Dale, I know that was not pleasant. Joy passed a stone a couple of months ago. It looks really painful. I do not look forward to ever passing one.
Bob, Will, etc.. Any updated news on the upcoming Congaree measuring expedition in Feb? If I go I need to know the exact dates well ahead of time to see if I can get the time off from work. James. On Nov 6, 10:13 pm, "Dale Luthringer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bob, > > I’m disappointed that I couldn’t make it. It is always good to see > everyone at the annual Ents gathering. I haven’t forgotten about > getting a date set in stone yet for the ENTS Rendezvous at Cook Forest > in October 2009. I’m still shooting for the first weekend in October. > I just needed to get past our annual volunteer work day (lots of > logistical coordination) before I could concentrate on setting a date. > > Things have been pretty hectic here. I’ve been going through another > bout of kidney stones, and wouldn’t have been able to make the Holyoke > trip anyway. I just “gave birth” tonight to my 3rd son in just over one > year. Last year it was Mace and …, oh no, I forgot my other offspring’s > name already! But this one I won’t forget. I named this one ‘Mack’, > short for ‘Mack the Knife’. He is a hefty 3.5mm x 4mm x 4.2mm for a > total volume of 58mm3. This sucker looks like a shark tooth on one > side, with an overal diamond shape appearance. It may not be worth a ½ > karat diamond, but it should bring a hefty trading price with our French > & Indian War re-enacting unit’s company surgeon. I’ve been his main > kidney stone supplier. Supplying him with stones has kept me out his > trepanner and lobotomy demos... > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanation > > Dale > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > > Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 12:19 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ENTS] Rendezvous Report > > ENTS > > The following is a hastily put together rendezvous report. I will > produce a more polished version for Don Bragg and a future edition of > the Bulletin. > > Bob > > Introduction > > The time has arrived for the 2008 western Mass ENTS > rendezvous to be entered into the ENTS record book. Let it be noted that > the rendezvous officially commenced on Oct 30, 2008 and ended at the > close of November 2nd. We had an informal, if not subdued, gathering, > but the event produced some highly significant results. The report below > covers the details of the 2008 rendezvous. However, before discussing > the particulars, let me note that for October 2009, we are considering > switching to Cook Forest State Park for our ENTS fall gathering. Details > will be forthcoming. > > Thursday, October 30th > > Monica and I picked up Will Blozan from the Hartford Airport > on a crisp Wednesday afternoon. Will came up from Black Mountain, North > Carolina. Due to challenges with his business, Will was making a special > effort to support the rendezvous and that effort will be noted > throughout this report. Dr. Lee Frelich arrived later in the evening > from his long drive from Minnesota. It was good to see my two old > friends and they were in fro a dinner treat. My special “everything in > it including the kitchen sink” vegetable chicken soup nourished the crew > as we readied for the next day’s planned event at Robinson State Park in > Agawam, MA. The walk in Robinson was organized to support the Friends of > Robinson SP in its educational agenda. That is one of the ENTS roles, > i.e. education. The other is forest and tree measurement and > documentation. Around 28 people attended, which for a brisk Thursday > morning reflected a good level of interest in Robinson. > For those who do not know the property, Robinson SP is a > diverse, forested state park located in the towns of Agawam and > Westfield, Massachusetts. Within the 800-acre property there are around > 51 or 52 species of trees. This is a high level of diversity for an > urban-suburban forested park in Massachusetts. But for casual visitors, > the diversity is not equally distributed. There are spots of low > diversity and other areas of high diversity. You have to look, but it is > not the sheer diversity that matters most to ENTS. It is the exceptional > community of tuliptrees that grow in Robinson and the Park’s high Rucker > Index. The Robinson tulips grow t o large size (for the latitude) and > exhibit a level of regeneration that seems to speak to a kind of niche > that they are able to fill. For the October 30th program, it was > Liriodendron that was the main focus of our attention. We walked and > talked and at the end of the program, Will and I re-measured the > champion tall tuliptree in Robinson. Amidst the crown clutter, this time > we got 139.7 feet. That was the best we could do, but it is still well > enough to keep that particular tree at the top of the height chart for > the species. The tall tulip is the state height champion for the > species, and as such, it contributes handsomely to the Robinson SP > Rucker Height Index (RHI). At 118.8, Robinson has the highest RHI in the > Connecticut River Valley region for a comparably sized property. Mount > Tom State Reservation, which we visited later, has the second highest at > 117.0, and that number is probably a little low. The index has not ben > fully updated in several years. But more than the RHI, our focus for > Thursday morning was Robinson’s tuliptrees, which often surpass 120 feet > in height and 9 to 10 feet in girth and a few trees reach girths of up > to 11.5 feet. Equally importantly, I saw a lot of regeneration, which I > attributed to the mild, exceptionally wet summer. > Robinson SP has a lot of red, black, and white oak growing > in sandy soils on the hills above the Westfield River – the dry zone. By > contrast, the slop zone that includes the drainages down to the > Westfield River is very rich and features most of the 51 or 52 species > of trees. A thin layer of clay helps retard quick drainage and moisture > loss. Since our time was limited, we concentrated on the larger, more > conspicuous tuliptrees. > While at Robinson, we talked about the distinction between > forest health as seen through the eyes of the timber specialist versus > the forest ecologist. Lee provided the group with a succinct definition > of forest health that stressed balance and diversity. I will ask him to > repeat his definition for the benefit of all Ents. Lee puts the subject > of forest health into perspective, something the timber community cannot > objectively do. > On our return from Robinson SP, we swung by Mount Tom State > Reservation to take a look at the new state champion black birch. I had > measured it to 8.5 feet in girth and 96.0 feet in height, but after a > search, Will nudged the height to 99.8 feet. We just couldn’t reach 100, > but that did not matter. There are a few black birches in Mt Tom that > reach 100 feet with the common maximum height between 85 and 95 feet. > Yellow birch maximums are typically 10 feet lower. > Thursday evening saw an impromptu concert for violin and > piano by Lee and Monica. Lee had brought his violin, and Will and I were > the audience. Both had to sight read the music, but all went well. Next > year, we hope to expand the size of the audience a bit. > > Friday, October 31st > > We had a trip to the Notchview Reservation scheduled with > ecologist Julie Richburg and forester Jim Caffrey, both of the Trustees > of Reservations. The Trustees claim to be the oldest multiple-property > conservation organization in the United States and they are certainly > the oldest in Massachusetts. The Trustees manage around 25,000 acres > spread across 99 properties. Some are historical properties and some > preserve natural areas. I have visited only a handful of the 99 sites, > most of which are east of the Connecticut River. However, for > exceptional tree hunting, I have absolutely no doubt that western > Massachusetts provid es the best locations for the Trustees properties. > That is a truism for Massachusetts forests, with perhaps a few notable > exceptions. > Notchview is a 3,000-acre Trustee property of upland > Berkshire forests. Notchview reaches a high point of 2,297 feet. The > property features a Nordic Ski Center and is consequently a popular > destination in the winter. At the cited altitude and resultant low > temperatures, 60 to 80 inches of snow per year can go far, but as Jim > Caffrey pointed out, global warming is changing the conditions. Winter > rain was once a maybe single annual event. Not any more and rain plays > havoc with snow packs for skiing. Still, the average January temperature > is around 20 degrees, with probably a dozen to a dozen and a half > sub-zero nights. > The forest mix at Notchview is interesting. Red spruce and > balsam fir intermingle with hardwoods, that include a lot of American > beech, maple, and birch. There is a little tamarack. Hemlock is also a > prominent constituent and there are patches of white pines where old > fields once existed. While the upland forest is ecologically > interesting, it holds little for the big tree enthusiast. The big stuff > is supposed to be lower on the ridges and Notchview’s lowest elevations > border the Westfield River, and it is in the rich, moist areas where the > big trees are supposed to be found. Out task was to get to them. > The group of intrepid tree hunters included three employees > from the Trustees, Will, Lee, my old friend timber framer, architect, > and surveyor Jack Sobon, and lastly, myself. We began with an uphill > ascent through Windsor State Forest. Our plan was to climb up into > Trustees land, cross over a small plateau-like area, and down into the > big tree zone adjacent to the Westfield River. We started our walk among > some fairly decent-sized trees. One partially open-grown white pine > along the trail measures a whopping 13.4 feet in girth and 136.0 feet in > height. It is the Sobo n Pine, named for Jack Sobon who took me to it > and has monitored it for at least a decade. The tree’s multiple trunks > detract from its overall appearance, but it is a huge tree and worthy of > our respect. It is a legitimate 13-footer and that puts in high-stepping > > ... > > read more » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
