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New York

Forest OwnerSeptember - October 1976

Volume 14 No.5

THENEW YORK FOREST OWNERS

ASSOCIATIONAbout the Fred Najer Story _

"Understand that this was notthe regular edition of the IthacaJournal but rather a special re-plate of the front page which Iarranged in honor of Fred's 80thbirthday on June 12. About 50copies were run off and then dis-tributed at his birthday party.

Fred is a sort of grandfather tomy family. Obviously, the pur-ported birthday greetings from cele-brities and presidential candidateswere ficticious - part of the gagand a way of launching a front pagestory that was basically to putFred's accomplishments in print.

If, with all that explanation,you still want to re-print the story,feel free to do so but please try toexplain it to your readers.

Charles R. Holcomb, EditorThe Ithaca Journal

C lChL lei rt7 i.r:Edi tor ia I

IN THE MAILBOX... letters posted, pilfered

or passed along.

The Cover

"Take me home, country roads".Your editor snapped this one,one October morn. Probably youcould do better. In fact, whydon't you? Send it in!

The wind has shifted, as it always does.Five years ago the breeze brought a messageabout ecology. It became a hurricane. "Oureconomic, technological and social progress willmean little if it's paid for in polluted waters,contaminated skies, and a ravaged natural heri-tage," said our Governor Rockefeller in 1970.

The wind has shifted. Just as the tornadosmells of freshly plowed soil, today's wind hasits aroma. An economic storm seems to beblowing Governor Rockefeller's statementaround backwards. Clearly, the new priority ison economic "development." "Jobs" and "taxbase" are replacing "open space" and "environ-mental impact" as bywords of our time.

Forest owners sit in the eye of the storm.As members of this association they shouldappreciate the cause of environmental quality.And the sale of forest products, an economicactivity, finances their ability to manage theirnatural resources. They know both sides of theissue.

Me? I just wonder if there is a middle'ground, and if so, where is it?

2

From the Secretary -"A report on the last Direc-

tor's meeting. There were 17 pre-sent. The membership committeereported 482 members. Committeeoperations were discussed. Nextmeeting in Syracuse on August 28."

J. Lewis DuMond

Nice Words-"The July-August issue is great

... just impressive. I noticed itsgood contrast, brightness, nicecover. Keep up the good work."

Dave TaberSUNY, Syracuse

It Was R.C. & D. -"Thanks for the nice article

about our "Woodland, $ andSense" program. It was really aproject of the Resource Conserva-tion and Development Committeein Chemung County."

Carol VaughnErin, N.Y.

r-rr-r-r-r-r-r-r-rr-« Association Office rs .~'......-.-----1

lloyd G. Strombeck, President57 Main Street, Owego, N.Y. 13827

DIRECTORS 1978

C. Eugene Farnsworth, First Vice-President1219 Lancaster Ave., Syracuse, N.Y. 13210

Robert M. Sand. Second Vice-PresidentOdessa.N.Y. 14869

William C. Craig. Third Vice-PresidentRDI Sherburne. N.Y. 13460

Helen Varian, Membership Secretary204 Varian Road, Peekskill. N.Y. 10566

William W. Ballagh7717 W. State Street, Lowville, N.Y. 13367

Allen BrattonCooperstown, N.Y. 13326

William C. CraigR.D. 1, Sherburne, N.Y. 13460

Kenneth L. Eberley9 Edgewood Drive, Whitesboro, N.Y. 13492

C. Eugene Farnsworth1219 Lancaster Ave., Syracuse, N.Y. 13210J. lewis DuMond, Secretary

9 Grand Street, Cobleskill, N.Y. 12043

Emiel D. Palmer: Treasurer5822 S Salina Street, Syracuse, N.Y. 13205

William lubinec22 Cornish Ave .. Binghamton, N.Y. 13901

A. W. RobertsAlan R. Knight, Editor R.F.D. 3, Cortland, N.Y .. 13045526 Anderson Hill Road RD 2, Candor, N.Y.

DIRECTORS 1979DIRECTORS 1977

David H. HanaburghCraft Lane, Buchanan,N,Y. 10511

Ronald Baldwin11 Eighth Street, Oneonta, N.Y, 13820

Robert M. BramhillMrs. Kenneth L, Eberley B F II N Y 133059 Edgewood Drive, Whitesboro, N.Y. 13492 eaver a s, ..

Barbara Pittenger9 Orange Street, Marcellus, N.Y. '3108

William S. PowersR.D. 1, Milford. N.Y. 13807

Gordon L. ConklinR.D. 2, Trumansburg, N,Y. 14886

Richard C. Fassett512 Center Street, Horseheads, N.Y. 14845

Francis H. RossBox 51, Hamburg, N.Y. 14075

Robert M. SandOdessa.N.Y. 14869

Harold B. TylerR.D. 2, Worcester, N.Y. 12197

Robert R. MorrowFernow Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14850

Evelyn Stock5756 Ike Dixon Road, Camillus, N.Y. 13031

Haymond R. Walker7549 Ridge Road. Gasport, N.Y. 14067

Wanted: People to sell ads for For-est Owner magazine. Commissionbasis. Decent arrangements. Con-tact Editor at 526 Anderson HillRoad, R.D. 2, Candor, N.Y. 13743.

Wanted: Classified and display adsfor Forest Owner magazine, circula-tion 500. Ads appropriate to forestowners most welcome. $5 per col-umn inch for display ads. 10 centsper word for classifieds. Suppliers,consulting forester, land . . . youname it.

For Sale: What have you got tosell, swap, or donate? Use thisspace. Submit ads with properamount of money to Editor, 526Anderson Hill Road, Candor, N.Y.13743.

Essays, articles, and letters should be addressed tOIAlan R. KnightEditor, NY Forest526 Anderson HillH.D.2, Candor, NY

OwnerRoad13743I~

Got a question?

Ask a Forester FestivalA "WoodburningStove Fest-ival" will be held by Osw-ego County Cooperative Ex-tension, Main Street, Mex-ico, NedYork, on October9th, 10:30 A.M., Lecturesand demonstrations aboutf i.rewood, chai.n saws, eff-iciency of woodstoves, andhone insulation are sched-uled.

Dear Forest Owner- "I've got sane Scot-ch Pine and wonder if there is any mar-ket for it." - F.B.Fassler, Williams-town, N.Y.Dear Mr. Fassler- "Sanetirres there is apul.pwoodmarket for Scotch pine. I sug-gest you contact the following two c0mp-anies: WoodlandsDept., DianondNationalCorporation, Ogdensburg, NedYork 13369,or WoodlandsDept., St. Regis Paper Co.,Deferier, NewYork, 13628 - DaveTaber,College Of Environrrental Science and For-estry, Syracuse. Fall Meeting("Aska Forester" is a new feature ofthe Forest Owner. If you have a question,we'll rurnagearound for an answer sane-where. )

The fall meeting is to be held at the Fancher Forestnear Brockport, N. Y. The date is Saturday, October9, 1976 at 10:00 a.m. Dr. Robert Hellman will bearranging the details.

3

4

Is management-by-compartmentsfor

YOU?by Robert R. Morrow, Cornell University

I,}

The first step toward managing a smallwoodland or large forest area is to divide theland into suitable management units or co m p ar t-~ en ts. To facilitate management, the biophys-ical charicteristics within a compartment shouldbe somewhat homogeneous. Thus compartmentsshould be based on tree associations, soils, top-ography, and the productivity of the site. Man-agement objectives are far easie 0 determine-and management prescriptions are ;01' easilymade when the forest cover contains specieswith common growth icharacteristics," fike SIzeo! age classes, and similar value potential. Also,similar soil and site potentials should charac-terize a compartment.

Compartments shou1d be easily identi-fiable for mapping and location. Natural boun-~aries such as streams, ridges, roads, fences, and ,fields are especially helpful. Differences in foresttype or size class may be useful. Sometimes itmay be necessary to paint boundary trees tomark compartments., The size of compartments should vary

with the owner's objectives, total forest areaan,d the diversity of forests, topography, andSOlIs. Small woodlands in Northeastern UnitedStates may have compartments vaying in sizefrom one to ten acres, while industrial forestsmay have larger sizes. In Southeastern UnitedS~ates, w~ere gentle topography, sandy soil, andpme species are predominant in much of thecoastal plain, compartments as large as 100 ormore acres may sometimes be appropriate.

the best returns. For example, those compart-ments with the more valuable species and pro-ductive sites will yield the most return on tim-ber investment. The forest manager doubtlesswill make more intensive thinning prescrip-tions to increase the growth on the better in-dividual trees in these compartments.

Multip Ie use. Northeastern forests yield wild-life, recreation, and cleaner water as well as tim-ber, pulpwood, and fuelwood. These goods andservices are often compatible or complementary,and can be produced together. For example, acontinuous program of thinning to make biggertimber trees is beneficial for most other forestuses. Cutting of both small and mature trees isnecessary to provide additional food and "edgeeffect" for wildlife. Indeed forest preservationwithout cutting leads to "biological deserts" fornumerous wildlife, but not all wildlife species.Thinning also temporarily reduces the water lossthrough transpiration and thus increases avail-able water for streamflow. It produces largertrees which are esthetically pleasing, and asso-ciated access roads are useful for hikers, hunters,and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Yet multiple uses cannot mean all thingsto all people on the same acre. There are somecompeting uses, especially between timber har-vest and esthetic viewing. But the use of como'partments allows the assignment of priorityuses in varying parts of the forest to better ac-complish multiple use. Thus the steepest com-partments may have protection of water and soilas the top priority, and careful timber harvestcan be permitted on a cautious basis or excludedentirely, depending on soil errosiveness. Othercompartments may be especially scenic or suit-ably located to encourage particular kinds ofoutdoor recreation activity. Timber manage-ment may be reduced, excluded, or altered toaccomodate recreation uses. Still other compart-ments may have wildlife priorities, and couldfeature favoring mass-producing species such asoak and beech, leaving culls as den trees, or even

Advantages of Compartments

Priorities. No forest is uniform. There are differ-e,nces in species, soils, growth, value, and poten-tial value. After dividing the forest into compart-ments, the second step in management is to eval-uate, for each compartment, the standing treesand the forest potential to provide goods andservices. This assessment of forest value and po-tential permits the manager to choose the bestareas to concentrate his labor and capital for

special cuttings to increase the food supply orchange the habitat. Wildlife range and territor-iality characteristics should govern the size anddispersal of such compartments.

Work planning. With objectives and prioritiesestablished, compartments become a tool forscheduling work, record-keeping, and measur-ing accomplishment. This is particularly import-ant on small woodlands, where the owner usual-ly has other time-demanding interests and prior-ities and work needed in his 4(}.acre woodlotappears endless. With no clear place to begin,he seldom starts.

A simple division of the forest into com-partments allows the owner to select a few ofthe better areas in which to work. By schedulingwork in only one compartment each year, hecan visualize the end as well as the beginning ofthe job. Thus he is psychologically prepared.

Since a new weeding, thinning, timberstand improvement, or other activity is neededabout every 5 to 10 years in most woodlots, thenumber of compartments is limited. In a typicalforty acres, the owner might select the best 20acres and divide them into eight compartmentsof some two to three acres each. Thus he has asmall area to work in each year and, after aneight year cycle, the first compartment willbe ready for more work.

While harvest of mature timber on a smallwoodlot may involve more than one compart-ment in order to have a larger operable cut andyield a better price, it is best for other manage-ment activities to proceed annually by com-partments.

Diversity. Use of compartments, based on treecover, topography, and site takes advantage ofthe natural diversity of forests. This is partic-ularly true in Northeastern United States whereforest cover changes with topography, soils, andpast history. Management by compartments,through cuttings and other activities, creates ad-ditional diversity. When the range of manage-ment varies from the most intensive silvicultureon the best compartment to preservation ofall trees for protection on others, the diversityof future stands is increased.

Where compartments are small, all silvi-cultural methods can be used in the Northeast.Patch clearcutting, acknowledged as very usefulboth for reproducing intolerant species and im-proving wildlife habitat, is acceptable along withshelter wood and selection methods. But smallcompartments automatically eliminate largeclearcuts and their negative visual impacts .

..--:Summary. Management of forests, based on rel-

/'. atively small compartments as described, encour-./ ages the development of priorities, integration of

multiple uses, work planning and motivation,more diversity, and more efficient production of

.(forest products and services.

FALL WOODS WALKPANTHER MTN. TREE FARM

OTSEGO COUNTY

10 a.m. on 25 September, 1976

DIRECTIONS: Go to the village of SchuylerLake (between Cooperstownand Richfield Springs) on Rt.28. If you are headed north,turn right and cross Oak Creek.Two more right turns bring youto the Eberley Tree Farm, justone mile from the village.

BRING YOUR LUNCH!

We will combine several interesting features inthis woods walk.

1. The beauty of an Otsego Co. autumn.

2. Geological formations - waterfalls andbalancing rock.

3. A 372 acre hardwood forest on whichthe owners are practicing intensivemanagement. You can observe the re-sults of selective harvesting followed bytimber stand improvement (TSI). Alllogging roads have been given stabili-zation treatment.

A truly primitive woodswalk as well as a highlyeducational field trip. The State Forester andharvester working with the Eberley's will be onhand for questions. Also, a wildlife biologist todiscuss animal and plant life.

The Eberley's home address is: 9 Edgewood Dr.,Whitesboro, N.Y. 13492.

~t')/fK..

(~<!L~.4.:<:'"

Map to Ruth and Ken Eberley 's Panther Mountain Tree~~. 5

Gladys and Fred Najer, at Chestertown, taken in the summer of 1975.

They Didn'tKnow of Russia

Fred Nal••

By CHARLES R. HOLCOMBPresidential hopefuls of both parties

and statesmen and celebrities around theglobe deluged a former cider mill insuburban Chappaqua with telegrams to-day wishing Alfred Najer a happy birth-day.

"Best wishes on entering your ninthdecade," wired President Ford. "Will youplease send by return mail any advice youmay have on getting into the Christmastree business? "Aboard Air Force One, the president

told reporters he had stumbled into Najerseveral years ago while climbing PantherMountain near Chestertown. They be-lieved him.Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan

also sent congratulations, along with aposition paper on Angola. Jimmy Carterwired: "Being a member of the board ofthe United Methodist Church isn't quitethe same as being a born-again Baptist butcongratulations on your birthday and don'tforget to vote Democratic."

Former British Prime minister HaroldWilson sent a tin of Dunhill's best, andFrank Sinatra sent a burly fellow in ablack suit and white tie to the Rohde homewhere Najer was visiting. The manthreatened to "blowout the candles" ifhe wasn't allowed to sing happy birthdayon Frank's behalf.Yugoslavian President Tito had been

expected to send congratulations but re-portedly did not do so because of a sourstomach."I don't feel a day over 80," said Najer

as he fended off well-wishers whoswarmed over the Rohde estate in hopesof shaking his hand or getting his auto-graph.

Najer, who was born on June 12, 1896at Osijek, Austria - now Yugoslavia -was educated in Vienna and at the begin-ning of World War I was commissionedan ensign in the Austrian cavalry and sentto the Russian front.

During hwounded,occasionsfor thoseLater he \\operatingNajer ca

on invitatisister andwell, althoreturnedgrandfathesummers

His intehaving belsignment,ness in ,1930's, imcutting vesee.

Najer atried Oct.business,is reliablytime, as 1to honeyGowanusAdirondacwhich hegrade birrthe warcontract 1build traitually bOImoved frdacks pel

After nalong witabout 194:his opera'ant Valle'also begatain TreeChristmathing of aYork ForOver t

By ALEXANDRA HOLCOMBMy grandfather was born in what is now

Yugoslavia, in 1896. At that time, how-ever, it was divided into "states.". These states were Bosnia, where 'Sara-jevo was; and still is in that area; Serbia;Croatia, and Dalmatia. These states werecombined, after World War I when theAustria-Hungary empire was broken up,to form Yugoslavia.My grandfather was a Croat from what

was then Croatia, near Zagreb. AfterWorld War I the empire was broken downinto what are now the countries of Aus-tria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslo-vakia.

The preceding was a foreword whichMiss Holcomb prepared as part of ataped-and-written interview with AlfredNajer about his liff!. This was done in mid-1975 as part of an 8th grade schoolproject. She put the following accountson paper because they were not includedin the taped version. - Ed.

6

After note ...After Ihad finished my interview of my

grandfather, he told us a story about themen in the Austria-Hungary army. He wasan officer in the army, leading all the menin his company. As part of duty he wassupposed to ask the men exactly whoseside they were fighting on. Their reply,because most of the men were young,illiterate farmers from rural areas theywould say the French II! Then when theywere asked who they were fightingagainst they would say .Hungary. Wheneverything was straightened out theywere asked who the Russians were ...they'd never heard of theml !' Others,even after they had been told whose side.

they wer.fighting afighting (and agahgrandfatlsons for Ithese rneifrom theto SerbiaHungariaand EngJAnothe

was in thhe lost hi

FRIDAYJune 11, 1976Ithaca, N.Y.l20~

r Is Feted at 80!

in the lumber businessby his wartime as-

operated a veneer bus i-during the 1920's andlogs from Europe andVirginia and Tennes-

wife, Gladys, were mar-l. "Even in the veneernothing like a knot," he

to have quipped at thebarge they planned

on headed down theNajer's interest in the

I"Lt:lllllll::U from a ski trip ina quantity of high

, in short supply duringHe had a governmentthe birch to England to

planes. The Najers even-land in Chestertown and

Neck to the Adiron-

two sawmills for years,mill which he sold

eventually streamlineda single mill, the Pleas-

Imber Co. in North Creek. He

~

elOPing his Panther Moun-m aqd his huge holdings ofes.Najer is known as some-er on the board of the NewOwners Association. avears, he has devoted his

energies not only to the church and theshearing of Christmas trees but to thelocal Rotary. Since about 1968, however,the Najers have spent their winters on

Longboat Key, Florida, and Najer, follow-ing his wife's footsteps, has been involvedin selling Adirondack real estate duringthe' summer months.

Fred Najer and Ben Fischer: log cabin days three decades ago

hting on and who they werest, still were sure they weree French and English side

the Hungarians!! Note: Myalso explained that the rea-bove thinking on the part ofs because most of them wereII countries, once belonginge Serbs) and to them the.ere worse than the French

his stories was that when heenches on the western frontera, which was full of film

with all his pictures of the war happeningsetc. on it. A couple days later he waswounded and taken to a field hospital.When he got there. there was an orderlywith his camera. The orderly, 'one ofanother officer who had been wounded,had found the camera in the trenches andhad brought it with him when his officerhad been wounded and taken to the fieldhospital. So my grandfather got back hiscamera, safe and unharmed, with all thefilm still in it!!

!

Editor's Note, This tribute Ito Fred Najer is part fiction Iand rrostly fact. See the let-ter fran Ithaca Journal ". ".or Charles Holmmb for an ex-planation. •

7

The magnificent view from Pinewald, Schoharie County.The hills in the background divide three watersheds: theDelaware, the Susquehanna, and the Hudson.

One problem has intrigued me for manyyears. It has been with me since I wasactive in extension work, in directing

youth groups to plant millions of conifers in sev-eral locations in this state. Now that our fourgeneration family is deeply involved with a 55year old forest known as Pinewald in the beau-tiful' Beargu1ch Valley in historic SchoharieCounty, I still have bad dreams when I thinkhow non-forest owners look at us. You will notbelieve what I have learned in the past 15 years.

The Pinewald SocietyOn Saturday, June 5, 1976 we held our

12th annual meeting of what we call The Pine-wald Society. We have no officers, there is noannual dues, we never have formal speakers. Wemeet promptly at 10:00 a.m. on each first Satur-day of June. Each person or family group bringstheir own picnic or grill-style lunch. They packalong an old card table. Easy chairs are a mustfor each party. They pack in their own watersupply. We furnish coffee and perhaps a tid-bitof one type or another each time we meet.

More than 600 persons, mostly non for-est owners, have been a happy part of this groupfor the past 12 years. It has never rained thatfirst Saturday. Pinewald is located 1800 feetabove sea level. The land was bought by mygreat-grandfather in 1858. He was killed near anold glacial shale rock on the next level abovePinewald House by a yearling scrub dairy bull,placed with the cows "to produce a springdairy". Great-grandad was killed in August 1904by that small scrub bull. It is a story all by itselfand will appear in my first book now in thehands of a very critical literary agent who maysell it to a publisher during our 200th anniver-sary year -- I have my fingers crossed.

You will note the material on the eastend of Pinwald House. It includes material fromthe NYFOA magazine, the Tree Farm staff andmany up-to-date bulletins in regard to tree grow-ing. One of our four generation family is a woodcarver, a hobby he follows to keep his mind atease as he is an engineer in one of our Easterncorporations where tension is a way of life.

8

Non-Forest Ownersa view fromPinewald

•••

by E.N.Moot

What do non-forest owners think?We have many interesting experiments

in progress at Pinewald but you are interested inthe original thesis of this material. What do thenon-woodlot owners think of us tree growers?They think we are all rich and make thousandsof dollars from our forest. Where did you everhear that hog wash? They are utterly amazedwhen we tell them the truth. Facts we tell themare:

1. It takes nearly 100 years to grow a treeequal to the virgin timber tree which grew onthose same acres.

. 2. We have more than 1000 hard mapletrees growing which we are nurturing with farmore TLC than we give the conifers -- but whenwe tell folks these will not be in real full produc-tion before the year 2000 they say, "You arekidding." .

3. We tell them the truth on cutting oftrees -- facts which the general public does notknow. Logging takes a very big bite. Truckingtakes more, especially when the market is milesaway. The owner has a teeny bit return on a halfcentury of use of his land. Why not tell them thetruth?

4. Insects are gaining on man and the pollu-tion has come up to our forest for the first timein all of the period of history involved since theearth was formed. The year 1974 saw the firstsmog come up into our valley -- we have bothcolor and black and white films to prove this. Ithappens only when the southeast wind blowsstrong and blows the mess of smog up into ourvalley from megalopolis. We are showing thesefolks these facts. Due to the fact that many ofthe folks who first visited Pinewald come backyear after year and ask more and more questionsis a good sign we are hopefully educating thosewho do not know the true ecology.

We wonder if any other NYFOA mem-ber is doing this type of education for non-owner groups which we hope to do at Pinewald.Some folks are beginning to look, listen, and be-lieve.

Eighteen members and 26 guests of theNew York Forest Owners Associationattended the woods walk at Shirley For-

ests, Saturday, August 7. The Association wasorganized in 1962 to help owners in the care,management and enjoyment of their woodlandproperties. Woods walks are featured as one ofthe means of exchanging experience and infor-mation on such topics as plantation establish-ment and care, marking trees for harvest, timbersale contracts, encouragement of wildlife, en-hancement of the environment and promotingother interests of forest owners.

Shirley Forests is an aggregate of some 52separate parcels, many contiguous but otherswidely scattered in the towns of Chesterfield,Elizabethtown, Essex, Lewis and Willsboro. Thelands were acquired by Hardy L. Shirley as afamily timber growing enterprise. The initialinvestment was made upon the recommendationof his son Frank Shirley in 1000 acres from PhilSoper, of Boquet in 1955. Other purchases fol-lowed rapidly. Mr. Richard K. Sayward ofWillsboro was engaged as superintendent to helpin the acquisition and maintenance of the pro-perty. The property now consists of about4800 acres. The total timber volume at the timesof acquisition was 10.8 million board feet; todayit is 23.8 million. Meanwhile 4 million boardfeet have been harvested from the land. Opera-tions are now on a sustained annual basis of a1.2 million board feet per year. This keeps athree to four man logging crew operating on afull time basis.

The woods walk featured a 1965 commer-cial thinning in a 30 year old pine plantationthat is now in need of a second thinning; anda 158 mbf (thousand board feet) harvest from a70 acre lot from which cuts of 5 and 75 mbf hadbeen made since 1957. The lot after the 1976cut had remaining 225 mbf; substantially morethan the 182 mbf at the time of acquisition.This lot provided a good example of how pineand birch timber on good soil responds to mod-ern forest practice. The third stop was at a 100acre lot from which all merchantable timber,mostly pine, had been removed in 1953. Thepresent owner harvested 36 mbf of dead anddying elm and 254 cords of pulpwood in 1968.What remained after the second cut was mostlyyoung hardwoods 1-3 inches in diameter. Thesehave responded splendidly to the removal of thepine and elm overstory, but now are crowdingone another. A timber stand improvement oper-ation two years ago has released the valuablebirch, hard maple and ash from the less valuablered maple, elm, aspen and mis-shapen trees.

Hardy Shirleyshows

"It can be done"

The walk terminated at the Shirley res-dence on Ray Woods Road where the partici-pants ate their lunch, and were given an outlineof the history and development of the forest.Mr. Lloyd Strombeck explained for the benefitof non-members the work and operation of theNew York Forest Owners Association.

The afternoon program featured the na-tural develpment of an unmanaged oldgrowthpine and hemlock forest with its virtual absenceof food for ground feeding wildlife, as con-trasted with timber and forage growth followingpartial harvesting of timber.

Out of county guests included the follow-ing officers and directors of the Association a.ndtheir spouses: President Lloyd Strombeck, VICePresident Eugene Farnsworth, Treasurer EmielPalmer, Kenneth and Mrs. Kenneth Eberly (bothdirectors), A. W. Roberts, and Robert Morrow;other out of county couples included Mr. andMrs. Prigoff, Kraemet, and Geisler. EssexCounty woods walkers included Sally Johnson,John Hathaway, William Casselman, RichardLawrence, Thomas Brown, Marvin Schmid,William Bond, David Strong, Donald Peterson,Floyd Olcott, Elvin Cross, T. K. Ware, CynthiaPratt, Catherine Sweat, Virginia Sayward, andMr. and Mrs. Walter Shute. Woods walk leaderswere Richard Sayward , Frank Shirley, andHardy Shirley. The two Mrs. Shirleys served ashostessess at the luncheon at which the fourgrandchildren served as junior hosts.

9

Come visitthe forestsofSwitzerland,Austria, andGermany

Alpine villages, spruce forests,medieval castles, and forestryof a different kind... these are

someof the features of a forest own-ers' tour of Switzerland, Austria,andGennany.

Whygo? Onemight as well ask"Whybe a rranber of the Forest ONnersAssociation" It's a chance, a veryexciting chance, to see forestry thr-ough the eyes of other people. It'sa chance to see the origins of Ameri-can forestry. It's a chance to getexcited about forestry, maybeto bri-ng back SOnE ideas for your lands andyour association.

And, travel is just plain fun!

.madeto visit Europeanlandowners ofseveral types. You'll be able to seeyour counterparts, as well as instit-utes and companies, parks, and wood-lots. There'll be plenty of time tosee "the sights", too.

TWJthings are not yet firmprice and date. These and the i tin-erary will be published in the lbv-ernber- DecEmberissue of The NewYork Forest Owner. This much we doknow: 17 people have expressed aninterest in going (weneed 20 to 40)in Spring of 1977. Cost will be some-where around $1000to $1200. Finnprices will be in the next issue.

I don't knowwhere I'll find themoney,but Nancyand I are going! Ar.dthat makes19.

Workingwith BeamTravel Agencyof Ithaca, TheNewYorkForest OwnersAssociation is planning a two weektour of Austria, Germany,and Switz-erland to see European forestry inaction. The tour is being planned es-pecially from the viewpoint of a NYforest owner, Arrangementsare being

Chestnut Tree Blight Cure

Four genecticists at a Connecticut Ag-ricultural Experiment Station have developeda possible cure for the virulent blight whichwiped out most American chestnut trees inthe early 1900's.

Six plots of diseased seedlings which wereexperimentally innoculated with the hypoviru-lent strain are now recovering at the experimentstation.

The cure is a less virulent chestnut funguswhich was developed from a European strain ofthe blight. This less virulent -- or hypovirulent

fungus inactivates the virulent American fun-gus, allowing cankers on diseased chestnuttrees to heal.

The big question, according to one of theresearchers, is whether this hypovirulent straincan compete with and dominate the virulentstrain in uncontrolled situations. The virulentstrain seems to produce many more infectingspores than the hypovirulent strain, but perhapsthis imbalance can be compensated by sprayingor other means.

10

A Logger Tells aTale"~Ronald Baldwin

My great-grandfather, who worked on a never reached his skin!four man felling crew cutting hemlock If you haven't guessed by now, this ar-down along the Delaware River, had a ticle will be a comment on logging accidents.

story he like to tell. Seems they used to cut the You see, not all of them end up as well or com-hemlock swamps in the winter because the black ical as the one just related.files were so bad summers that they'd been I can tell you of an Otsego Countyknown to kill man and beast alike. logger who slipped while rolling logs atop his

Each morning the felling crew packed log truck and fell to the ground. For monthstheir axes, wedges, files, and cross-cut saws back he lay paralyzed from the neck down and nearlyin about a mile on this one particular job .~~_d_ied of pneumonia. Today he's wheelchairthey were doing. One morning shortly bound while his local community setsafter commencing work one of thr'~ ~5ii,' a woodworking shop for him.crew, trimming with a double- ~;, ....r-'c""'.,.No insurance, no compensation.bladed axe, miscalculated and -<" ~ -ff -,\ Or the Delaware County loggertook a full blow just below the 7'~\'<~ ~J, that was crushed by a tree hecalf of his leg. Down he went. \ ,,---,"I} had logged. No compensation

The rest of the crew c-~' 1V or insurance for the fatherlessknew that there was little they , /~ \ " family. Such a list could go oncould do for him there so the three '0(' & and on. The dangers of loggingof them started carrying him back to ~. maim and kill many each year. Yet,camp. All along the whole mile back the\{;',,::, e or no thought is given to this problemwounded man begged his benefactors to go easy by the forest owners from whom we buy theand he could feel the blood running down-his leg timber. No one complains when persons work-filling his boot. ing with electricity, in mines, or on high steel

When they reached camp the doctor are paid top wages because of the dangers in-was summoned and they commenced to undress volved. But loggers, working in the most dang-the wounded leg. Removing the sliced boot and erous work of all, are not allowed just compen-rolling back the cut trouser leg they peeled off sation. Give that some thought the next timeseveral sliced socks to find that the axe had you negotiate a timber sale.

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE NEWYORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

(Please send to:)

Mrs. Helen Varian, Membership Secretary204 Varian Rd., Peekskill, N.Y. 10566

would like to help advance forestry in New York State.I enclose my check payable to the New York ForestOwners Association, Inc.

I own acres forest land in _County, N.Y.I do not own forest land but I support Associa-tion's objectives.

ANNUAL DUES

(Please underline choice)

Junior Member (Under 21) $1

Regular Member $7

Family Membership $12(husband, wife)

Contributing Member $12 - $29

Sustaining Member $30 - $99

Supporting Member $100 - $499

Sponsoring Member $500 and up

11

Name ~ _

Address _

____________________ Zip Code _

A.It.KnightEditor526 Anderson

Hill Rd.It.D.2,CandorN.Y.1374]

~

~~~ bulk rateU.S.POSl'AGE

PAID

~

Owego, N.Y. J13827

~~

Governor Hugh L. Carey signed into lawon July 20, 1976 Section 480-a, "An act toamend the real property tax law, in relation totaxation of forest lands."

"I am giving my approval to this bill be-cause it is clearly an improvement over the pre-sent law." Those were the words of GovernorCarey as he signed into law Sect. 480-a whichwas added to the Real Property Tax Law. How-ever, he also calls for " a careful and thor-ough review of Sect. 480-a " by state depart-ments so that recommendations can be made onhow the objectives of the section can best beaccom plished.

The Ad Hoc Committe on Forest Taxa-tion for the New York State Forest Practice~o~d took the .leadership in drafting this leg-islation. Committe members were: Francis(Mike) Demeree, Chairman; Raymond Marler;John Stock; and Fred E. Winch, Jr. (who has re-tired).

Although Sect. 480-a was signed into lawin July, its provisions only are applicable toassessment rolls with taxable status dates occur-ing on or after July 1, 1977. Therefore the earl-iest year for tax relief is 1978. '

PROVISIONS of the Law are as follows:

• Minimum tract of forest land is 50 contig-uous acres.

• Stocking shall be sufficient to produce amerchantable forest crop within 30 years fromdate of certification.

• Management plan as specified and ap-proved by the New York State Department ofEnvironmental Conservation must be submittedand followed.

.Property is to be annually committed toforest production at all times for a period of 10years.

•Yield tax of 6 percent is paid on stump-age value at time of harvest.

• Forest tracts under the act are to beassessed at whichever is greater: $40 per acre fullvalue or 20 percent of the assessed valuation oflike properties not under the act.

• Severe tax penalties exist for those notconforming to the management plan or use ofland to grow forest crops .

. . . from Marketing Bulletin No. 430