Red Pine

 What do you, cheetahs, and red pine trees have in common? All three have been victims of extinction events at some time in the past that reduced their numbers almost to zero. That means that all three species have very little genetic variability. All cheetahs are so closely related that skin grafts from one animal to another face no rejection reactions. People have more variability, but a native of Iceland is still able to produce children with a native of China. Lack of genetic variation in red pines mean that they are ideal lumber trees. Even single one wants to grow straight and tall without the knots in the wood characteristic of white pine.

 Red pine is the state tree of Minnesota which should tell you something about its survivability here. Massachusetts is climatically marginal for red pine. It doesn't grow here naturally. Still there is a fair amount of it here planted by foresters in the early part of the 20th century. It did OK as long as it was planted on dry uplands. But the lack of genetic variability and the slightly too warm climate were not a perfect match. For many years the red pine grew well even producing cones and young trees, but as our climate has drifted warmer, the red pines have become stressed leaving them vulnerable to bugs and diseases that normally don't bother them in their cooler native climates. With us, when one of us gets a cold, almost everyone gets it. The lack of variability in red pine make that situation even worse so that now there is a massive dieback of almost all red pine going on in Massachusetts.

Today we had the largest WHITE pine at Sheep Pasture chopped down. It was the one with multiple trunks that stood in the middle of the driveway near the foundation. The multiple trunks were the result of a bug that ate the tree's leading stem when it was a mere sapling. This damaged many white pines here and coupled with the hurricane of 1938 probably convinced the Ames family to plant red pine.

The point of this long story is that the NRT has adopted a forestry plan to promote biodiversity for both plants and animals. It is a ten year plan overseen by famous forestry guru Phil Benjamin. His recommendation is to start with the ten acres around the Coit trail, one of our "wilderness" trails. The goal is to remove all the red pine and a some red maple in order to give more space for white pine and oaks which provide food for wild animals. Some oaks and white pine would also be removed if they are misshapen or diseased. The cutting would open up patches of sunlight that would spark the growth of wildflowers and shrubs. All this will begin around the time the ground freezes in order to make things easier for the horses who will be doing the work. We are using horses because they are more environmentally friendly than tractors, and because they will give visitors to Sheep Pasture a glimpse into the history of how the farm was originally run. Stay tuned!