Maine

    

Yellow Birch - photo by Jennifer Dudley

Maine

 

 

On March 14, 2010 the Eastern Native Tree Society and Western Native Tree Society switched from discussion lists on Google Groups to a new discussion list in a Bulletin Board format at: http://www.ents-bbs.org/index.php  Posts made since the inception of the BBS on March 14, 2010 will be sorted and archived on the BBS. Click on the link to go to the equivalent section on the new BBS. This website will continue to serve as a front end for the ENTS and WNTS groups. It will continue to serve as a repository of older posts, and will serve as the host site for special projects and features that are not well suited for a BBS format. Please visit the BBS for the latest information and trip reports.

 

Field Trips

 

Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett, written in 1896: 
--Mrs. Todd speaking to her companions as they travel up-country Maine on the way to a family reunion.--
'"There's sometimes a good hearty tree growin' right out of the bare rock,
out o' some crack that just holds the roots;" she went on to say, " right
on the pitch o' one 'o them bare stony hills wehre you can't seem to see a
wheel-barrowful o' good earth in a place, but that tree'll keep a green top
in the driest summer. You lay your ear down to the growth an' you'll hear
a little stream runnin'. Every such tree has got it own livin' spring;
there's folks made to match 'em."'--

  • Acadia National Park http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm   Located on the rugged coast of Maine, Acadia National Park encompasses over 47,000 acres of granite-domed mountains, woodlands, lakes and ponds, and ocean shoreline.  Comprised of a cluster of islands on the Maine coast, Acadia is positioned within the broad transition zone between eastern deciduous and northern coniferous forests, and hosts several species and plant communities at the edge of their geographic range. Steep slopes rise above the rocky shore, including Cadillac Mountain, which at 1,530 feet is the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast.   Much of the park is covered by spruce-fir forests, which is representative of the boreal influence, however, Acadia also contains stands of oak, maple, beech, and other hardwoods more typical of most of New England. There are also several unique, isolated forest communities, such as pitch pine and scrub oak woodlands, that are found in the park at their northeastern range limit. Similarly, jack pine reaches the southern limit of its range in Acadia.
  • Live view Acadia National Park (webcam) http://www.hazecam.net/acadia.html 
  • Notes from the Field Blog: North Woods, Maine 2009
      http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/fromthefield/category/north-woods-maine-2009/?src=eoa-features
        NASA's Dr. Jon Ranson is on an expedition in the forests of central Maine to validate recent radar and lidar measurements which will help create more accurate and sensitive sensors to better understand the vegetation of the Earth and to balance the carbon budget.
  • Forest Ecology Network  http://www.powerlink.net/fen/ The purpose of the Forest Ecology Network is to protect, preserve, and defend the native forest environment of Maine through public awareness, grassroots citizen activism, and education
  • Mount Katahdin, in Baxter State Park, Maine (Piscataquis County): approximately 5,000 acres of uncut subalpine forest divided among several locations including North Peaks and Northwest Basin. The forest is almost entirely balsam fir.  http://www.baxterstateparkauthority.com/ 
  • Maine's Changing Forests http://www.maine.gov/doc/mfs/woodswise/timeline.html 
  • Maine Woods National Park (proposal) http://www.restore.org/ 
  • Maine Forest Facts http://www.state.me.us/doc/foliage/kids/meforestfacts.html 
  • "Established in 1894, the W.S. Wells & Sons cannery in Wilton (Maine), (pop.4,123) is the only fiddlehead fern cannery in the nation. The company sells nearly 50,000 pounds of the seasonal delicacy each year."  source: Greenfield (MA) Recorder, 01/08