Bob,

Thanks for taking us on the grand tour of one of the northeast's
extraordinary groves of big trees. It's amazing how you remember all the
statistical details of each tree. It's also amazing how these big trees
just continue to grow and that these giants are really not that old: 100
- 160 years. So if we can grow big pine trees in a century, why aren't
we? Why are most white pine trees harvested before they reach at least
24 inches in diameter? Well we know the answer to that and it is greed
and short-sightedness.  
Understanding how and why these big trees grow can provide important
lessons for foresters practicing silviculture in the field. Protecting
rare groves like these is also important to provide examples of what
foresters can achieve over the long term.
Attached are a few photos of some of the giants of Mohawk Trail State
Forest.

Mike

IMG_3423.JPG 1585K View Download

IMG_3421.JPG 1360K View Download

Mike Leonard wrote (August 14, 2009)

ENTs,

Here are a few more shots of our hike with Bob at MTSF. My Biltmore
stick was just a prop used to give more perspective to the size of some
of these giants.
The Forestmeister and Bob are in the second photo looking at some
northern hardwood old growth. Hey Bob I think Joe deserves a tree to be
named after him. I think he likes sugar maple the best. How about it
Joe? That one to the left of you is a beauty!

Some other things I learned and other observations:

1. Bob told us of a big pine that was cut at MTSF to provide a new ship
mast. It wasn't easy taking down the tree and I think it damaged a few
on the way down. Afterwards there were inquiries from some wealthy
people who also wanted a new ship mast from MTSF! Thankfully DCR said it
was a one shot deal.

2. The field with the prairie grass big bluestem was interesting. But it
was kind of shocking to hear that the UMass Ag Dept. plowed the field in
an experiment which most likely destroyed any archaeological finds that
were there!

3. Bob told us about the bear tree by a cool little cave. There was a
bear who came around who liked to rub this tree and left a lot of scat,
etc. Well when a UMass wildlife student went back and told his wildlife
prof about this they went back and scooped and scraped all the bear
evidence and the bear never came back! What's wrong with these UMass
people anyway? Well it's not a surprise to me since the UMass forestry
professors have betrayed my profession as well.

4. By the Elders white pine grove, there is a swath of old growth
hardwoods (in the 2nd photo) consisting of some beautiful sugar maple
and ash along with some decent size yellow birch. As Bob pointed out,
the richness of the site is indicated by some of the understory plants
like maidenhair fern. Even if this area was not old growth, it would not
be conducive for active forest management because of the steep slopes
and soils which stay wet a great part of the year.

All of this proves that our public lands need more than just Forest
Management Plans. They need complete Resource Management Plans that look
at all of the resources of these forests and then we can do a better job
of zoning the wilderness areas and those areas where silviculture and
timber production can be done.
The RMPs need to be done first and then the Forest Mgt. Plans can be
done for those areas that will be actively managed. But as always the
battle will be how much should be wilderness.

Mike

IMG_3405.JPG 1321K View Download

IMG_3496.JPG 1546K View Download

I brought my video camera- but Bob moves too fast for me so I only got a few minutes of video- which I'll process later. I gave up on the video but did manage to take a single still shot of an incredible cave. I've now heard Bob talk about the cave at least twice but I don't recall the story. Perhaps Bob can give a brief commentary on it.

Joe

Joe Zorzin Wrote (August 16, 2009)