SUMMER RESEARCH SEMINARS AT YALE MYERS FOREST
As always, 7 pm for Refreshments, 7: 30 for the Talk
Thursday, June 26th
Pattern and process of tree regeneration in Southern New England Forests
Join Dr. Mark Ashton, Yale’s own professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology, for a talk about the long term monitoring of regeneration survival and growth across the forest landscape. He’ll uncover the effects of past land use, and differences in recruitment in relation to topographic position with implications for sustainable forest management.
Thursday, July 10th
Life on the Edge: Amphibians in roadside wetlands
Steven Brady, a doctoral student working at Yale-Myers Forest will talk about his recent research on the effects of road runoff on the wetland dwelling amphibians and their evolutionary consequences.
Thursday, July 24th
How much water do stream communities need?
Dam construction and the diversion of water for consumptive use have substantially altered the natural flow regime of streams. This is compounded by effects of climate change and its proposed increased irregularity of flow with intermittently wetter and drier years. Dr. Annika Walters will explore these linkages on recent work that she completed for her doctorate at the Yale Myers Forest.
Thursday, August 7th
The summer life of an apprentice forester
Join six masters students (Kris Covey, Caitlin Cusack, John Kaufman, Jacob Munger, Jeffrey Ross, Teresa Sarroca) as they talk about their experience in the summer apprenticeship program in learning the skills, tools and knowledge of managing a forest. Starting with the adventures of road maintenance and boundary marking, they will take you through techniques of inventory design, use of GIS, and the development, marking and writing of silvicultural prescriptions for the forest.
Directions to Yale Myers Camp: From New Haven, take I91N to I84E to Exit 71, left off the ramp and straight through 2 stop signs and 2 blinking stop lights, onto a dirt road and then back to pavement for ~1.75 miles, look for orange gate on left. Locally, head west on Centre Pike from the junction of Rte 171, look for orange gate ~1 mile on right. 150 Centre Pike, Eastford, CT 06242 (203) 927-4195
Vernal Pool Inventory in Woodstock
WHERE TO BUY CONIFER SEEDLINGS
The State Nursery is closed until further notice. The Eastern CT Soil & Water Conservation District has a seedling sale every year and their order forms are out now (02/07). Contact Scott Gravatt at (860) 774-0224 for more info. You can buy conifer seedlings in multiples of 25 or 50, as well a lots of other landscape plants, etc. Proceeds go to further their conservation programs.
CT TREES AND FOREST CORN MAZE
For a truly fun and educational experience this fall, Steve Broderick of UCONN recommends checking out Chris Kueffner’s Connecticut Trees and Forests corn maze on Merrow Road in Mansfield (http://merrowmaze.com/). Folks of all ages will learn and enjoy.
MAPS OF WOLF DEN LAND TRUST PROPERTIES AVAILABLE ONLINE
Maps that you can click on or download are now available online for the Gardner, Sherman and Shoemaker Properties. These three properties and several others have a trail system, and are open to the public for passive recreation such as birding and day hiking. No motorized vehicles are allowed.
INVASIVE PLANT GUIDE AVAILABLE
The U.S. Forest Service State & Private Forestry Division has just published a new, weather-resistant, color illustrated, pocket-sized “Invasive Plants Field and Reference Guide: an ecological perspective of plant invaders of forests and woodlands.” To quote the introduction, “the purpose of this particular field guide is to give a scientific synthesis of what is known about the behavior of such species in managed, disturbed, and pristine forested systems, in addition to key information for accurate identification.” The guide includes an extensive list of citations of peer-reviewed research on each species for those who wish to learn more. The pages are bound in a steel-ring loose leaf format, and the Forest Service anticipates printing additional sheets that can be added to the guide. Single copies can be obtained by contacting Tom Rawinski at the U.S. Forest Service Durham New Hampshire office: (603)868-7642 or trawinski@fs.fed.us
ECFLA DONATES BLUEBIRD BOXES TO TRAIL DEDICATED TO ROBERT V. SMITH
A bluebird trail set up at the closed Woodstock Landfill includes boxes donated by ECFLA/WDLT. The trail is dedicated to Robert Smith, who built thousands of bluebirds boxes for ECFLA. See the article in our next newsletter.
BLUEBIRD BOXES
Steve Laume, a master woodworker in Chaplin, is volunteering
to make bluebird nestboxes for sale at fairs ($8.00, including an educational brochure).
DEER MANAGEMENT GUIDE PUBLISHED
Cornell Cooperative Extension has a new publication to help communities address deer management problems: Community-Based Deer Management: A Practitioner’s Guide <http://cce.cornell.edu/store/customer/home.php>, by Daniel J. Decker, Daniela B. Raik, William F. Siemer. This guide synthesizes a growing body of research and field experience to describe specific key dimensions to consider when engaging in community-based deer management.
You can obtain a copy at the secure online bookstore: www.cce.cornell.edu/store, or call (607-255-2080) or fax (607-255-9946) your order with a valid credit card, or mail a check for $19.95 (includes shipping) to The Resource Center, Cornell Cooperative Extension, P.O. Box 3884, Ithaca, NY 17852-3884. Make your check payable to Cornell University. See list of other publications useful to forest landowners.
SUDDEN
OAK DEATH ADVISORY
Researchers and foresters are concerned that Sudden
Oak Death has the potential to have a catastrophic impact similar
to that of Dutch Elm Disease or Chestnut Blight. Sudden Oak Death
has never been found in the wild in the eastern United States.
To date, it has been found only on nursery stock in nurseries. The CT Agricultural Experiment Station has now confirmed that Sudden Oak Death has been imported into Connecticut on infected nursery stock, which was then sold and planted in the environment. For more information see a DEP Forestry advisory at http://ecfla.org/sod.htm.
LAW HELPS LANDOWNERS WITH ATV AND SNOWMOBILE
PROBLEMS
Public Act 03-276 requires that operators of
snowmobiles or all terrain vehicles, when operating such
a vehicle on any lands, fenced and/or posted or otherwise,
obtain written permission and carry such permission on
their person while operating such vehicles on such properties.
(Effective date: 7/1/03.) "NO ATV" signs will be available for sale at the ECFLA/WDLT booths at the 2004 Brooklyn and Woodstock Fairs, for $4 each, or 3 for $10 while supplies last. For more info, click here. Also see Dennis Hodgin's article: Connecticut's Worst Invasive Species - ATVs.
Photo by Cherie Layton, The BluebirdNut |
