCATION: Northern Wisconsin “Having recently visited this tree in helped her enhance her skills and eye Killarney National Park in Ireland, I had for photography. PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: a special connection to this image. This “One morning this past Spring, I heard Yew tree is located in a historic abbey WHY WE LOVED IT: the telltale sound of tiny claws on thick totally isolated from any other trees. It’s “I love the forest close-ups category bark. I quietly approached and saw a definitely a testament to the power of because it gives such a different perspec- mother bear sleeping beneath a pine nature. The image is a great portrait of tive to the vast, breathtaking landscapes and her two little cubs noisily play- the tree showcasing its twisting trunk we so often see in nature photography. ing in the branches above. I sat down and ancient surrounding.” This photo especially details the new a safe and respectful distance away. life growing on the forest floor, from Soon the entire family was sleeping. — Brian Kelley, Photographer I waited and waited. After and American Forests a while mom woke and Visual Archivist stirred about the area, soon she came to rest at the base of the tree. In a flash the two WINNER: FOREST 4 little cubs woke and raced CLOSE-UPS down the tree to be with mom. She sat up, and her “Sapling” two precious cubs latched on. Mom seemed so proud, PHOTOGRAPHER: Peggy Yaeger (KY) it was as if she was show- LOCATION: Daniel Boone National ing them off to me. I felt Forest, Ky. so blessed to be given the opportunity to bear witness PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: to these magical moments.” “I love taking photos of things that show detail and that people might ABOUT THE overlook. . We were on our way to hike PHOTOGRAPHER: to Dog Slaughter Falls in Daniel Boone Dave has long been devoted Forest in Southeast Kentucky, when to spending time alone in I spotted this sapling sidelit by the wild places. His passion early morning light, glowing with the for unspoiled nature and promise of new life.” wildlife has allowed him to bear witness to countless ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: magical moments, such as Peggy is a retired primary school the one captured here. Dave 4 teacher in Corbin, Ky., and she and enjoys sharing these special
42 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS
the image using painting, layered with imprints that Olympus OM-D EM-1 suggest leaves. and Olympus 12-60mm lens. I then played with — Lea Sloan, VP of some texture effects in Communications, Corel Paintshop.” American Forests
ABOUT THE 7 WINNER: FORESTS & PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPHER: Morgan has been enjoying photography “Scale” for close to 20 years. Many of her images PHOTOGRAPHER: can be found in private Stacy Smith Evans (VA) LOCATION: Shenandoah National 5 collections and small galleries around the Park, Va. Southern United States. moments in nature with others through While she has crossed over into PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: his photography. More of off-road photography, her love still “I took this photo two years ago dur- Dave’s work can be found on Facebook lies in creating artistic images. ing a weekend trip to Shenandoah a Bear Witness Images or at National Park in Virginia. It was a www.bearwitnessimages.com. WHY WE LOVED IT: sunrise-less morning at the moun- “While the colors are subtle, the tain overlooks, so my husband and I WHY WE LOVED IT: contrast and composition are superb drove to Big Meadows to look for deer. “The picture of the proud bear mother and make this photo a visual tone- We arrived just as a heavy fog rolled nursing her cubs jumped out at the poem. The photographer has used in behind this huge oak tree with judges immediately and rose to the her creativity (as per the category) to outstretched branches running nearly number one slot in short order. It is place an image that captures crisp, parallel to the ground. I knew I wanted such a wonderful moment in nature lyrical light illuminating the edges of to illustrate the tree’s size, so I asked with her striking such a regal pose while the leaf, its veins and the branches on my husband, who is 6 feet tall, to stand clutching the cubs as they nurse. It was which it is caught — against a back- under it. I like to say I added a husband a very strong category, but the judges ground that looks like a watercolor for scale.” felt strongly that the moment and the pose pushed it to the top spot. All judges agreed that this was a striking photo- graph of a very unique and rare moment in nature. Bravo.”
— Jonathan Newton, Staff Photographer, Washington Post
6 WINNER: CREATIVI-TREES “Suspended”
PHOTOGRAPHER: Morgan Lytle (SC) LOCATION: Fair Play, S.C.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: “While out hiking one day, I came 6 across this suspended leaf. I captured
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 43
8 WINNER: ASPIRING PHOTOGRAPHERS “Young Tree Growing in Fence Post, Kaua’i”
PHOTOGRAPHER: Isis Clark Hunter (HI) LOCATION: Upper Kapahi (looking North towards Anahola), Kaua’i, Hawai’i.
PHOTOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE: This is the first contest Isis has 7 entered. Isis and her dad, Paul, were specifically out looking for photo subjects for the contest. She spotted ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: seen them. The black and white treat- this cute little lichen-covered tree Stacy Smith Evans is a landscape and ment is perfect to convey the photo’s growing right out of the old fence post portrait photographer based in North- mystical qualities. on a country road. Isis stood on the ern Virginia. Her favorite subjects tailgate of the pickup truck to get the include the cherry blossom trees in — Lea Sloan, VP of photo framed perfectly. The photo Washington, D.C., and the mountains Communications, was edited in Light Room and taken and forests of nearby Shenandoah American Forests on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, with an National Park. Though EF 70-300MM Lens f/4-5.6L IS USM she loves to travel to (focal length 95mm, ISO 100). new places, she has always called Virginia ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER: her home. Please visit Isis is 11. She enjoys photography, www.stacysmithe- gymnastics and making YouTube vans.com to view her videos as “Kauai Cookie.” latest work. WHY WE LOVED IT: WHY WE LOVED IT: “This image has a great sense of atten- The power of this tion to detail from the photographer. photo is its inher- Here, we have a fence post, a ‘dead’ ent story and could tree so to speak, with new life sprout- suggest a thousand ing from it. I love the poetry in this captions. The grand moment of new life coming from the presence of the tree old. There is lovely separation between makes it a stand-in for the new tree and the background that Tree of Life or Tree of allows us to take in the vast landscape Knowledge. The man while not becoming distracted or leaning against it, not losing the sense of place. This photog- more than a quarter rapher already has a great eye and will its age, seems to be the only continue to improve!” wiser for his contact with the magnificent — Kristen McNicholas, spreading form, per- Associate Photo Editor, haps seeing things he Your Shot National did not see before, or Geographic 8 in ways that he hadn’t
44 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS
earthkeepers LEFT: ERIC SPRAGUE ERIC SPRAGUE LEFT:
to work in, study and For a significant Walsh in the continue to learn about,” period of time, Stumpy Meadows Making Forests area of the King Walsh explains. Walsh’s work Fire overlooking the Green Again Working in Eldorado focused on restora- Rubicon Canyon, National Forest puts a tion in forests unaf- where areas had been mechanically BY LIZ HARPER good chunk of her life fected by forest site prepped on the in the Sierra Nevada, fire, making them Georgetown Ranger although she is some- healthier and more District of the Eldorado National KEEPING GREEN FORESTS GREEN times called to work in other areas of resilient. Thick for- Forest in the (and healthy) has been a priority for the country. A recent trip had her work- ests that exist due spring of 2018. Dana Walsh for more than a decade. ing on fire restoration efforts on the to years of fire sup- Currently a silviculturist in Eldorado South Oregon coast for four months, pression can be managed to make them National Forest, Walsh has worked for giving her a chance to use her skills in a less susceptible to fire, an important task the U.S. Forest Service for the entirety of different location, but she’s always glad as wildfires become increasingly more her career and, in recent years, has found to return home to California. prominent and powerful. Deciding how to herself on the cutting edge of climate- “The Sierra Nevada are a beautiful, manage forests is a multifaceted question informed forest restoration. wonderful landscape to begin with,” that doesn’t always have one answer. After graduating from Sierra Col- Walsh says. “Plus, I really like restora- “I am a big proponent of using lege in 2002 with an associate’s degree tion forestry, and the ecology of the multiple different tools,” Walsh says. in forestry, Walsh attended Humboldt Sierra Nevada aligns really well with “So, I don’t think that any one method State University to continue her stud- what needs to be done to make it a should be done everywhere. I think ies. During that time she was a student resilient system.” there’s good reason for different tools trainee for the Forest Service. Upon graduating in 2005 with a bachelor’s “I went from working on all of these thinning fuel-reduction degree in forestry, Walsh started working for the Forest Service, where projects with a fire component to restore ecosystem function she has been for the last 12 years in a number of capacities. and health for several years to the King Fire burning up “The more I learned about forestry, or burning over almost every project that I’d worked on the more I was enthralled with it and in the first 10 years of my career.” knew that it was something that I wanted WALSH DANA RIGHT:
46 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS to be used, depending on what your One important aspect of the assess- didn’t want to actively restore those objective is for the future.” ment and decision-making process is areas in hopes that the California black Management treatments that help determining how to manage the res- oak makes a reappearance. advance forests toward resiliency vary, toration to best benefit the forest. The Areas restored through active man- and Walsh’s work dealt extensively original dominant forest type is a fac- agement can create a resilient condition with fuel reduction through a variety of tor as well, in addition to accounting that Walsh says should be able to sustain methods. Ladder fuels are reduced with for a stand’s vulnerability to climate itself and survive future fires. That is, the removal of trees in overly dense change and future wildfires. Areas that after all, the goal of all the restoration areas. Surface fuels can be eliminated are likely to naturally regenerate aren’t work she’s done both in green forests and through mastication or through piling as high priority as areas that won’t. forests affected by wildfire. and burning. Prescribed fire is used as a “We wanted to look for where we “What keeps me going is the hope treatment on its own and as a follow-up could be successful and where it made that we still have the ability to get ahead to other fuel-reduction efforts. Such the most sense to restore,” Walsh of some of these stand-replacing fires components of forest management are says. “We really looked at different and create conditions where these land- complex to begin with and they tend to topographic positions and different scapes will be resilient,” Walsh says. “We intersect during implementation. vulnerabilities to design the reforesta- need to speed things up a lot, and I think
LEFT: ERIC SPRAGUE ERIC SPRAGUE LEFT: However, with the onset of the King tion and the projects.” there is some motivation and momen- Fire in 2014, her focus changed. In some cases, the original dominant tum going on in the Sierra Nevadas right “I went from working on all of these forest type of an area has disappeared now to do so.” thinning fuel-reduction projects with due to competing species and over- a fire component to restore ecosystem growth. In areas where fire suppression Liz Harper was an American Forests fall function and health for several years caused conifers to overtake popula- editorial intern and is a senior at Ohio to the King Fire burning up or burn- tions of California black oak, the ideal University, studying journalism with a ing over almost every project that I’d situation would return that area to minor in English and a specialization in worked on in the first 10 years of my hardwoods rather than conifers. Walsh communication studies. career,” Walsh says. A number of projects Walsh was working on at the time weren’t fully implemented and, thus, suf- fered when the 97,771-acre wildfire burned through El Dorado County. Only com- pleted projects performed well though, according to Walsh, with resilient forest structure remaining even after the fire came through. Following the King Fire, Walsh found herself working in the world of post-fire forest restoration efforts. Knowing that they couldn’t restore the entire fire area, Walsh and her colleagues focused on certain aspects of the land within the The Trestle Project, a forest health and fuels reduction project, is currently being implemented on burn area to determine which the Placerville Ranger District of the Eldorado National Forest. This photo shows stand conditions immediately following a thinning that was designed to better emulate historic stand structures that areas to restore and which to would have been present under a natural fire regime (i.e. without fire suppression) and which are
RIGHT: DANA WALSH WALSH DANA RIGHT: leave to natural restoration. designed to make these stands more resilient to wildfire and insect attack.
AMERICAN FORESTS WINTER/SPRING 2019 | 47 last look
FEEDBACK FROM OUR FOLLOWERS
1. Black Throated Green Warbler by Joshua Galicki 2. Pine Trees with Blue Ice Melt by Tiffany Soukup
3. Hiding in the Green by Kinley Bollinger
PEOPLE’S CHOICE WINNER
4. Bottom Up by I-Ting Chiang
5. Fox and the Fish by Laurel Coffman
Check out what our Facebook and “I grew up in Wyoming along the “It’s always so special when one Instagram followers had to say about 3.upper Green River where moose 5.unexpectedly comes upon a scene this year’s Forests in Focus People’s were a part of the river. Always loved like this — and with camera in hand! Choice Contestants! seeing them and have great respect for Lucky you! Love it!” — Ashia G. them. Love this photo.” — Merna W. “Great example of why you don’t al- For more amazing photography, “A moost see!” — Scott B. 1.ways need to try for a perfect profile! follow us on Facebook, Twitter Great angle and lighting!” — Robert M. “Trees capture my soul…truly and Instagram. remarkable shot! The contrasts are “What an absolutely stunning shot 4. sharp, vivid…the ageless canyon walls… 2.of the pines overlooking the melt- the living tree! ❤ ❤ ❤ ” — Joni B. ing pond. Great shot!!” — Jennifer T.
48 | WINTER/SPRING 2019 AMERICAN FORESTS CLIMATE
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