The
mOld trees--
by Joe Rankin
There's something in us that
can't help but be impressed by an
old tree. Perhaps we're simply in
awe of something that has outlived
generations of humans and will
outlive us.
We acknowledge this when we
compare the giant sequoia groves
to a cathedral. When we compile
state lists of big old trees. When we
give names like Methuselah to the
longest-lived specimens.
Most trees are not destined to
live long lives. Ninety percent of
the trees in a forest will never
become very big, or very old. Some
will lose the race for sunlight and
food. Others will succumb to
insects, wind, fire, or logging.
It's also true that all tree
species aren't created equal when it
comes to potential lifespan. Some
species just aren't built to become
centenarians, explained Kevin
Smith, a plant physiologist with the
U.S. Forest Service's Northern
Research Station. They have fragile
wood or a weak stem or branch
structure; they don't invest
resources in creating chemicals to
ward offpests or aren't very good at
walling off wounds before fungi
invade them.
But even beyond a tree's
general characteristics, there's the Former Orange East EducaUon Association President Ted Pogacar
specterofapoptosis--programmed reads from a prepared statement at last week's Orange East
cell death. According to Smith, Supervisoff Union School Board mt ting.
most trees have their life span JO PHOTO BY ALEX NUTI-DE BIASI
encoded in their genes. When the NORTHERN STAGE
switch is thrown, the tree will begin WHITE RIVER JUNCTION-Northern
to die. For some species that is Stage is producing Clybourne Park, a
measured in decades. For others, (continued from page 1)contemporary Pulitzer Prize-winning
centuries. For a few, millennia. And comedy by Bruce Norris, at the Briggs
just as with humans, some board members from the indi- Opera House throughNov. 16. The play
individuals live longer than others vidual schools at the breakout is a satire about people dealing with race
before theinevitableoccurs, meetings laterthatnight, and class issues. For ticket and
The longer lived tree species of At the beginning of the meeting, performance7000.Ticketsinf°rmati°n'startat$15.call (802)296-
northern New England tend to be OESU Board Chair Steve Simpson
the denizens of climax forests: read a statement from the board's
hemlock, white cedar, white oak, negotiating team.
red spruce. All of those can live for "We are in a unique negotiating
hundreds ofyears. You might think situation for which there is no
thatthe oldest specimens wouldbe precedent and have reached im-
where passe. However, in an attempt to find
" " at's not
life is good. tsut th a mutuallyacceptablesolutionwe
necessarily so.. :__ will be going back to mediation on
There are red spruces growm Nov. 17. The board's goal is to
high on the boulder-strewn slopes negotiate a health insurance plan
of New Hampshire's White that meets the health care needs of
Mountains that are 400 years old. our teachers and their families and
Some of the oldest trees in eastern which is aligned with the vision of
North America--white cedars with Orange East Supervisory Union, our
11 centuries under their bark-are communities expectations, and the
growing out of the clifffaces of the needs of our students."
Niagara escarpment in Ontario, not In addition tO school board
the most hospitable environment, members, principals from every one
Of course it's difficult to of Orange East's schools were
determine a tree's capacity for present for the meeting. But little r l,K, crL ar soN A ;ENC ; NC,
longevity when people have spent else was said about negotiations ' ...........
the last few centuries cutting down during the OESU meeting other than Chelsea: 685-3885• Barre: 479-2556
the oldest and largest specimens, the remarks delivered from the
And efforts to date preserved three preparedstatements.
specimens pulled from bogs or
lakes will only provide so much
information. However, standing or
recently deceased specimens yield
some clues to which species live
longest.
According to the Eastern
OldList, an online database of the
oldest confirmed trees in eastern
(continued from page 1)
North America, a white cedar factors which significantly out-
growing ontheNiagaraescarpment weigh any mitigating factors,"
lived to the ripe old age of 1,653 MacLeodsaid.
before dying. Another lasted to MacLeod told the defendant that
1,567.Al,141-year-oldspecimen he had destroyed the victim's
is still alive, childhood.
There's a baldcypress in a "Shewillcarrythosescarsforthe
swamp in North Carolina that's rest of her life," he said.
1,622 years old, an eastern red MacLeod said he understood the
cedar in West Virginia that's been case would be appealed as he read
dated at 940 years, a blacksum in out the terms of incarceration. In
New Hampshire that's listed at 679 addition to a term in prison, Aldrich
years, andan eastern hemlock in will undergo a sex offender treat-
Pennsylvania that started as a ment program and he was ordered to
seedling 555 years ago. In the Great have "no contact" with the victim or
Smoky Mountains, there's a tulip with anyone under the age of 18.
poplar that' s 509 years old.The September trial happened 13
The oldest white oak on the years after allegations of abuse were
Eastem OldList is 464, the oldest first reported and nearly 10 years
red oak is 326, and the oldest white after state police first interviewed
pine is 401. The oldest tree in the thevictim.
world, according to the OldList, the
Eastem OldList' s parent database,
is an unnamed Great Basin
bristlecone pine growing in
California's White Mountains-it's
5,062. It's no wonder the
bristlecone's scientific name, Pinus
longaeva, means "ancient pine" in
Latin.
Since new trees can sprout from
old root systems, the numbers get
really eye popping if you consider
the age of the roots. Smith noted
that some of the largest and most
enduring organisms in the world
are clonal colonies of aspen. One
of them, named Pando, is estimated
to be 80,000 years old, though i
most of its stems are less than 100.
If success as a tree means
passing along genes, perhaps age is i
overrated. "For
some species their
goal is simply to survive and
spread. That strategy is different
than being able to exploit a climax
forest environment," Smith said.
"To me, if we're looking at the
success of tree species, [short-
lived species like] striped maple,
pin cherry, and paper birch do a
greatjob."
###
Joe Rankin writes about forestry
and nature from his home in
central Maine. The illustration
for this column was drawn by
Adelaide Tyrol. "The Outside
Story" is assigned and edited by
Northern Woodlands magazine in
Corinth and sponsored by the
Wellborn Ecology Fund of New
Hampshire Charttable
FoUndation: wellborn@nhcf org.
Alex Nuti-de Biasi can be
reached at editor@/onews, com.
November 12, 2014--JOURNAL OPINION--Page 17
;K BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HAl )range East uperv,sory
Cobb (center) is flanked by OESU Board Chair Steve Simpson (right) of Corinth tul Jewett (left) of
Newbury as they listen to a representative from the teachers union criticize recent board actions dudng
negotiations. In the background on the other side of the bookshelf, teachers look on. r~,,
JO PHOTO BY ALEX NUTI-DE ~IASI
, i:f
,i (~ ;i~7, •
ag.
JO PHOTO BY ALEX NUTI-DE BIASI
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To schedule an appointment, please call (802) 757-2325.
