Tree Hugger's Meltdown

Hay Dude · Jul 2, 2023

Well, “Pride month” is over.

I guess we can all breathe a smoky sigh of relief and get back to recognizing lesser people, like veterans, past great presidents, etc.

sixdogs · Jul 2, 2023

The impact of tree hugger has had a profound effect on forest management, especially on clearcuts used to refurbish forest vitality and slow forest fires.

Eventually, fires will get going in heavily forested places like northwestern Maine and fires will burn from Saint Pamphile, Quebec/Maine all the way downwind to Bar Harbor. There will be little to stop a wildfire in a drought with a prevailing NE wind and few natural fire barriers.

Lots of critters, homes and camps tucked in those woods along the way. Sanity will eventually prevail but it many take a disaster.

MossRoad · Jul 2, 2023

Better delete Lee Greenwood from your playlist.

Larry Caldwell · Jul 2, 2023

sixdogs said:
The impact of tree hugger has had a profound effect on forest management, especially on clearcuts used to refurbish forest vitality and slow forest fires.

Eventually, fires will get going in heavily forested places like northwestern Maine and fires will burn from Saint Pamphile, Quebec/Maine all the way downwind to Bar Harbor. There will be little to stop a wildfire in a drought with a prevailing NE wind and few natural fire barriers.

Lots of critters, homes and camps tucked in those woods along the way. Sanity will eventually prevail but it many take a disaster.

In my area, a closed canopy Douglas fir forest is one of the most sterile environments on the planet. It wipes out virtually all plant species, most insects, and mammals. It shocks some people that The Nature Conservancy logs their properties as needed, to promote biodiversity. The most vital habitat is the transition zone between forest and meadow, with underbrush providing berries and browse. The timber provides shelter in bad weather, both hot and cold, and the meadow provides seeds, grazing, and insects. If you don't whack the forest back, it will take over everything.

sixdogs · Jul 2, 2023

Larry Caldwell said:
In my area, a closed canopy Douglas fir forest is one of the most sterile environments on the planet. It wipes out virtually all plant species, most insects, and mammals. It shocks some people that The Nature Conservancy logs their properties as needed, to promote biodiversity. The most vital habitat is the transition zone between forest and meadow, with underbrush providing berries and browse. The timber provides shelter in bad weather, both hot and cold, and the meadow provides seeds, grazing, and insects. If you don't whack the forest back, it will take over everything.

It would be neat to see a Douglas fir forest as you describe. I've been in an old 600 acre cedar bog in Maine --Northern White cedar/Anerican Arborvitae--and the experience was unlike anything I'd ever seen. The stillness was haunting and it was nearly pitch black. This despite daylight and windy outside. Not a sound and zero vegetation. It had snowed but none inside.

The years of needles were spongy to walk on and after a look around, I was glad to get out.

BnRidge · Jul 2, 2023

There's an area in northern WI where there is small remnant if virgin white pine. Walking along the trail is an odd experience. Birds roosting above yet you can't see them because of the height. The trail meanders along around blowdowns and deadfalls, because a stepladder would be needed to go over them. You would think wildlife would be abundant, but come opening day for whitetails, shots would be heard a mile away in the aspens, but only in the newly cutover areas with new succulent growth.

sixdogs · Jul 2, 2023

BnRidge said:
There's an area in northern WI where there is small remnant if virgin white pine. Walking along the trail is an odd experience. Birds roosting above yet you can't see them because of the height. The trail meanders along around blowdowns and deadfalls, because a stepladder would be needed to go over them. You would think wildlife would be abundant, but come opening day for whitetails, shots would be heard a mile away in the aspens, but only in the newly cutover areas with new succulent growth.

In the cedar bog I mentioned in the post before yours, deer use those bogs for winter protection. I was in there one winter day and there were more deer than I had ever seen in one place. Also, I think it was a fisher that I saw in a tree..

Hay Dude · Jul 2, 2023

The area I grew up and continue to live in was heavily cut for agriculture in the early 1900’s when the railroads came in. I have seen aerial pictures from the first aircraft taking pictures over the lands here and it’s shocking to see how many farms there were, and also see how overgrown we now currently are.

I was acquainted with a very talented artist, Andrew Wyeth. He painted many portraits in my little town and the ones he painted when he was young in the 50’s-60’s show just how fewer trees there were. It seemed like on a hill top, you could seen miles. Now you can’t see anything. He did not like all the overgrowth and obstruction of views of meadows.

Now it’s like a jungle. Trees right along the pavement on every road, many are junky trees like Tree of Paradise, gnarly cherry and tulip poplar.

Give me the farms and the rolling hills, with mature oak, maple dogwood, sycamore, etc. trees along fields edge. I could do without feeling like the sun is blocked out all day and leaf cleanup is a 3 month process every year.