letters to the EDITORS
Political Parlance
To the Editors:
It surely has something to do with the
current political season we’re in, but I
think I may have thought of a better word
to describe a group of crows. How about a
caucus? It really works if you pronounce
it “caw-cuss,” with the emphasis on the
first syllable...it’s what they do!
Kim A. LaMothe, Colchester, Vermont
Crazy Beavers?
To the Editors:
We came across this shapely chunk of beaver-chewed popple while mapping the bedrock
geology in the north woods of the Connecticut
Lakes area, New Hampshire, in the early 1960s.
Was it a matter of several successive snowfalls
thwarting an eager beaver’s work? (It finally made
it on the fifth try.) Or perhaps the boss beaver
said, “OK boys, I want six-inch chunks now!”?
We love your magazine, having spent lots of time
in northern New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.
John & Jan Green, Duluth, Minnesota
Editors Reply: We’ve asked researchers about this
before, and have yet to come up with a definitive
answer. Coincidentally, we recently used a similar
photo as part of the bi-weekly “What in the Woods
is That?” contest on our webpage and received
reader replies ranging from the practical (so they
can roll the log to get to the cambium on the other
side) to the physiological (beavers’ incisors grow
continuously so they need to chew all the time
to file the teeth down) to the humorous (sheer
boredom…between sports seasons when UMaine
Farmington Battling Beavers are idle).
Acid Rain Update
To the Editors:
Joe Herring’s great piece
on red spruce recovery
[Spring 2016] suggested
that spruce trees – a
species famously affected
by acid rain – are doing
better these days. Are all
plant and animal species that were affected by
acid rain recovering? I’m especially interested
in sugar maple. Back in the 1980s acid rain was
the big environmental problem everyone talked
about.
Gerard Robben, Blue Hill, Maine
Editors Respond: We asked Charles Driscoll, university professor of environmental systems and
distinguished professor at Syracuse University,
to give us an update on acid rain in the region.
Here’s what he had to say:
Federal legislative and regulatory actions asso-
ciated with the Clean Air Act have dramatically
decreased national emissions of sulfur since the
early 1970s and nitrogen oxides since the early
2000s. These measures have caused large reduc-
tions in sulfuric acid and nitric acid in regional
precipitation. The magnitude of these decreases
has been remarkable. Today, concentrations of
sulfuric acid in precipitation are approaching
values estimated to have occurred back in the
early 1900s. While decreases in nitric acid have
not been quite so dramatic, concentrations are
still much lower than we experienced 20 years or
so ago. In the northeastern U.S., these decreases
have led to large decreases in the acidity of sur-
face waters.
While we have witnessed a remarkable recovery of lakes and streams, the news is not all positive. While the acidity of waters has decreased,
the fish and insects that were affected by this
acidity have not recovered to the degree we
might expect. It is unclear why aquatic organisms
are slow to recover. It could be they just need
more time to recover, or it could be that climate
change is altering the environmental conditions
of streams and lakes irrespective of the acid rain
issue. The other problem is soil. Although waters
are recovering, soils are responding more slowly.
It may take centuries to build back the calcium
that was leached from the soil by acid rain, which
may challenge sensitive trees, like sugar maple.
We know that if we artificially add back the lost
calcium to forest soil, tree health can be restored.
However, this approach would not be possible
over a large area like the Northern Forest. So
while acid rain is not the problem it once was, its
legacies still affect forest resources. Only time will
tell if the Northern Forest will fully recover.
The Right Mix
To the Editors:
I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the
wonderful writing in the Spring issue of Northern
Woodlands. I am always impressed by the magazine
on many levels. Finding the sweet spot between
technical natural resource material and information
that is of interest to the public is a challenge, but
Northern Woodlands finds that balance on a regular
basis. As a wildlife biologist and forester, as well as
a teacher, I really appreciate this!
Thanks again and keep up the good, important
work at Northern Woodlands!
David Pilla, Woodlands Manager,
Proctor Academy, Andover, New Hampshire
The CCC’s Lasting Legacy
To the Editors:
I have just finished reading the Spring 2016 issue
of Northern Woodlands. I was especially inter-
ested in the article entitled, “A Legacy of Forests
and Parks, The Civilian Conservation Corps.”
Located close to my home is Letchworth State
Park, where the workmanship of the CCC is out-
standing. The CCC’s masonry stone bridges, stone
walls, walkways, and shelters, built a good 80 years
ago, attest to some remarkable workmanship, as
enduring today as when first constructed. There is
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