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TOPIC: Rendezvous Report
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/0a9728dc8d5672f9?hl=en
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== 1 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 9:19 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net

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 to 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 provides 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 Sobon 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 company.

As we left the vicinity of Steep Brook and climbed onto the ridge side, we increasingly got a taste of the upland forests of the Berkshires. They are often not much to look. In fact, to express it in my southern vernacular, “the suck”. There was no reason to tarry, so, it was across a snow covered ridge we went as fast conditions would permit. We then descended into the narrow valley of the Westfield River Corridor where larger trees did greet us. Unfortunately, while average tree size did increase, it did not do so sufficiently for my tastes. The area had seen far too much past logging to present us much to cheer about. There was a bright spot, though. Lee enjoyed the walk, viewing the area from an ecological perspective, as he pondered the mix of boreal conifers and mixed hardwoods. Perhaps, he will share his thoughts as they take shape in his thinking.

So far as significant trees, we discovered only one that was special, a slender black cherry that I measured to 116.0 feet in height. It was about 5.6 feet in girth as I recall – a beanpole, but it did have a presence. It showed us what the site is capable of eventually producing. Beyond isolated cherries and basswoods, there are lots of sugar maple and white ash on the site. Unfortunately, the ash trees are still too young to show us much. Heights to between 100 and 115 feet at most were all we could confirm. They need 25 to 30 more years.

With this complaining out of the way, I’m happy to take what I c\an get. The black cherry was sufficient to kick the RHI for Trustees properties to an impressive 121.2. The following table tells the RHI story as it exists today, and we’ve barely got started.
 

On our way back from the Trustees property we returned to DCR’s Windsor State Forest and entered a grove of large white pines. One tree is officially named the Crows Nest Pine. I seldom see trees named in Massachusetts, but here was an interesting one. Four large limbs created a nest of sorts. Will quickly and ably climbed up into the crotch. He seemed to like the large pine, although its shape was far removed from the straight-trunked giants he regularly climbs. The Crows Nest Pine’s measurements are: girth = 12.8 feet, height = 123.0 feet.
Before we left the area, we visited a swath of old growth hemlock, red spruce, and yellow birch at a place called Windsor Jambs, named for a narrow gorge where logs could get be trapped in a jamb. Lee did a rough count of a hemlock stump to 280 years. There was no shortage of trees in the 200-300-year age range. Windsor Jambs is one of the old-growth spots I inventoried for DCR in the mid-1990s as part of a state-wide old growth inventory on state lands. The swath of old growth covers 10 to 12 acres.
Once back at the house, we refueled our ourselves and after dinner were treated to another impromptu concert. This time great friend and fellow Ent John Knuerr joined us. He had prepared a delicious vegetable chili, which was the main course. John is German by birth and a darned good cook. After the concert, John returned home and we all retired in preparation for the big day, November 1st . Will’s 3rd climb of the Jake Swamp Pine was the primary scheduled event.

photo by Carl Harting

Saturday, November 1st

Will, Lee, and I arose early and headed to Mohawk Trail State Forest (MTSF). Monica planned to join us later. She needs to follow a more leisurely morning schedule. We ate at the famous Charlemont Inn. Mike Dunn, an arborist from Philadelphia, joined us. Mike had requested permission to join the group some days earlier. We were happy to accommodate him. He is going to be an important addition to the ENTS\team of Pennsylvania. Also, Pennsylvania Ent and important member of the PA A-team Carl Harting joined us. Carl had stayed at the Inn the night before. With Carl there, it began to seem like a real ENTS gathering.

photo by Carl Harting

At Mohawk Trail state forest John Knuerr, Doug Bidlock, Jack Sobon , and others joined us. Once at the site of the Jake Swamp Tree, Will and Mike rigged the tall pine. John Knuerr went up hill and did an independent ground-based measurement of the tree and got 168.1 feet. At this point, a brief digression is in order.

The Chief Jake Swamp Pine is probably the most frequently measured forest tree on the planet, except maybe for trees used by schools where large numbers of students practice their techniques. I frequently measure the Jake tree to feed my database of measurements that reveal the various patterns resulting from measuring a tree with different equipment and in differing conditions of visibility. On my most recent ground-based measurements of Jake, I had gotten 169.1 and 168.6 feet respectively. Measurements prior to that went as high as 169.4 feet and as low as 167.5 over the course of the last two seasons. I knew the most likely height for Jake would be in the mid-168s, unless I chose a lower base point, which I talked myself into doing on one occasion. But knowing Will was going to climb Jake, I got dead serious, and guess what? Jake’s official tape drop height is 168.5 feet. That is 0.1 feet off my last measurement. Are we good or are we good? Although I would have liked Jake to be taller, it is safe to conclude that our level of ground-based accuracy is extremely high and those who would run simpler less accurate measuring techniques in as competitors do so at their own peril.

photo by Carl Harting

While he was up in the tree, Will also modeled Jake for volume. Incidentally, I had the pine at 570 cubes. Will calculated it to 573. That is amazingly close, but before any of you think that I’ve got a case of the big head, I acknowledge that I was lucky as will soon be seen. Even with the Macroscope, volume modeling form the ground can be tricky because foliage often obscures the trunk aloft as is the case for another tree that we modeled on Sunday.
While on site, we took the opportunity to re-measure the Joe Norton tree, companion to Jake. Jake and Joe are also known as the Twin Sentinels. Joe Norton is the Grand Chief of the Kahnawake Mohawks near Montreal. Joe has visited his tree as has Jake Swamp.

photo by Carl Harting

Our new ground-based measurement of Joe is 165.5 feet. So, MTSF now has 3 trees that join the 50 meter club, a very exclusive club in Massachusetts. Fifty meters equals 164.04 feet. Although, an entirely arbitrary choice of height, 50 meters seems to me like a significant threshold for an eastern tree to achieve and it is an easy number for people to remember. In a couple of years, MTSF will likely have a 4th tree join the club, the Tecumseh Tree. In 10 years there could be as many as 8 Mohawk pines in the club.

Just after the climb, Andrew Joslin and companion joined us. We wondered where they were. It turns out that they had spent the night 115 feet or so up in the air in the Bear Tree located in the Algonquin Grove, north of Stafford Meadow. They had not gotten to bed until 2:00AM and could not wake up in time for the Jake climb. Nonetheless, having them join us was great. In Andrew and his companion, we have two great Ents. Andrew and his companion intended to sleep again that night in the Bear Tree. I should note that the Bear Tree is a large white pine measuring 11.1 feet in circumference and 151.1 feet in height. The Bear Tree is the largest pine in the Algonquin Grove.
After the climb, our hike for the day was into Trout Brook Cove on the south side of Route #2 to re-measure the champion tall ash tree, which we originally named Sweet Thing. John Eichholz had measured the tree to 151.5 feet a couple of seasons before and we were hoping it had put on height since. John Knuerr and I had tried to re-measure the ash a couple of weeks earlier, but could not get a good fix on the crown due to intervening foliage on nearby trees, but November 1st would be different. The leaves had all fallen.

On the way to the ash grove, we took an off trail detour and skirted an area with a scattering of large white pines. I had not measured the pines for several seasons. One had grown into a 12-footer and surprised me. The large, attractive tree now measures 12.1 feet in circumference and is 140.9 feet in height. I am presently calling it the Lonesome Pine since it stands pretty much by itself. Carl Haring measured another pine just down the slope to slightly over 144 feet in height. All are relatively young pines, growing like weeds.

As a brief digression into size, there are at least 5 single-stemmed white pines in the Trout Brook watershed now that have girths of 12 feet – a magic threshold for white pines. There are two additional pines in Trout Brook that are most likely doubles. Both exceed 12 feet in girth. Big Bertha , which has sadly died, was the largest pine in Mohawk. Bertha’s dimensions at the time of her death were: girth = 14.6 inches, height = 148.4 feet. However, on a positive theme, there are more pines in Mohawk poised to surpass 12 feet in girth. Next year the Tecumseh Tree in the Elders Grove will most likely join the club of 12-footers.

Going down the size scale, there are at least 22 pines in Mohawk that exceed 11 feet in girth, and no less than 70 that exceed 10 feet. The number of 9-footers is not less than 160. This girth distribution for the Mohawk Pines is almost as significant as the extraordinary height distribution. I say almost, because pines above 140 feet, common in Mohawk, are extremely thinly distributed elsewhere across the New England landscape, The number of pines over say 11 feet in girth are more numerous, but it is time to end the digression and return to our trek up Trout Brook.

We dropped Monica off along the banks of Trout Brook so she could commune with the water spirits and allow herself to be enraptured by the rhythmic sounds of the flowing water. Monica is first and foremost a water person and the sounds of water splashing over rocks are magical to her. She is never happier than when sitting beside a brook, watching, listening, and communing.

With Monica comfortably positioned to enjoy her water symphony, we continued up the brook. Once on the ridge side where the tall ash grew, the group began scanning the canopy. The trees soared. Lee calls the slopes a super site, rich in minerals, moisture, and located for protection. On John’s and my prior visit, I had put an orange tape around the ash tree so I could quickly locate it on the day of the walk. Time was of the essence.

As soon as the tree was located, measurers began to take their positions. The tree’s crown was sufficiently exposed to enable us to see it perfectly. Carl and I served as the principal measurers and to make a long story short, we measured the ash to 150.3 feet. That falls short of John Eichholz’s maximum of 151.5, but it is sufficient to keep the tree in the number one spot for its species in the Northeast.

After we returned home, Will let it be known that he really wanted to do another climb. So we settled on the Tecumseh Tree in the Elders Grove for Sunday’s impromptu event. Lee would accompany us to the site of the hallowed tree and stay as long as he could before having to leaving for his long drive back to the frigid land that is called Minnesota. So, with Will’s choice of tree, we had a plan and retired for the night.

Sunday, November 2nd

We arose a little later and then headed straightaway for the Charlemont Inn. Monica took her car. She would be leaving early. Will and I road in my car and Lee rode in his car, since he would be leaving from the site around noon. At the Charlemont Inn, we met Ent mathematician and tree measurer extraordinaire John Eichholz. It was great to see John again. Over the past couple of years, his grueling schedule has kept him out of the tree-measuring picture for all but a few outings. Hopefully, he will now be able to reenter the measuring world. John is as good as tree measurers get. He is indespinsible.

As we reached the parking area, we were joined by my great friend Professor Gary Beluzo. Gary had not made it to the previous day’s climb and it just did not seem right without him. With Gary joining us, it had finally become a full-fledged ENTS gathering. The group moved down the trail following the Deerfield River toward the magnificent Elders Grove, arguably Mohawk’s . Once at the Tecumseh Tree, Will expertly rigged it as he had the Jake Swamp Pine the day before. Monica positioned herself to be comfortable among the great pines and near to the pine she named – the Sitting Bull Pine. Monica is becoming a forest spirit as well as a water spirit.

I was especially anxious to know the tape drop height of Tecumseh. I had previously measured the huge pine at 163.9 feet and later at 163.1 feet. I settled on the latter as the better measurement. Now it was John’s turn to measure Tecumseh from the ground. He measured it as Will began his climb. John got 163.0 feet exactly and reported it to me. When Will reached the point to put the pole against the highest leader, John photographed the pole against the leader from up the ridge. Will set the tape, and I read Tecumseh’s height at exactly 163.0 feet. This was yet another confirmation of the level of measuring accuracy that we have been able to attain in ENTS.

As he descended, Will took girth measurements to allow us to model Tecumseh and provide us with our most accurate modeling of the tree to date. On two previous attempts, I had lots of problems getting sound reticle measurements because of limb interference. I eventually calculated the big pine’s volume at 671 cubic feet. That was several years ago. However, a calculation that uses the conical volume taken as the average using the root collar and DBH height as the bases for the cones yielded 774 cubes. This value checked closely the volume derived by taking diameters at 2.5, 4.5, 50, 100, and the top and modeling by frustum. This latter method yielded 773 cubes, a remarkable match. Bear in mind that these calculations were made when Tecumseh had a girth of 11.7 feet and a height of 161.7 feet.

Will’s determination turned out to be 779 cubes with Tecumseh drop tape measured to 163 feet and girth measured to 11.9 feet. So, those are the final measurements. I don’t know what happened on the 671 cube modeling I previously did, but it obviously was off by a lot. However, the other methods of calculating volume were very significant. Evidently, Tecumseh’s shape fits with assumptions implicit in those modelings.

After Will packed his gear, John Eichholz, Gary Beluzo, Will, and I headed up Clark Ridge to check on two highly significant trees on Clark Ridge - the champion American Beech and the Ash Queen. The latter is the first ash that we confirmed to over 140 feet in MTSF and it spawned an extensive search for other 140-footers. That first measurement was 144.8 feet and it was taken with Drs. Tom Wessels and Rick Van de Poll, then with Antioch College in Keene, NH.

As we moved up the steep ridge, we first located a tall appearing beech, which we measured to a girth of 7.9 feet and height of 125.4 feet. The beech is a significant tree, but not our champion. We were beginning to wonder if the champ had fallen, at least I held those fears. We continued climbing up the ridge, crossing a boulder field and entering into the domain of the Ash Queen – a magical place, the abode of hobbits and tree spirits. I looked up the slopes, and there she stood. She still survived and continued to rule her domain as she had for years. Once again, I felt inspired. I knew why I was on that ridge, measuring and recording for posterity the tree treasures of Clark Ridge.

Careful measurements by John Eichholz and I now place the Ash Queen at 146.1 feet. Reestablishing the base of the tree according to Will’s method gives the Queen a substantial girth of 10.4 feet. This is one time I had been conservative on mid-slope.

On the way down, John spotted the champion beech. He got a good fix on its location. It is in good shape, but in the short period we had, John could confirm only a little over 126 feet of tree height. Its girth is 8.5 feet and it is disease free. I will soon revisit the beech and spend more time with it. Hopefully, John will join me. I can use all the help I can get. American beeches are among the most difficult trees to measure accurately.

As a final tree measurement, I re-measured an ash tree that I had measured years ago with a transit when the tree was around 132 feet in height. I am proud to report that the ash is now 140.5 feet in height and 8.6 feet in girth. It joins the 140 Club for ash trees and reinforces the height dominance of the white ash among Mohawk’s hardwoods. The ash rules the hardwoods in Massachusetts. Not even the mighty tuliptree challenges the ash in the bay state.

Returning home, I felt a little sad. Lee had left mid-day and Will would be returning to North Carolina the following day. Carl had returned to Pennsylvania, Gary would be returning to his grueling teaching schedule at Holyoke Community College, and John to his job with the Co-op. The gathering of the Ents was at end. But as I thought about the day, I had fresh memories of the Queen and would return to my den where a stitched-together picture of her sets, courtesy of Dianne Gray, an exceptional photographer who had taken a composite picture of the Ash Queen for me some years previously. For me, the Ash Queen holds the magic of the forest, of secret forest places. She is the source of the power that drives me to measure and record the treasures of Mohawk Trail State Forest. It was a good rendezvous. No, it was a great rendezvous and I give my heartfelt thanks to all who were able to participate.

As a final topic, I would like to pay special tribute to Will Blozan, the esteemed ENTS president. Since 1994, Will has been coming to Massachusetts and participating in old growth conferences and special ENTS events. Most noteworthy are Will’s keen measuring eye and his stellar tree climbs. Will has established the standard by which informationally useful tree climbs can be judged. I have compiled a table of Will’s Massachusetts climbs, but before presenting the table, I want to point out that Will’s contribution to our scientific and historical understanding of the white pine in New England and Massachusetts in particular is sorely under-appreciated both by environmental groups and the state’s forests and parks. The Commonwealth’s Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is extremely fortunate to have the free services of ENTS and the contribution of Will Blozan, in particular. There is no question that ENTS fills a void in DCR’s publicly promoted perspective of the Massachusetts forested landscape. I do believe the leaders of DCR know this and are appreciative, but I regret to say that without Will’s contribution and that of other ENTS, the DCR perspective would be almost wholly based on timber values. Historic, aesthetic, cultural, and ecological perspectives contributed by mature and old growth forests and large, charismatic trees would be shortchanged, if not ignored entirely. 

Although, I am disinclined to want to generalize too much, I am struck by the limited interest I receive from timber people (as opposed to non-timber people) when presenting specialized ENTS tree and forest data in briefings and on interpretive walks. A few are genuinely interested, but most are not, wondering why I have chosen to spend so much time on a pursuit of almost no practical value from their perspective. So, it is left to ENTS to continue collecting data that present species data in a historically meaningful comparative light. To this end, we are forever indebted to Will’s contribution. I could also speak volumes to the contributions of others such as Lee Frelich, Gary Beluzo, John Knuerr, and others, and will do so in time, but what stands out very clearly in my mind at this time is the tremendous effort that Will has made to help Massachusetts appreciate its treasure in significant trees. Without further comment, the following table summarizes Will’s Massachusetts climbs.  

== 2 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 10:06 am
From: "Joseph Zorzin"


----- Original Message -----
From: dbhguru@comcast.net
To: entstrees@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 12:19 PM
Subject: [ENTS] Rendezvous Report


(snipped)


As we left the vicinity of Steep Brook and climbed onto the ridge side, we increasingly got a taste of the upland forests of the Berkshires. They are often not much to look. In fact, to express it in my southern vernacular, “the suck”.

I bet in 1491, they were fantastic, but alas, centuries of use and abuse have left them in poor condition, from the point of view of recreation and aesthetics- not to mention ecology or even timber value.

They suck the most when clearcut on a large scale by the state.

Regarding Robinson, good thing some local people fought the state- as the state wanted to pulverize the place, not only cut much of the timber but the contract also stipulated ripping up much of the understory vegetation!

A fundamental issue- seldom addressed, is- are we to restore the degraded forests of the nation, or just find satisfaction in the tiny percentage of forests that have a few huge trees?

(snipped)

*******
Joe


Forestry videos:
http://vimeo.com/1993866  "A Tale of Two Clearcuts"
http://vimeo.com/2090043  "Uneven vs. Even aged silviculture"

== 3 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 11:34 pm
From: Andrew Joslin


ENTS,
Just wanted to thank Bob, Will and all of the ENTS present at MTSF on
Saturday for welcoming climbing partner Taylor Gorman and myself to
the gathering. We had hoped to assist in whatever way we could in
Will's Jake Swamp Tree climb (like Will needs any help) but
circumstances prevented that. It was a great afternoon roaming the
Trout Brook area with Bob in the lead. I can't imagine a better group
of folks to be in the woods with.

Mohawk more than lived up to expectations, the surrounding steep
hills and the stately groves create a powerful sense of sacred space,
it was a great privilege to be there. I only took a few photos,
mostly in the area of the meadow between the Trees of Peace and the
Algonquin Grove and around the Bear Tree:

For the ENTS - the Meadow and other photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturejournal/sets/72157608614467602/ 

Bear Tree
http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturejournal/sets/72157608610351941/ 

Included in the "For the ENTS" photos is an image of a
semi-demolished radio collar that Mike Dunn picked up off a log. It
has a phone number and U. Mass I.D. on it, I'll give them a call.
-Andrew

Andrew Joslin
Jamaica Plain, MA

== 4 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 11:41 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net


Joe,

The challenge for environmentalists as a group, and forest activists in particular, who seem to spend too much time on preservation issues, is to find resource managers and forest specialists who they can trust to tell them what is going on. You've built a strong case over the years for real changes in the forestry profession toward actually walking the talk. But with noted exceptions, I don't see that happening, which drives some of us to continue fighting for the scraps before they too are gone.
It would be great if a core group of foresters could form an association that doesn't eventually sell its soul to the timber interests. The group needs to be primarily about public education.

Bob

== 5 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 12:00 pm
From: dbhguru@comcast.net


Andrew,

Great pictures. I'm so glad you and Taylor were able to experience some Mohawk magic. Out of curiosity, what led you to the Algonquin Grove?

Bob

== 6 of 12 ==
Date: Wed, Nov 5 2008 12:49 am
From: Andrew Joslin




Taylor had visited the Algonquin Grove before and wanted to show it to
me, once we got there the Bear Tree was calling. It's in such a great
setting with the cave behind it and slightly up hill above the other
Algonquins.

On Friday and Saturday nights walking back through the meadow to
Algonquin we came a across a porcupine foraging along the path, I guess
it was taking a break from a diet of cambium. The first night it tried to
trot ahead along the path, I've never seen a porcupine move so fast. The
second night it was used to us and stayed put. We had a mysterious
"caller" near the tree on the second night. It was more than
willing to engage in conversation, sounded love-struck, made a descending
errrrrrr... followed by two sharp ehh, ehh sounds. Have no idea what it
was. Also enjoyed the birds, Pileated Woodpeckers calling back and forth
in the morning, Ravens croaking overhead, Hermit Thrush, Palm Warbler,
Golden-crowned Kinglet and others. A few Black-capped Chickadees
inspected us closely up in the tree.
-AJ

== 9 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 2:24 pm
From: Lee Frelich

Bob:

Excellent report. I just arrived home in MN after stopping in PA Sunday
evening and at my brothers house in WI Monday night. This is not exactly
the frigid land you mention--it was over 70 degrees here today and
yesterday. We are in an unusual November heat wave, and have not had snow
like that I drove through in PA on the way out to MA.

Here is my definition of forest health that you requested:

A forest is healthy as long as it maintains the productivity and species
richness (all taxonomic groups) of the pre-European settlement forest over
time.

Lee

== 12 of 12 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 4 2008 4:38 pm
From: treedunn@gmail.com


ENTS,

I just wanted to thank Bob, Will, and everyone else for the great
weekend. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to assist Will with
the climb. Its not every day that one gets to climb to 170 feet.
Simply amazing! MTSF is an amazing locale! Im certainly inspired to
get to work contributing big tree info from my region.

Many Thanks

Michael B. Dunn

== 2 of 19 ==
Date: Wed, Nov 5 2008 4:09 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net


Mike,

We were glad that you could participate and look very forward to your contributions. Lots of trees out there waiting to have their story told (and the dimensions taken).

Bob