Outdoors Maryland; 1608

Outdoors Maryland is made by NPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you. Coming up it's been 400 years but now Maryland's forest of towering Ancient's is in trouble keeping an eye peeled for our ruby throated friends and looking at the natural world through the eyes of Nick Parker next outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and are inspired by nature. Two

centuries ago i seedlings sprouted in these mountains not in the dark shade of a towering girl that swept up the mountainside and the bracing rush of a stream since the colonial era. Few older growth stands remain in Maryland most magnificent him in now and invasions retinues these last precious stands. There are forest defenders but the invaders are invisible until it's too

late to tell the truth. Forester is an apologist. Do not always walk the same path on the questions of forest management but in the deep shade of centuries old hemlock Steve Kane the Department of Natural Resources state forester and Ed Thompson DNR is Western Region ecologist finds solid common ground of the tragedy. If we do have more of course there's a lot of variables before that actually happens. But if we do let him walk we're not just losing a tree we're losing a whole ecosystem and there's a lot of things that depend on the type of farce that him walk make up. So if we lose him or we're going to lose other forms of life we're going to lose functioning. Bottom line for us neither of these scientists are prone to easy use of words like tragedy read but they're talking about the

hemlock Adele did a microscopic exotic species of insect that has already invaded half the eastern hemlock range from Maine to North Carolina. The insect sucks out the vital juices of the hemlocks producing a fully self protective coating which is the first evidence of infestation but by that time the rapid rate of reproduction is out of control. It's an attack on the very soul of the forest. The counter attack to the woolly Adell just has been launched on several fronts on this crisp fall morning in Garrett County Cain and Thompson are the advance guard looking for strategic stands of still healthy him long. They hope to monitor and defend against the wave of insects silently advancing west across the state and guard County. Hemlock is a real important tree and makes up a lot of the forest ecosystems along stream courses. So I believe like field commanders they

pulled out the maps and pulled her identify her walk down on the infrared photography here you'll see where you were you noticed red along the stream bottoms either in this area here or in this area here the probability that there hemlock will be relatively high. Yeah as a matter of fact we are standing right here in the middle of the red area where obviously you can walk far. The stakes are high although those maps can show you places with him or her. One thing they can't convey is how magical some of these places are once you get on the ground. This is particularly true of our oldest hemlocks stands were hemlocks 300 304 years old what if it's gone were really I don't know what will happen. There could be a cascading effect but I can't even think of. So when we're talking about losing hemlock farce it's more than just losing the trees. We could lose a lot of other unique elements of our biodiversity.

If these trees are eventually killed by hemlock Willy of Belgium and all this shade is removed from this stream. What is an excellent cold water fisheries which contains brook trout now may not be able to support brook trout in the future because the water has warmed up to the point where the fish simply can't survive. If these trees die in place and fall over the amount of debris the amount of fuel that's potentially added to the force for predisposing the landscape to catastrophic fire and the resources needed to control that. If it was to happen it's something that we need to take into account also. They say there are probably 40 different species of birds that that prefer to nest in hemlock. So it's a concern when you start losing that that kind of habitat. And there's really nothing else that's going to replace it. Hemlock is it. If Garrett is one of the last strongholds of ancient hemlocks then Cunningham Falls State Park in the Catoctin is a window to a future ravaged by the woolly

indulged. Jeff Hiran is chief of Forest Resource Planning and analysis in the DNR is Forest Service probably 30 percent of this forest in this area was hawak before and you can see there's there's a number of large hemlocks over there that are completely dead standing dead. You have a large walk over here well over 35 inches that is completely dead and has dropped out that will have a major impact both on this on the ecosystem here and on on our boardwalk. When you look at this and you think about where are where these primeval how far so far. We have had walk's at some of these areas you think about Cook's day farce or at worst or overlook in Virginia or at swallow falls in western Maryland. They are some of our oldest growth Farson in some cases they can be 600 years old. Those have that hemlock component and that and that's a real loss to think that we're going to lose all of those hemlocks as a foster. You know that that hurts. And so the battle is pitched with

state and federal reinforcements here. Unfortunately it's really too far gone. The treatments that we're going to be doing here today are just the last last gasp really to try to save some hemlock community here. The scientists are trying several experimental methods to control the Walia Daljit. There's careful injection of a proven insecticide into the xylem of the tree where it will travel up to the infected needles. What's learned here will be used to protect the still healthy forests further west before it's too late. Robert Rabanne is forest entomologist with the Maryland Department of Agriculture of the hemlock Adele just not being native to North America there are no natural predators or parasites that would normally control an insect. We've been trying to introduce some some predators to the environment here. There's a couple of beetles that seem to have some promise in controlling the insect. I mean honestly it's a long shot you know but

Rick dealer sit on our hands and just watch her hemlocks disappear or we can be active. Brad Aankhen is an entomologist with the U.S. Forest Service. You know it's hard not to equate this with something worse than chestnut blight and that gentleman to my mind because we're talking about an ecological system that is so dependent on Hemlock. And once it's gone it's gone. The whole system. Well for me walking in a hemlock forest gives me a cathedral like feeling of the playing of the white gaps in the force floor give you a stained glass appearance and it tends to be a very spiritual place not only for myself but for a lot of other folks in this race against time. There is perhaps more hope than optimism but one and all have taken a last stand for the mighty hemlock Lutherville Maryland resident Sharon DEQ isn't content just to create a garden that

looks good. She also has a garden that flutters. Cruise and Holmes especially one that homes in summer. Her backyard is filled with the home and vase of up to a dozen hummingbirds don't pick up much space. They get so much pleasure in return. I guess they think they're a nice addition to Obamacare and the species that's found in Maryland is the ruby throated hummingbird named for the red jewel like patch under the males gene. And these birds truly don't take up much space. Ross Hawkins is president of the Hummingbird's society who average weight is a tenth of an ounce but size isn't the bird's only remarkable trade it's the only bird that can hover. This gives them an enormous advantage over other birds. If a flower for example has a blossom that is tubular and hangs down other birds can easily access this power to get the nectar that might be in it. But

hovering uses an enormous amount of energy. A hummingbird has to feed in theory at least every half hour or you start. I calculate that a man weighing 170 pounds if he ate like a hummingbird would have to consume a hundred and fifty five thousand calories a day that corresponds to 276 big macs. We put that in proportion. Hummingbird stays like Sharon dick. Understand that one of the best ways to attract the birds is to provide ample food. I planted a variety of plans to attract the hummingbird which include the Penta the Texas sage the butterfly bush 04:00 lilies and we got nine different feeders at this point. They just keep coming back every year. Some of those feeders hang outside the dining room window where they provide Sharon and her husband can with endless entertainment. Here it comes.

Here it comes. We sit in our dining room and just watch all the antics and we have long breakfast and long dinner simply so we can sit and enjoy them as long as possible. In Walkersville Maryland Jim and Theresa galleon have also created a habitat that's hospitable to hummingbirds and the intention that we had in creating a wildlife habitat was to be able to provide food and cover the shelter and places to raise the young for the creatures that we'd like to see in our backyard that kinds of flowers that we've created in our garden with the wild Columbine the Bailey trumpet vine and honeysuckle vine that was really to bring the man the hummingbirds which winter in Mexico usually arrive in the galleons backyard in April an event that merits a special mention and Teresa's diary. I started a garden diary the first of the year.

I always go in in the spring the first Robynn the first sprout the first daffodil bloom and definitely the first hummingbird. In fact hummingbirds actually make a beeline to backyard habitats like this one says the hummingbird society's Ross Hawkins. What's amazing to me is that these birds display site fidelity. There's a good chance that the ones you see in your backyard are the very same birds that you had the preceding year or the year before which is sort of exciting because that means if you make them happy and you give them lots of water for misting out of flowers for feeding and clean fresh mixture in the feeders why shouldn't they come back. The ruby throat summer in the eastern U.S. in Canada where they breed and raise their young. Building tiny cup like nests in trees close to food supplies. Most people have never seen a hummingbirds nest and that's because it's so well camouflaged and it's so small. Here we have a sample that has been kindly provided to us today by this sobering museum. It's only about the

diameter of a golf ball the inside but just barely hold a quarter. The outside is covered with tiny pieces of lichen which have been attached to this spider web spider web has also been used to attach the nets to the branches so the chicks are fledged. By early July as summer comes to an end and food sources grow scarce the birds prepare for their journey south. They fly to the northern Gulf Coast where they stock up on nectar before making the flight over the ocean to wintering grounds in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. We know something about the birds migration thanks to the efforts of people like Jim Gruber. He's one of only a small number of people on the East Coast licens to undertake the delicate operation of banding ruby throated hummingbirds at his banding station in Queen Anne's County. He uses large mist nets to catch hummingbirds as well as other species as they migrate through the area. This nets operate on the principle that

the black nylon mash is invisible in birds if they're set against the dark background. When he does fly into the net he hits the net and becomes entangled. We will then come along on Pentangle and point out the net and take him back to lab from banning the bands that we put on the earth themselves are made of aluminum They're very light weight. Each band that we put on on earth is individually serially numbered. The band members Y 3 6 8 8 1. We take the band off the string that we have formed on the opening up of the small band opener. We then place that around the left leg of the hummingbird squeezing it shut with my fingers if it needs fine tuning I'll take a pliers and fine tune it very gently at that point then we age and sex the bird. This is a young male take a swing measurement which is indicative of the size of the bird. Males being much smaller than the females.

We will check for that to see what condition it is and for Migration. He has no back. We will weigh the bird weighs 2.9 grams most birth and we get way right around 3 grams or about the weight of a dime. All the data we collect on banning birth here at the farm goes to Patuxent Wildlife Research Center the Verbindung lab and they put it in a computer databank and it's available for research throughout the United States and Canada. The research will give us the migratory patterns migratory timing longevity records of how possibly how long some hummingbirds can live with the banding completed the bird is ready to be released to continue his journey. Off goes. But with any luck the bird will return next spring. Adding a flash of color and a hum of activity to our gardens once again.

Take a walk of a morning with Nick Carter through his woods on the eastern shore down to a fresh upwelling spring. Then on to the river. Be ready for a wild grabble throated tour of the unseen mysteries of nature the hidden processes and startling connections that make it all work. Early on Nick turned a master's degree in science into a mission. I'm with you on our 35 years. I spent a lot of time doing that. Now this is basically from try and tell people what they ought not do to land. Keep it working. But it's this kind of thing that makes the first floor pervious that'll collect pine needles and leaves and stuff and it'll be a

void space like on the glass. And that's what allows the water to work and all these open big large pools and it makes makes them around just like a sponge just like on the way out. You step off that path. Just feel what that ground feels like and that's what controls the hydrological regime. And with this instead of 60 or 70 percent of the range and off it goes in the ground. This is what this is where you get the filtration and this is where you get the temperature control. This is where you get a long slow one off Perkins down slope that gives you the base flow of the springs. This is what conserves the fertility of the land

keeps it on site keeps the materials and the nutrients recycling on site instead of going down drainage. And over in the bay for Nick all of nature is a dynamic system of interdependent subsystems. His complex vision of how the planet works drives Nick to bring his message of stewardship to civic groups scientific conferences and schools like saddler's Ville Elementary in Maryland. Humanities is a great thing and you'd hate to see it go down the tubes out of ignorance. One two three. Can you get these kids in third grade. There a. Yes and if you can tell them something that makes sense basically makes sense to them something that I can comprehend. Maybe some of them make the right decisions later on. Everything you all everything you have everything you

all have but it comes over the earth. So while in the water on all the heart and the earth becomes part of the corn plant feed it is a chicken it becomes part of the chicken and you eat the chicken and you get on. You need to make your blood work to carry the oxygen. So who's ever been bit by a mosquito. What's in the ski to get from you. Where's that on. And that was part of the earth that was part of the corn that was part of the chicken that was part of you know not part of the mosquito. Now the mosquito might fly along and get too close to where they are now. OK. In Utah. That's what it is.

That's what makes you go do all these things this is what makes the world work. This is how everything gets. What it means to us. It's a big cycle. This is a big spring. We call it Rosemary sprinkle the lady that used to live here. This is down at the foot of the slope where all the all the water is perked into the ground through that soft soft pervious substrate made by the fire. This is where it issues out at the bottom of the slope. This water coming out at 54 degrees. It's going to be a lot warmer than what I and a lot cooler in the summer. And so it moderates the temperature in the big streams eventually at the head of the bay all the little springs. That's where the base starts to feel like and the spring flow channel running down here all sediments and silts of satellite. So chop day for the biggest river on the shore and maybe the six biggest river coming into the bay.

It's a little better shape than a lot of the rivers because this upper part is hundred and thirteen square miles is comparatively heavily forested. We've got a 50 plus percent forest up here. And so the nutrients that stand alone here nourish the floodplain and nourish the trees in the far east of the flood plant the floodplain operates to purify the rubble you get really nice cycle my circle rebeling nourishes the floodplain and the flood plain purifies the river. That's what it takes to move these elements all these different chemical elements around. So if we didn't have any of the stuff that you wouldn't even be able to start living it really doesn't matter. This is what makes it possible for all of us to be born and to grow up and have children. And it makes it possible Floud life to

go on. This is why we come here and we tell you this kind of stuff you need to know. This is what makes it work. And this is why you've got to protect these civilizations that didn't understand and they died out a lot. People have made the mistake of thinking that conserving pleasure than Nature is something that you ought to do just for an ethical reason because nice to help beautiful work with love but they just never got it. And all those things are true. But you got to have these mechanisms function in it to keep the system able to support human beings. Anybody that knows anything will tell you these resources are finite

and this is what happened in so many factories in the past that didn't understand that those mechanisms had to be conserved. What made the language inhabitable was our own self-interest. These systems have continued to work. This is the central theme of all conservation after grass. But for her own rational self-interest drop into our website w w w dot MBT dot o r g.

Just send us your comments and suggestions. Outdoors Maryland is Maine by NPT to serve all of our diverse communities and is made possible by the generous support of our members. Thank you