James-Bob, I think the answer is a combination of the two. Some foresters and rangers do know where remnant patches of old growth are on the lands they oversee and are reluctant to expose th remnants to public scrutiny for a variety of reasons, some laudable, some not. Other foresters and rangers don't recognize old growth even when standing in the middle of it. I suspect the latter are predominantly administrators and younger people. I once emerged from a dense old-growth red spruce stand in the southern Adirondacks with a large tape measure in hand to be greeted by a ranger who was understandably curious about what I was doing. We struck up a conversation and during the course of the conversation I became aware that he did not realize the area I had been in was old growth. His answers to a number of craftily worded questions convinced me that he wasn't just playing dumb. He really didn't know. He like many others based his understanding on what the lumber community had told him about cutting in the Adirondacks. On the other hand, on another occasion, I talked to another state employee who acknowledged the existence of a far larger region of "first growth" in the Adirondacks. His understanding was more in concert with the findings of a researcher named Barbara McMartin, who wrote an excellent book on the historyof the Adirondack forests. Two individuals, both in the same organization, one with a good underst anding and the other clueless. I think that scenario plays out all over. I could give many other examples from personal experience.
Bob -------------- Original message -------------- From: JamesRobertSmith <[email protected]> > > I was in the Otter Creek Wilderness two years ago. Before I left for > that trip, I got in touch with the Forest Service and asked > specifically if there was any old growth patches in there and, if so, > how to find them. I was told that there was no old growth remaining, > that it had all been logged out and that the entire wilderness was > second growth except--perhaps--for some remnant trees. > > I've encountered this problem with almost every park and forest > service with whom I've communicated. Either the rangers/foresters > actually don't know jack about the areas over which they're in charge, > or they don't want "outsiders" mucking about in their old growth > forests. > > Alas! > > This is especially irksome, because I don't know when I'll ever get > back to the Otter Creek Wilderness. > > Nice photos on Smugmug! Even if I do have to turn off my firewall to > look at that website. > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
