VERMONT ‘TREE HISTORY,’ PT.1
“WHICH TREE IS
THAT?”
What important Vermont trees
can you identify from
photographs in UVM’s
Landscape Change Program
historic photo archives?
North Hero, 1952. LS04561_000.jpg
What is ‘TREE HISTORY?’
A tree, like a person, has its
own life story:
… a family history– genetics
& relatives,
… a social history– symbolic
and economic importance &
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… an individual history– a
beginning, a middle and
(eventually) an end, with
events along the way.
Which Vermont trees matter to YOU?
White pine & American elm
LS09962_000.jpg
Sugar maple
Beech LS01712_000.jpg
LS07952_000.jpg
Paper birch
Apple LS07922_000.jpg
LS01964_000.jpg
Balsam fir LS08833_000.jpg
How are they important to Vermonters?
… economically, culturally, ecologically?
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sugar maple
white pine
apple
balsam fir
American elm
paper birch
beech
LS09356_000.jpg
The white pine above is
considered by many to
be ‘the state seal tree.’
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The “maple sugaring
lesson” photo to the
left was featured in
Vermont Life magazine
in 1956.
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Search results (for underlined word): 417
Growing in the open:
Leaf-off : an almost fan-like branching
structure up the trunk. Its silhouette is
smoothly round.
Leaf-on: Its branches look puffy. The
crown from a distance looks like a big
cotton ball.
October, 1987. Barnard. LS08075_000.jpg
February, 1925. Worcester. LS05108_000.jpg
Maple syrup
LS02308_000.jpg
Forest-grown
maple trees, that
must race each
other to get best
light, don’t exhibit
quite the same
shape as a yardor field-grown
sugar maple. See
how these trees
are generally
taller, and have
less up-thetrunk growth?
Fall Foliage symbolizes Vermont
ecologically & economically
Search results: 33
After 1950, Ethan
Allen City Park,
Burlington.
LS10582_000.jpg
October 1976, Guilford. LS09076_000.jpg
Can you guess what Vermont’s state tree is... ?
Autumn is one of several tourism business seasons that are intimately linked to maple trees,
our climate, and topography. But besides maple syrup, hardwood forest habitat for wildlife, and
famously beautiful scenery, maple is also an important timber species. We burn it, build
houses with it, craft furniture, flooring and cabinetry, & even use its pulp in the making of paper.
White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Search results: 177
LS05766_000.jpg
Planting whips. Time, place unknown.
By the 1930s, the majority of Vermont
Luigi Lucioni etching, 1931.
farmers had either migrated West or gone
“Four Winds Farm” LS11075_000.jpg
bankrupt trying to compete with longer
Harvested trees provided a partial income
growing seasons and flatter terrain.
for some families. Some Vermonters got
How would the people who stayed
free pine saplings from a government
behind make a living off the land?
program for land owners interested in
converting their fields to forest.
State Seal Tree
When this tree blew down in a storm
in 1978, slices of it were distributed
to forestry and educational
organizations around the state, as it
was thought to be the tree which
is portrayed in the state seal.
One eye-witness claims the table-top
slice he counted only has 184 tree
rings, suggesting that this tree was
more likely the descendant of the
tree that inspired the
design Ira Allen
commissioned in 1778.
Tree trunks add one layer of growth
under their bark each year, creating
tree rings that allow us to age a
cut or cored tree.
Arlington,1972
LS09357_000.jpg
Farm to Forest Pioneers
The left side of the road was probably a farm field
like the right, perhaps only 65-70 years prior.
Q: What can we see in this picture that
makes us think that?
Wardsboro, before 1920. LS07609_000.jpg
A: The forest is a pine monoculture. Bright, direct sun is too much for most young
forest plants, especially hardwood saplings. Baby pine, on the other hand, can survive it
and therefore gets the ‘upper hand’ when cleared land begins to grow wild again.
Apple (Malus)
Search results: 45
LS06129_000.jpg
Apple trees thrive
in a climate like
Vermont’s; the
cold autumn
nights bring out
the color, flavor
and heartiness of
the fruit.
Over 65% of the
apples grown in
Vermont are
McIntosh, but
there are many
varieties.
Putney, before 1969.
Green Mountain
Orchards, “still in the
family” (2005).
Homestead Orchards
Guy Seaver, w/Seaver house in background, on oxen-powered snowroller.
Williamstown, no date.
LS11093_000.jpg
These mountains were once largely cleared farmland with homesteads, and every
respectable farmhouse had an orchard. Exploring the forests today, abandoned
homestead sites are often discovered by hikers who notice either a cellar hole
(easiest to spot in fall or early spring) or a small, overgrown old orchard (most
visible during spring bloom). Where one is found, the other is likely not far away!
Heirloom Varieties
What traits are growers
(and consumers) looking for
when they choose between
the varieties?
Portability
Early or late harvest
A good ‘cooking’ apple
A good ‘eating’ apple
Storage longevity
Flavor variety
Crispness variety
“Harvesting apples at Shelburne Farms.” 1900?
LS03450_000.jpg
Color
Adaptability to region
Resistance to disease &
insect infestations
Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea)
Search results: 10
Fir trees have a classically
symmetrical shape (center
tree).
“Maple sugaring scene.” LS10261_000.jpg
Before becoming a commercially valuable tree for pulpwood, used
today to make plywood and paper, fir was often left alone by loggers.
Fir are not the
only evergreen
grown for
Christmastime, but are
considered by
many to be the
country’s most
popular
species. Why?
Their distinctly
sweet
evergreen
scent, their
ability to retain
needles long
after being cut,
their lush, even
shape and the
relative
softness of
their needles.
The balsam fir
is a native
Vermont tree.
Christmas Trees
Morristown, 1960. LS07923_000.jpg
Logging Heritage and the NEK
LS08695_000.jpg
Then & now:
Winter harvests have lightest
impact on the environment.
Forestry is important
economically.
Opening patches in the woods
creates desirable habitat for
some wildlife, increasing
biodiversity.
New:
Environmental methods &
regulations
Forestry science & education
New technologies and new
market factors, real estate values
Societal attitudes towards forests
& forestry
The railroads and the Connecticut river brought lumber directly from our
northeastern forests to New England’s growing cities. Notice the mixed conifer forest
in the background and the gear they used to pull logs out of the woods. How is
logging today the same? How is it different?
Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
“A Picture of Peace,” appeared
in United Nations weekly
bulletin.
Pownal, 1946, Union Church.
LS07764_000.jpg
Consider how the Robert Frost
poem ‘Birches’ is so well-known by
Americans, and how he “iconizes” the visual landmarks of
the New England landscape in his
writing. “Birches” was first
published just after the start
of World War I, a time of world
and national turmoil. It’s likely that
the cultural association with
‘peaceful New England’ played
a part in the selection of this
photograph, as the world began to
heal from an era of violence &
uncertainty.
Search results: 135
Birch Uses and Traits
2nd succession
forests: birch
saplings need
shade, adults can
thrive when a
disturbance brings in
more light
An excellent source
of firewood for
heating & electrical
generation
Furniture, cabinetry
& flooring
Also used in
plywood, veneer and
paper production
Many uses by
indigenous people:
construction, canoes
baskets & medicine
1894, Rutland. LS07294_000.jpg
Also called white birch in the US, but not the same tree as
the European white birch.
Paper/White Birch Ecology
Moose, snowshoe hare, and white-tailed deer browse paper birch.
Numerous birds and small mammals also eat the buds, catkins, and seeds.
LS08897_000.jpg
Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Search results: 4
Just because the
Landscape Change
Program only has four
photographs of beech trees
(well, 5 if you search
‘beach tree’)… don’t let
that fool you into believing
the beech is, or was,
unimportant in Vermont!
Beech & butternut were
once much more common
in Vermont: blight takes
out many trees every year.
Beechnuts are important
Montpelier, before 1950, LS09043_000.jpg Beech trees, mast for bears.
like oaks, hold onto their leaves long into and sometimes
throughout an entire winter. Their leaves are distinctively
bronze-colored, and their bark is smooth like skin.
Hunting and wildlife habitat*
Can’t hunt them if they don’t live there! Hunters with Bear, 1906?
The old
men in this photo would have been boys during Vermont’s era of peak deforestation.
LS08693_000.jpg *this came from a search for bear (31)
… people like
beechnuts, too!*
Q: What is that boy doing up in
the tree, and why are there
people lying on the ground?!
A: He is shaking the nuts loose
and they are examining their
findings before deciding which to
keep.
“Beach nut collecting” before 1880
LS11618_000.jpg
*this was found by searching ‘beach tree.’
American Elm (Ulmus americana)
Search results: 1313
The open ‘highway,’ an
automobile, & the classic vase-like
crowns of roadside elms…a
vintage American landscape. St.
Johnsbury, Route 18, 1938.
LS09414_000.jpg
“The Liberty Tree”
American elms were a symbol of rebellion & independence from the time of the
revolution against British rule, but were fondly regarded as such long afterwards.
1905, and 2004, Royalton.
LS01001_000.jpg, LS01001_001.jpg
The Fox Stand, a stage coach stop built in 1816 by Amasa Dutton for Jacob
Fox, is still operated as a Bed & Breakfast on Route 14. The elms have since
perished. Removing them must have been treacherous, but historically
important, work: look how close to the building some were growing!
Dutch Elm Disease (DED)
Burlington: College Street, 1929.
Burlington: College Street, 2000.
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Using the church on the right as a reference point, it becomes apparent that this
actually IS the same exact place in Burlington. Imagine what it was like in winter,
before the street was paved: the street was closed off to traffic once a year so UVM
students could race down a snow toboggan chute all the way to the lake!
Trees have their own history.
Physical/Ecological
Social/Cultural
Economic
Sometime before 1960.
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Burlington, 2005.
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Trees are part of what make a
place.
1900, Shelburne
Farms.
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Carriage trails provided
the well-to-do with a
popular pastime:
pleasure riding.
Wooded scenery,
occasionally opening
onto vistas, was for
most--then, as, now-a sensory & spiritual
delight. When (the
new) bicyclists & auto
enthusiasts became
thirsty for good roads,
they rallied the federal
government to finance
& build them.
These carriage roads are accessible to the public today… for driving, cycling,
horseback riding or walking. In many places, it still looks as it did in this photograph.
Human history and tree history are
deeply interconnected.
Sugaring. LS02307_000.jpg
Planting an apple tree.
LS06443_000.jpg
Besides food, fiber and forest habitat, trees
provide clean air, prevent soil erosion, help
control flooding and return organic
nutrients to the soil through
decomposition…to the benefit of not just
people, but essentially all life on earth.
Now you can look closer.
Ask yourself:
“What can this tree teach me about this place?”
… IN PART TWO…
‘Telling Place Stories with Tree Histories’
using photos from the Landscape Change Program’s
historic photo archive.
Lesson 1 of a 2-lesson set created by Loona Brogan in 2007 for the Landscape Change Program,
University of Vermont, with funding provided by the National Science Foundation.