Our Forest Conserved: Proud Work for our Future

While enjoying a walk in the woods we cannot help but to be in awe of the beauty that nature and the diversity of life makes apparent to us. We see the wide variety of birds such as the majestic bald eagles, squawky blue heron, and the easy to hear but hard to see palliated woodpecker.  Surprised white tailed deer, beavers, colorful reptiles and insects also make appearances often surprising the hiker as well.  Great trees whose trunks even two people together cannot reach around shows natures’ grandness. Eventually, we may wonder how all of this beauty has come to be here.  Sure, we read the various plaques in the parks visited. The brief narratives about the colorful figures of our past and estate histories but never realizing just much effort  was involved  in the creation of our park system. At one time there was no state funded forest and our forest was threatened by over harvesting and careless neglect. Trees were considered by the people as just another product to be exploited and consumed.  So I did some reading and some research and learned that the story of the Maryland State forests and parks is both long and interesting. Francis Zumbrun , a manager of Green Ridge State Forrest,  divided Maryland’s forestry efforts  into five periods. I borrowed his outline for a look at Maryland Forestry Service history.

 The Age of Forest exploitation 1800’s

         Timber was one considered an inexhaustible resource and forest was cut down without regard for conserving for the future. The addition of powerful railroad engines such as the Shay and Climax made logging in rugged areas possible resulting in more efficient logging. The side effect of this was greater loss of habitat for wildlife, increased soil erosion and forest fires. From colonial times to the early 1900’s 65 percent of the all the virgin forest in Maryland had been cut down. Debris left behind fueled fires that left the land barren and devoid of life. By 1900 less then 20 percent of forest remained east of the Mississippi. Extensive deforestation caused the disappearance of large trees which then became very rare sight.

The Custodial Period 1900-1940

           During the Custodial Period forest lands were protected, inventoried and mapped. In 1906 the Garret brother donated 1917 acres that would become Maryland fist state forest. Part of the donation stipulated that the Maryland government would create a forest management service to secure, manage, and conserve forest land. The Maryland Forest Service was born.  Later fifty thousand dollars along with 8500.00 in state appropriations were used to purchase land that would later become Patapsco Valley state park and Fort Frederick State Park. There was also the establishment of a State Forest Tree Nursery in 1914 at College Park on land donated by the University of Maryland until 1950. During the replanting efforts thousands of trees were planted in forest and along roadsides. The State Forest Tree Nursery has since been renamed the John S Ayton State Tree Nursery and moved to a 300 acre facility in Preston Maryland. John Ayton was the former nursery supervisor when it was located at Buckingham. Forest wardens trained in fire prevention and suppression. Maryland continued to purchase vast amount of cutover and abused land. Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1933. At the start, Maryland had just 14 camps which grew to 64 camps in 1942, the time of their closing. The CCC used the various talents of unemployed young men to build buildings, trails, roads, and other conservation projects that are still in use today by park goers.  

The Sustained Yield Management period 1940-1970

        During the war years and post war years there was our country experienced a period of great economic growth and our population was growing. Large quantities of timber was needed to help keep up with demand for new houses and other construction. Strides were made during the conservation period in forest management and science.

The Multiple Use Management Periods 1970-1990

     The Multiple Use Management period starts during a time of management fueled by environmental reforms. The Clean Air Act and The National Environmental protection Act were signed into law on 1970. The Endangered Species Act and Safe Water Act soon followed. .  The first Earth Day was also celebrated on April 22, 1970. Foresters were given a verity of natural resource tools to help provide a multidisciplinary approach to forest management. The desire being for increased beautification and preservation of Maryland parklands. The Maryland Wildlands Act, passed in 1971, resulted in the creation of the Maryland Wildlands Preservation System to protect and maintain areas of state lands with special scenic of environmental features for future generations. Savage River State Forest was first to receive a wildlands designation in 1973. Since then 29 wildlands totaling more the 43,770 have been designated. Project Open Space was created in 1969. Project Open Space acquires land to build parks, trails, playgrounds and ball fields for public use. Since its start Project Open Space has acquired 254,429 acres of open land for parks and natural resource areas and more then 37,512 acres of local park land. Parks are located not more then 15 minutes away from most residents. Focus during this period is not only on timber but also the soil, water, wildlife, and recreation.

The Sustainable and Forest Health Period 1990 to the present

      Maryland forest growth is now four times the harvest.  Foresters receive greater help and guidance from public participants such as those at the Department of Natural Resources, advisory committees formed from citizens with varied backgrounds and public input from informal informational meetings held in the community.  Uses of advanced information technologies such as satellite imagery and computer modeling increase the modern forester’s responsibilities to include far sighted management plans. Plans that are not confined to the boundaries of state parks and forest but include expansive areas of include privately held land.  The forest service focused once just on timber and tree conservation now has expanded to entire ecosystems.

     The parks we visited were created by the hard work and conservation efforts of many people. Our state and federal governments have created many programs to help make our Sunday walks, Saturday picnics, hiking, and camping trips a true experience of fun and adventure. Society is still struggling to escape the endless consumption of colonial past, the false belief that our natural resources are inexhaustible and can be exploited without management and conservation. The state of the Blue Crab population, the overharvesting of wild plants, the over fishing of our oceans and our insatiable need for oil, are examples of problems which can benefit from lessons learned by the five historical periods of the Forestry Service. Skillful management and conservation of our forest that began 1906, with continued effort and foresight, will allow us to enjoy champion trees, varied wildlife, and other beautiful scenes from nature far into the future.

Here are some links for continued reading.

Mr. Francis Zumbrums complete Address “The Five Periods of Forestry and Resource Management in Maryland“

This is a wealth of information and history  “The Maryland Forestry and Parks Centennial Notes Archive”

The Maryland Forest Association “MFA”

Visit the John S Ayton State Tree Nursery

Swallow Falls A Wet Wonderful Adventure

          Nestled deep in western Maryland mountains almost to the border of West Virginia lies a hidden a fairyland of giant hemlock trees and waterfalls. Swallow Falls State Park is just south west of Deep Creek Lake. It offers the visitors a chance to explore virgin Hemlock forest and the opportunity to relax and play in the waterfalls.

 

This is the second year we have visited this magical misty landscape where gnarled roots of huge Hemlock trees, Loral and Wild Azalea bushes intertwined with craggy rocks to form dark cave like recesses. These are decorated with carpets of moss of all shades of green and a multitude of mushrooms. I expected fairy or elves to pop out anytime from inside these holes or around the next bend in the trail. Last year we arrived early in June and found it very cool and pleasant hiking weather this year though, we came for the swimming.

 

I don’t think there are words to describe what it’s like to swim under a waterfall. Until I visited Swallow falls I though that this was only in the realm of possibility for people fortunate enough to live in places like Fiji or Hawaii. Yet here I was within the boundaries of my own state. We entered the water carefully because we could not see where we were stepping and there were plenty of surprise drops as the made our way attempting to follow the rocks to the middle of the stream. An older couple in the middle of the river smiled at our caution and waved for us to come out. The height of the water varied sometimes as little as three or four inches deep on wide flat rocks that allowed us to sit or to lie on our backs and let the water course around us. Other places the water was well over our heads and other visitors, mostly children whose parents must be looking elsewhere, jumped headlong into the dark water. This is the type of courage (or one might say foolishness) that leaves as we manage to make it to adulthood. The children didn’t mind though and there were yelps and cries of enjoyment as they leaped and dived into the deep pools. Others jumped into the raging torrent of water at the base of the falls and allowing the force of the water to carry them down the rapids. We chose a less wild set of rapids, (the kiddy set) to let the water carry of over and it was better then any manmade water slide. We also enjoyed just leaning against the rocks of one of the smaller falls and allowing the water to pound against our backs much like a waterfall back massage. There were many bathers of all ages enjoying the water and the geography was such that there variety of water flows and depths to be entertained by was without end.

 

The park borders the Youghiogheny River. Two creeks, Muddy creek and Tolliver creek flow into the Youghiogheny with the larger of the fall being located in Muddy creek. The Muddy Creek falls is 53 feet high. A person can walk right up to where the water falls over the edge. Though it may not matter much to the bathers the water makes its way north to flow into the Monongahela River with flows into the Ohio River then to the Mississippi then finally the bath water makes it to the Golf of Mexico. That’s quite a trip for bath water almost as fantastical as the dark Hemlock Forrest and beautiful falls so far away.

The Chapman Forrest

           How a simple one-day hiking excursion reveals wonderful people, beautiful landscapes, and colorful history.  Imagine walking down an unpaved road moving further and further back in time coming to a lane lined on each side by red cedar trees. At the end of the lane you find in front of you the grand manor house of Mount Aventine once owned by Nathaniel Chapman. It must have truly been a grand scene in its heyday as we were very impressed with the house and its property. The views of the Potomac were truly breathtaking. We were also in lucky that it just so happened that there was a volksmarch going on the same day we were there. We had no idea who these people were but quickly found them to be a very friendly bunch. They welcomed us to their activities even though we were not members and with the help of Art, a volunteer of the Maryland State Park and Forestry Service, helped us to learn the history behind this beautiful house. Chuck, another member, greeted us and was a great help in telling us of the many trails and interesting history.

            After avoiding the wondrous smell and sights of the soup and sandwiches offered and sadly declined (as we had just eaten a tasty and large lunch of our own) we continued out the rear of the house to track down the family cemetery. On the way we saw a deer that found us as interesting as we found it but trotted lazily off to a less crowded area of the forest. We continued and reached the cemetery, there are four intricately carved gravestones, and I got a picture of two of them. They were pretty old dating to the mid 1800′s. Several small, fragrant boxwoods surround the graveyard. We left there and headed towards the river when we again ran into Chuck who was packing up a water station for the walkers, he told us about the marsh trail and said it led to some VIP cabins. VIP cabins? I suddenly got the idea he could take our picture and as we poked about the rivers though we would find the marsh trail and try it out.

              Nathaniel Chapman was friends of Augustine Washington, the father of George Washington, and George Mason. Nathaniel Chapman was one of founders of the Ohio Company of Virginia, which helped open up the west to exploration and settlement. His great grandson, Pearson Chapman built the current manor house in 1840, (The original house was burned down). Along with raising sheep and hogs and growing corn and wheat the property was also the site of the largest Shad Fisheries on the Potomac. Federal forces occupied the manor during the Civil War. In 1914 the last Chapman died. Mount Aventine is now part of the Chapman Forest State Park, 2200 acres of forest and historical land purchased by the state in the year 2000. Much information can be found from the Friends of Chapman Forest website. Such as details of the property’s history, the rich variety of rare plants and animals, examples of the huge old growth trees. 

            Leaving Chuck to his work, we head off down the trail towards the Marsh trail sucking on a couple of peppermints he politely offered us. We found the entrance of the trail and according to the sign was a 6k trail or about three miles. The Volkwalkers had conviently put up little informative signs along the way. We enjoyed learning about spicebush, cottonwood trees, and marshes. It was a gentle walk that took us to a marsh made a beautiful bright green in the sunlight by the algae scum thriving on its surface. The trail passed through previously flooded parts of the woods to a beach along the Potomac River. We took time there to investigate shells, which surprisingly very plentiful, bright river stones and pretty little pieces of green and white glass worn smooth by the actions of the water sand and time. There was also a great abundance of old tennis balls and though not as many but still too many old glass, plastic bottles and other trash delivered by a river that seemed to be saying “stop throwing this crap in me”. We agree and wondered how long it would take to clean all of that up. Joan and I glanced at each other after a while…did not Chuck say something about VIP cabins? What kind of cabins would be out here in the middle of nowhere? Would we ever get to them? We were not long in wondering as we found them or what was left of the cabins further down the beach. There were about three or four large cabins spaced far apart. One was clearly older then the rest. While approaching this one we found another volksmarcher this time business card in hand and again, a gift of knowledge for us. It turns out this particular cabin was owned by a secretary of none other then President Hoover who would take the presidential yacht for a cruise down here from Washington DC to go fishing from this very spot.

            The logo on his business card said Freestate Happy Walker followed by a map of picture of our far state being hassled by a giant blue crab. Beneath that read Volks March Club. As it turns out there is a National American Volkssport Association, which boasts 350 separate clubs in the United States and Thousands of clubs worldwide. There is in fact an International Volkssport Federation. This particular club, the Freestate Happy Wanders was down for a walking event today. They had a wide age range though seemed to be largely the over forty crowd. The walks are not pledge walks nor are they competitive they are just for fun. A wonderful group of people and we were very grateful for them for there help and knowledge.

            Our return trip to the manor house was easy walking save for the end, which we encountered a breathtaking hill to climb. On our way back we encountered fenced fields and barrels that at first glance we assumed to be some kind of waste barrels. Then we remembered the horses we saw when we came in and wondered if maybe horses had been kept on the property. After a little time spent searching the internet we learned that from 1954 until 1987 the farm was owned the Baroness Margit Sigray Bessenyey who along with others such as Sir Gobert Szechenyi fought to establish in the United States a breeding program for Hungarian horses. She was a granddaughter of the Copper mining king Marcus Daly whose mansion is located in Bitterroot, Montana. The Murray Suite now contains her horse collections. The Hungarian horses a rare and is a breed known for their showmanship. Her horses won hundreds of ribbons and trophies. Her exploits can be read about in a book by Virginia Weisel Johnson titled “The Heavenly Horses” available from Amazon. Further research into the story or the Baroness Bessenyey and Sir Szechenyi reveals quite a story of adventure and intrigue and they risked there lives to escape Nazi controlled Europe during WWII to bring the these horses to our country. The Baroness Margit Sigray Bessenyey died on October 23, 1984 in New York upon returning to from a visit in Hungry and Sir Ernest Gobert Szechenyi died in 2005 at his residence in Italy.

Here are some additional websites for more information on Hungarian Horses.

http://www.hungarianhorse.com/hha_news_sep98.html    contains some detailed biographical information of the Baroness Margit Sigray Bessenyey.

Hungarian Horse Association

Some Hungarian horse farms

The Uff Da Farm

The Starhaven Farm

              

“The Heavenly Horses” by Virginia Weisel Johnson

Forgotten History All Around Us: Two tales from 1814

           Every day we drive we pass them without any thought or possibly without any conscious knowledge of their existence. Our thoughts to preoccupied to even pay them much attention. They are hidden from our view, either below us under bridges or earth, hidden behind walls and woods or set off from the highway on side roads where traffic rarely goes unless to take care of some local business. Indeed even many of the local people in these areas may not realize the significance. What are these things? Places of history. Some have monuments some don’t. Memorials to days gone by heroes long lost to history with only faded names carved in granite or casual mention in journals or almanacs to be remembered by. They are everywhere, all around us; allow me to bore you with stories of just a couple of these places.

           Located off of route 301 near where it meets route 4 is a very small town that just happens to be the county seat of Prince Georges County. Upper Marlboro is festooned with small offices filled mostly with bail bondsmen, layers, and the like along with the occasional eatery to serve them. You will also find the ever-present construction workers working on the reconstruction of the old courthouse which burned several years ago. If you find yourself driving thru Upper Marlboro, stop at the courthouse and off to your left, if you climb the hill leading to an abandoned school and follow the walk you will see the fenced in grave of our friend Dr. William Beanes. The British arrested him during the war of 1812 for imprisoning two drunken British deserters. Much loved by his town they sent word to Francis Scott Key, a layer, who was in Washington DC at the time. Francis Scott Key and Colonel John Stuart Skinner, a prisoner exchange negotiater, met Admiral Cockburn on his command vessle to negotiate the release of Dr. Beanes. Upon reading letters from leaders and citizens of Upper Marlboro Admiral Cockburn agreed to free Dr. Beanes. However Beanes,  Key, and Skinner were not allowed to leave the British fleet because of the imminent attack on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry. The attack was to be a surprise the British wanted to keep it that way. The negotiators and recently freed Dr. Beanes was sent to their sloop and made to stay behind the fleet until after the battle. September 13 1814 the British began a 25 hour bombardment of Fort McHenry.  It was during this naval bombardment that Key, observing from bombardment from his sloop wrote his famous poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry”. Later the words of the poem were matched with the music of the The Anacreontic Song, the official song of the Anacreontic Society of amateur musicians, popular at the time and which in 1931 by an act of congress became our National Anthem. So whisper a kind thank you to the good Doctor William Beans when you visit. Before you leave, if you have time, take a walk around the Schoolhouse Pond I promise the relaxing walk, on their board walk is not long one but you are sure to see lots of wildlife you would not expect, we did.

          Continuing your drive down Water Street to route 4, you will soon pass over the Patuxent River, Hills Bridge. Named after W.B. Hills who first built a toll bridge there in 1852. Taking quick glances out your windows at the scenic river and wetlands on either side of the bridge, you may not realize that right below you a navel battle ensued those many years ago in 1814. The contestants, Commodore Joshua Barney on retreat  and Admiral Sir George Cockburn, commander of the British Fleet. After engaging them at the mouth of Saint Leonard Creek, Commodore Barney decided it was fruitless to try to out run the British, his plan instead, was to scuttle his fleet of gunboats by blowing them up, to prevent the British from capturing the ships and to slow them down. His plan succeeded but he was later captured along with his men and fighting valiantly in the battle of Bladensburg, and later released. In 1979 attempts were made to try to find Barneys flotilla and one vessel was found referred to as the Turtle Shell Wreck under about five feet of silt. The wreck was in good condition except the bow, which was blown off by the explosion. Other portions of wrecks were found during the construction of the new Hills Bridge in 1990. It is thought that the rivers course has changed and most of the flotilla is buried in the surrounding wetlands. Due to the destruction of plantations in Calvert County by British forces combined with poor farming practices ended tobaccos hey day in Calvert County. Populations would dwindle and remain at colonial levels for more the a hundred years later.

         The Patuxent River is the longest river that begins and ends in our lovely state making it uniquely our own. The river during previous and after was used extensively for travel and trade, I might add that I enjoyed many a catfish from this area of the river also. I have kayaked this portion of the river many times and while floating by it’s shore I allow myself to imagine what it must have be like on that hot August day in 1814 as many as seventeen ships extending just above Pig Point north beyond Hills Bridge to nearby Spyglass island. Exploding ships, missiles fired from cannon and musket, soldiers and sailors shouting and scrambling about filling the river with smoke and noise.

           Two events at two places closely linked in our history yet hidden from our view and our thoughts as we busy ourselves the many activities in our lives. If possible, take a moment to no matter where you may live to consider the history of the places around you. To examine the people of the past and recognize however small their contributions made to us in the present. While sitting at a stop light, waiting in traffic, or taking a break at the office briefly imagine how it must have been so long ago. On a day when you can leave the confusion of modern life behind take a little trip to visit these places, rent a kayak paddle over Barneys flotilla or take a walk around schoolhouse pond and visit our dear doctor I promise you will not regret it.

Reuse and Recycling: A Steady Move Forward

           About two weeks ago, I took another step in the long walk of taking responsibility for reducing waste and limiting my environmental footprint. The decision was to use a cloth (thus reusable) tote bag in lieu of the now omnipresent plastic bag for my grocery purchases. Using a tote bag was based partly on the ever-increasing amount of plastic bags I was saving for such things as makeshift lunch bags and trash bags as well as the disturbing news that sea turtles were mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish, becoming sick and even dying. I had an opportunity to see a leather back turtle that was preserved in a state park nature center and was very impressed by its size and beauty. Seeing one, even preserved, is pretty impressive compared to seeing one on television, the latter lacking the proper scale.  By far the greatest hurdle other then remembering to actually carry my tote bag into the store and interrupting the sales clerk before she tucked my articles into plastic sacks was overcoming the sense that I might be walking to my car carrying something that is basically a symbol of, well, the feminine. I mean how many men do you see coming out of the store holding his little tote of goodies. It is well worth the slight building of character though when one imagines sea turtles happy that their jellyfish lunch is in fact the real thing.

            Though no super hero when it comes to recycling I have tried to make it a point to at least find other uses for items that I would otherwise be tossing into the landfill. I am a big fan of Tabasco sauce and I like to buy the large bottles. Once emptied, de-labeled and cleaned I find they make good reusable containers for other homemade sauces and salad dressings. Their size and sturdiness make them good containers for cream and sauces on our camping trips also. Since they are made of glass and not made of plastic also helps with reduce dependence on petroleum-based products. On my class nights I would purchase a bottle of Snapple from the vending machine. Then there was a realization that I could keep my empty bottle and make my own tea to take to class, saving money and saving the environment both at the same time. I reuse plastic ware and other containers food comes in also. Food is another item that with imagination can be stretched as leftovers, which when collected become soups, casseroles, bread or rice puddings. Leftovers can be used for animal food and once past the edible stage used for gardening. Clothing such as old tee shirts can become work out shirts then become rags.  Shirts or slacks that are still in good repair can be delivered to the Salvation Army for other people that may find a use for them. Clothing can be used in crafts, paper making, or even, maybe, the treads could be unwoven, and rewoven to make other cloth for more clothing. This may be a bit of a stretch of the imagination though. As I mentioned earlier I am no recycling hero, I do not recycle cans or bottles though it’s something that I should consider it in the future. Most of my ideas are just that, ideas or experiments, just to try and keep in the back of my mind for that maybe sometime they may come in handy.

            Saving money, making my life more efficient and helping the environment. Recycling is also a good exercise in the event that there might be a time when scarcity of funds of resources or both might force the need to develop new uses for thing that would other wise be thrown away. There are trade off’s for example reusing something usually means having to clean it resulting in using more water, another resource that should not be squandered. A person can only save so many plastic bags and Tabasco bottles before they too begin to pile up and eventually become landfill. I think the benefits of less waste, less environmental impact, saving wildlife, and less oil dependence outweigh the negative aspects and although completely eliminating our environmental footprint is beyond our technology, reducing it, even if your not a recycling super hero, is a step in the right direction.

Some Interesting Websites:

Reusing old Cloths              A Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste  

What to do with leftover food           Why Reuse Beats Recycling

Reuse Alliance of New York City      Maryland Recycles                            

Introductions

I guess I should start out by sharing why I decided to call this little pet project of mine “The Big Front Yard”. One of my favorite science fiction authors is Clifford Simak. His books were among the first that I started to read when I was a teenager and I liked them because he somehow blended the backwoods and wilds, the people that live and science fiction concepts of time travel, robots and the obligatory alien visitors to create really entertaining stories. Of the list of my most loved novels of his is “Way Station”, about an immortal Civil War veteran that manages a way station (alien B&B for alien visitors and diplomats while on there way to other distant worlds and “Mastadonia” about a group of people in Wisconsin that along with the alien “cat face” create a time travel business. My amateurish attempt at blogdom however is named after a short story of his that won the Hugo award titles “The Big Front Yard” it is the story of a man who discovers that aliens have turned the front half of his house into a kind of gateway. His front door now opens out onto an alien plane where different races can come together for trade and discovery. This story in a way loosely describes my own or really anyone’s front yard transformed from one limited by ones fence or property lines to encompass the entire region or world. My door is more then just a hunk of wood now it’s a gateway through which I pass to discover and explore all the things beyond it.

 

             I use my front door to go to work and the store too but now I look at things just a little differently, everything has a history or a story that tells us about the creatures or plants that may have lived there, even people. Just as I examine and follow animal tracks in the wild, people also leave things behind. Trash, earth works, technology, architecture all leave traces that can enlighten the observer. “Outside Lies Magic” is a nice book written by John Stilgoe. His book is about being observant and seeing the history that is right in front of us when we take a stroll down the street. Everything from paints in buildings to manhole covers.

         

          I won’t ramble but I hope I can contribute to this experiment every week or so. It seems my interest range so wide that perhaps I should have no problems boring my readers to wanting to run out of their own front doors perhaps to make discoveries of their own out in the big front yard.