About a forest in Annapolis, Maryland

I travel the country giving talks about forests. We all agree that it is a tragedy that our planet is losing its forest cover. In my talks I always mention a few forests that are threatened RIGHT NOW. These are forests that are not lost yet, but will be if the developers and collectors of taxes have their way. One of those threatened forests is Crystal Spring in Annapolis, Maryland. Right in the heart of a busy town, this 100 acre mature forest should be allowed to stay standing for so many, many reasons.

This week a few residents there took the time to write to the Capital Gazette. Here I share their letters with you.

Forrest Mays (pictured) has been working for 10 years to save this forest.

Not smart growth
I read Robert Arias letter to The Capital (March 22) headlined "Build Crystal Spring" and wanted to discuss the issues of smart growth and density raised in his letter. Maryland is known for adopting smart growth principles over two decades ago; the concept has evolved to "smart and sustainable" growth. Density is one of the tools to achieve smart growth and is often misunderstood.
Density, per se, is not smart growth. Rather density is used to save farms and forests from development. Rehabilitation and reuse of existing developed land, rather than further sprawl, is advocated. Saving farms and forests from ever-spreading development is a goal of smart growth.
It is ironic that some of those supporting the Crystal Spring project believe that density in itself is a laudable goal, even though a contiguous forest will be altered and largely removed. Planning is another tool of smart growth, and the city's plan for this site was much more modest and would have saved the majority of the forest for the future. Density without achieving an environmental goal is not smart growth.
ANN M. FLIGSTEN
Arnold

Stop Crystal Spring
We need to redouble our protests of the proposed project, but it's been ongoing for so long, and the issues are so convoluted, that many have given up in frustration. Wrong reaction! The project contractor, lawyers and subject matter experts are not losing heart, they're not moving to the sidelines and they're not giving up. The contractor is even challenging the validity of comments made by some who live in ZIP codes outside the project, but all residents will have to live with the aftermath of the project.
Where do the contractors and lawyers get the chutzpah to question our motivation and commitment to the quality of our community? The contractors would like to distract us from the fact that this is a regional issue and a fundamental development versus environment issue; its size is incompatible with the site.
For an example of the opposite, look to Parole: An outdated commercial area was revitalized to become a mixed-use destination. In this case the scale and scope of the project were compatible with the site. The proposed Crystal Spring project is based on the destructive use of a declining natural resource, old-growth forest land. It's an example of development trumping the environment. If we use the unique character of our community as a magnet for development, this is the sort of project that sacrifices the good for the expedient.
Yes, there are tax implications for Annapolis if this and other projects are not initiated. But this current administration should not attempt to balance tax shortfalls on individual short term, project-by-project thinking. We need leaders who can think strategically, not just react to the issue of the moment or from one election cycle to the next.
HAROLD SHERMAN
Annapolis

Radio interview - Joan Maloof and Andrea Martin on BlogTalkRadio

Enjoyed a chat with Andrea Martin today on her "Mindful Shift" BlogTalk Radio show. My interview starts about 4min 30sec in
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amlovegren/2015/03/23/mindful-shift--a-conversation-wtih-joan-maloof

San Francisco County forest added to the Network

Oak Woodlands in Golden Gate Park Joins Old-Growth Forest Network  

Photos by Susan Ives Communications

The Oak Woodlands Natural Area in Golden Gate Park received a special designation on March 14 as it was officially included into the Old-Growth Forest Network. The mission of the Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN) is to connect people with nature by creating a national network of protected, mature, publicly-accessible, native forests. The goal is to preserve at least one forest in every county in the United States that can sustain a forest, estimated to be 2,370 out of a total of 3,140 counties.

States that already have forests in the network include New York, Massachusetts, California, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Virginia and Florida. The Oak Woodlands Natural Area will join previously dedicated forests in California in the Old-Growth Forest Network. The California representatives thus far are:

• Humboldt County: Rockefeller Forest - Humboldt Redwoods State Park
• Monterey County: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
• Riverside County: Mount San Jacinto State Wilderness - Deer Springs Trail
• San Diego County: Palomar Mountain State Park
• San Mateo County: Sam McDonald County Park - Heritage Grove

Special thanks to the Friends of the Oak Woodlands and our volunteers system-wide, who each year give more than 185,000 hours of their time and energy to improving our parks and programs. 

Children of the Great Oak

I am a forest lover and protector, so when I first came to southern California and looked out over the sagebrush and chaparell covered hills I enjoyed the views, but I missed the forest.

This summer, however, I took some extensive hikes along the Santa Margarita River in Fallbrook and I was surprised, and so pleased, to find some incredible coast live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia). 

      First was the “Bench Tree” where a local trails group had installed a bench so one could sit and enjoy the shade and the structure of this lovable tree. Sitting on the bench and admiring this tree, it appears that the trunk gets wider, instead of narrower, as it rises above one's head. 

Very close to the Bench Tree is the “Magic Dragon” tree. Although it is not as tall or massive as the Bench Tree, like the Lochness Monster or some ancient sea serpent its huge limbs seem to writhe across the ground.

Farther up the trail is an oak tree that took my breath away. I call her the “Grandmother Oak” and she stands like a sentry guarding the entrance to an arroyo. A very interesting upright boulder keeps her company there. Although she is old and massive she seemed vulnerable, perched as she is on an easily erodible hillside. 

These amazing trees were more than enough for me, but then I found a fourth. I call this one the “Triangle Tree” because when you sit where I am in the photo you can look up and see where limbs have grown together to form a complete triangle. I didn’t photograph that because it is most exciting to find it yourself. I have never seen anything like it in all my visits to forests and close observations of trees. 

There are many more special trees along the Santa Margarita River, but these are my favorites.

Then I heard about the "Great Oak" of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. These native people are still living on the land their ancestors have lived on since before recorded history -- perhaps as long as ten thousand years. How did the Pechanga survive all these years? A dripping spring in the mountains provided water all year round; bark from the Palomar Mountain cedar trees provided material for shelter; and acorns from the oak trees provided food. 

When "white man" first described the Pechanga and their way of life they called them a crazy people because they would rather be cold in the winter than cut their oak trees for firewood. 

Through the great generosity of the tribe's Cultural Director, Gary Dubois, I was given permission to visit the Great Oak. Fortunately it has been protected by both a federal trust and by a heavy-duty locked fence with tight security. As I finally approached the tree I wondered what I would find. Would I be disappointed? 

The answer: absolutely not.

No photograph can do justice to this tree that reaches in every direction with strong sinuous limbs that reach outward, then dip down toward the ground -- sometimes into the ground -- and then rise again. I was drawn to stroke my hand along a few of these mighty lower branches. 

The main trunk of the tree is healthy and vigorous with large limbs. The tree is estimated to be between eight hundred and a thousand years old -- no one know for sure. 

   This tree spoke to me of potential, for just as every child could grow up to be the world's next great peacemaker, so does every coast live oak have the potential to become as magnificent as this one. If it finds enough water, if it escapes the hottest fires, if it can withstand insects and diseases, if it is not destroyed by humans.

How many trees have we cut already that could have become "Great Oaks"?

Then it became clear to me that the oaks in the Santa Margarita River Wildway could be thought of as "Children of the Great Oak." They are only four miles away, "as the crow flies." And a crow could literally carry an acorn that far. Or, more likely, hundreds of years ago a human resident could have dropped or planted the acorns that germinated to become these trees. Mother Nature has her ways. And each one of these oaks in the river valley have the potential to be the next great, great oak. If.

And the one if we have some control over is protection from human destruction. 

At one time there was going to be a dam installed on the Santa Margarita River that would have flooded and killed many oak trees. That dam was largely fought because of the noise that would have been created by boats on the "lake" and because of animal habitat that would have been lost. Did anyone speak out for the oaks? I wonder.

The land where these great oak children grow is public land -- owned by Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD), but it has no permanent protection. Now is the time that we should be putting some sort of protection in place for these amazingly special Children of the Great Oak.