Christmas Gift from Mohawk   Robert Leverett   Dec 26, 2006 06:42 PST  ENTS, What does a dedicated Ent do on Christmas? Why, commune with the trees, of course. So, that is what we did. Monica and I spent both the 24th and 25th communing with the forest. The fragrance of the forest was our yuletide elixir. Christmas Eve was spent walking the bed of the old Hoosac Tunnel and Wilmington Railway in the township of Monroe, MA and Christmas Day was spent, appropriately enough, in our forest Mecca, MTSF. Our Christmas Eve walk on the remains of the old railroad, lovingly called the “Hoot Toot and Whistle”, was scenic, but I must report that the trees are un-inspiring. Past railroad-caused fires has left the ridges above the tracks populated with birch, aspen, and oak. White ashes grow in the more fertile spots, but there are no champions. A scattering of cottonwoods proved to be a surprise for me, although most are nothing to write home about. Our 3-mile roundtrip walk netted me only 2 cottonwoods worthy of entering into our database. But their mere existence is interesting. The cottonwoods grow on the ridge above the railroad instead of down nearer the Deerfield River, where there is annual flooding. I'm wondering if the railroad was the vector for their introduction. Perhaps cottonwood seeds from far down river became hitchhikers on trains to blow off and onto the hillsides. Does anyone have theories about that? Oh yes, the December 24th weather was idyllic – hardly typical of December in northern Massachusetts, but most enjoyable. The lulling sounds of the rushing waters of the Deerfield, augmented by the gentler trickles of numerous small streams flowing down Hoosac Tunnel Mountain, provided us with all the Christmas carolling we needed. Put Monica next to a rushing stream of water and the sounds quickly put her into a transcendental state that equals, for this professor of music and accomplished concert pianist, the effects of any sonata, concerto, or etude. Monica and I spent Sunday in the northern end of MTSF and how sweet it was. With Monica communing with Negus Mountain from a vantage point visited by very, very few, I entered the forest in search of over-looked tree treasures. And, wow, did I ever get a real Christmas present - a new 150-foot white pine, using a liberal interpretation for the base of the tree. The “Northern Sentinel” becomes number 82 for MTSF. The new pine is a loner and it is picture perfect. It becomes the northern most 150 in Mohawk. That distinction previously went to the Joseph Brant Tree. The coordinates of the Northern Sentinel are 42.65 degrees latitude and 72.96 degrees longitude. It grows at an altitude of 885 feet. The tree is not far from the route up Clark Ridge called the Shunpike – a historic late 1700s route up the Deerfield River Gorge used to avoid tolls on the toll road. A second important tree was a stately hemlock growing just down hill from the white pine. The tree’s height was a surprise. At 125.6 feet tall, it becomes the 16th hemlock in MTSF that we have measured to over 120 feet and our third tallest in Mohawk. John Eichholz has taken the mission on to document them all. I am happy to assist. John, we have another. The third surprise was a drop dead gorgeous red maple – as pretty as I’ve ever seen. Talk about aesthetics! This tree defines the concept as it relates to that much maligned species. We’ll get images. The maple’s dimensions are quite respectable (113.3, 8.1). However, it is its form that wins the maple its prize. The tree is not far from a walk that I once did with the late Karl Davies, forester extraordinaire. When he saw the red maples in the area, Karl mentioned to me that he had not seen their equal. I wish Karl had seen the “Magic Maple”. He would have marveled at it. Karl was a forester who was intensely proud of his profession and who concentrated on building value in the stands he managed. In fact, value growth was his Clarion Call. He could not tolerate the liquidation mentality of landowners who often deal directly with loggers – an almost guaranteed way of getting taken. However, Karl had a pretty dim view of red maple, as most timber specialists do. I wonder what his attitude might have become had he seen the Magic Maple – not that a single tree should be expected to have that much of an impact. But this is no ordinary red maple. I realize that red maple may not make the most ideal timber tree, but it can do a lot better in areas that are selectively harvested. What Karl objected to are the numerous over-cut and high graded stands that become populated with unsightly coppiced red maples. Since the area with the beautiful red maple saw an “improvement cut” in the past, perhaps in the 60s, there are lessons to be learned by all sides of debates on the best way to manage our state forests. However, the north end of Mohawk is past that debate. It is now part of one of the 9 large-scale forest reserves in Massachusetts. The full catch of the two days follows. Species Tree Name Height Girth DOM Cottonwood 95.1 8.3 24-Dec-06 Cottonwood 90.2 6.1 24-Dec-06 White pine Northern Sentinel 150.2 9.3 25-Dec-06 White ash 124.3 9.1 25-Dec-06 Striped Maple 53.7 2.0 25-Dec-06 Red maple Magic Maple 113.3 8.1 25-Dec-06 Northern red oak 109.2 9.1 25-Dec-06 Hemlock Northern Surprise 125.6 9.1 25-Dec-06 Hemlock 114.9 5.7 25-Dec-06 Black cherry 100.8 6.4 25-Dec-06 Before passing on, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the area of the Berkshires that Monica drove across going to MTSF. The upland Berkshire plateau contains most of the forested lands of the Berkshires, and as a whole, large areas of these woodlands are pretty unproductive. Small to stunted forms dominate acre after acre. Driving across the Berkshire Plateau, a person reading one of my accounts of MTSF or MSF might wonder what I put into my coffee. In truth, most of the Berkshire forests run from average to uninspiring to downright depressing. Local folks who grow up with them often don’t know the difference, but those of us in ENTS clearly do. It is in the protected river gorges and on the toe slopes of ridges that one encounters woodlands of a far higher quality in the Berkshires. But even in the ravines, trees often only make it into the average category. But then there are the forests of the Deerfield River and its tributaries and finally the incomparable section that runs from just west of Charlemont to the Vermont border. It is in this corridor that we see the best of the best in terms of tall trees in Massachusetts. MTSF is clearly the tall tree capital of New England and jewel in the belt buckle of the Mahican-Mohawk Recreational Trail. Yes, Christmas spent among Mohawk’s splendid trees was a great day. Bob Robert T. Leverett Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society   Home