Hopping Around MA

Hopping Around MA

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TOPIC: Hopping around
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/c371878935fd25ab?hl=en
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== 1 of 7 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 6 2008 9:55 am
From: dbhguru@comcast.net

ENTS,

On Saturday, after a program at the Bryant Homestead in Cummington, MA, my old friend Jack Sobon and I looked at a scattering of large white pines in Windsor State Forest. A big trailside pine measured 13.4 feet in circumference and 136.0 feet in height. It is a weevil pine, so its form is not especially pleasing. We also looked at two other large pines, one reaches 12.8 feet around and is 123.1 feet tall. The last is 12.3 feet around and 125.8 feet tall. It is actually in Cummington. Of the three, the last pine is by far the most handsome to my eye. The first two are contorted weevil-damaged trees. Nonetheless, the three big trees gives me a new site to investigate, i.e. Windsor SF. I've never spent much time there. There is a small amount of old growth located at two sites, but there may be some pretty decent trees along the feeder streams to the west branch of the Westfield River and along the ridges leading to the river.
This morning, behind Monica's house, I remeasured a remarkable hop hornbeam. It has reached a height of 77.0 feet and a circumference of 3.9 feet. I'm recalculating the Broadbrook RI, which currently stands at 115.0 for approximately 100 acres. Lots to do. I'm still fiddling around with various criteria for white pine. Eventually I'll have a complete list of white pine sites meeting various criteria.

Bob

== 2 of 7 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 6 2008 2:24 pm
From: "Joseph Zorzin"

Bob, be forewarned- the clearcut monster has arrived at Windsor St. Forest. I went there a few weeks ago to view some of the state's whack jobs- apparently part of their effort to wipe out all red pine and Norway Spruce- which is just mind boggling- but, I won't get into the stupidity of it as doing so would be inappropriate for the ENTS list.

Joe
PS: amazingly, these whack jobs are fully supported by the major enviro groups in this state- makes you wonder what's in the water or air causing such neural disorders <G>

== 3 of 7 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 6 2008 5:18 pm
From: dbhguru@comcast.net

Joe,

I saw the edge of one of the clearcuts. I was feeling lousy so I didn't climb the ridge to get a better look, but plan to do so in the next week or two.

Bob

== 7 of 7 ==
Date: Mon, Oct 6 2008 7:22 pm
From: Andrew Joslin

I understand that ecologists/biologists consider pure Red Pine and Norway
Spruce stands to be diversity deserts. It's easy to clearcut but a more
creative and perhaps productive approach from a diversity point of view
would be to thin the stands or create smaller cut areas to simulate
natural wind events and open things up a bit for successional growth
rather than wholesale flatten them. Just my non-professional opinion.
-Andrew

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