Vermont
Native Tree Society Event:
The ENTS go marching on |
Robert
Leverett |
| Dec
22, 2004 10:24 PST |
ENTS:
I left Springfield MA yesterday afternoon,
directly from work, and
drove up to Montpelier, VT to give a lecture for the Vermont
Tree
Society, the organization that ENTS member Loona Brogan founded.
It
takes about 3.5 hours to reach Montpelier from Springfield, MA.
I stayed
over night at the home of retired state naturalist and author
Charles
Johnson and his wife Nona. Wonderful people! Making their
acquaintances
was important and a link to better ENTS representation in VT.
Loona set
things up well. Thanks, Loona.
The drive up immediately reminded me of
the difference between the
climate of northern as compared to southern New England. The
temperature
went down to -18 degrees Fahrenheit last night. It was the 2nd
night in
a row that the temperature hit -18. Brrrr. But they are
accustomed to
cold weather in central and northern Vermont. The average
January
temperature of Montpelier is only 16 degrees. By comparison Lee
Frelich's humble abode in Minneapolis weighs in at an even lower
13
degrees average for January. Both places have a recorded all
time low of
-34 for January. Low spots in both areas have probably recorded
significantly lower temperatures. According to Charles Johnson,
the all
time Vermont low is -53. As a naturalist he is painfully aware
of low,
cold spots that have no official reporting. Incidentally,
Charles was
recently awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of
Vermont -
and well deserved, I might add.
After the lecture, Loona signed up
more new members than she had
for any other comparable Vermont Tree Society event, despite a
fairly
light turnout. The winter solstice saw many Vermonters observing
Celtic
rituals. So, needless to say, I was very happy.
We also set up a May 22nd event to train
a Vermont Tree Society
cadre of tree measurers using official ENTS methods. A basic
measurement
corps was established last night that included a lady, who was
definitely
enthusiastic. WAY COOL. Sometime later in the summer, we'll go
to one of
the Hudson River estates and let the Vermont Tree Society
document the
site and compute a Rucker Index -with ENTS assistance of course.
Again,
WAY COOL.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society
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