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without a chainsaw; land in a tangle of 10' F I have not been following this thread very closely but I get the feeling that it is about trees in a forest not about a ecological living forest habitat. Aging and crowding of trees is not necessarily a bad thing when it provided dead trees for habitat for wildlife. Some wildlife can only live in old over-crowded slow growing forests . We have successfully destroyed most of that habitat in Nova Scotia. When will the forest managers start looking at all aspects of a forest ecology and not just the trees for future harvesting for human use? At the moment we have to set aside areas as wilderness or special places to preserve the forest ecology and that has lead to scattered islands of habitat. Surely, forests can be managed to provide healthy forest ecology with wildlife habitat and yield a fraction for human use. We have to give up the greed and gratification of harvesting everything and hope it grows back. Looking at the current state of Nova Scotia forest, they certainly have not been sustained by forest management practices in present use. We now have large areas of scrub growing back over clear cuts and completely different collection of species growing where a more rich ecology used to exist. I'll stop there. Larry ////// === /////// Larry Bogan Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia <larry@bogan.ca> On Sat, 9 Jan 2016 19:20:13 -0400 "David & Alison Webster" <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > Hi Mary & All, > No surprise at all because I feel the same way. But when trees begin to suffer from overcrowding then the prudent course of action is to thin lightly before the canopy of the keepers has begun to shrink. Those remaining trees appreciate their new lease on life and grow like weeds; provided you thin soon enough. > Interesting that you used the term 'Occam's Razor' because in a way it fits; the ideal final state being the minimum number of trees that will collectively capture the maximum amount of sunlight. > Light and water are the coarse controls which define growth rate, these two factors shape decisions when thinning and it is folly to fret about other possible effects if these are out of kilter. > Yt, Dave Webster > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mary Macaulay > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Saturday, January 09, 2016 5:49 PM > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Red Herring & Forestry > > > Good to hear David! > Then I'm sure you aren't truly surprised that most of us naturalists would rather cut our forests with Occam's Razor than commercial logging equipment. > > > With kindest regards > > > Mary (Macaulay), P.Eng. > Queen Bee, Insect Recovery Project > Owner, Remember Adventures > Pedal Buggy & snowshoe rentals, picnics, great bird friendly coffee, breakfast & pasta, pollinator meadow, games & more!! > (Open Wed to Sunday: 8:30 am) > 365 Main Street & Station Road > Trans-Canada Trail > Tatamagouche > RememberAdventures.ca & InsectRecovery.org > 1-902-657-0054 > Twitter @RememberTata & @InsectRecovery > > On Jan 9, 2016, at 10:31 AM, David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > > > Hi Mary & All, Jan 9, 2016 > Poor management to some degree perhaps but today's problems, and the aftermath, are the consequences of greed, waste and excessively large environmental footprints. > > I adopted a frugal lifestyle early in life, for the above reason, and have records of power, water, oil and motor vehicle milage going back to1967 or thereabouts. > > Although it would take time to tabulate them I pledge $500 to Feed NS if anyone who has lived in a house during this period has lower verifiable values. Contenders must also pledge $500 to Feed NS. > > Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mary Macaulay > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > Sent: Friday, January 08, 2016 5:48 AM > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Red Herring & Forestry > > > David > > > Step back a minute and remember it is our very interference and "managing" that is upsetting the delicate balance of Nature. > Thoreau would remind you "In Wildness is the preservation of the World". > > With kindest regards > > > > Mary (Macaulay), P.Eng. > Queen Bee, Insect Recovery Project > Owner, Remember Adventures > Pedal Buggy & snowshoe rentals, picnics, great bird friendly coffee, breakfast & pasta, pollinator meadow, games & more!! > (Open Wed to Sunday: 8:30 am) > 365 Main Street & Station Road > Trans-Canada Trail > Tatamagouche > RememberAdventures.ca & InsectRecovery.org > 1-902-657-0054 > Twitter @RememberTata & @InsectRecovery > > On Jan 7, 2016, at 8:44 PM, David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com> wrote: > > > Hi Mary, Jim & All, Jan 7, 2016 > By biomass I meant cutting trees (but clear cutting only in very exceptional circumstances), mowing Miscanthus,.... and ultimately burning for power. > > It is a grave mistake to imagine that carbon accumulation in a forest continues for all time. David Suzuki preached this for a while but retracted about 20 years ago. After few decades or many, depending upon initial state, a point is reached whereby release of carbon dioxide by forest litter and soil equals the carbon fixed in any one year. This steady state neither gains nor loses CO2. Consult a copy of The Soil Resource Hans Jenny Ecological Studies 37 1980, 377 pp; fluff free so about 400 hrs would be a good start. > > A steady state forest does store carbon until a dry period hits, as it has out west for several years, and one has huge forest fires. And dry or not there are some forest fires every year. And on the heels of a forest fire, unless there is very rapid regeneration, there will be large losses of CO2 from soil, as in clear cuts. > > As an aside, I have been selectively cutting trees for firewood, off and on, for 72 years and I am confident that most cuts quickly led to greater growth rates of the remaining trees and greater rates of carbon capture. I don't want to put words in Jamie's mouth or actions in his hands but, unless I have wires crossed, he also cuts trees selectively for firewood and I suspect that given the same setting we would very often make similar choices. > > Also as an aside, one learns by making mistakes and I have learned much that way. For example in 1971 I bought a woodlot south of Wolfville with the view that the best way to protect woodland wa