Treesearch

The following text was given as the opening address to the Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium in Saratoga Springs, New York on April 7, 1991. It characterizes a mismatch between the environmental problems confronting the planet and our human capacity to perceive them and do something about them. Based on that characterization, ways in which we might begin to behave in the light of our limitations as a species as well as our potentials are discussed. The text concludes by considering the metaphorical power of gardening as a practical means for curing what ails us.

In a light-hearted departure from typical conference proceedings, this paper identifies the need for research related to greenways and attempts to entice the conference scholars into undertaking such studies. Greenways are long, skinny connecting corridors for nature, recreation and transportation which need the attention of academicians and researchers to move into mainstream America.

Participants in an eight-day Outward Bound program were asked about their motivations for participation before the experience began and at the mid-point of the actual experience. Although more anticipated differences were expected, based on motivational theory, only one of the twelve motivational domains was significantly different at the .001 level.

Contains 48 research and management papers on the following subjects: social science in resource management; outdoor recreation planning and management; fisheries and wjldlife management; specialization theory; travel, tourism and community development; urban recreation; and geographic information systems.

Why is sugar maple abundant under nearly all stand conditions, and why do hemlock and yellow birch, although differing in tolerance, occur together as a type? At least part of the answer may have to do with the optimum germinating temperatures for their seeds.

Diameter-limit cuts have been widely applied in northern hardwood forests, mainly because they are easy to apply in the field and they result in maximum financial returns.

Sugar maple has great potential as wildlife food, especially as good winter fare for deer in the northern Lake States. Deer will diligently seek out sugar maple browse in the hardwood forests along the edges of a winter yard or in isolated islands of upland forest within a yard.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is a migratory woodpecker that feeds on a wide variety of orchard, shade, and forest trees. Instead of drilling holes to find insects like other woodpeckers, sapsuckers drill holes in living trees to feed on sap and phloem tissues. Yellow and paper birches are their favorite summer food sources on their nesting grounds in Upper Michigan and northern Wisconsin. Hemlock, sugar maple, and other species are favorites in the spring.

Most wildlife doesn?t prosper in our dense second-growth pole stands. Game animals and birds in particular need openings where various grasses, shrubs, and herbs will flourish away from the dense shade of northern hardwood trees. Here animals, such as deer, bear, and snowshoe rabbit, find the food they need, especially in spring and fall. And birds, such as the ruffed grouse and woodcock, use the openings for nesting and brood rearing.

Sapstreak is a fatal disease of sugar maple that usually enters the tree through basal trunk scars or root wounds. The disease most often affects large, wounded trees left after logging. The fungus causing sapstreak readily infects stumps or cut logs during the summer months. So, wounding sugar maples during this time will increase the potential for disease spread. In the Lake States, sapstreak has only been found in a few areas of Michigan and at one location in Wisconsin. Although few trees have been killed by sapstreak, it has the potential to become a serious disease in sugar maple stands.