Posts Tagged ‘Forestry’

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Tamarack: Our Only Native Deciduous Conifer

tamarackTamarack is a tree with a number of aliases – hackmatack, eastern larch, or if you’re from Northern Maine and feeling contrary, juniper. Whatever you call it, this scraggly tree, easy to overlook for most of the year, lights up the November forest. Weeks after leaf season has passed us by, the tamarack turns brilliant yellow and then orange, blazing like a torch amid the evergreens and fading, broad-leaf browns.

It’s an oddball tree, the only deciduous conifer native to our region, and I’ve often wondered how it manages to make a living. Deciduous trees are big spenders, investing in foliage that they use quickly and discard. This approach may seem wasteful, but in certain scenarios it’s a good strategy. Big leaves enable a tree to collect and bank a lot of carbon dioxide all summer; the tree then drops the leaves and takes the winter off. » Continue Reading.


Monday, November 7, 2016

Oak Wilt Detected in Canandaigua

DEC LogoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that oak wilt, a tree fungus that causes disease in oak trees, has been detected in Canandaigua, Ontario County.

This is the third location in New York State where oak wilt has been confirmed and the second location discovered in 2016. The disease was confirmed in Islip earlier this year and had previously been found in Glenville in 2008 and 2013. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, October 18, 2016

International Paper Endows Paul Smith’s College Professor

Brett McLeodA Paul Smith’s College professor has been named as the institution’s first International Paper Endowed Professor in Forestry Economics. Dr. Brett McLeod, professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy and 2003 graduate of Paul Smith’s, was honored with the distinction last week during a ceremony at the college.

The $500,000 endowment from International Paper will allow McLeod to continue his work in natural resource economics for the remainder of his career at Paul Smith’s College and could also help attract world-class professors to fill the position when he retires. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Presentation On Old Growth Forests Friday

Dr. Joan MaloofDr. Joan Maloof, founder and executive director of the Old-Growth Forest Network, will lead a discussion about old-growth forests, what they are, where they’re located, and how they can be conserved.

Maloof will talk about the current status of the earth’s forests, particularly, the ancient forests in the Adirondacks and eastern United State. She will also share the Old-Growth Forest Network’s vision for protecting the remaining and future old-growth forests. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The Underground Dirt On Tree Roots

tos tree rootsYou can pretty much count on a tree to stay in one place, at least in the real world. Not so in fiction. Remember the walking, talking Ents in the Lord of the Rings movies? Or Groot, the tree-like alien in the science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy?

Roots anchor a tree, of course, allowing it to stand up to much of what nature can throw at it; they also provide life-giving nutrients. Tree roots are a marvel of evolution: part of a whole-tree plumbing system that makes the one in your house seem primitive. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Managing Private Woodlands Sustainably Workshop

monitoringChamplain Area Trails (CATS), in conjunction with Shirley Forests will present a free workshop on Saturday, August 20 at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall in Whallonsburg, NY from 10:30 am to 3 pm on sustainable forest management.

Speakers will include Frank Shirley, president and Tim Castner, vice president of Shirley Forests, Chris Maron, executive director of Champlain Area Trails, Gary Goff, retired from Cornell Extension, and Deborah Boyce, forestry consultant.

Shirley Forest was established in 1955 by Dr. Hardy L. Shirley, then Dean of the SUNY College of Forestry. In 1978 the forest was incorporated, and in 1980 management of the forest was passed on to his children, Frank C. Shirley, Jon H. Shirley, and Emily Castner who are currently in the process of passing the forest on to the third generation, with Timothy Castner as vice president and David Shirley as treasurer. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, July 24, 2016

Jay O’Hern’s New Book On Adirondack Logging

adirondack logging book coverJay O’Hearn’s new book, Adirondack Logging: Life and Time in the Early Years of Logging’s Mechanization (Versa Press 2016) portrays the timber-logging lives of lumberjacks in the “Glory Years” following the introduction of Linn log hauling tractors.

The book includes interviews with loggers, remembrances of lumber camp life, accounts of river drives, the passing of old-style logging with horses, remembrances of yesterday’s lumberjacks, and stories that accompany appetizing recipes.

Rare photographic images capture the scenes once common around lumber camps, centers of the logging industry built exclusively for the lumberjacks. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, July 21, 2016

Forest Pests Could Change Adirondack Forests

Hemlock woolly adelgidAdirondack forests could see major changes in the coming decades as a result of forest pests, according to experts who attended a forest pest summit in North Creek recently.

Both the hemlock woolly adelgid and the emerald ash borer have been found south of the Adirondack Park, and the balsam woolly adelgid appears to be causing more damage to balsam firs inside the Blue Line in recent years. » Continue Reading.


Monday, July 18, 2016

Chainsaw Safety Course Set For Thursday

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Warren County will be holding a free Chainsaw Safety course on Thursday, July 21st at 1 pm at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Education Center at 377 Schroon River Road in Warrensburg.

Chainsaws are among the most useful and dangerous outdoor power tools owned and operated by landowners. Severe injuries include deep, jagged lacerations embedding foreign substances resulting from direct contact with the chain saw; strains and sprains from improper handling; and contusions concussions and/or fractures caused by being struck by objects while cutting. Improper long term use may result in loss of hearing and diminished nerve sensitivity. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, July 9, 2016

Dead Trees: Suddenly Is Relative

witch of 4th lake postcardOne of the drawbacks of being an arborist is the language barrier. Routinely I spout off about trees such as Corylus, Carpinus, and Crataegus before noticing a glazed look on the faces of my victims, I mean audience. Once I engage my Nerd Translator, though, such offensive words are corrected to hazelnut, ironwood, and hawthorn, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Sadly, this works in reverse, too.

Fairly often someone calls up wanting to know what caused the unexpected and untimely death of their well-established landscape tree that “suddenly” died over the spring or summer. As a result of my arborist-ailment this sounds to me as absurd as if they said the tree shot up from a sapling to fifty feet tall with no warning at all while they were on vacation. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Matty’s Mountain Management Plan Includes Selective Tree Cutting

Berry Pond Preserve and Matty’s MountainSince the Lake George Land Conservancy was established in 1988, the organization has protected more than 10,000 acres from development, largely to maintain the clarity and water quality of Lake George. But when conserving a property, its Board of Directors also considers a preserve’s broader value – for recreation, education and wildlife habitat.

In 2009, for instance, the Conservancy hired ecologists to study bird populations and in 2010, it began working toward establishing a managed wildlife refuge on one of its preserves.

And earlier this year, the board approved a Stewardship Plan for Matty’s Mountain, a 175 acre parcel in Lake George bordered on three sides by the Berry Pond Preserve. » Continue Reading.


Monday, June 13, 2016

Edible Forest Garden Tour Planned For June 18th

A Forest Garden (courtesy Chickenshack, North Wales)Adirondack Harvest is co-sponsoring an educational workshop in Cross Island Farms’ Edible Forest Garden on Saturday, June 18 from 1 pm to 4 pm.

Over the past three seasons Dani Baker, co-owner of Cross Island Farms, has developed just under an acre of her certified organic farm as a multi-functional edible forest garden encompassing numerous permaculture principles and practices. Attendees will join her as she describes the process of planning and planting over 300 cultivars of edible fruits, nuts, berries, and other edibles, both native and uncommon; learn about factors considered in deciding where and with what to plant the seven permaculture layers she has incorporated; and identify a large variety of supportive plants integrated into the landscape. Attendees will have an opportunity to sample edible fruits, flowers, greens and herbs in season and go home with a potted plant to begin or add to their own garden. » Continue Reading.


Monday, May 16, 2016

Conservation Council President On Managing ‘Forever Wild’ Lands

Wilderness around Fulton Chain from Castle Rock above Blue Mountain Lake

At a recent meeting I attended with other sportsmen, outdoor advocates and various environmental professionals, the topic of balance among the concerns of our lands and forests, wildlife, and people was being discussed.

From the perspective of the New York State Conservation Council, there is nearly a complete loss of balance on state lands in the Adirondacks because of an overbearing philosophy within the forest preserve, the forever wild philosophy, and wilderness and wild forest classifications. Thus the carrying capacity for song birds, wild game and other species in the Adirondacks is severely lacking. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Planting Trees Along The Hudson With YENN, Adirondack Wild, And Forest Rangers

DEC Forest Rangers working with YENN and Adirondack Wild“I never thought I’d be getting my hands dirty and planting trees in such a big forest,” said Jody last Saturday.

She had joined others from the Youth Ed-Venture and Nature Network, Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for a day of hard work along the Hudson River.  YENN volunteers from tye Capital District met me at the Adirondack Mountain Club Headquarters off of Northway Exit 21 (thanks to Danielle for hosting us).  After a brief orientation to the Adirondack Park, we drove to Luzerne and then up River Road into the Town of Warrensburg. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 28, 2016

POW Labor Camps in the Adirondacks

PineCamp1942The word Adirondack calls to mind many things — natural beauty, family playground, sporting opportunities, colorful history — but nothing so dark as prisoner-of-war host.

Yet during the last world war (let’s hope it was the last), followers of Hitler and Mussolini populated the North Country. Volumes have been written about the suffering endured in POW camps, but for countries adhering to the Geneva Conventions, there was a clear set of rules to follow. Among them was that prisoners must receive adequate provisions and supplies (food, clothing, living quarters), and if put to work, they must be paid. » Continue Reading.



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