| <div class="ck-content"><h3>A new type of wood? WUT?!</h3><p><a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-type-of-wood-just-discovered-could-revolutionize-carbon-storage">ScienceAlert article:</a> A New Type of Wood Just Discovered Could Revolutionize Carbon Storage</p><blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">A tree common in gardens for its pretty flowers and foliage has been harboring a secret this entire time. The wood of the two species of tulip tree (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron"><i>Liriodendron</i></a>) is neither hardwood nor softwood, but a type of wood in between, something we didn't even know existed. And this wood, researchers say, seems to be particularly efficient at carbon sequestration and storage.</p></blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">Well how cool is that? The tulip (we call it tulip poplar around here, though ironically it is a member of the magnolia, not poplar, family) is quite the lovely tree, both its leaves and flowers quite distinctive. </p><p style="margin-left:0px;">Putting aside the carbon storage story for a moment, though that is wonderful enough, I am amazed that we are still making discoveries like this.</p><p>And Dale Morgan, Environmental Educator at Chapel Hill Public Library, offers this tip for tulip poplars:</p><p>Interesting discovery about the poplar tree! I transplant tulip poplars that I discover in my flower beds. Not every location is ideal for a tree that gets 80-100 feet tall so I usually tuck them in along the forest edges. They are easily relocated if you find them when they're small. The blossoms are beautiful and provide nectar and pollen for bees in early spring. If you're lucky enough to find a grove of them growing along the north bank of a creek you may also find Morel mushrooms in April and May.</p><h3>Hack and squirt season begins!</h3><p>For trees like ailanthus (<a href="https://rewildearth.net/ords/r/rewildearth/_rewild-earth/species-as-report?p41_species_id=243">Tree of Heaven</a>), cut-and-paint (instant kill of tree) results in the growth of many suckers (new trees) off of the dying tree's root system. So for these species, we “hack and squirt” - use an axe to make multiple cuts into the cambium layer, and then squirt in some poison. By leaving some of the cambium layer intact, the tree does not die immediately. Essentially we fool it into thinking things will be OK, as the poison makes its way to the roots and kills the tree more slowly. The result? Dead ailanthus and very few suckers. </p><p>I went out yesterday to an area near my apartment and Booker Creek to hopefully make a big dent in the ailanthus and pawlonia (Princess Tree) grove I'd found there.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1YDSkIrpx2kZzDY1M0zGJgYiRhUIJFnjo&sz=w600-h300" alt="hack and squitr"></div><h3>The definition of nature</h3><p>I came across this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jul/27/campaign-include-humanity-dictionary-definition-nature">fascinating article</a> in The Guardian:</p><p>What is ‘nature’? Dictionaries urged to include humans in definition</p><blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">“Nature,” the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) says, is “the phenomenon of the physical world collectively; esp plants, animals and other features and products of the earth itself, as opposed to humans and human creations”.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">“Everyone in the room was really shocked and quite saddened by it,” Frieda Gormley [founder of House of Hackney, a British luxury brand] said. “It got me thinking: if people feel we’re separate from nature, how can we really consider nature in our actions? This definition and worldview is just so much to do with the crisis that we’re in.”</p></blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">What I found especially fascinating in this article is the <strong>lack of attention</strong> paid to “human creations.”</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">I don't know about you, but I feel like an argument over whether humans are a part of, or separate from, nature is a red herring ("any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue").</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">On the one hand, duh. Of course, humans, a species that evolved here on earth, are “natural.” On the other hand, why is this even a question? How did this distinction ever come about? Precisely because humans have waged relentless war on all the <i>rest</i> of nature (i.e., organic life) for 100s if not 1000s of years. </p><p style="margin-left:0px;">I agree that humans should not be considered separate from nature, but please do read that article. Notice how quickly and completely “human creations” are glossed over, ignored, in the discussion, the concern, the outrage, the protest.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">To me, <i>that</i> is the topic worthy of debate: that <i>human creations</i> are <i>not natural, not a part of nature</i>, but in fact something that almost always requires and perpetuates the destruction of nature. And therefore something that should be avoided, stopped dead in fact, whenever possible.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">Turns out, though, that humans are ready to talk about and consider just about anything <i>but</i> limitations on their consumption.</p><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">The immediate and lasting impacts of invasive removal</h3><p>I've spent lots of my life organizing on behalf of others. As a highly privileged human (white, male, middle-class, incredibly good-looking), I believe this is the righteous thing to do. But to be honest, I have also done this organizing in a way that also allows me to keep a certain amount of distance from the trauma I sought to address (which is to say: I am certainly no sort of saint).</p><p>Briefly, I have helped create and lead organizations working to end apartheid, end US intervention in Latin America (and El Salvador in particular), stop Israel's oppression and killing of Palestinians, Did all of that organizing make a difference? Probably, but it sure can be heard to tell, in part because generally the objective of such work is to change the behavior/actions of humans. Which is a very iffy proposition.</p><p>I say all this to compare it to my latest “help others” focus: helping native species survive by removing invasives.</p><p>Every time I head out to the woods and remove invasives, I make a difference. A tangible, physical difference in the natural world (in which the resources needed to survive are limited, and often fought over). I rescue trees, both currently existing trees, straining for the sun, and future trees, that now can grow from seeds since they won't be covered by invasives. </p><p>And of course each of you do the same when you remove invasives.</p><p>With that in mind, gaze upon the field of stilt grass below. This is at Brumley Preserve.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1F9m9zVYrBF8lyUgslAz-XS4QfAGL_49T&sz=w600-h400" alt="field of stilt grass"></div><p>Up until the last few weeks, it's been a very dry spring and summer. And that got me thinking about how much water plants like stilt grass (and privet and olive and….) suck out of the ground. And as weather becomes more extreme, our native species will be hurt even more by the diversion of resources (water, minerals, sunlight) to invasives. </p><p>So add <i>that</i> to the list of how invasive removal makes a difference <i>right now and into the future.</i></p><h3>10+ Powerful Ways to Connect Kids to Nature, and Foster a Future for Wildlife</h3><p>The wonderful <a href="https://ncwf.org/">North Carolina Wildlife Federation</a> just published a <a href="https://ncwf.org/blog/connecting-kids-to-nature/">delightful guide</a> to setting up your children for an amazing future in tune with the world around them. Here are the 10 ways but please do read the article!</p><p>1: Find woods. Walk through them.<br>2: Find Tokens<br>3: Do Voice-Overs for all found critters<br>4: Pinch the soil and inspect<br>5. Ask intentional questions while outdoors<br>6. Use Technology<br>7. Water Impacts<br>8. Incorporate vocabulary whenever possible and revisit that vocabulary after it has been introduced<br>9. Connect with what your child is interested in<br>10. Acknowledge and encourage appropriate risk-taking. </p></div><div class="ck-content"><h4>Receive all my reports on tree rescues!</h4><p>If you'd like to get some good news about restoring native habitats delivered straight to your brain upwards of a few times a week, sign in to <a href="https://rewildearth.net">Rewild Earth</a>, click on your name in top right, then My profile. Under Communication Preferences, switch “Send reports of all events” to ON. </p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1BeynVqu8taOGrsvi56u0mmDKuNJko22h&sz=w600-h400" alt="REPLACE" width="358" height="138"></div><p>Resources you might find useful:</p><ul><li><a href="https://shop.naisma.org/collections/buckthorn-blaster">Buckthorn Blasters</a>: safe, easy herbicide delivery system from the North American Invasive Species Management Association. Don't start cutting without them!</li><li><a href="https://nc-ipc.weebly.com/nc-invasive-plants.html">NC Invasive Plants list</a>: recently updated by NC-IPC, the NC Invasives Plants Council.</li><li><a href="https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG259">Overview of different herbicides</a>: glyposphate, triclopyr and others - which should you use?</li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://triangleland.org">Triangle Land Conservancy</a>: the biggest land conservancy group in our area. </li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://ellerbecreek.org">Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association</a> (Durham): a wonderful group working hard to maintain contiguous natural areas along Ellerbe Creek.</li></ul></div> |