Old Growth Forests.....Joan Maloof

We had an interesting "Talking Plants" today; Joan Maloof spoke about Old Growth Forests (which generally means either virgin forest, or ~300 year old regrowth) and her newest book, Among the Ancients: Adventure in the Eastern Old-Growth Forest. A Pollination Biologist who evolved into a Forest Ecologist, she teaches a range of Biology classes at Salisbury University. We got a quick lesson on the history of forests in the US. If I remember correctly we are 42% forested now, down from 90+% at the time of European settlement, but up from 17% at our lowest point. As for the "Old Growh Forests", like the rest of us who've experienced them, she seems to have fallen in love, and wants everybody to be able to experience the magic. This book, her newest, actually describes specific tracts in the eastern US, one per state. They're all on public land, all open to visitors, and there are detailed directions to each one.

Currently, she's working on a big project, The Old Growth Forest Network. Her goal is to create a network of "old growth" tracts, ideally one per county for the 2,000 odd counties in the US that can support forests. The tracts are to be uncut in perpetuity and open to visitors. Everyone would, or at least could interact with these amazing ecosystems. Interestingly enough she doesn't want any mangement which includes managing invasives or excessive deer population. Sounds good, but the devil's always in the details. I do think that by advocating for open access and not making a lot of noise about "non-native invasives" she's made the concept embraceable across the political spectrum. It would be a grand experiment and I'd love to see where it was after 300 years or so but I probably won't be around then. Still...I am supportive and hopeful.

"Among the Ancients" redux

It's been cold, <40F all day; the heavy rain of this morning has given way to driving sleet and snow. All this a few days short of November. Not usual here. I've been alternating between bringing tropicals, houseplants, and orchids indoors and reading Among the Ancients. And I've spent a lot of time this week thinking about Old Growth Forests, Joan Maloof's campaign for preservation, and my post about the same.

First off, I have to say that the book got short shrift from me . It's really a wonderfully written, informative long essay, broken into chapters, each one dedicated to a particular site in each of the states east of the Mississippi. While the narrative is basically a melange of historical, scientific, and personal anecdotes, threaded gracefully through it is a cogent argument as to why we need to make an effort to specifically preserve and create accessible Old Growth.

It's an appealing and unique idea to make the preserves accessible to the public. Hey, I guess that's the point. In the chapter on New Jersey's Saddler's Woods, she explains why land trusts, almost universally include a management plan that includes cutting. I'm not on real solid ground here, but from what I understand, the vast majority of land currently preserved in a way that would allow for the redevelopment of Old Growth forests is wilderness area. These are barely accessible; most are far off the beaten path and access is severely limited.

Some of the people I spoke with were a bit put off by what they perceived as the demonizing of foresters in general; I felt a similar, if not as strong response myself. Still, if they (foresters) won't be persuaded of the merits of dedicating an infinitesimally small percentage of forest to Old Growth....