New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Forestry

An Adirondack Lumber Camp at Twitchell Lake, 1860-80

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5a Objects dug up in Lumber Camp #2 about a half mile east of Twitchell Lake, Noel SherryMy uncle Frank Sherry taught my brother Tom and I orienteering, using a map and compass to navigate through the woods and find a remote pond or other location. We were teenagers and it was an exciting way to spend a Saturday.

On one of these adventures we were in search of Silver Dollar Pond to the east of Twitchell Lake in Northern Herkimer County,when we stumbled on our first lumber camp. The telltale signs were pieces of metal hanging from a tree and protruding from the ground, with old bottles half-buried in the forest floor. We made note of the location on our map, a half-mile from Twitchell, and returned to explore it. It wasn’t long before we located the camp dump, from which we dug up the items pictured here.

These and other objects triggered an active discussion on the date of this old camp, with an imaginative re-creation of what life might have been like for a lumberjacks living and working there. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Lumber Camp at Twitchell Lake, 1860-80

DEC Announces Aerial Spraying of Six State Forest Areas

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Gypsy moth courtesy USDANew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that DEC will be conducting aerial treatments for the invasive pest spongy moth (formerly known as gypsy moth) in six state forests areas in New York.

Treatment is taking place between May 20th and May 31st, weather permitting. The priority areas chosen already suffered spongy moth defoliation for multiple years and are expected to have another high level of infestation this year according to survey efforts conducted by DEC regional staff. [Read more…] about DEC Announces Aerial Spraying of Six State Forest Areas

Up Every River: Logging The Adirondacks (1820-40)

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3a Our Double-bladed AxeIn the 1820s the State of New York encouraged Adirondack exploration and settlement, benefiting from the land sales and taxes (when they were paid). Lewis County newspapers were abuzz with praise for the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal, and in less than a year, the Black River Gazette launched a discussion on “improving” the Black River as a connection between the canal and the St. Lawrence River, anticipating the economic benefit Adirondack timber would bring when this opened a commercial route to the rest of the world:

“The quantity of lumber which might be drawn from those vast forests, now covering a soil which would anticipate the desires of a husbandman are beyond all calculation. For it is a fact admitted by all who have the least acquaintance with this section of country, that a greater quantity of wood, timber, lath, staves, boards, shingles, masts and spars might be drawn from this northern triangle, by means of a Canal, than any other district or county in the state.” [Read more…] about Up Every River: Logging The Adirondacks (1820-40)

Striped Maple: Food & Shelter in the Forest Understory

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Striped maple growing at the edge of a forest with pine and hickory in the background courtesy Wikimedia user N3362 Beneath the forest canopy, or overstory, of towering trees is a second layer of vegetation known as the understory. It is composed of shrubs, saplings, and understory trees that grow in the dappled shade of the overstory.

One understory specialist is striped maple, a small tree that seldom grows more than 20 feet high and 8 inches in circumference. Despite its moderate stature, striped maple plays an important ecological role in the forest, providing shelter and food for a variety of wildlife. [Read more…] about Striped Maple: Food & Shelter in the Forest Understory

How to Scrape Spongy Moth Eggs

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spongy moth egg masses on a tree courtesy DECHave you noticed spongy moth egg masses in your neighborhood? Last year was a boom year for spongy moth (formerly known as gypsy moth) caterpillar populations, especially in Central and Western New York.

Egg masses contain 600-700 eggs each and will hatch around May. If you find them now, you can scrape them off trees or buildings and drop them into a container of detergent to prevent the eggs from hatching. [Read more…] about How to Scrape Spongy Moth Eggs

The Great North Woods Before Logging: Twitchell Lake’s Virgin Timber

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1a Twitchell White PineOne of the best memories I carry from my vacations at our camp on Twitchell Lake in Herkimer County in the Adirondacks is the white pine that marks the western border of our lake-shore property. It’s massive base peaks with twin tops that tower above all the other trees on our shoreline. Peering up into its heights ignited my boyhood imagination, picturing myself atop the Crow’s Nest of some fast clipper ship, scouting for pirates.

There have been several hurricanes and microbursts that have wreaked havoc with the four plus miles of our lake’s shoreline, but my white pine stands firm still, its roots anchored deep in the ancient glacial fill. Even to this day, my brother Tom and I muse about an observation tower roped between those twin tops where we are poised, binoculars in hand, eye-to-eye with the bald eagles that visit the lake, and the loons that daily jet by. This giant stands well over 150 feet tall. [Read more…] about The Great North Woods Before Logging: Twitchell Lake’s Virgin Timber

Invasive Southern Pine Beetle Spreads North

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Southern Pine beetle invasive insectNew York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) have announced that southern pine beetles (SPB) were found farther north than previously documented and in greater numbers, suggesting their range is expanding and populations are on the rise.

SPB are destructive forest pests that pose a significant threat to the State’s pine forests, particularly pitch pine forests like those found in the Albany Pine Bush and Minnewaska State Park Preserve. [Read more…] about Invasive Southern Pine Beetle Spreads North

Camp Boyhaven Property Added To Middle Grove State Forest

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DEC LogoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the addition of 219 acres of land formally belonging to Camp Boyhaven to the Middle Grove State Forest in the town of Milton, Saratoga County.

Camp Boyhaven was established in 1924 as one of the longest operating Boy Scout camps in New York State, serving scouts from Schenectady County and the greater Capital District. [Read more…] about Camp Boyhaven Property Added To Middle Grove State Forest

DEC Should Conduct A Nationwide Search For A New State Forester

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Algonquin TrailThe current New York State Forester at the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that he is retiring in April.

This position doubles as the Director of the Division of Lands and Forests, and as such is the top public lands manager in the state, supervising the management of the 3-million-acre Forest Preserve, more than 750,000 acres of conservation easements, over 700,000 acre of State Forests, and thousands of acres of Wildlife Refuges and various other properties. [Read more…] about DEC Should Conduct A Nationwide Search For A New State Forester

Old Trees Play A Unique And Essential Role

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American elm tree courtesy Wikimedia user MsactTypically, “tree aging” is done by counting annual growth rings, either on a stump or on a sample core taken by a special tool. But the phrase can also refer to veteranization, a process whereby trees are prematurely aged through targeted injury and stress in order to create specialized habitats. It’s much like the ageing of parents, a treatment administered by one’s children to produce worry lines, grey hairs, and character.

We humans whistle past the cemetery, as it were, with refrains like “50 is the new 40,” apparently hoping to trick death into giving us a free decade somewhere along the line. For trees, there is no single definition of old. A mountain-ash is decrepit by fifty, while a bur oak of that age is a mere adolescent. Every species has a lifespan range beyond which no amount of wishful thinking or supplements can help. [Read more…] about Old Trees Play A Unique And Essential Role