A publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

The New York

FOREST OWNER

oF

WooDS

&

pEoPLE IN THE ROBERTS FAMILY

May/June 1996

THE NEW YORK

FOREST OWNERSASSOCIATION

VOL. 34, NO.3OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Bill Minerd, President

1123 Cold Springs Road

Liverpool, NY 13088; (315) 451-3712

Jill Cornell, Vice President

703 Johnsonville Rd.

Johnsonville. NY 12094; (518) 753-4336

Robert M. Sand, Recording Secretary

300 Church StreetOdessa. NY 14869-9703; (607) 594-2130

Mary Richardson, Treasurer

Chatfield Road

Elbridge, NY 13060; (315) 689-6890

Deborah Gill, Administrative Secretary

P.O. Box 180Fairport, NY 14450; (716) 377-6060

1996Albert Brown, Stow; (716) 763-9067Verner Hudson, Elbridge; (315) 689-3314

Peter Levatich, Brooktondale; (607) 539-7049

Don Wagner, Utica; (315) 733-7391

1997John T. Hastings, Queensbury; (518) 798-0248

Charles Mowatt, Savona; (607) 583-7006

Norman Richards, Syracuse; (315) 472-3696Elizabeth Wagner, Utica; (315) 733-7391

1998Jill Cornell, Johnsonville; (518) 753-4336

Elizabeth Densmore,Machias; (716) 942-6600

Robert Sand, Odessa; (607) 594-2130

Bob Sykes, Elbridge; (315) 673-3691

AFFILIATE REPRESENTATIVESDick Mark, THRIFT; (315) 623-9476

Donna Rogier, Catskill Forest Assoc.; (914) 586-3054

CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES

Don Huber, Allegheny Foothills; (716) 549-5025

Tom Hewitt, Cayuga; (315) 497·1266

Barry Cornell, Capital District; (518) 753-4336

Tom Graber, Central New York; (315) 255·3662

Jeff Wiegert, Lower Hudson; (914) 831·3109

Bob Howard, Northern Adirondack West; (315)262.2692

Herb Boyce, Northern Adirondack East; (518) 946·7040

Donald Fraser, Niagara Frontier; (716) 773·7011

Ernst Spencer, SE Adirondack; (518) 792·1726

Larry Lepak, Southern Tier; (607) 656·8504

Don Schaufler, Tioga, (607) 589·6095

Eileen VanWie, Western Finger Lakes; (716) 367·2849

All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced with-

out prior written permission from the publisher. NYFOA

does not necessarily support or approve procedures, prod-

ucts, or opinions presented by authors or advertisers.

COVER: MOHAWK BREAKUp, one

of a photographic series entitled"Winterscapes" by Patricia Kay © 1986.The poem is a collaboration by DorothyDarling. See page 8.

2 NY FOREST OWNER

FOREST OWNERA publication of the New York Forest Owners Association

Editorial Committee: Betty Densmore, Chair, Alan Knight, Jim Minor, Bob Sand,and Eileen VanWie.

Materials submitted for publication should be addressed to: R.J. Fox, Editor, R. D. 3, Box88, Moravia, New York 13118. Articles, artwork and photos are invited and are normallyreturned after use. The deadline for submission for JullAug is June 1.Please address all membership fees and change of address requests to P.O. Box180, Fairport, N.Y. 14450. Cost of individual membership subscription is $20.

NYFOA: CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

CAYSTCTIOWFLAFCNFCCDCSEALHCCNYNAC

Cayuga, 1985 60Southern Tier, 1985 92Tioga, 1986 80Western Finger Lakes, 1988 258Allegheny Foothills, 1989 133Niagara Frontier, 1990 134Capital District, 1991 106Sotheastern Adirondack, 1991 173Lower Hudson, 1991 42Central New York, 1991 97Northern Adirondack, 1991 87

CFA Catskill Forest Association, 1982 .... 255THRIFT Tug Hill Resources,

Investment for Tomorrow 118

With membership as of April 1, 1996.

Table of ContentsPresident's Message, Bill Minerd 3Of Woods & People, AI Roberts 4Elm Spanworm, Douglas C. Allen 6Who Are We And , John C. Marchant 8Chapters/Affiliates 12Management Plans, Peter Levatich 14Symposium On NIPFs, Mike Greason 16Land And Its Roots, James T.Curtis 18New Legislation, Dave Colligan 21Tree Magic, Jane Sorensen Lord 22

NYFOA ·1-800·836·3566 • INFO MARIAPR 1996

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGEI had started the president's message for

this edition when I received the news thatHarriet Hamilton had passed away whileon a trip to Hawaii. Needless to say I wasshocked and saddened. I have known theHamiltons for about 5 years through articlesthey have written and presentations theyhave made at various forestry functions. Itwas not until last year that I began to inter-act with them directly as they assumed theCo-Chair of the 'Tree Farm program.Harriet and Jack attended our last Board ofDirectors Meeting last January to bring usup-to-date on their plans to move the TreeFarm forward. During this meeting theboard of directors voted to have NYFOAbecome a sponsor of the Tree Farm Pro-gram.

If I had a single word to describe Harrietit would be tenacious. She grabbed holdof life and seemed to wring every pleasureshe could out of it. Despite ailments thatbegan to limit her mobility, she still re-mained active and pursued her visions ofthe future. She and Jack were very proudof their farm that had been passed down tothem. I particularly enjoyed seeing thephotos taken on the farm in the 1930's dis-played along side recent pictures that de-fined sixty years of impassioned steward-ship. They also acknowledged the hardwork and support of their son who becamethe instrument to achieve their visions.

From our NYFOA family, our deepestsympathy to Jack and the Hamilton fam-ily. We will miss you, Harriet.

What ever happen to SIP? Well, thereis good news and bad news. SIP has beenfunded for 1996 (the good news); however,funding for New York State is well belowpast years (the bad news). At a recent CNYChapter meeting, John Clancy, DECCortland, gave us an overview of the sta-tus of SIP and reviewed projects that canbe funded. If you are interested in infor-mation regarding funding levels in yourcounty, call your regional DEC office.

Several years ago, I had the opportu-nity to meet the Childs Family, membersof the Allegheny Foothills Chapter. I wasimpressed with their efforts to develop com-mercial markets for their home grown blue-berries. Peter Childs at that time was de-veloping an orchard of Chinese Chestnuttrees with the intention of marketing thenuts. In a recentAFC newsletter, Peter pro-vided an update on this project that I foundvery interesting.

Peter describes the goal of this projectas "to develop a cottage industry based ongrowing Chinese chestnuts and improve

Perhaps it is here where sermons are bornWith elements for the morning text,

A gown of willow in which to preachIn a silent language of divine speech.

I Always Enter The Woods With Awe

I always enter the woods with awe;My feet are slippered with caution;

I watch the trees bend to bless the streamThat sparkles and curves away like a dream.

Butterflies appear to taunt my restraints,Flaunting their colours in spiral flights;

Saplings rise struggling from elders' sowing,Twisting in their haste for growing.

- Dorothy Darling

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO

President Bill Minerd

marketing to capture (a portion) of the 23million pound import market for Chest-nuts." He went on to describe the effortsof clearing an old orchard, planting treesand experiments in harvesting the nut crop.While developing a cash crop he also real-ized that the chestnuts were viewed by theforest animals as a wildlife enhancement.If the nuts were not harvested in a timelymanner, deer, turkeys and squirrels wouldcomplete the job with cool efficiency.

Growing a market for the chestnuts willtake some time. However, it looks like theyhave had good success in their first effortsfor they made $2500 on the crop. Peterstates that this money will be useful in pay-ing taxes or reinvested into other improve-ments on the farm. My best wishes to theChilds family in this venture!

I am pleased to inform members of theprogress that has been made in developinga NYFOA scholarship fund at SUNY ESF.Charlie Mowatt has spearheaded thisproject with ESF. A final contract with thecollege should be signed soon. Thanks toCharlie for the great idea and efforts tobring this scholarship to reality.

MARIAPR 1996 • 3

OF WOODS & PEOPLEIN THE ROBERTS FAMILY

Son Bill, Bill's family, and their log house.

where it was. We couldn't afford a profes- four wheel drive pickup and an old farmsional survey, but we had a good deed de- tractor and we were soon making and sell-scription. Luckily we are in farming coun- ing three hundred fireplace cords of woodtry, so using the deed and aerial photos, we a year. We quickly ran out of thinning onwere able to locate old wire fences, some- our first lot; we then bought another fiftytimes buried in the leaf litter, and old fence acre woodlot and also bought stumpagecorners. Then with bright colored paint from nearby owners. Eventually our ownblazes, we marked the boundaries so that woods were thinned two or three times. Butwe, and any potential trespasser, could eas- then, through the natural course of events,ily see them. our organization began to disintegrate. Bill

A forester by profession and inclination, graduated from high school and went toI then started a program of timber stand work in Alaska. Jim went to college andimprovement (TSI). For the first few acres, dear old Dad died. We still cut some woodwe got a cost-sharing payment from the every year (slower), but the glory days are(then) A.C.P., but we found that we could over.process the cut trees into firewood and small Our woods, however, are getting to lookfence posts which we could sell for profit. pretty nice, because at each thinning, weSo from then on there were no government cut the poorer trees and left the better.cost-sharing payments. However, I did have Poorer means shorter, or diseased, or lesssomething more valuable than anACP pay- valuable species. We never lost a tree to thement to help with theTSI and firewood pro- beech bark disease (see NY FORESTcessing - namely, a fourteen year old son OWNER, Mar/Apr 1996) because we werenamed Bill. It didn't all happen at once, familiar with the symptoms, we used thebut eventually the operation involved a trees before they had a chance to decay. Mythree year old younger son, Jim, wife Moira favorite tree is black cherry, hence, at ev-(age, a secret), my eighty year old father, ery thinning we favored cherry over theand off and on, a daughter or two. other species which resulted in an ever in-

As the sons got older, they needed a creasing proportion of cherry in the residualsummer job (I figured), and some of their stand.

~~.,rtI!"~~!I'-.:W"~f!IIIlI!IIIPr!f!llllnl!l·ep!nldr:s:rw,ajnted to work. So we bought a In 1976 (I wish I had done it sooner), I.f measured out three, one-quarter acre plots

and numbered each tree and measured andrecorded the diameter at breast height(DBH). We remeasured these periodically;the last time was in the fall of 1995. We didnot take the time to define enough plots tomake them statistically representative of thewoods as a whole, but the plots did tell us afew things:

By Al RobertsIt was 1967 and Moira and I bought 90

aces of woods and fields in the Town ofGroton, Tompkins County. I know it was1967 because it was the year that our daugh-ter, Mary, was born, Mary and the woodshave both developed nicely over the years,thanks to much thought and effort on thepart of Moira and me. It is interesting tonote that last year we made our first repro-ductive cut in the woods, and this year Maryis having a baby. Now let me tell you aboutthe woods and how we got where we are,and maybe next month Moira will tell youabout Mary.

When we bought the woods, it was fiftyto sixty years old (from counting growthrings in the stumps), and even-aged. Sev-eral big, old, pasture-type sugar maple hadbeen harvested. There were two timbertypes. One was clump soft maple with anoccasional scrawny black cherry (which wehave now released). This area had beenplowed and cultivated for a few years asevidenced by plow lines, stone walls, andstone piles. The secondtype was hardmaple, beech, and cherry with a light scat-tering of ash and basswood. This area hadnever been plowed but was heavily pasturedas was the soft maple area The big, oldscattered hard maple had provided shadefor the cows and when the cows were re-moved, they provided seed for what is nowour woods.

When we bought it, it wasn't a real greatwoods - too thick, branchy in some places,and small; only six to ten inches for thebigger trees, but it had a pretty good scat-tering of black cherry, and that was whatreally caught my eye. Plus it was flat togently sloping, and thus was navigable bythe only rolling stock we owned - an oldtwo-wheel drive pickup truck.

The first job to be done on our new ac-quisition, one which is too often neglectedby new owners, was to find out exactly

4 NY FOREST OWNER

* No matter how heavily we thinned,down to sixty-five square feet of basal area,

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO MARIAPR 1996

over, because these little cherry trees weare trying to get started won't be ready forharvest in my lifetime, or Bill's, or evenBill's children's. But whatever our motiva-tion, we are doing it. What we did was tomake a small (only three quarters of anacre) cut. It will serve as a test, sample, ordemonstration for future cuts.

We selected a spot where there were acouple of big cherry, some pretty big maple

Moira and some firewood logs.

we could not get the hard maple to growmore than one inch in five years. We eventried fertilizer. However, the cherry grewtwo inches every five years. Both the hardmaple and cherry slowed the growth rateas they grew older and larger. It began totake six years to grow the one and twoinches, respectively.

* Over the nineteen years that we mea-sured the plots, we reduced the total num-ber of trees per acre from two hundred-forty-three to one hundred-twenty-one,while the basal area remained about thesame. We didn't grow any more wood bythinning, but we put the wood on fewer andbetter trees.

* The trees removed were used to makefirewood and amounted to fourteen stan-dard cords per acre.

* In 1976, the woods contained twenty-five cords per acre and in 1995 there werethirty-eight cords per acre. This means ourwoods produced twenty-seven cords peracre in nineteen years, or 1.4 cords per acreper year. That seems like a lot, but that iswhat the figures show!

In 1987 we (Moira and I) made a 100%cruise of our sixty-five acres of woods. Thatmeans we measured and recorded everytree eight inches in diameter and larger.Consequently, we knew how many of eachspecies we had in each size class in 1987,plus the total board foot volume and anestimate of value. It showed that we havealmost four times as many hard maple treesas cherry trees but a greater board foot vol-ume of cherry by one and one-quartertimes. So how about those cherry trees!

Now, if you are still with me, let mebring you up to date on the Roberts' fam-ily and point out a big problem we have inthe long term management of our woodsas represented by the aforementioned fig-ures.

Bill came back from Alaska, married aschool teacher, built their own log homeon our property (we sold them ten acres)

NY FOREST OWNER

Firewood seasoning.

and had two children. He now works for and the rest, smaller maples and we clearthe "Operations" crew for NYS DEC out cut it. We clearcut because cherry needs fullof the Cortland office. J~m graduated fr?m sunlight to germinate and grow and we verySUNY IESF and has hIS own consulting much want to keep cherry in the next stand.f?restry business in Pennsylvania, got mar- We could have waited another ten years toned. to a nurse, and they have four children. start our reproduction cuts, but I wanted toMOIra and I are still at it, but older and be sure I was here for the occasion.slower. Besides the woods, we are all part- To augment our harvest to make it moreners in thirty acres of Christmas trees. interesting for timber buyers, we cut a few. Now, the management problem on our trees from the adjoining stand. These were

timber land. Although the trees in our larger trees in the stand, but of poorer qual-woods are ~ll about.the same age, there are ity - forked or damaged in some way. Wetwo very different SIze classes, because the cut and skidded and bucked these up our-maple grows at half the rate of growth of selves. We had ten thousand board feet andthe cherry. w.e have many eighteen through with active bidding, we got nearly $10',000twenty-fo~r Inch c~erry, but few m~ple that roadside. Besides that, we made twentyare. even eighteen Inches. The ObVIOUSso- cords of eighteen inch firewood from thelution would be to cut the big cheery and tops and trees too small for sawtimber. Inlet the small maple grow - and I could use due time, and when the market is good, wethe money! But I am not going to do that, will select another suitable spot and makeand the reason I'm not gets kind of mixed another clearcut, and so on ... But for theup a~ong silv~cul~ure,.s~ewards~ip, love of next fe:v years, we ~ill be watching closelyfamily, and faith In BIll s carrying out the to see If we are going to be successful inplans we make together for the future of our effort to reproduce cherry.the woods. .. But don't picture us sitting down, be-

As to the silviculture: the cherry are cause there is still wood to be cut and thin-single trees closely surrounded by maple. ning to be made. And remember the see-C~t a cherry and the resulting hole will be ond purchase of fifty acres? That is anotherqu~ckly~lled in by the existing maple. Keep story, one that Jim is involved in.doing this .and - no more cherry. But re- Al Roberts, winner of the NYFOA ServicememberI hke.cherry.ltgrows twice as fast Award in 1986, is retiredfrom a career withas.maple, and ISworth more. So a year ago, the NYS DEe culminating in the positionBIll and I started on our long-term plan to of Regional Forester for Region 7.Al servedperp~tuate che~. We made our first repro- many years as the NY FOREST OWNERduction cut. ThIS ISwhere stewardship takes Editor for the "Ask A Forester" column.

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 - INFO MARIAPR 1996 • 5

most recent elm spanworm invasion of NewYork's southern tier region are well awarethat this insect readily defoliates tree spe-cies other than basswood and elm; mostespecially apple, walnut, beech, oaks,hickory, maple, and ash.

More than 20 major outbreaks have oc-curred in the last century. The most recentepisode during the early 1990s (e.g., Penn-sylvania reported 30 -100 % defoliationover more that 1.3 million acres in 1994!)was preceded by an outbreak in the early1970s when extensive defoliation occurredto mixed hardwood forests in southeasternNew York and central Connecticut.

Elm Spanworm, A Frequent Visitor to Eastern Forestsby Douglas Allen

Forest pests often are difficult for land-owners to identify, but the task may becomeeven more arduous when a common nameseems misleading. The situation is espe-cially challenging for culprits known by

more than one name! Dutch elm diseaseand elm phloem necrosis have reduced theoccurrence of American elm, once a com-mon eastern shade tree, to a fraction of itsformer abundance. How, then, can we havelarge scale outbreaks today of an insect thatfeeds on elm? Is the common name of thisdefoliator a misnomer? Common namescan be deceiving; hence, the value of ap-

worm annually. As a matter of fact, theEnglish sparrow was introduced to checkthe outbreaks in one of our first attempts atbiological control. Because the moths arebright white and because J. A. Lintner, NewYork's well known State Entomologist in

Fig. 2. Cluster of elm spanworm eggs.

proved scientific (Latin) names, in this caseEnnomos subsignarius. Even though acommon name may vary in time or withgeographic location, scientific designationsgenerally should remain unchanged.

Records of defoliation by this nativelooper first appeared during the mid-1800s.At the time shade trees in many eastern cit-ies, notably Brooklyn and Philadelphia,experienced extensive defoliation by span-

6 NY FOREST OWNER

the 1880s, believed basswood to be theprincipal host, initially it was labeled the"snow-white linden moth". Later, when itbecame a major shade tree problem at atime when elm was prevalent in the east, ittook on its current designation.

Hosts and OutbreaksLandowners who have experienced the

NYFOA - 1-800'836-3566 -INFO

Fig. 3. Elm spanworm.

Life HistoryElm spanworm overwinters as an egg,

and the caterpillars emerge in mid-May tolate April, depending on geographic loca-tion. Young caterpillars chew holes in leavesand create a shot-hole effect, older indi-viduals eat the whole leaf except for themidrib and petiole.

Caterpillars complete feeding in a monthor so and then each pupates (pew-pates) ina net-like silk cocoon, usually attached toa partially eaten leaf. When moths are ac-tive during late July to early August, theyare apt to disperse in large numbers frominfested forests into urban areas. Mothswere so abundant during an outbreak in theCatskills in the early 1900s that flights intonearby villages and as far away as NewYork City were reminiscent of a "summersnowstorm"! Soon after mating, femalesdeposit a clutch of 20 to 200 or more eggson the underside of branches. Each egg isdeposited at an oblique angle and leans

MAR/APR 1996

Fig. 4. Spanworm pupae, note color variation.

against an adjacent egg, and the egg clus-ter looks like a pile of leaning bricks at-tached to the bark.

DescriptionThe powdery white moths (Fig. 1) have

slender bodies and a wing span of 1 114 toI 112inches. The barrel-shaped eggs (Fig.2) are slightly less that III 6" long, lightolive when first laid and turn dark with age.Each egg has an amber colored ring on theexposed end. When full-grown, the hair-less, twig-like caterpillar is 1 3/4 to 2 incheslong. Its body is usually slate black (a smallproportion of a population may be lightcolored) and the head is reddish orange orrusty (Fig. 3). In dense populations pupaeusually are dark, but a significant numbermay be light to white when numbers aresparse. Each pupa is approximately 5/8 "long (Fig. 4).

DamageAs is the case with most defoliators, the

consequences of one or more years of de-foliation varies depending on whether otherstresses occur during that growing season,the level of defoliation, site conditions, andstand disturbance history. A combinationof heavy defoliation early in the growingseason and drought (events that occurredin many regions of NY during 1995), forexample, greatly increases the probabilityof tree mortality. Two or more years ofheavy defoliation (i.e., greater than 70%)by itself may result in mortality, trees thatsurvive exhibit growth loss and, often,crown dieback.

Natural ControlTypically outbreaks eventually succumb

to mortality from a complex of naturalagents, most especially an egg parasite and,in the most recent infestations in NY andPA, larval disease.NY FOREST OWNER

Management OptionsA number of chemical insecticides are

registered for use against elm span worm,but during the most recent outbreak goodcontrol was achieved with the bacteriumBacillus thuringiensis ("Bt"), a more ac-ceptable option environmentally. Whetheror not and in what manner a stand shouldbe treated depends on the owner's objec-tives, environmental concerns and occur-rence of multiple stresses, such as defolia-tion in conjunction with other recent natu-ral "disturbances" or forest management

activities. When heavy span worm defolia-tion threatens a woodlot, it especially maybe prudent to protect foliage if trees havebeen previously stressed (i.e., within the lastthree years experienced heavy defoliation,drought, extensive silvicultural treatment,and/or exist on marginal site conditions)and the owner's objective is to producesyrup or sawlogs.

This is the 26th in the series of articles con-tributed by Dr.Allen, Professor of Entomol-ogy at SUNY/ESF.

JACK- IN -THE- PULPITA spectacular show awaits

in early spring. While the treeover head, the warming sun hitsfloor and forest wildflowers will

those who get into the forest

~::..:::8~=--~()Uds are swellingthe forest

show themselves once again.Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)

recognized plant with a peculiar shape andpeculiar habits. It can be identified by thecone that protrudes from the duff-coveredforest floor just as the Fiddle Headferns start to unroll their fronds.Though it is rare and protected insome states, the Indian Turnip asit is also known, is common inmoist woodlands throughoutNew York. Growing up to eighteen inches, thisplant has two, three-part leaves that are visible longsummer. The "Jack" is a club-like floral spike, knownspadix. It bears the flowers that ripen to a cluster ofred berries. A green and purple hood often markedwhite stripes covers the spadix and makes the plantable. The spathe, or hood, that surrounds and archesthe spadix does resemble a covered pulpit.

One amazing feature of this plant is its ability to change its sexin response to the energy stored from the previous sea son'sgrowth. When conditions have been favorable the year before, itis apt to grow as a female and use its stored energy to produceseeds, thereby increasing its survival rate. If it was a dry season and e n erg ystores are low, it will either be neutral or a male. This allows the plant to concentrate onsurvival rather than reproduction. Older and healthier plants usually grow as femalesdue to the large energy reserves.

The rounded underground root-like corm was both food and medicine for earlysettlers and Native Americans. Ring worm. snake bite, tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma,headache, and sore throat were all treated with this plant. Though due to the calciumoxalate that Jack-in-the-pulpit contains, roasting was required to reduce the acidity andmake the plant more useful. A small slice of the raw root is much more corrosive thanan equal amount of ingested chili powder. The corm packs such a wallop, that evenwhen roasted, it is necessary to let them dry for four to five minutes to reduce theburning sensation. This helps to explain why Native Americans waited until autumn touse the plant that was harvested in early spring.

This article was adaptedfrom a similar article which appeared in CFA NEWS (Vol14 No 1)), the newsletter of the Catskill Forest Association.

as avividwith palereasily recogniz-over the top of

NYFOA ·1·800·836·3566 ·INFO MARIAPR 1996 7

Who are We and Why are We Here?A discussion of the needfor getting beyond the NIPF "Choir" and into the larger forest landowner congregation

By John MarchantRecently, 26 affiliates of the National

Woodland Owners' Association (NWOA)were mailed a survey. Our mission wassimple: We wanted to find out how theseorganizations, which represent many - butnot all - regions of the country, view therole of Nonindustrial Private Forest land-owners (NIPFs).

Specifically, we asked these affiliates toaddress in some detail the following sixareas of interest: Why are NIPF landown-ers important to the organization?; Whatprograms and/or services are offered toNIPF landowners?; How successful havethese programs been?; What are theorganization's future plans for addressingNIPF issues? and finally, What vision doesthe organization have ofNIPF managementin the future?

Twenty-four of the 26 surveys mailedwere completed and returned. Solid re-sponses were received from the Northeast,the North Central states and the Northwest,along with a few scattered states repre-sented across the Midwest.

The answer to the first question on thesurvey about why NIPF landowners areimportant, might best be summed up byrecalling the famous line from the Pogocartoon strip: "We have met the enemy andhe is us."

To address the second question, the or-ganizations were asked to rank the follow-ing seven programs/services in order oftheir importance in providing value andincentive to NIPF landowners in their states:

* Annual membership Meetings;* Periodic Magazine and/or Newsletters;* Educational Woodswalks

8 NY FOREST OWNER

* How-To Workshops which EmphasizeStewardship

* Lecture Programs about: Aesthetics,Wildlife, Recreation, Timber Growth, andHarvesting;

* Free or Cost Shared Memberships toGet Acquainted;

* Information Services: Books,Pamphlets,Videos, Forestry Information,Databases, etc.

Table I shows what we found, by list-ing the number of organizations whichplaced respective programs at a given valuelevel.

For example, nine associations gave"Workshops" a priority 3 ranking, while 17ranked "Magazines/Newsletters" as prior-ity 1 and the remaining 7 organizationsranked it as 2. It is important to note thatnot all categories add up to 24, because notall organizations used every program/ser-vice listed. The category "Other" was avail-able in the survey, but no one used it.

Clearly magazines and newsletters arethe most valued products that the NIPFlandowner associations offer their constitu-ents. Frequent contact with members seemsto be the single most important factor as-sociations can use in maintaining interestin the organization. Contact with landown-ers, in other words, is a key to their contin-ued participation.

Annual meetings had the second great-est number of priority 1and 2 rankings inthe survey. All other programs and servicesappear to be reasonably well offered andused by a number of organizations, withthe least popular being "Cost Shared Mem-

berships" at 13 out of 24.When asked how they planned to better

serve their NIPF members in the future, theorganizations generally indicated an inten-tion to provide a more effective mix of pro-grams and services, along with a strong em-phasis on tax reform. Indeed, success in theareas of tax and regulatory reform wereoverwhelmingly cited when responding tothe question, "What is your most impor-tant accomplishment for better serving theneeds of NIPFs. The second most popularaccomplishment involved making pro-grams and services available at a more lo-cal level. This is particularly importantwhen you consider that many of these or-ganizations have an influence on forestryissues and practices that extends far beyondtheir immediate membership. Positively in-fluencing the direction of taxation and regu-lation, for example, helps all NIPFs withina particular legislative area.

Most of the landowner associations re-ported that they view cooperative effortswith other organizations and agencies asvery important to their success. The U.S.Forest Service, state Department of Natu-ral Resources or equivalent, CooperativeExtension, SAF, NACF, NWOA, AFA andTree Farm, AF&PA, and RC&Ds were allmentioned to various degrees as being help-ful in the past and important in the future.

Survey respondents expressed a com-mon desire for help in reaching more ofthe NIPF community. Many commentedthat the recent emphasis on a national stew-ardship image - and the associated incen-tive programs - had been beneficial inreaching and influencing a new crop of

Table l:How organizations ranked NIPF services*

Priority 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Annual Meetings 5 7 4 4 2 1

MagazineslNewsletters 17 7

Woodswalks 1 4 8 2 3 1

Workshops 5 9 3 2 1

Lecture Programs 1 1 8 5 1

Cost Share Memberships 1 2 2 1 4 3

Informaion Services 1 1 4 4 6 3

*Rankings represent number of associations assigning a specific priority.

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO MARIAPR 1996

nonindustrial private forest owners. Theycautioned, however,that the uncertain fu-ture of some of these programs could havea disastrous effect on long term NIPF in-volvement and interest in the issues. En-couraging people to invest their personalresources in cost-share programs which arethen cut or dropped back as a result of poli-tics rather than science, for example, canleave deep, permanent scars of distrust ifnot disdain.

Now let's generate a composite profileof the landowner associations that choseto participate in this survey.

The average association contains 807members - a number based on a total of18,465 members in 24 organizations.Theaverage association surveyed has existedfor 35 years, with the median age being 20years. Three organizations surveyed aremore than 100 years old which may makethe median a more meaningful measure.

Membership dues are the sole means offinancing for 70 percent of the organiza-tions we looked at, which indicates thatthey answer to no one but their own mem-bers and act as independent voices in theirrespective forestry communities.

Sixty-two percent of the organizationssurveyed have a single central organization.In large geographical states, associationslike the New York Forest Owners havefound real advantages in having regionalchapters which provide the opportunity forcloser, more personal contact with bothmembers and prospective members.

A mix of volunteer and paid staff keeps62 percent of the NIPF associations oper-ating. The remaining 38 percent rely onentirely volunteer staffs. The predominanceof volunteer staffing throughout the historyof these landowner organizations shouldmake them valuable resources for informa-tion about how to effectively use volunteersin natural resource programs. This is an op-portunity that has been long overlooked bymany professional agencies and organiza-tions.

How are these organizations doing inthe member recruitment department? Bytaking the total number of members in thesurvey and dividing by the cumulativenumber of organization years, the averageorganization has gained 23 members peryear. The range of that growth across 24individual associations varied from four to157.members per year. All things consid-ered this seems rather meager.

Another interesting - but disturbing -statistic is the attrition or dropout rate of

NY FOREST OWNER

members. Unfortunately, the questionabout attrition was not clearly expressed inthe survey and it was not therefore possibleto arrive at a meaningful average for attri-tion. Still, anyone familiar with forest land-owner associations is aware of the prob-lem.

One organization for which we did havehard numbers - the New York Forest Own-ersAssociation (NYFOA) - will hopefullyserve as a useful example.

During the past six year period, NYFOAgrew from approximately 1,100 to 1,800members, aided by the capable efforts ofseveral volunteer leaders who brought con-siderable management experience fromboth the public and private sectors. Eightnew regional chapters were formed and allthe programs and services already dis-cussed were used extensively. The maga-zine was improved and the organization es-tablished excellent working relationshipswith most of the agencies and organizationsthroughout the forestry community.

In short, the past six years represent aperiod when many things seemed to havebeen done right.

So what did that all add up to? NYFOAgrew at a rate of 115 members per year,from 1,100 to 1,800 but lost 1,345 overthe same six year period. The organizationhad to recruit in excess of 200 membersannually - just to stay even. In real terms,this means that it actually recruited about3:L5members every year.

Assuming that New York State is not aunique case, this should be viewed as a verydisturbing statistic. The one saving grace,when looking at the big picture, it may bethat over that six year period nearly 2,000landowners were introduced to the advan-tages of managing forest land and the as-sociated stewardship principals. The factthat many chose not to continue support-ing an organization dedicating to advanc-ing those principals, however, is a seriousmatter to ponder.

Before finally addressing the question,"How successful were the programs andservices landowner associations used to

NYFOA· ,·800-836-3566 -INFO

serve NIPF needs?", it's necessary to lookat another part of the NIPF picture.

Many estimates have been made abouthow many NIPFs are active participants inthe stewardship movement. The usual cri-teria includes such things as having a work-ing management plan, membership in for-estry organizations, advocating the process,or all of the above. Whether the calcula-tions have been done on a state-by-statebasis or nationally, the answer alwayscomes out to about five percent.

Prominent NIPF leaders have pointedout that there are about ten million NIPFsacross the country and the number is grow-ing every day. By this calculation thereshould be 500,000 landowners active na-tionally in the stewardship process to somedegree; most informed observers doubt thatthe number is anywhere near that high.

Even if the five percent estimate is cor-rect, that still leaves 95 percent of NIPFs(9.5 million) uninvolved or unidentified.They never see, nor hear, nor listen to thestewardship side of the story. Most of usinvolved in interactions with the NIPF com-munity spend all of our resources on thatfive percent or so of the group which is al-ready converted. We often refer to them asthe "Choir" and frequently convince our-selves that we really are working with thewhole population.

It seems to me that we have to stop talk-ing about the NIPFs as a homogeneousgroup. We must begin to understand that95 percent of them are truly UFOs (Uni-dentified Forest Owners). As the numbersdiscussed earlier suggest, we have all beenspectacularly unsuccessful at finding andinteresting UFOs in becoming stewards ofour most valuable renewable resource.

We have no such trouble, on the otherhand, adding up the resources that couldcome from 100 percent of all NIPF forestlands in the future. We are already count-ing on a 20 percent increase in the resources

-- VOSS SignsUept. NYF. Box 553. Manlius. N.Y. 13104

Ph. (315) 882-&U8(Mon.-F"rt. 9-51

MARIAPR 1996 • 9

coming from NIPF lands by the year 2020,to meet projected market needs. Unlessthese lands are much better managed thanthey are today, I seriously doubt that eitherthe quantity or quality of that valuable re-source will meet those projections. Land-owner associations and all the other forestryagencies and organizations don't have achance to meet that goal using the meth-ods and tools we've used to date. Withoutfundamental change we'll only continue tomake incremental progress.

So what about the future? To be success-ful, we will have to change our collectivethinking about who NIPFs really are andbegin targeting that enormous group of uni-dentified forest owners. The idea of get-ting private forestland into sound manage-ment one landowner at a time, through one-on-one contacts, is never going to bring usto the NIPF Promised Land.

Obviously, we have to generate enoughinterest among UFOs so that they will wantto hear our story. The sheer numbers in-volved require that we figure out a way forthem to figure out who we are and want tofind us.We need a cultural change toward

forestry in all its flavors. Until we have one,we are only going to incrementally crawltoward the full potential of the greatest re-newable resource on this earth.

This is not a new thought by anymeans,but the time has clearly come to fi-nally do something about it. It is possibleto make a cultural change. Such a newawareness has clearly happened with theattitude and support for the health and wellbeing of the overall environment.

So where do we start? None of us cando it alone in our respective organizationsand agencies. It's going to take some verycreative networking into some very deeppockets, because were talking about noth-ing less than very persuasive television ad-vertising on a local and national level.

One interesting example is going onright now. It's an advertising campaign toraise the image of - not a product but amaterial : plastics. The vast majority ofAmericans with television sets have prob-ably seen it at least once. Some people are

10 • NY FOREST OWNER

paying a lot of money up front today to en-sure the marketability of their specific prod-ucts tomorrow. Another ongoing mediacampaign, promoting milk, aims to accom-plish the same goal. We don't need to in-crease the public's image of the value ofwood. But we do need to greatly improveAmerica's image of how and where thatvaluable material (wood) is obtained. Wemay also glean some ideas from the Sus-tainable Forestry Initiative (SF!) that theAmerican Forest & Paper Association isplanning to roll out this spring, which hasa significant TV advertising component.Bob Simpson of the American Tree FarmSystem has looked into the possibilities ofattracting some celebrity advertising whichhas very real potential. You may recall thatRalph Waite of "The Waltons" fame andEddy Arnold of "Green Acres" each didsome pro forestry ads in print and on TVsome years back. We should review whatimpact they had.

Because there is so much at stake, weneed to take a very serious look at all pos-sible alternatives to reaching UFOs and in-teresting them in the better management oftheir forest resources.

Finally, I'd like to say that I believe NIPFlandowner associations are doing a fine job.Even though the numbers are small, a sub-stantial percentage of the "Choir" is thedirect result of their continuing efforts.Serious consideration should be given toholding a three-day workshop for all land-owner associations from every state includ-ing a representative from those that don'talready have one.

After, seeing the results of the limitedsrrvey discussed here, I'm convinced theexchange of ideas in such a workshopwould be invaluable. Consider it seedmoney with a guaranteed return.

Let's never forget that the "Choir",which landowner associations are greatlyresponsible for, will always be a corner-stone in the future of forestry in this coun-try.John Marchant is a member of NYFOA'sWestern Finger Lakes Chapter and win-ner of both the NYFOA Service Award (in1991 with his wife, Helen) and the HeibergAward (1995). John, currently,is the North-eastern Vice-President of the NationalWoodland Owners Association. This articlewill appear in the April edition of NA-TlONAL WOODLANDS, Eric Johnson,Editor, who adapted itfrom John's remarksdelivered at the SymposiumOn N1PFs (see

page 10, this issue)

NYFOA· '·800-836·3566 ·INFO

ETHICS IN FORESTRYEdited by Lloyd C. Irland

This far-ranging collection of cogentreadings examines professional, business,environmental, and government ethics asthey apply to forestry. Drawn from diverseperiodicals, the book provides readers withtools to build their own skills in ethical re-flection. The editor, a forestry consultant(see the NY FOREST OWNER J/F '96),ties the chapters together with introductionsthat provide a warm, human voice challeng-ing the reader to cultivate awareness andact courageously.

468 pp, 6x9", hardcover, $39.95. Orderfrom TIMBER PRESS, INC.; 133 S.W.Second Avenue, Suite 450; Portland, OR

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NEW VIDEOTAPEThe videotape, "Biodiversity for Forests

and Farms", is designed for natural resourcemanagement professionals, land-use plan-ners, agriculturists, forest owners. rurallandowners, environmental educators. andothers interested in protecting and enhanc-ing biodiversity for forests and farms. Col-orful graphics. outdoor settings, and wild-life scenes illustrate the many values ofhealthy ecosystems.

Biodiversity concepts allow resourcemanagers to apply traditional techniques innew and innovative ways to benefit soci-ety. Through interviews with wildlife andforest ecologists, farmers, and forest own-ers, this video:

* defines the concepts of biodiversityand ecosystem management

* describes the ecological services andsocietal benefits provided by healthy eco-systems

* outlines threats to the conservation ofbiodiversity

* presents specific management prac-tices to enhance species diversity on for-ests and farms

* introduces the new technologies ofGAP analysis and Geographic InformationSystems

* suggests sources of information andassistance regarding management practices

Co-sponsored by USDI Fish & WildlifeService and USDA Cooperative State Re-search, Education, and Extension Service.

Order from Cornell University; MediaServices Resource Center, & Cornell Busi-ness& TechnologyPark,Ithaca,NY 14850;

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MAR/APR 1996

NEW YORK FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION

RESTIR--'l.

The Central New York Chapter of the New York Forest Owners Association is pleased to announce their annual FAMILY FORESTFAIR will be held this year on June 8, 1996.

The fair will be held at the Gurnee Woods on Chatfield Road, Elbridge, NY. Verner and Marjorie Hudson will again permit the use oftheir tree farm for the event.

The theme this year will be "Forestry EducationlNature's Classroom". The program will highlight colleges and universities in NewYork State that offer outstanding forestry and environmental science programs.

High school students and parents will find college personnel present to discuss forestry and environmental science related courses.Demonstrations by the colleges will exhibit their expertise and specialties of "Nature's Classroom".

Forestry experts and wildlife biologists will offer woodswalks; and wagon rides will provide people with a tour of the tree farm.

Vendors and crafters will exhibit and sell their forest related products and services; and various organizations will have displays andexhibits.

The proceeds from a 50/50 raffle will be awarded as a scholarship to one of the colleges present for that day for a student who residesin New York State.

Refreshments will be served including Hot Dogs, Hamburgs, and a Chicken Bar-B-Q. Take-out orders will be welcomed.

For further information contact: VERNER HUDSON, Chatfield Road; Elbridge, NY 13060; 315/689-3-314.

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11NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO MARIAPR 1996 •

CHAPTERS/AFFILIATESCAPITAL DISTRICT

The Capital District Chapter is sponsor-

ing a Wildflower Woodswalk on May 5, at2 PM at Jack and Mary Brennan's inGuilderland. The Brennans have been man-aging their woodlot for over 25 years, andthere will be much to see of the benefits ofmanagement. Rare and common wildflow-ers of the season can be seen there and at anearby area. Mary, an area naturalist, willlead the wildflower portion of the walk;DEC foresters will explain the woodlotmanagement strategy.

A free Douglas Fir Seedling will begiven to each woods walker. The event isfree and open to the public. For directions,contact Jill Cornell, 518/753-4336.

WESTERNFINGER LAKES

A very dear member of WFL died inMarch, Harriet Hamilton. I can't evenbegin to convey how much we will all missher. The Western Finger Lakes Chapterwould like to express our sincere condo-lences to Jack and all of Harriet's family.

Our January meeting was a success, withDave and Beth Buckley. The presentationcaptured scenes of wildlife and wildernessencountered while canoeing throughoutAlgonquin Provincial Park in Canada.

Billy Morris and Keith Maynard spokeat our March meeting on something wewould all like to go away - TAXES! Theyput countless hours into the brochure wedistributed.

For our first woodswalk, some twentypeople endured low temperatures at theGiles farm in Victor to learn about maple

syruping.

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Timber Sales- Management PlanningTax Law • Tree Planting

3987 Northway DriveCortland, NY 13045-9317

Telephone:(607) 753-0497

12 NY FOREST OWNER

WILLIAM M. RODEN

Members of the Southeastern Adirondack Chapter were saddened by the recent deathof Bill Roden. Bill was a staunch supporter of the New York Forest Owners Associationand was instrumental in forming the SEA Chapter.

New York's Outstanding Tree Farmer for the Year 1989 and Conservationist of the Yearfor 1985 are just two of the prestigious awards won by Bill during a lifetime of dedicationto conservation. He is fondly remembered as the "Adirondack Sportsman".

Bill is pictured with his son, Andy.

CAYUGA CHAPTERThe Cabin Fever Festival increased the number of participants by nearly double, mostly

by Sportsmen Clubs (Members of the Cayuga County Federation of Conservation Clubs)and various crafts.

The chapter will hold a video program on Timber Theft and a special video, "Wood AsA Global Resource", April 9th. And May 11, there is planned a Wildflower Woodswalk atLfee Signor's Woodlot starting at 10 AM. For directions, call 315/497-1078.

Cam Stuart works his wheel at the 1996 Cabin Fever Festival.

NYFOA • 1·800·836·3566 • INFO MAR/APR 1996

HARRIET HAMILTON

New York has lost a guiding light forforest resource stewardship. HarrietHamilton died March 25, 1996. She willbe missed by all of us who have benefitedfrom knowing her. She and her husband,Jack, have so nicely guided Tree Farm, en-couraged fellow forest owners, and pro-moted better public understanding of for-est management that they were awardedNational Outstanding Tree Farmers for1991 (see NYFO NID '91) and made hon-orary members of the Society of AmericanForesters. They have been very crediblespokespeople for our amazing renewableforest resource. Their public presence of-ten leads us to forget that they have man-aged their own forest in exemplary fash-ion. Let's all have a moment of silence forHarriet and convey support and sympathyto Jack. - Mike Greason

Seldom do we have the pleasure andluxury to know a lady like HarrietHamilton. I first made Harriet's acquain-tance in June of 1972. Since then, a lastingfriendship bloomed. Although I was on theHamilton property to render forest manage-ment advice, I received far more than I evergave. Harriet gave me an appreciation forsome of the more minute facets of naturewhich was lacking in my formal education.I recall one incident in which I had placeda large glob of tree-marking paint on a largeclump of Shad bush, signaling it for re-moval. Harriet apprised me in terms that Icould easily comprehend, that she did notwant that or any other shad bushes removedbecause of their value to wildlife.

Harriet lived her life with enthusiasm.She was involved in each and every activ-ity as though it was the most important one.She and her husband, Jack, set a nationalstandard for what a Tree Farmer should beand what it takes to be a National AwardWinner. If my daughter can achieve a frac-tion ofthis lady's accomplishments, I couldnot be more proud. Harriet, I'm going tomiss you. - Billy Morris

NY FOREST OWNER

LETTERSPRE-FOREST?

I enjoyed Norman Richard's article ontree planting in the Marl Apr issue.

Considering all of the problems of plant-ing seedlings for later timber, would it notmake sense to plant nurse trees at an opti-mum spacing for effect (and economics)to establish a "pre-forest"?

By "pre-forest", I mean an easily estab-lished cover of trees perhaps with little orno subsequent commercial value. The morevaluable hardwood species could be inter-planted or seeded by natural regeneration.

I would like to see this topic and relateddiscussed by Dr. Richards or some otherexpert.

Nice job with the magazine.-Iames N. Martin, Muenster, Germany

COMMITMENTThe following is a copy of my individual

commitment as requested by The SeventhAmerican Forest Congress:

My commitment to forestry is to havedevoted 50 years and to anticipating theduration of the rest of my life to managingand caring for 1200 acres of forest land inupstate New York. Over the years I havereturned hundreds of acres of abandonedfarm land to healthy, growing forest. I havepaid to support the local school and gov-ernments a third of a million dollars in prop-erty taxes. I have planted 75 acres with pineand spruce. and done 500 acres of foreststand improvement. I have given free ofcharge 21,400 spruce seedlings to myneighbors, conducted 21 woods walks, andwritten and published 325 articles aboutforestry in the local and national media. Ihave brought my five children to love andrespect the forest. I allow free of charge,hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, horse-back riding, and camping on my propertyand I have harvested 365,000 board footof timber.

If there is any further commitment I canor should make, please let me know. I willclose with my favorite line of my favoritepoet:

"Pallas quas condidit arces ipsa colat;nobis placeant ante omnia silvas."

-Virgil(Let Pallas live in the cities she founded;

before all else, our joy is in the forest.)

-Henry S. Kernan, S. Worcester

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO

FOREST INCOME?What can forest owners do with their

property to earn income (to pay the taxes,at least) other than timbering; such as camp-ing, hunting, X-co skiing, etc?

How do they set the fees and what aboutliability?

Joan Kappel, Altamont

TITLE TRANSFERSHow does one transfer title and owner-

ship to someone and avoid the gift tax?Jane Geisler, Verbank

CORRECTIONRegarding Forest Tax Law revocation in

the MarlApr 1996 "Ask A Forester" ar-ticle, the penalties are 2 112 or 5 times thetaxes saved for up to the last 10 committedyears, plus interest.

GerardA. Kachmor, Kirkwood

NEW OSHA STANDARDA new OSHA standard may "create

a new level of responsibility for the for-est manager ... " who" ... accepts the roleof primary contractor when administer-ing a timber sale for a landowner." Themanager "may not cause a logging op-erator to knowingly violate the OSHA(Occupational Safety and Health Ad-ministration) standard through the man-ner in which the manager marks timberand lays out skid trails, landings, or otheraspects of the harvest." Although pro-tected from an OSHA citation, the ownermay be liable under third-party tort lawfor any injury, fatality, or property lossthat is incurred by the logging operatoror workers. Forest owners and consult-ing foresters and their legal advisors maywant to incorporate safety into the tim-ber sale contract "by including a provi-sion that the operator will perform thelogging operation in compliance withthe OSHA logging standard." Source:The Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration Logging Standard:What it means for Forest Managersby Myers and Fosbroke, JOURNAL OFFORESTRY, 11195.This brief was reprinted/rom CAPITALIDEAS, Feb '96, the Newsletter 0/ theAlabama Forest Owners Association,Inc.

MARIAPR 1996 • 13

MANAGEMENT PLANSBy Peter S. Levatich ©1996

There are all kinds. For example, a gro-cery list is a management plan. In the caseof forest land, such a plan intends to reachobjectives that benefit trees, or wild life, orwater quality, or resource utilization, etc.In the case of a grocery list, the objective isto keep certain stomachs from growlingbased on what the circumstances are: havekitchen, bread and water; need potatoes,onions, carrots, etc. A plan is an intent; it isalso a decision, in a way. One has decidedto do something in a premeditated fashionto produce predictable results. Every planstarts from known givens, the situation as itexists, and intends certain action in orderto achieve desired results.

Known conditions, an intent to alter them,a desired objective, a decision to act .....

Man-age-ment n .. l. the act, art, or mannerof managing, or handling, controlling, di-recting, etc ...Plan n..: 1. a drawing or diagram showingthe arrangement...2. a) a scheme-ocprogramfor making, doing, or arranging something,b) a method of proceeding; ...

We forest owners better have a manage-ment plan, otherwise our forest work willbe haphazard over time. We only can keepgeneral concepts, or simple things inmemory. After all, many of us can go gro-cery shopping without a list, and comehome with most of what is needed. But theforest and our work therein continues overmany, many years and the management planneeds to be in writing. Believe me, you willnot remember all you. did, let alone all youshould have done as intended, unless youhave a written plan. You are a purposefulperson, you do not waste time,you accom-plish the right things, and your life is short.Surely, you have a written management planfor all your long term work!

I have included two illustrations. Thefirst, Figure 1, is a management plan for asimple forest land; the second, Figure 2 isfor a more complex forest land. The simpleone may be on level ground covered with auniform forest. It would be appropriate tohave a simple plan there compared to thesecond case where the land is hilly, the for-est composed of a variety of tree sizes,standing on a variety of soils, bisected by

14 NY FOREST OWNER

FIGURE 1

Management Plan for a forest with simple land features (an example only!):

Year 1) Foot trail to pond, maintain open grass land.2) Bird boxes, picnic area, outhouse, swimming dock at pond.3) TSI in Lot 1, make firewood, maintain open grassland.4) Plant red oaks in part of grassland.5) TSI in Lot 2, make firewood, maintain open grassland.6) Create large openings in both lots for regeneration, make firewood.7) Clear jeep trail to landing area.8) Check all regeneration. release and prune, maintain open grassland.9) Cruise Lots 1 and 2 with consulting forester, mark as appropriate.

10) Timber harvest as marked; logs to mill, clear and reseed landing.

flowing water, for example. The two man-agement plans illustrated include a sketchof the fictitious forest land and a descrip-tion of what work is intended over time.This is only an example and it is kept brief.A brief description is all right; you willexpand it for the year ahead as you get toit. In either case, however, the plan can beeither detailed or general. This depends on

the personality of the forest owner and onthe person who created the managementplan. It also depends on the purpose of theplan: if the plan is to serve a Sect. 480-aReal Property Tax Exemption Application,for example, it will have to include a re-quired level of detail as provided in plansprepared by a graduate or otherwise certi-fied forester. If it is for the owner and his

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO MARIAPR 1996

FIGURE 2

"

t-

:::1110--,-

,<OUR

Management Plan for a forest with complex land features (An example only!)

Note: Maintain Christmas trees annually.Year 1) Start jeep trail in Lots 1 and 2.

2) Clear jeep trail to landing, build shelter and picnic area.3) Clear and build foot trail: for view and bird watching.4) TSI for firewood in Lot 2, utilize poles for fence.5) TSI in Lot 3 for aesthetics, build birding blinds.6) Make openings in Lot 4 and plant red oaks and cherry.7) TSI in Lot 5, make firewood.8) Start annual Christmas tree harvest replanting openings each season.9) Cruise with consulting forester and mark as appropriate.

10) Timber harvest Lots 2,3,4, & 5 as marked; logs to mill.

successors in ownership, any suitable levelcan be used. This is all based on commonsense. Do not be afraid. This is not a barexam, it's a management plan for yourwoods. YOUR woods! If you understand itand will know what you meant 20 yearsfrom now, it was a proper plan. Whetherit is a good plan, or a bad plan depends onwhat you do in your forest, which is notthe topic of this dissertation, but will bejudged at the end of those 20 years by look-ing at the forest. Here we are looking at theplan: the grocery list, not the meal.

A plan, being an intent, can be changedwithout necessarily losing its validity. Youcan add to it, change its emphasis, or eventhe objectives. Many owners find that thepace of action needs to be adjusted fromtime to time. If you cannot get the workdone in a certain year; it is perfectly all rightto postpone it, or to stretch out the timingof things. If your kids take a liking to theforest activity (encourage thatl), your planmight speed up! The nice part about a for-est crop is that it does not have to be har-vested before the winter comes each year.

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO

Management plans may change therefore.So where is the catch? There has to be

one; and this catch happens to be a goodone. The catch here is that your forest man-agement plan tends to turn into a commit-ment. It is a beautiful commitment, becauseit leads to multiple improvements. A for-est management plan improves:

1.) your forest and its value,2.) your values as a person who appre-

ciates the forest and the life therein,3.) your peace of mind since you know

what to do next in your woods, and4.) the flow of results in your forest

which makes you rightly proud.Its like the grocery list, your meal is bet-

ter if you start with one.

Peter, a representative for Tompkins Countyto the NYSDEC Region 7 Forest PracticeBoard and a Master Forest Owner, is afre-quent contributor to the NY FORESTOWNER.

Lake GeorgeForestry

Complete Forestry Servicesincluding:

• Detailed ManagementPlans

• Timber Trespass• Timber Sales• Appraisals• Deed Research• Timber Inventory• Watershed Management• Boundary Line Location• Tax Savings PlansNo property is too small or toolarge to benefit from experiencedprofessional assistance when youare faced with important decisionsregarding its use.Contact Lake George Forestry to-day to arrange a free initial con-sultation.

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MARIAPR 1996 • 15

SYMPOSIUM ON NONINDUSTRIAL PRIVATE FORESTS:LEARNING FROM THE PAST, PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE

By Michael C. GreasonWhen there are many meetings with

concurrent sessions, you may wonder howyou are going to fill some of the time slots.I did not experience that at the nationalsymposium that was held just prior to theSeventh American Forestry Congress inWashington, D.C. in February. This meet-ing was held to prime the pumps of nonin-dustrial forest owners who would be attend-ing the Congress, to help them think aboutissues to bring to the tables during the restof the week. Many excellent speakers dis-cussed the resource and the related issuesofthe day; herewith follows a brief review.

The first morning started with a keynoteaddress by NeiJ Sampson, former Presidentof American Forests. Mr. Sampson put forthhis guiding principles for governmentpolicy which he stated are: 1) maintaininga framework to respect private propertyrights while expressing private stewardshipresponsibilities; 2) developing and commu-nicating data, information and skills; 3)creating a balance of economic.incentivesthat reward private investment in steward-ship.

Mr. Sampson sees a future of strength-ening individual rights while honoring lo-cal differences that will feature public/pri-vate cooperation.

Tom Birch discussed the national for-est owners survey. Nationally 45% of theprivately owned forest is in tracts larger than500 acres. Even in New York, the bulk ofthe acres are in tracts greater than 100 acres.Some people feel foresters should concen-trate their efforts on large properties. Per-sonally, if society is going to allow forestryto be practiced, I don't believe we can af-ford to overlook any woodlot that presentsan opportunity to manage. If we lack po-litical strength because we only number500,000 in a state of seventeen million, wecannot ignore any forest owner.

Joan Commanor, who heads Coopera-tive Forestry in Washington for the ForestService, shared her vision for the futurewhich includes: 1) nonindustrial privateforests (NIPF) are viewed as sustainableand their owners have a strong commitment

to stewardship; 2) public policies will pro-vide incentives and opportunities; 3) therewill be adequate numbers of well trainedpublic and private professionals to imple-

16 • NY FOREST OWNER

ment management; 4) the public at largewill value the whole image of forest val-ues; these public values will be acceptedand there will be public involvement in pri-vate management.

Stan Hamilton, State Forester fromIdaho, feels the era of clearcutting and ex-ploitation is behind us and that society sup-ports forestry and private rights. PerhapsIdaho is a long way from any urban center.I'm not sure New York's population as awhole understands forestry. He definitelysees the picture from a different perspec-tive than does Larry Biles, CooperativeState Research Education and ExtensionService, who sees service forestry shiftingto regulatory oversight and Extension de-livering self-learning technology.

Robert McColly, a private consultantfrom Pennsylvania, calls for an end to freeservice. He advocates fair taxes over directincentives, advocates increased extensioneducation, elimination of inheritance taxesto stop fragmentation, respects private

property rights and feels consultants are thelandowner's only agent, advocate, and fi-duciary.

Ken Munson, an industrial forester withInternational Paper, sees an industry com-mitment to landowners even through"power down cycles". I;Ie discussed theinvolvement of Tree Farmers in running thatprogram and the benefit of landowner in-volvement in management. He discussedthe American Forest and Paper Associa-tion's new Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

The highlight of the morning session,to me, was John Marchant who talkedabout a national survey he conducted offorest owner associations (see page 8, this

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 -INFO

issue). John reinforced my commitment tocontinue my NYFOA membership. Theseassociations are a growing benefit to forestowners.

The next day and a half were dedicatedto concurrent sessions. This was one of thefew symposiums I've attended that I reallywanted to attend all the sessions. It was dif-ficult deciding what to miss and I'm pleasedproceedings will be published. The firstafternoon was made up of Education, Regu-lation/Conservation Easements, and Inter-national Forestry. I chose Regulation to gaina better understanding; though I did sneaknext door to hear Steve Jones cPA Coop.Ext.) talk about encouragement throughdemonstration.

What I learned in the Regulation ses-sion was that Gifford Pinchot at the turn ofthe century believed that federal control wasneeded to assure sustainability. I guess thatperception came out of the era of timberbaron exploitation. The speakers talkedabout various approaches that have beentaken, cost of government intrusion and theissue of varied, complex local regulationversus statewide uniformity. There wasrecognition that growing world popula-tion coupled with often conflicting de-mands on the forest will focus more at-tention on the NIPF.

Steve Jones showed that demonstrationeffected public attitude positively onclearcutting. Properly conducted operationscoupled with an outreach effort to educatethe public as to what they were looking atinfluenced public acceptance of significantmanagement activity.

Next I sat in on the Conservation Ease-

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ment session. The speakers reviewed theuse of conservation easements, their me-chanics and some of the complexities in-volved. Who would expect that givingdevelopment rights could be construedas increasing property values and con-tributing to higher real property taxes?Though that type of problem was not thenorm, the benefits and liabilities were dis-cussed openly. Whether you sell or donaterights, taketime to investigate all the con-sequences to avoid future surprises.

Tuesday morning sessions involvedLandowner Characteristics, Taxes/Benefitsfrom NIPF Lands, Technical Assistance/Cooperatives and Partnerships. As youmight expect this old service forester startedoff with technical assistance. After hearingBob McColly wanting to get rid of my kind,my fragile persona was rebuilt hearing ofstudies that showed public service forestryprograms are an effective tool motivat-

ing landowners to manage. I was not sur-prised by the findings that: cost share wasrated as the most important motivator; one-on-one assistance is the second; taxes arethird and so forth. I also saw how NewYork's service forestry program may havebetter public/private cooperation than someother states. There were discussions aboutdifferent approaches and balancing pro-grams, similar to our Master Forest OwnerProgram and other means. I won't say thatall the programs I heard about sounded likegood ideas to me; but all were thought pro-voking. I was especially pleased to hear SIP(Stewardship Incentives Program) mightmake a rebound with more funding nextyear; yet, if you are interested, you prob-ably better let someone knowl

Rick Cantrell, American Forest andPaper Association, discussed the Sustain-able Forestry Initiative in greater detail. Heportrayed it as a progression towards im-proving forest stewardship. The initiativerecognizes regional differences and com-plexities. He talked about a member indus-

NY FOREST OWNER

try pledge and commitment to continuousimprovement. He spoke of broadeningpractice, prompt reforestation followingharvest, protection of water resources, butdid not mention tree selection or high grad-ing. He did state goals are to increasegrowth and quality (inferring appropriatesilviculture) and a string of seven othergoals that passed too quickly for me to jotdown.

Steve Broderick, Connecticut Coopera-tive Extension, presented a social market-ing project where they discovered it is easierto sell management to landowners who in-tend to manage than owners who do not.He did go on to say to target non-intendersto manage, one needs to sell cost/benefits,involve the whole family in the messageand capitalize on resource threats and theresulting impact on heirs.

Michael Jacobson, North CarolinaState University, discussed a landscape-level management project where an indus-try landowner involved neighboring land-owners in an ecosystem based managementproject. This appeared to be a good mar-keting tool for the company to present aholistic management image while establish-ing wood supply agreements. Prior to theproject, two thirds of the neighbors in thestudy area had never cooperated with eachother and those that had, had done so pri-marily in regards to wildlife habitat prac-tices for improved hunting. In contactinglandowners to gain perspectives on com-mitments to landscape-level management,of those who would commit to landscape/ecosystem management, 36% would de-mand more than 100% of the market valueof their properties and 43 % would demand100% to sign an agreement.

In summary, landowners demonstratethat they respond to professional assistance,incentives and tax breaks. Landownerswant freedom from regulation in control oftheir properties. High real estate, incomeand inheritance taxes are disincentives toforest management and retention. If soci-ety wants benefits from forests, the ownersof those forests want cooperation and sup-port from society for those benefits.

I enjoyed participating in this sympo-sium even though the above summation ofwhat I heard makes me realize that the is-sues seem to stay the same over the decades.Mike Greason is a Supervising Forester/orNYS DECDivision 0/ Lands & Forests inthe Central Office in Albany and 1993 win-ner o/NYFOA's Heiberg Award.

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MAR! APR 1996 • 17

MORE ON LAND AND ITS ROOTSBy James T_ Curtis

One of the many pleasures of owning aparcel of land is investigating the land'shistory or heritage. This is particularly truein New York State, where your parcel islikely to have undergone significantchanges over the past two or three centu-ries since immigrants arrived. They con-verted much of the land to a European -style agrarian use from the far differentNative American use patterns that had ex-isted previously. For the curious, there aremany sources of information regarding aland's historical uses.

The September/October issue of THENY FOREST OWNER contained an articleby Peter Levatich entitled "Does Your LandHave Roots?" That article described howcounty land transaction records carry an of-ten-fascinating record of the legal owner-ship history of the lands. These recordsform an interesting and informative historyof the previous stewards of your forest andother lands. Investigating these avenues atthe local court house is a wonderful firststep in getting to know your predecessors,the people who cared for your lot and hadan influence on what type of landscapeexists there today.

In addition to this legal record, the land-scape itself contains clues to its historicaluse. By getting out into the woods, andobserving closely, one can often perceivea rich history that allows better insightsinto the forest's "family tree". The knowl-edge that these clues contain may lead to agreater understanding and awareness thateach of us, as the current owners or usersof the land, are really just caretakers andstewards for the land. Our actions today willaffect how future generations will enjoy thewoods, just as surely as our parents' andgrandparents' actions affected our presentownership experience.

The landscape is constantly changingbut not so quickly that the footprints ofearlier activities are hidden from us. At onetime, much of New York was cleared forfarming. This trend peaked about a cen-tury ago when just over 20 per cent of NewYork was covered with trees. Since thattime, a decrease in the acreage under culti-vation has been followed by successionalchanges, with the previously tilled landsreverting to forest. As a result, nearly two-thirds of the state is now covered once againby forests, even though New York is one of

18 NY FOREST OWNER

the more densely populated states.What type of evidence can be seen of

yesteryear's influences?To many, the mostnoticeable remnant of the farms of yester-year are the stone walls, which are a com-mon site in many of today's woodlots. Typi-cally resulting from rocks that were clearedfrom fields to allow easier tilling, stonewalls mark former meadows andoftentimes, may indicate property bordersas well. Surveyors many times use stonewalls as a key indicator when researchinglot lines where ownership of adjoining par-cels is uncertain. Finding an aged stonefence in the middle of a mature forest in-variably leads the imagination back to anearlier time, before commuting, faxes, andthe Internet. Who built it? How many years'clearing did it take? Was the builder me-ticulous about his work? If so, the stonesare probably still as they were placed. Orperhaps he was just trying to clear thestones, not create art, and the stone wall istoday no more than a wide, long pile ofrocks.

Hedgerows are similar "tools". Manyhedgerows from the 1800s are stillhedgerows today, with massive oaks or ash,which have formed homes for chipmunksand squirrels or runways for deer for a cen-tury or more. Have you ever encountered arow of mature trees seemingly out of placein a poletimber stand? You may be seeingfirst hand evidence of forest succession.Perhaps the adjacent forest owes its ances-try to these former hedgerow trees.

How about former residences? Yourproperty may be the site of a formerresident's homestead. The most obvioussigns are stone foundations, perhaps witha hearth from the "furnace" still intact. Oldwells and springhouses may give clues toprevious tenants. My land has a 1929 li-cense plate sticking out of a tree, the treehaving long ago encompassed the metal bygrowing around it. I have also found theremnants of a "moonshine': operation fromthe Prohibition era. Local lore has it that agentleman named "Honey Joe" producedmetheglin, a beverage made of fermentedhoney and water, on this site. The discov-ery last year of rusted pails, a foundation,and other material near a spring indicatesthat the legends may be true. Look also forclues in the vegetation. Are there apple orpear trees, seemingly out of place? Rhu-barb or asparagas, even, long-lived peren-

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 - INFO

nials which outlasted the owner who gavethem their start? Such crops were staplesfor many families a century ago, providingfood in the absence of Sam's Club, andwould indicate a former residence.

What else is available to guide yoursleuthing besides property and tax recordsand a trained eye? Old town road maps areavailable at many village libraries. TheCooperstown library, for example, nearwhere my land is located, has local mapsback into the middle 19th century. Theseare great sources for the amateur historianas well as the curious forest owner. The mapshown with this article, for example, showsnot only those roads existing at the timebut also the location of each house - withthe owner or resident identified by name!This map also shows the plot lines fromthe original (or at least early) surveys. Thedeed to my land identifies the eastern

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Town map of area west of Cooperstown from 1868. Note that residences are identified byowner ;and original survey lines are shown along with the roads and other features. Someof the roads shown are no longer publicly travelled but may still be visible on the land.

boundary as "the Highway". This road,which is clearly shown on the 1868 and1903 Cooperstown village maps, has notbeen publicly - travelled for many years.The road is identifiable in the woods inmany places, however, having its locationshown on the former town maps has madeit easier to identify.

These maps may also help in decipher-ing very old deeds, which may refer to alocation only in reference to adjoiningowners (e.g., "All that parcel of land situ-ate in the Town of Middlefield, known asthe Pope Farm, on which Seth Pope resided

at the time of his death, bounded on thenorth by lands of one Gates; on the east bylands of Webb; on the south by lands ofVickers; and on the west by lands of theMcDaniel Brothers"). Such descriptionswere probably crystal clear in the timewhen they were drafted, but may be nearmeaningless today without help from docu-ments such as the town maps which existedat the time.

Perhaps the best tools for getting an ideaof the former appearance of your propertyare aerial photos. These gems may containnumerous types of interesting information

NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

that can help you:

* trace the land's previous use,* identify property lines,

* show evidence oflogging, forestfires,blowdowns or other discrete events

* indicate the construction of beaverdams (and the subsequent appearance of apond)

* bracket, through a series of aerials, theage of such events

* identify the general age of your trees,if an old aerial shows a cleared field wheretrees now grow.

* Experienced interpreters can evenidentify subsurface drainage patternsthrough fracture trace analysis, althoughthis is beyond what most landowners wouldbe capable of (and even beyond the abili-ties of many geologists !).

Aerial photographs are available fromgovernment agencies for a very reasonableprice. The photos can be obtained fromseveral sources, but the best way to get his-torical aerials is through the USDA's FarmServices Agency (FSA), previously knownas the Agricultural Stabilization and Con-servation Service (ASCS), from their SaltLake City Aerial Photography Field Office(2222 West 2300 South, P.O. Box 30010,Salt Lake City, UT 84119, telephone num-ber (80l) 975-3503). This agency is therepository and reproduction center foraerial photography acquired by the ASCS,the Soil Conservation Service, and the USForest Service. Approximately 95 percentof the United States land area is covered.

The FSA has prints available at variousprices, depending on size, ColorlB&W, andyear of photograph. Prints from the years1950 - 1980 range from $3 each for 10" by10" contact prints to $27 each for 38" x38" enlargements, with several additionalintermediate sizes. The negative scale is aslarge as 1:6000, with enlargements avail-able at larger scale. More recent photogra-phy (since 1980) has been photographedat a scale of 1:60,000, which makes thephotography somewhat less useful. It is alsomore expensive, ranging from $6 (lO"xl0")to $33 (38"x38") per print. Color infraredprints are available for the years since 1980,however, but at a cost of about double theblack and white prices. Stereo coveragemay be available, which allows the imagesto appear in three dimensions. Turnaroundtime from the FSA is from four to six weeksfrom the time of the order.

Photography is available from the FSA

MARIAPR 1996 > 19

Example of an aerial photo from 1960 of an area nicluding Morris, Otsego County. Much of the area that was clearedfarm land in 1960is today young forest land. Roads, edges of fields, mature forests, water bodies, hedgerowws, and other key features, are easily identifi-able from such photographs at low cost from the Farm Services Agency. Scale is 1"=1320.

from the present back to about 1950. De-pending on the county of interest, prints arelikely to be available at about 10 year in-tervals. Older photography (1930s through1950) may also be available from the Na-tional Archives, Cartographic & Architec-tural Branch, 8601 Adelphi Road, CollegePark, MD 20740, telephone (301) 713-7040. These photos are handled by inde-pendent contractors and are generally more

20 NY FOREST OWNER

expensive but turnaround time is reportedlybetter.

An excellent guide to aerial photographsand their use in forest management is foundin an article by Arlyn Perkey in the latest(September 1995) issue afForest Manage-ment Update. This irregularly - publishedperiodical is an excellent source of forestrynews, tidbits, and research that comes fromthe staff at the Northeast Area office of the

NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO

USDA Forest Service in Morgantown, WestVirginia. Through an arrangement withNYFOA, this publication is now availableto all interested readers for a $2 postagefee from the NYFOA office (716-377-6060or 1-800-836-3566).James T. Curtis, a Master Forest Ownerwho lives inAndover, Mass., frequently vis-its his woodlots in Cooperstown, OtsegoCounty.

MARIAPR 1996

NEW LEGISLATIONBY DAVID J. COLLIGAN

The New York State Legislature is cur-rently in its busiest season. In addition towrestling with the annual budget, the legis-lature is considering several bills that re-late to forest owners.

The primary bill of interest is The Rightto Practice Forestry Bill (A5340; S4993).Presently, forty towns in New York Statehave passed harvesting ordinances.Anotherforty towns have passed site clearance or-dinances which may affect logging prac-tices. Therefore, approximately eightytowns out of the 900+ towns in New YorkState have already passed ordinances whichwill potentially restrict the landowners abil-ity to sell wood products from the land theypay taxes on. This new act would greatlyrestrict local government or municipalregulations over harvesting practices, andit would also make it difficult for a privateindividual or group to interfere with thelandowners' rights to practice forestry ontheir own land.

We urge every member of NYFOA towrite to their State Assemblyman, StateSenator, and the Governor in support ofthis Right to Practice Forestry Act. It is es-sential that your legislator be immediatelyadvised of your strong feelings on this newlaw. Anyone wishing to receive a proposedletter to send in favor of this law can callNYFOA's toll free number 1-800-836-3566to receive a form letter for their signature.Anyone not knowing their State Legisla-tors can also use NYFOA's toll free num-ber for that information.

WRITE TODAY TO YOUR STATELEGISLATOR!! This is an important leg-

islative piece which will protect all of ourinvestment in good forestry.

The Empire State Forest Products As-sociation is planning an Albany LegislativeLobbying session on May 7, 1996 at whichtime individuals will be meeting directlywith the State Legislators regarding legis-lative initiatives including the Right to Prac-tice Forestry Law. Anyone wishing to at-tend the ESFPAAlbany Legislative sessioncan call Kevin King at 518/463-1297 for alegislative issues pamphlet which will pre-pare you for the issues and advise youwhere to meet for the Albany LobbyingSession.Dave Colligan is a practicing attorney witha Buffalo law firm and serves NYFOA as NAME, _

our legislative liason.

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APplication for Membership inthe New York Forest Owners

Association.

I/We would like to support good forestry

and stewardship of New York's forestlands.

( ) I/We own acres of wood-

land.

( ) I/We do not own woodland but sup-port the Association's objectives.

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Fairport, New York 14450

MARIAPR 1996 • 21

TREE MAGICBy Jane Sorensen Lord, PhD,OTR,ND

"Don't you have pain medication?"She should have. She fell and cracked

three vertebrae in her back between herwaist and her rib cage.

"No," she whimpered over the tele-phone.

It was about 9:00 AM. I was calling toschedule an appointment for an occupa-tional therapy assessment later that after-noon. Her visit was to see that she was safeat home and to order special equipment, ifnecessary: tub bench, raised toilet seat,maybe a reacher. Backs and knees are

treated by a physical therapist on an on-going basis. So this case was priority 3 forme. (The orthopedic cases OT follows areshoulders, elbows, wrists and hands).

"Are you alone? Do you have a homehealth aide?"

"Not yet. My grandson is going tocome."

"I'll be there in half-an-hour. I'll bringyou something for the pain."

I'll probably get arrested for practicin.g

medicine without a license, I fretted, as Imixed up a topical potion ofdimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and avocadooil scented with jasmine to tranquilize.Legally, I am supposed to wait for the medi-cal doctor to clear my therapeutic plan in-volving pain management techniques.

I never bring up my naturopathic skills

to my OT patients unless they ask me aboutit from the reference on my business cardas cited beneath "Licensed OccupationalTherapist". (I must confess that most pa-

tients do ask. Many pre-baby boomers weretreated with granny's concoctions as kids.)

I got to her apartment in about 25 min-utes. Her grandson let me in.

She was lying on the bed, small and pale,writhing in pain, but trying to hold stillbecause movement hurt.

"Let me smooth some of this on yourback. It probably won't stop the pain en-tirely, but it should make it better than it is,It should work in about fifteen minutes."

She answered all of my interview ques-tions. When I got to the part where I wasasking detailed questions about her abilityto perform certain tasks, she sat up, and puther legs over the bed.

"Will it hurt to walk? I'd like to go tothe bathroom." Then she did. And I flipped!It was amazing.

DMSO is a by-product of the lignin inwood. Before its discovery and use in al-ternative medicine circles, it was used asan industrial catalyst. You can buy bottlesof it in many health food stores.

DMSO is a strange smelling liquid thatmelts at 6°C. I use it as a pain reliever onmyself for chronic problems of my rightknee and back. Also, I have used it for toothache, by rubbing it on the gum of the sore

tooth.I started using it on patients, maybe ten

years ago, because it works better than

store-bought topical pain relievers. Itsstrange smell is easily overridden with anyessential oil so that it smells better than BenGay and has an aroma therapeutic poten-tial as well.

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22 NY FOREST OWNER NYFOA -1-800-836-3566 -INFO

I usually mix it with about 25% oil, be-cause 100% DMSO bothers some people'sskin. Recently, I mixed in some beeswaxto make an ointment for a little girl withluvenileArthritis. I am told that the evening

after I brought it to her in a black and goldplastic container, she showed it to every-one at a party exclaiming it was make-up

medicine for her hands.A lady dying of multiple myeloma, a

type of cancer that causes horrible bonepain, told me DMSO was better than heroral pain medicine because she could stayalert. She started making her own potionsof varying strength and smell to influenceher mood and to treat herself, according tobone depth.

A college professor, who had a strokeduring open heart surgery, was bothered by"shoulder-wrist syndrome" that painfullyaffects some recovering stroke victims. Isuggested we try DMSO, his eyes twinkledand he told me to look in his medicine cabi-net. When I found and brought a bottle ofDMSO to him, he said he had had the bottlea long time. He had read about DMSO,liked what he read, and bought a bottlewhich he had never opened.

We mixed it up with a little canola oiland added a little after shave lotion. He usedit from Wednesday to the following Mon-day. He was amazed. Not only did the pain

leave entirely, but he began to get move-ment in his left thumb which had been para-lyzed.

"This stuff is fantastic. Have you everseen anything like this?"

I had to admit I had not seen anyonewith his severity of stroke get back thumbopposition. Who knows?

But then DMSO is from trees. Shouldwe expect less?

Dr. Jane, a regular contributor, is a

Master Forest Owner and Certified TreeFarmer. She has a private consulting prac-

tice in Occupational Therapy andNaturopathic Medicine. She teaches on theFaculty of Health at Indianapolis Univer-

sity. H H" ,.

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MARIAPR 1996

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The MarketplaceATTENTION small woodlot owners/part time loggers - For FARMIwinches and VALBY chippers, write Hewitt's Hill Haven, Locke, NY13092 or call (315) 497-1266 (Before 8AM or after 6PM).

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For Sale- A well-managed timberland tract in Ellenburg, NY consist-ing of 191 acres near Upper Chateauguy Lake. Asking $85,000. For moredetails contact Ben Hudson at Wagner Woodlands and Co., P.O. Box128, Lyme, NH 03768 (603) 795-2165.

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Marketplace: $10minimum for 25 wordsor less, 10c each ad-ditional word.Contact: R.J. Fox, Editor

RD 3, Box 88,Moravia, NY13118Fax/Phone:

(315) 497-1078

Circulation 1950.

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R.J. Fox, EditorRD#3,Box88Moravia, NY 13118FaxlPhone (315) 497-1078

NOTICETHE FOREST OWNER is mailed

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COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT• TIMBER APPRAISALS

• ACCESS ROAD DESIGN& SUPERVISION

• TREE PLANTING• TREE SHELTER DISTRIBUTOR• SUGAR BUSH MANAGEMENT• BOUNDARY MAINTENANCE

• CHRISTMAS TREE MANAGEMENT• FOREST MANAGEMENT PLANNING• FOREST RECREATION PLANNING

• WOODLOT IMPROVEMENTS INIMMATURE STANDS

• WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

• FOREST TAXATION PLANNING

Bruce E.Robinson,

Inc.FORESTRY

CONSULTANTS

(716) 665-54771894 CAMP ST. EXT.

JAMESTOWN NY 14701

NYFOA - 1-800-836-3566 - INFO

FOUNDED 1963

WOODLOTCALENDARMAY 5: CDC; 2PM; WildflowerWalk; Jack & Mary Brennan's;Guilderland; (518) 753-4336.

MAY 11: CAY; lOAM; Wild-flower Walk; Lfee Signor's; (315)497-1078.

MAY 15: WFL; 7:30PM; Gen.Mtg.; Access Roads & Trails;Cummings Nature Ctr; 716/367-2849 eve.

MAY 18; WFL; lOAM; Follow-up Woodswalk; Canadice, 716/367-2849 eve.

MAY 18: NFC; lOAM; GPS Dem-onstration by Max Bennett at BobPreston's, (716) 632-5862.

JUN 8: CNY; lOAM; FAMILYFOREST FAIR; Gurnee Woods;(315) 689-3314.

JUN 29: NFC; American Chest-nut Foundation; Chestnut RidgePark.

MARIAPR 1996