Lee,
Have you determined what makes the Kandiyohi elm forest a super site? I have become intrigued by the idea of super sites ever since you proclaimed the site up Trout Brook as a super site. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lee Frelich" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2009 12:30:42 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [ENTS] Fwd: Continuing the mission Bob: I also continue to find new things in places I have been to many times before. At the Kandiyohi elm forest, for example, last September I found what I call the peach-leaf willow super site. Its a stand of peach-leaf willows 80-100 feet tall with some single trunks up to 40 inches dbh. Published descriptions of the species say it reaches a maximum height of 40 feet. Its also where I met the deer tick that gave me Lyme Disease 10 days later at the ENTS event at Cook Forest. Lee [email protected] wrote: > Ed, > > Actually, I spend a fair amount of time in other forest sites, but > don't always find trees of interest to report to the list. However, > your suggestion set me to thinking about where and how I spend my time > in Massachusetts. State properties do occupy most of my time, because > they tend to have the oldest forests, although there are private > parcels that compete. The areas below get moderate to frequent to > visitation from yours truly. > > * **State forests, parks, and reservations:* > > Mohawk Trail State Forest > Monroe State Forest (you probably think of that as an extension of Mohawk) > Savoy Mountain State Forest (I don't always distinguish between Mohawk > and Savoy, which are contiguous) > Mt Tom State State Reservation > Robinson State Park > Mt Greylock State Reservation > Bash Bish Falls State Park > Mount Washington State Forest > Mount Everett State Reservation > Skinner State Park > Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation > Windsor State Forest > Windsor Jambs > Wachusett Mountain State Reservstion > > > * **Private forests owned by environmental organizations that I visit > fairly often with worthy trees include:* > > Ice Glen > Bryant Homestead > Petticoat Hill > Bullard Woods > Graves Farm > Monument Mountain > Bartholomew Cobble > > *Small conservation areas I visit include:* > > Fitzgerald Lake Conservation Area > Several areas along Connecticut River > Broad Brook corridor > Stebbins Wildlife Sanctuary > Black Stevens Conservation Area > > *Parks, Cemeteries, etc. I visit include:* > > Tanglewood > Look Park > Stanley Park > Mittenauge (sp) > Childs Memorial Park > Conway Cemetery > Forest Park > Fruit Street Tuliptrees > Mill River conservation areas > > *A sample of areas I visit, but far less often, are as follows:* > > Negus Mountain > Wendell State Forest > Quabbin Reservoir > Beartown State Forest > Notchview > Westfield sand plains > Mineral Hills > Bardswell Ferry (once visited it often) > etc., etc., etc. > Well, I think you get the picture. I visit plenty of places, but the > truly great forest sites are few and far between and I am reluctant to > waste time in the myriad of undistinguished places. This brings me to > a suggestion. What do you think about all of us banning together to > produce tan 'ENTS Guide to Great Eastern Forests'? We could approach > Sierra Club Guide Books - but preferably a different publisher. Sierra > Club Guide Books is difficult to work with. I know that from > experience. Chapters, sections, or sites would be contributed by > different authors. That is the only practical way to do it, i.e the > book would need to be coauthored, given its scope. We are THE only > organization in the country that could take on such a project and do > justice to it from a forest point of view. Other authors would write > such a book relying on the mediocre and usually inaccurate > descriptions of others. Our book would be 100% ENTS. > > To make the point even stronger, I just bought an AMC's 'Massachusetts > Trail Guide'. It is 399 pages long. It was written by a highly > qualified retired Smith College Professor by the name of John Burk. I > have met John and hold him in the highest esteem. The guide gives > directions to and a brief write-up on each trail. It is a hefty work. > But in compiling the information, John had to rely on many sources, > and consequently, descriptions of the forests one encounters along the > trails that are included vary greatly in detail and in quality. That > is not intended as a criticism, just a statement of fact. It would be > true of virtually any other guide written via relying on the > descriptions of others. If we want the public to have a guide to > excellent eastern forests, we will have to produce it. Thoughts? Oh > BTW, we tend to overload ourselves with projects. If we take this one > on, other forest projects will need to be put on the back burner. Each > potential contributor would need to commit himself/herself to a > schedule. Otherwise, such a big, joint project would never get finished. > > Bob > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, November 21, 2009 8:45:09 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: Re: [ENTS] Fwd: Continuing the mission > > Bob, > > I am glad you are still making discoveries in your old stomping > grounds there at MTSF. Here in Pennsylvania we have I believe 78 State > Forest Natural Areas and many in State Parks also. Several Years ago > Charles (Chuck) Fergus, a naturalist/outdoor writer set himself the > task of visiting each of the 78 State Forest Natural Areas in a single > year. He wrote a trip report for each visit and directions for > finding the area. These were compiled into a book I have found very > useful in my explorations of forests in PA. This could be a project > for you in Massachusetts and a reason to visit some of these other > areas. There are 9 large forest reserves in the state, with some > divided into multiple sections. You could visit each of the sites and > measure trees and do a site description for each, with the goal of > putting them together into a more formal report. Each description > could be from 3 to 12 pages. You wrote a nice overview in this style > of MTSF in your original MTSF Annual Report series. That could be > updated. There was also a list of various areas being considered for > small scale forest reserves in the state that would encompass only a > few areas. Even if these did not have great trees, there is surely > natural features of interest you could visit and describe. This would > be a more relaxed and less demanding than the Mensuration Book. You > could even take photos and GPS locations this time. As you know I > have been trying to visit the little pockets of old forest found in PA > that others haven't been to yet. In between I am trying to see some > of the other State Natural Areas - many have already been reported by > Ernie Ostuno and Dale Luthringer, among others. But it is something > that is a nice ongoing project that lets me see some different areas > rather than just revisiting the old ones. > > Ed Frank > > > Check out my new Blog: http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ (and > click on some of the ads) > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > *Cc:* Belchetz-Swenson, Sarah <mailto:[email protected]> > ; CAMPANILE, ROBERT <mailto:[email protected]> ; Ricci, > Heidi <mailto:[email protected]> > *Sent:* Saturday, November 21, 2009 4:50 PM > *Subject:* [ENTS] Fwd: Continuing the mission > > ENTS, > > I short time back I mentioned to Monica that I was becoming > frustrated with my forest mission. Naturally she asked why. I > explained that I hadn't been making enough new big/tall tree > discoveries. I was spending too much time revisiting the same > trees. I do like to check up on favorite trees, but I need to add > to my database. > > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] > -- > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org > Send email to [email protected] > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
