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Peter "Pete" MacGregor
We have lost a great light and friend of scouting....
please pass this on to your units and scouting friends.
It is with a heavy heart that I give you the news that Pete
MacGregor passed away at 11:35 pm September 5, 2011.
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October 2011; The HSLA Board of Directors
have ordered some repairs to the house. Removal of mold on a couple
of walls and a total replacement of the roof on the entire house. Repairs
will be completed by March 31, 2012.
September 2010; HSLA Building
Committee is scheduling some repairs to the Vermont House during
September and October. The work being done should not interfere with
any rentals this fall. The cleaning of the chimneys and repair of
the damper in the fireplace should be completed within a couple of
weeks.
November, 30, 2009; Vermont House got a new
refrigerator after the present one quit working.
June 09, 2009 HSLA's Camp
MacGregor may be chosen to take part in a 10 year Forestry Health
Study.
We wanted to check in and let you know how the hemlock wooly adelgid
study checks went yesterday. There's good news and there's bad
news. The good news is that the US Forest Service researcher, Dr.
Fajvan, feels some of your hemlock areas would be suitable for doing
the thinning study, and the bad news is, that the hemlock wooly
adelgid has arrived at HSLA. We found some light numbers of insects
on lower branches of hemlock, and the state's forest health
specialist, Barbara Burns, confirmed the presence of hemlock wooly
adelgid this morning. She wasn't surprised to see the HWA, as the
nearest infestations the state knew about actually bracket Guilford
(in Vernon and Greenfield, MA). It isn't the end of the world to
have the HWA on your land; this is not an insect that causes instant
mortality, and in fact, healthy hemlocks can live with the adelgid.
Dr. Fajvan felt your property would be an excellent study area, and
was especially excited due to the connection with the Scouting
world. She really likes the idea that so many people can be exposed
to a scientific study on forest health, in a living
laboratory/classroom. The goal of the thinning is to increase the
forest health, and to help maintain hemlock as a viable component of
the forest. While not a valuable timber tree, hemlock is a good
basic building wood, and is important to wildlife, especially in
providing winter cover for deer. Your property is indeed mapped as
deer wintering area by the state.
With Dr. Fajvan, we looped through the large stands of hemlock and
hardwoods. Some of the stands are fairly variable within the stand,
so those areas would be more difficult to use for the study, since
their variability would likely skew the study results. However, the
better stocked sections of the stand, Dr. Fajvan thought would be
excellent for the study. We need to check our forest inventory
data, and if we can come up with about 50 acres of well stocked and
uniform hemlock and hardwood mixture, the stand can enter the
study. Even if we don't find enough uniformity for participating in
the study, Dr. Fajvan still wants to have the thinning work done,
following the study parameters, both for the health of your hemlock
forest, as well as to have the study on the Scout property, for all
the benefits that would come from that relationship. The study goal
is to give the healthy hemlocks enough room for their crowns to
expand, much like doing crop tree release, though not as fully
released, so the trees would be healthier and thus, be better able
to withstand the impacts of the insect. She said it's best to thin
the stands of hemlock at least 5 years before HWA arrives, so the
trees have time to respond to the thinning and get into a better
vigor stage, but that if HWA is already present, thinning should
still help. Dr. Fajvan said the Forest Service doesn't have extra
funding for the project, but that she and her team could help,
laying out the plots, getting the
marking going the way the study needs (working with us for half a
day, maybe), to help get things going. We have already talked to
the NRCS conservationist to see if there is any cost-sharing money
to help landowners who want participate in this pilot project, since
some of the cutting will be in non-commercially sized trees (where
the 3 to 5" diameter trees need thinning, for example, though there
wouldn't be many areas like that on your land); they will get back
to us on that, but thought it likely there would be some funds for
that. Another option is to get our Congressional delegation to see
if any funds could be broken out for forest health projects, since
it is pretty clear that HWA is now a "when" not an "if" for
Vermont. We don't expect that the marking will take a huge amount
more time than usual, especially after we have gotten our "HWA
thinning eyes" tuned in, but someone will need to cut the
non-commercial trees, and that will cost something. It would make
most sense, probably, for the logging contractor who would do the
commercial thinning, to also cut the non-commercial stems. It
probably won't be huge numbers of the smaller trees, but still,
there will be some. The USFS would do follow-up measurements, and
most likely, Vermont Forests and Parks foresters would also help
with periodic measurements.
Barbara Burns said the state hasn't done any hemlock thinning like
this, to help the trees withstand the HWA. She felt this is a very
important project to get going, so landowners can see that they can
do something positive, and also, to help the FS researchers
determine the best treatments. Several study plots are set up in
other states, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and
Massachusetts (and others, most likely), but this is the first time
Vermont has had anyone get involved.
So, that's about what we know for now. Dr. Fajvan will be back at
her office later this week, and we can get the written protocol and
description of the study then. If you would like to speak with her
or email her, she said she'd be glad to hear from landowners. She
is easy to talk to, not full of scientific-speak that needs an
interpreter.
What else can we tell you about this project? Any questions?
Comments?
On another note, we were admiring the wonderful wildlife habitat,
especially around the pond, fields, and wetlands on either end of
the pond. That's superb habitat. There is a cost-sharing program
available (through the 2008 Farm Bill) that offers assistance to
landowners who would like to do some habitat improvement work. We
thought that could be a wonderful area for the Scouts to get
involved, doing apple tree release, cutting invasive plant species
(like the bittersweet vines and honeysuckle that we saw),
maintaining brushy habitat for the bird species that use
shrubby/scrubby growth, and a whole range of other projects. We
checked with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and they
said you should qualify for cost-sharing, though their application
process would tell for sure. If you are interested, the sign-up
deadline is Oct. 1, for funding to be released in 2010, so there's
time to talk about that option, if you like.
So, that's what we know for now. We look forward to hearing from
you.
Thanks very much--
Don and Nina Huffer
Huffer Forestry Associates
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June 02, 2009
We wanted to check in, as there is a
forest health study that we wondered if you/HSLA would be interested
in. This is being headed by the US Forest Service, Northeast
Experiment Station, and is focusing on hemlock wooly adelgid, which
has been working its way through the eastern part of the US.
Recently, it has reached New England, and has been found in isolated
pockets in Vermont, mainly along the Connecticut River Valley. The
USFS study is concentrating on treating hemlock stands to help them
be more resistant to the HWA impacts, mainly by thinning the trees,
so they are growing in more optimal conditions. They want to study
stands where hemlock is a large component of the stocking, and hope
for stands with 70 or more acres in size, without recent harvesting,
and that do need
thinning, and are located close to the Connecticut River in southern
Vermont. They are having some difficulty in finding "just right"
stand conditions, so the FS researcher asked consulting foresters if
they had any appropriate stands. We believe your property is one
that is a fairly close match, and wanted to see if there were any
changes we should know about (you had said at one time, that the
HSLA organization wasn't sure if the property could be kept, due to
costs).
The study calls for setting up several areas to be thinned, and
retaining several areas un-thinned to use as control plots. The
duration of the study would be 10 years. No contracts or liens on
the land, or anything like that, but the USFS hopes for long-term
stable ownership, so the study can be continued at least for
10 years. Your property is scheduled for thinning, so that does
fit.
If you could get back to us, and let us know if this is something
HSLA would consider, we'd appreciate that. It seems to us like a
great fit, as the scouts could see how a scientific study is
carried out, and with an insect that is affecting large areas of the
scouts' region.
Don and Nina Huffer
Huffer Forestry Associates
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June 01, 2009
Thanks for your input;
it does seem like an excellent match. We will meet with the USFS
researcher on Monday, and go over prospective properties.
If she chooses HSLA, we will let you know, and will certainly get a
copy of her study, and there should be opportunities for the scouts
to go out to see the areas. The thinning plots would be done
commercially, with a timber sale; the follow-up studies would be
mainly the research team taking plots and observations.
Hemlock wooly adelgid is one of several nasty introduced insects;
Asian longhorn beetle is another, with a serious infestation in
Worchester, MA, not far from here; and emerald ash borer is another,
found just 40 miles north of Vermont's border with Canada, and
spreading fairly quickly through the lake states and points east and
west (mainly east). These are serious forest health concerns, and
something that we assume would be covered in the natural
resources-forestry topics in the scouting curriculum. Having their
own camp be part of a forest health study area would be great.
These forest pests may not be controlled at this point, but working
to create healthier trees is part of helping trees to withstand
insect and disease problems. Hemlock wooly adelgid is slower to
progress, so it seems that maintaining or improving forest stand
conditions will have more positive results (compared to emerald ash
borer, which is a more recent introduction, and is killing trees
more quickly, and researchers have had less success with treatments
so far).
Don and Nina Huffer
Huffer Forestry Associates
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Spring
cleanup is in full swing. The removal of several trees that
threatened the house roof, shed and barn have been removed as well
as the scrub pines at the front end of the house. Next will be the
planting of bushes at the front and side of the house that will be
manageable and will not try to enter the windows. See
Photos As we acquire the scrubs we
will plant them. If you know of a nursery that would donate
approximately 20 scrubs to Camp MacGregor? Let us know.
Now that winter is
almost over we have begun a schedule of building repairs, that we
find necessary to maintain the structure in good condition.
Building Repair
pictures
It is very important that Units
help us keep the Vermont House maintained in good condition for all
Units to enjoy. Your cooperation in taking the steps to ensure we
can provide you and other scouting units a great place to stay is
greatly appreciated.
The Checkout Sheet is very a important tool for the Unit leader
to use as they get ready to depart for home. It lists many things that we find that
Unit leaders have overlooked or don't bother to check on. We usually
find a window open, which uses much more fuel oil, doors left
unlocked, designated doors not closed to prevent heating zones from
being overloaded when no one is around.
Please note that the fire place damper has been
broken and allows for heat to draft up the chimney. We are going to
be placing a removable means of closing off the fireplace when not
in use to help save energy.
It is imperative that any problems with electricity, heat, plumbing, windows and
Etc. be reported to the Coordinator immediately so repairs can be completed
before the next Unit arrives for their stay.
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We thank all units for
choosing our Camp MacGregor for their place to stay and enjoy the
surroundings we provide.
Sincerely,
Rick Keough
HSLA Camp Coordinator
& Maintenance Director
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