Barry,
Welcome aboard. State forest resource organizations, by whatever name (DEC, DEP, DCR, DCNR) etc. frequently disappoint us. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry Caselli" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 7, 2010 8:20:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [ENTS] Re: Montpelier in images We discussed several months ago about a similar situation here in the NJ Pine Barrens, about the old ironmaster's mansion at Batsto State Historic Site. The house was built originally in the 1730s or 1750s, something like that. And then extensively remodeled in 1876 by Joseph Wharton. Anyway it has ancient Buttonwoods (Eastern Sycamore for those that don't know) around it and in its lawn, that can be seen in photos from the 1880s, and were big then. Last year the house opened up after a lot of work was done to it, and the state DEP took down an ancient Buttonwood that was next to the front porch, for fear it might someday fall on the house. It turned out to be solid as a rock, not hollow at all. By the way, this historic site is within a state forest, and the DEP runs the park service. A few years earlier they took out a hollow Buttownood that probably had been hollow for 150 years, for fear that it might fall someday. But the tree, in my opinion, was in no danger of falling. Idiots! Also they took out two giant oaks (I forget the species at the moment) that were next to the entrance road to the village parking lot. They were determined to be "hazard trees", they might fall someday, because they would have a few branches on the ground under them after windstorms (what trees don't?). I measured those trees. Naturally I forget what the measurement was at this moment. It was either 13.5 feet or 15.5 feet CBH for one of them, something like that. Again I say, idiots! This was all discussed some months ago. I said it then, and I'll say it now. I'm very disappointed in our state DEP. --- On Wed, 1/6/10, ranger dan <[email protected]> wrote: From: ranger dan <[email protected]> Subject: [ENTS] Re: Montpelier in images To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 3:41 PM Yes, they wanted to purchase lots of antiques for the mansion, ones that had been there but were in other hands now. One of the giant tuliptrees beside Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, which he planted and even named, has been cut down just recently. The larger one was about 8' thick, and I bet that was the one. One of the world's finest. It was hollow according to the article I read, and they had done lots of work to save it, with cables and such. They didn't want to risk it falling on the house. Now they're making nice things out of the wood, so it's a happy story in our ultraconservative and ultrastupid neck of the woods. A few years ago,according to a former employee at TJ's summer home, Poplar Forest (yes, named for the trees he loved most), more than one of the very few ancient tuliptrees near the house was needlessly cut down for fear it would hurt something. They thought it was hollow, but on cutting it down, woops!, it was solid, and older than the time of Jefferson. They made good souvenirs out of it, though. Dan Miles
