VERMONT

1
VERMONT TREE HISTORY, PT. 2 What can this
tree teach me about this place?

• Telling place stories with tree histories using
  UVMs
• Landscape Change Program
• (an historic photo archive)
• to read the history of the landscape.

Middlesex, 1860 1890, LS03976_000.jpg high-res
olution photos hyperlinked to corresponding LCP
web page
2
Trees photographs can each be visual
record-keepers, full of historic
information.What history does this photo of a
tree stump represent?(probably wind erosion of
delta sand)
Pine stump near Georgia Station between
1860-1890. LS00413_000.jpg
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Tree stories are place stories.
Men planting scotch pine Plainfield, May,
1911. LS08105_000.jpg
People in field. Plainfield, June, 1911.
Inspecting the surviving scotch pine after spring
storm. LS06445_000.jpg
These two photos beg the question why would so
many people care about a field of scotch pine
saplings?
4
Erosion impacts whole communities and even
entire watersheds.
The White River, Sharon, 1927.
LS01450_000.jpg
The same spot, 2004. LS01450_001.jpg
Trees and other vegetation retain the soil on
riverbanks and sloping hillsides by slowing down
the flow of water as well as by holding it down
with their roots.
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Tree places treescape history

• Dooryards
• Street trees
• Parks
• Riverbank (riparian zone)
• Farms
• Forests
• Ecosystem Services
• Tree enemies events

Rudyard Kipling pines. Dummerston,
2003 LS11425_000.jpg
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The Dooryard Tree
East Calais, July 1926. LS06904_000.jpg
According to some foresters, the maples growing
in front of most old farmhouses were usually
planted or intentionally spared when the building
site was cleared because of the exceptional shade
they cast, as well as their beautiful fall color.
Lilac bushes are also a traditional dooryard
variety. Although many yard garden fashions
have changed over time, dooryard lilacs sugar
maples are still very common in Vermont
dooryards.
7
Apple trees in the dooryard
LS04740_000.jpg
Stereoscope of David Hortons
dooryard. 1877, Montpelier.
Q Although this image is in rough condition, it
would appear that Mr. Hortons apple tree was in
even worse condition than that what had recently
happened that might account for things looking so
neglected ? A Much of Vermonts able-bodied
male population had gone to fight for the Union
in the Civil War, and many never returned. Some
hung their sickle from a tree in the front yard
as a symbol that their families were without
them. Widows of the fallen would often leave the
sickle in the tree as a memorial. Sawmill
operators will occasionally find one grown into
an old sickle tree thats been brought down.
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Summer homes inns
Tourism has been an important industry to Vermont
for more than 100 years. This has meant that,
among other reasons, there have long been
economic incentives to preserve scenic beauty.
Franklin, after 1910 1918? Camp Patten, Lake
Carmi. LS01653_000.jpg
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In choosing a yard tree
Between 1907-1915, Washington. LS01988_000.jpg
one must consider many factors. Some trees grow
fast, others slow some very big, others not. As
you can see, the willows growing close to this
house grow to be quite large. Because they have
thirsty roots that can damage pipes, and are
also known to have brittle branches, the
homeowners here may have later wished the trees
were further from the house. The young maples in
the forefront were commonly chosen as yard
trees.
10
Roadside and Street Trees
Somewhere in Vermont, 1914. LS06477_000.jpg
Washington County, 1913? LS06063_000.jpg
Roadside trees have frequently been victims of
progress. For example the need to widen streets,
install utility lines and dig channels for
underground for water, sewer and/or gas pipes
meant removing them or fatally damaging their
roots. American elms were once a common sight
along streets and roads. In photos taken after
the 1960s, however, it is rare to find more than
one or two elms in any picture. Dutch elm
disease, introduced by overseas trade, is still
killing elm trees today.
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The Good Roads movement
100 years ago (and earlier in Europe), pleasure
rides in carriages-- and later, by bicycle or
automobile-- were a popular leisure activity
among the wealthy. In earlier days, scenic
carriage and bridle paths were only on private
estates. When bicycles and then the automobile
brought leisure riders to the countryside, they
found highways and roads to be far less enjoyable
than their well-tended lanes and allees. In
the early 1900s, they rallied the federal
government to organize and fund the improvement
of public roads, making a convincing case that
good roads would benefit rural (often low-income)
peoplenot just those desiring a smooth ride
through pretty scenery. Eventually, laws would
be established regarding vegetation along roads.
At first, road crews were required to cut all
vegetation away for visibility safety, but later
the law was declared for shrubbery only, to
protect and encourage planting of shade trees.
Eventually, Vermont towns were required to
appoint a tree warden to oversee the management
of trees along public roadways. A diseased or
dead tree is a threat to travelers, so someone
should be keeping an eye on potential tree
hazards and removing trees in danger of falling
onto the road.
Shelburne Farms, 1903. LS11594_000.jpg Built by
wealthy New Yorkers who came to Vermont to build
a model farm, these carriage roads are open to
the fee-paying public today and maintained by a
non-profit foundation.
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The changing roadside
Rutland 1935 (?) and 2000, LS00023_000.jpg and
LS00023_001.jpg
When American elms grew in abundance along our
roadside, the older image was a common sight.
Besides the loss of elms to disease, the
countryside has reverted to forest from pasture.
The covered bridge helps to convince us that
these photos show the same place. How might this
road look today if the elms had not died?
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The elm
Route 2, St. Johnsbury No date. LS07805_000.jpg
Elm stumps, Burlington, 1965
LS11965_000.jpg Dutch Elm Disease
(DED, worst from 1940s to 1970s) devastated the
urban landscape.
College Street, Burlington Before 1922.
LS11542_000.jpg
American elms were native, and many communities
were built around them. Later, the beloved tree
was planted along roads in parks across the
continent. Their popularity was their doom a
beetle carrying a fungus that kills the tree
could easily move across great distances by
migrating on the wind from tree to tree.
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Parks and public spaces
Ethan Allen City Park, Burlington, 1937 and 2000.
LS00092_000.jpg and LS00092_001.jpg
The popularity of city parks in the United States
blossomed with New York Citys Central Park in
the 1870s. It became a fashion and then a cause
for the urban elite to help create green spaces
for the growing city populations. Ethan Allen
City Park opened in 1905. It was once a popular
place for music and dancing. Today cyclists, dog
walkers and children enjoy themselves there. Many
of the original trees remain.
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Hubbard Park and the State House
1874. LS00410_000.jpg
2004. LS00410_001.jpg
While we are not seeing late autumn in the early
picture (because hardwood trees lose their leaves
in autumn), and even with some trees already bare
in the recent picture, the visual opposite of
these two views of the State House mirrors
Vermonts famous transformation from a heavily
cut-over countryside to forested landscape.
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The UVM Green before after DED
1986 LS10069_000.jpg
Before 1951 LS10066_000.jpg
Ira Allen designated the space we call the UVM
green when he founded the college, and it has had
many faces. By the 1950s, American Elms
completely defined the setting, creating a shaded
oasis that both sheltered and inspired
generations of students there. Consider the green
1980s students experienced, when (because Dutch
elm disease took the elms) the trees were neither
older nor taller than them.
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Town Greens
Before August, 1912. LS02567_000.jpg
1930 - 1940, St. Johnsbury. LS07346_000.jpg
Town greens are a great place to look for tree
history. While the Weston Common may not be round
any more, it is probably still dominated by
maples. The St. Johnsbury town green, however, is
home to different trees than we see here
evergreen, crab apple, sugar maple and others.
The town didnt replace these elms with a single
species, since monocultures are more vulnerable
to epidemics.
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Riverbank (riparian zone)
LS07427_000.jpg
Third Branch of the White River, Stockbridge. May
14, 1897
When trees are removed from the riverside, the
banks become less stable and the water
temperature can be affected. While the tree in
the foreground is not positively identified, it
is most likely a box elder. Box elder thrive
alongside rivers and can survive floods and
scraping ice. On the far bank, elms line the
roadside. American elms prefer swampy sites, but
can thrive in a variety of conditions.
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Floodplain species
A very old (probably black) willow on Otter
Creek. Between 1900 - 1950. LS08873_000.jpg
Trees with roots that can go without oxygen
longer have an advantage where flooding is the
norm. Willows, which have distinctive, deeply
furrowed bark when they are big, are so adapted.
Willows dont often reach 200 years, so its
unlikely that the willow in this image is still
alive. More likely, another willow has grown in
its place they grow fast enough that the same
spot could look quite similar today!
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Farms and Flooding
Richmond, 1964 LS06451_000.jpg
The economic circumstances of Vermont an
agricultural boom and then bust, the development
of the railroads, a generation of men lost to the
Civil War, and a lack of major industry were all
factors in the clearing and subsequent re-growth
of forestlands. Where trees were kept at bay for
farming, the fertile farm soil was vulnerable to
being washed into the rivers during heavy rains.
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Agricultural history
Whereand when was this farm? Do you think it
looks like this now? (LS08865_000.jpg) Hill
farms once dotted the mountains, but most have
since reverted to forest. Imagine the fields of
farms since past, the next time you peer through
the stems of a young upland forest. Stone walls
still show former fence and property lines,
standing as testimony that the land was once
cleared and tilled for food crops and animal
husbandry. The use of this field by the sheep
shown above probably influenced what vegetation
would re-grow there, and likely impacted soil
quality over time.
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Hard work, sweet rewards
New Haven, turn of the century. Picking
Strawberries LS00537_000.jpg
Greensboro, no date. LS02684_000.jpg
Apples, berries and maple syrup are still
important crops in todays Vermont agriculture.
In the 1940s, to apply science in the improvement
of maple syrup production, a maple research farm
was built and named for then-Governor Mortimer
Proctor in Underhill. Mazza Farm and Adams
Berry Farm are two among many that grow delicious
berries for pick-your-own or market.
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Vermont Forests
Stamford - Readsboro, late summer, 1963.
LS09460_000.jpg
Before 1922. LS01712_000.jpg
More than 100 years ago (in 1882), a state
commission was appointed to investigate and make
recommendations for the future management of
Vermonts forest resources. Arbor Day was first
observed here in 1885.
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78 forested, once 60 farmed
Ascutney Mountain, Weathersfield. Before 1969.
LS05967_000.jpg
August, 2005. LS05967_001.jpg
Did you know that from 1907 into the 1940s, more
than 28 million trees were raised at the State
Tree Farm in Essex and planted on private and
municipal land as well as in state forests under
the Agricultural Conservation program? Red, white
and scotch pine Norway, red and white spruce
balsam fir, European Larch, Arbor Vitae, Black
Locust and White Ash were cultivated.
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LS02113_000.jpg
Cutting in the woods, planting in town by the
1880s, townspeople were encouraged by state
government to start planting shade trees along
their village streets. At the same time, forest
timber harvests were ever-increasing.
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Succession
Beautiful reproduction of sugar maples, Downer
State Forest, Sharon. LS05735_000.jpg
Second Growth White Pine. UVM Forest, no date.
LS05765_000.jpg
The UVM Jericho Research Forest began
experimenting with reforestation and
replenishment of soil nutrients beginning in
1941, but earlier reforestation research was
initiated by the state at the Downer Tree Nursery
and state forest and saplings were propagated for
farmland restoration at the Essex State Tree Farm
as early as 1907.
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Still a managed, working landscape
LS00256_001.jpg
LS00256_000.jpg
View from hill showing village center Jericho,
between 1860-1897.
Schillhammer Road area, May 1, 2000.
While some of the open spaces we treasure in
Vermont are protected by land trusts and
conservation easements, many hayfields and
pastures are kept open by their continued use by
dairy farmers. Other open spaces have reverted
to managed forests. Timber production has been
an important part of Vermonts economy since at
least 1899, that year estimated to be the second
biggest crop in the state.
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Natural and human-caused occurrences
1924, Waterford. LS06738_000.jpg
LS08119_000.jpg
Planting monocultures resulted in concentrations
of disease and insect infestations that would
lead foresters to the realization that species
diversity is important to forest health. Fungus
such as Pine Blister rust and bugs like gypsy
brown tail moths and San Jose Scale killed many
of Vermonts planted and self-regenerated trees
in the early part of the 20th century. Later,
Dutch Elm disease devastated the elm population
and now a fungal blight attacks beech and
butternut, hemlock wooly adelgid and emerald ash
borer are serious threats to the future diversity
of species in Vermont forests.
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Events happen
Man-made or a natural disaster?
LS06042_000.jpg
UVM Green, 1950 hurricane. LS10226_000.jpg
While storms wreck havoc on managed and wild
landscapes alike, the land use and land-altering
decisions humans make can often be equally
implicated, such as the removal of vegetation
along roadsides or the placement of trees in a
landscape that may or may not be best-suited for
the species chosen.
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Natures course
Damage from the Hurricane of 38 LS05616_000.jpg
Before 1968, satin moth. LS06173_000.jpg
Blow-downs are an important element in the
evolution of forests. Open patches create new
habitat by changing the amount of light and rain
in the disturbed setting. Infestations by
damaging insects such as the satin moth also help
define changes in species composition by giving
under story plants a competitive edge notice how
the other trees in the photo on the right all
have leaves while the maples are bald.
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Time- and place-keepers
2005, UVM. LS10825_001.jpg
1970, UVM. LS10825_000.jpg
While the low-hanging limb has since been pruned
away, its easy to see from the buildings that
this 2005 image is of the same tree in
photographed in 1970. The placement is confirmed
by the buildings in the background, and if there
was doubt, the age of the tree in the 05 photo
is definitely more than 25 years!
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Ecosystem Services
LS02112_000.jpg
What were these trees doing in the woods?
Literally creating oxygen, creating debris that
would become soil, feeding microorganisms,
providing habitat and/or food for birds, bats,
mammals and insects, regulating the sunlight (
therefore plants growing) beneath them, retaining
moisture and evaporating water.

When they
became lumber, these services were in short
supply and the landscape changed in many more
ways than the eye can see. These trees were
floated down the river to become buildings,
furniture, paper, and fuel for factories,
steamboats, trains, and warmth.
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Trees provide shelterand a whole lot more

• Habitat in forests and streams (even dead trees
  are useful!)
• Water purification (evaporation)
• Soil nutrients (decomposing wood, leaves,
  fruit/nut/seed)
• River/stream water temperature (shade!)
• CO2 storage, oxygen generation (trees breath in
  what we breath out and breath out what we breath
  in)
• Connection with non-human life (humans sometimes
  need reminders that we arent the only living
  beings who shape the landscape)

LS05762_000.jpg
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Tree and forest history is intertwined with human
history.
LS06457_000.jpg
This is an American Chestnut, once one of the
dominant and most important trees in Northeastern
North America. Very few are still alive today
after a blight killed vast numbers of them in the
early 20th century.
Would the Chestnut blight have been transported
to North America from Asia if Europeans had not
migrated here and then imported foreign plants
and pests through international trade? Taking a
couple of steps back, would the Europeans have
had seaworthy ships to cross the Atlantic without
their (once vast) oak and pine forests?
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Which tree is that? review
State House, Montpelier. Before 1885.
LS05726_000.jpg
The classic fountain shape, the great shade it
cast and the relative durability of the American
Elm were among the traits that made it the tree
that symbolized American culture in its heyday.
The species became an icon during the American
Revolution, after a rowdy protest of taxation
without representation near an elm-shaded pub in
Boston. An effigy of the British tax collector
was hung from a low branch, and the sign nailed
to its trunk declaring it The Liberty Tree was
soon copied on American Elms in rebel strongholds
across New England.
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What is the history of this landscape?
August, 1907. Probably an ash tree. Saint Albans
pasture. LS07397_000.jpg
The geologic history of a site originally
determined the minerals there, and then later
human land use may change the nutrient content of
the soil, which in turn would determine what
plants (and animals) would thrive there.
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How can you interpret landscape history by
looking at historic photos of trees?
Before 1916, UVM Green. LS10360_000.jpg
August, 2005. LS10360_001.jpg
Compare an historic photo with a more recent
image of the same location. Note which of the
original trees appear to still exist. Pay
attention to changes in species composition what
may account for that? Compare the size of the
trees from the past with the recently
photographed ones are the trees older and
bigger, or are they replacing the earlier trees?
What may account for any damage you see? Ask
yourself based on the way it is managed and used
today, what will this landscape look like many
years into the future?
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Be your own tree detective
Benson, 1966. LS08806_000.jpg
Leaves buds are not the only identifying
characteristic of trees. The growth form or
shape, the bark (but careful young tree bark
looks different than mature tree bark),
characteristics such as what kind of habitat
theyre found in and what kinds of other
vegetation are found growing nearby can also help
in identifying a tree.
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Trees are history-keepers
LS12007_000.jpg
LS04065_000.jpg
Burke, 1939. Are they replacing hurricane-downed
trees?
After 1940, Burlington. Taking down a poplar.
If you use historic photo collections to explore
your landscapes past, you may realize how some
of the ways you live will shape it for future
generations.
Lesson 2 of 2, created in 2007 by Loona Brogan
for the University of Vermonts Landscape Change
Program with funding from The National Science
Foundation.