New England forests

[RJG2]

@Cruiser has a great thread for forests out West, so in that vein, here's one for the North East!

I by no means have that amount of knowledge, but I recently found a great YouTube channel:

New England Forests

Films related to the forests and wildlife of New England, primarily Western Massachusetts. Old growth forests are a special interest. More information (including contact info) is available at the companion New England Forests blog at www.neforests.com

youtube.com

Some of my favorites are the ones on finding pockets of old growth (pre-European settlers), and "reading the forested landscape" with Tom Wessels.

Feel free to share your knowledge, New Englanders!

 

[RJG2]

Couple favorites:

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Ive seen these. Great info on our NE forests.

 

[Cruiser]

@Cruiser has a great thread for forests out West, so in that vein, here's one for the North East!

I by no means have that amount of knowledge, but I recently found a great YouTube channel:

New England Forests

Films related to the forests and wildlife of New England, primarily Western Massachusetts. Old growth forests are a special interest. More information (including contact info) is available at the companion New England Forests blog at www.neforests.com

youtube.com

Some of my favorites are the ones on finding pockets of old growth (pre-European settlers), and "reading the forested landscape" with Tom Wessels.

Feel free to share your knowledge, New Englanders!

Good idea RJG2. I actually grew up in Massachusetts and attended university there (ZooMass Amherst).

Pitch pine and oak woods were my first loves.
Diamond Hill, the dunes of Provincetown, DAR State Forest, Mt Monadnock…..My heart joyfully weeps as I think of these places so pivotal to my formative years. Thanks for evoking the memories.

Anyway, the forest types and history of use out east may be different, but a lot of the same ecological and forestry principles apply. I’ll do some digging and see what I can contribute..

 

[RJG2]

One thing that amazed me is just how much birch bark evolves as it ages. Some example screen shots from one of the above videos:

Black birch



(No caption for this, but I think it was ~120-150 years old)




Yellow birch







Red oak

 

[Cruiser]

One thing that amazed me is just how much birch bark evolves as it ages. Some example screen shots from one of the above videos:

Black birch

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(No caption for this, but I think it was ~120-150 years old)
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Yellow birch

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Red oak

View attachment 578986

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Have y’all smelled black and yellow birches underneath the bark? Some say it’s wintergreen. For others it’s root beer. Quite memorable. Don’t get me started on sassafras (fruit loops cereal).
Scent is an underrated tree identification tool.

 

[RJG2]

Have y’all smelled black and yellow birches underneath the bark? Some say it’s wintergreen. For others it’s root beer. Quite memorable. Don’t get me started on sassafras (fruit loops cereal).
Scent is an underrated tree identification tool.

I don't think I have, but I will now! That was mentioned in one of the videos too.