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Conservation Commission
Conservation and More
by Bruce B. Beckley
Issue #71, November, 1999
Treasured Places
What a Fall this has been. What a rare mood I’m in. And to continue the paraphrasing: If I’m not near the place that I’m dear to, I’ll be dear to the place I’m near.
From Joe English to Jonesport, Maine it has been a rare Fall. The streams and ponds refilled, mushrooms exploded from under every leaf – white amanitas, golden boletus and red russulas. Speaking of red, blueberry bushes robed in exquisite fall foliage formed Chinese red rivulets on the granite ledges of Acadia National Park where those ledges plunge into the frothy white as the blue Atlantic waters challenge the rocks of ages.
At the Blagden Preserve, also on the island Champlain dubbed "Isle de Monts Desert", trails lead down through lichen covered northern white cedar to the shore of Blue Hill Bay. There we watched sunning harbor seals sprawled on a rocky promontory waiting for the 16-foot tide to bring in dinner. (Animals sprawling are OK, sprawling developments are another story.) East of there in Beals, a similar trail on Nature Conservancy land took us over ledges and board walks around a heath to the shore of Great Wass Island.
These treasured places from Amherst to Down East have more than their beauty and quietude in common. In each place we could visit, walk, rest and be inspired because others gave their land and resources for folks like us, whom they will never know, to enjoy. Pretty special!
Beautiful Birds
Visit the Beautiful Birds web site for a tour through the Cornell Ornithological Library gallery and a discussion of the techniques used by Audubon and other artists. Go to: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/ornithology.
Scary
Halloween is not all that’s scary as October ends. "New Hampshire’s Changing Landscape", recently published by the Forest Society and the Nature Conservancy, presents a scary picture of people and housing growth, forest and cropland depletion and a forceful case for open space protection. The report can be obtained by calling SPNHF at 224-9945 or it may be viewed at www.spnhf.org. The report contains a wealth of data and several stunning projections. For instance:
In the next two decades Amherst’s population is projected to increase by 4,457 or 43.6%. Forested land in town in 1993 amounted to 15,548 acres. By the year 2020, the forest land decline is projected to be 1,704 acres and the size of the average forest parcel to drop 23%.
We can’t wait to see how accurate these predictions are, If we are going to control the destiny of our waters and woodlands, the next town meeting (excuse me ballot voting) is not too soon.
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