OG Hemlock in Little River Gorge, Westfield, MA Holyoke Community College in association with the Eastern Native Tree Society, and Friends of the Mohawk Trail State Forest is hosting a long term lecture series to focus on the history, current status, and the future of the Forests of the Northeast and beyond. photo by G. A. Beluzo Polypore on Hemlock Ecological issues such as forest health, loss of habitat, and species displacement often vie with developmental pressures that focus on short term gains.                                                     photo by G. A. Beluzo Twin Tulip Trees in Robinson State Park State Height Champion Agawam, MA The Forest Summit Lecture Series is investigating who the major players are and their positions by bringing together diverse groups including scientists, foresters, resource managers, recreationalists, and wood products people. photo by G. A. Beluzo Second Growth Oak in Mist Deerfield River Drainage, MA The Forest Summit 2007 will focus on "FOREST HEALTH", perspectives presented by a diversity of speakers on forest health and the future of forest management and preservation in Massachusetts, New England, and throughout the Eastern U.S.  The Summit will also put a sharp focus on a local issue again (TBA). (October 28) Related Links: Old Growth Clearinghouse Little River Gorge, MA Gary A. Beluzo Professor of Env Science Holyoke Community College Holyoke, MA 01040 413 552-2445 gbeluzo@hcc.mass.edu "A complex living system, such as an old growth forest, is autopoietic or self-creating, driven by 3.9 billion years of ancient wisdom, an integrated system genome not the conscious desire of one managing species...." This website will be continually updated until October 19, 2007. Last Updated: 10/09/07

The FOREST SUMMIT 5 Lecture Series Hosted by Holyoke Community College Eastern Native Tree Society HCC Leslie Phillips Forum Free and Open to the Public October 19, 2007 9:30 am -9:30 pm FOREST HEALTH: The Status and Future of Eastern Forests Morning Session (9:30 - 12:00) 9:30 President Bill Messner 9:35 Dr. Xin Ran Duan, Dean of SEM 9:40 Prof Gary A. Beluzo, Environmental Science Department Featured Guest Speaker: Dr. David Stahle. Distinguished Professor and Director of the Tree Ring Laboratory. University of Arkansas. “Bald Cypress Trees in the North and Central America and Reconstructing the Climate of the Past” Dr. David Stahle is the director of the Tree Ring Laboratory at the University of Arkansas. Although, his modesty would not allow him to admit to it, he is one of the top dendrochronologists (study of tree rings) in the world. His research interests include all aspects of dendrochronology, particularly climate change and the proxy evidence for past variation in the El Nino/Southern Oscillation and other large scale atmospheric circulations. He has developed GIS-based predictive models for the location of ancient forests, and is conducting active research in the United States, Mexico, and Africa. Stahle’s research is funded by NOAA, NSF, NPS, and the USGS and he has published in a variety of journals including Science, Nature, Journal of Climate and Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. David is also the driving force behind the identification and preservation of the ancient cross timbers ecosystem in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Dr. Lee E. Frelich. Center for Hardwood Ecology. University of Minnesota. “Global Change and the Prairie-Forest Border” Dr. Frelich is one of the foremost forest ecologists studying eastern forest ecosystems. He is cited more often than any other forest ecologist in his area of expertise. He specializes in the forests of the central and upper Midwest, but is also highly knowledgeable about the forests of the Northeast. In addition to his usual areas of research that have concentrated on forest disturbance patterns and systems, he studies the effects of climate change on the forests of the upper Midwest and spearheads research into the impacts of European and Asian earthworms on the forest. Dr. Frelich is also the Vice President of ENTS and on the Board of Directors of Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest. In this capacity, he has visited Massachusetts many times and can be quoted as an expert areas of old growth in central and western Massachusetts. Lunch Break Afternoon Session (1:00 - 4:30pm) 1:00 Vice President Win Lavallee 1:05 Dr. Xin Ran Duan, Dean of SEM 1:10 Prof Gary A. Beluzo, Environmental Science Department Dr. Tom Diggins. Professor of Forest Ecology. Youngstown State University. “Zoar Gap: A Historical Perspective of Old Growth Riverine Ecology” Dr. Thomas Diggins has gained a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable forest ecologist on the old-growth forests of western New York. Over the past several years, he has been studying a unique old growth ecosystem within the scenic Zoar Valley and has become the undisputed authority on the Zoar Valley ecosystem. This old growth gem was about to slip through the cracks under the not so watch-full eye of New York’s DEC, which was focused on forest products. Learn from Tom what we now know about the dynamic forest ecosystem of Zoar Valley and how it differs from other areas of northeastern old growth. John Davis. Conservation Director. The Adirondack Council. “Preserving Vital Forested Corridors in Adirondacks of New York” Among naturalists and environmentalists, John Davis needs no introduction. John has long been a protector of wild lands. John Davis is currently the Conservation Director of the Adirondack Council. He is former editor of Wild Earth Publication and is an indefatigable force in the important and visionary Wildlands Project. John brings a wealth of experience to the arduous challenge of stitching together pieces of the landscape to create wildlife corridors and plant refuges in some of most important, but threatened eastern forests. Will Blozan. President of ENTS “Tsuga Search- Location Mapping and Modeling the Greatest Eastern Hemlocks Known” Will is the cofounder and President of the Eastern Native Tree Society. He a former science technician with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and currently is president of Appalachian Arborists. Will is one of the principal forest researchers of ENTS and he is a man with a mission. Tsuga canadensis, or the Eastern hemlock, is considered to be a tree of the Northeastern and upper Mid-western United States. The epicenter of hemlock development is usually considered to be the six-million Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania, which was once covered by so much hemlock that the region was called the black forest. However, unknown to all but a few, the greatest of all the Eastern Hemlocks grow in the southern Appalachians. Trees over 160 feet tall and 17 feet in girth grow in temperate rainforest luxuriance. Trunk volumes reach to 1,600 cubic feet. However, these greatest of hemlocks are in danger of being extirpated by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. Will Blozan and associates have been fighting a battle against the clock to both document the largest, tallest, and oldest of the species and to treat as many as possible. In cooperation with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, he has launched the Tsuga Search Project. Learn what The Park and the Eastern Native Tree Society (ENTS) are doing to save the greatest of the Eastern Hemlocks. Prof. Gary Beluzo. Department of Environmental Science, HCC. “Liriodendron: Mapping its Range Limits and Determining its Growth Performance” Gary Beluzo is a professor of Environmental Science at Holyoke Community College. He was previously the Chair of the Department for 14 years. Gary is the principle resident architect of the HCC Forest Summit Lecture Series. He combines his background in limnology, forest ecology, and global ecology to study natural systems. His concept of the "autopoietic forest" is new to forest ecology and seeks to define forests in terms of their degree of naturalness and ecocomplexity. He is the science advisor to Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest and a key researcher for the Eastern Native Tree Society. Along with Bob Leverett and David Orwig, Gary is one of the three principal researchers of old growth forests in Massachusetts. Through an NSF Grant in 1996, Professor Beluzo created an Environmental GIS laboratory at HCC and is now developing an extensive geo-database of old growth and exemplary second growth forests for Massachusetts . Beluzo is currently studying the natural history of the tulip tree and mapping its distribution in Massachusetts with colleague Bob Leverett. Dinner Break Evening Session (6:30-9:30pm) 6:30 Win Lavallee. Vice President of Academic Affairs, HCC. 6:35 Dr. Xin Ran Duan, Dean of SEM, HCC. 6:40 Prof Gary A. Beluzo, Environmental Science Department, HCC. Bob Leverett. Executive Director of ENTS “Forest Health- A Scientific Concept or a Political Issue” Robert Leverett is a man with many backgrounds. He is a retired Air Force officerBob Leverett is a man with many backgrounds. He is a retired Air Force officer, the former president of a management consulting firm, a former adjunct professor of computer science at Holyoke Community College and has been an adjunct instructor at other area colleges. He recently retired from a position with Sisters of Providence Health systems where he was a database developer and systems analyst. But Bob is best known for his work in eastern forests. He has been called by Wild Earth Publication the “East’s Leading Old Growth Evangelist” and he has gained a national reputation for his old growth discoveries and research, his documentation of exemplary forest sites, and his organization of the Ancient Eastern Forest Conference Series. He is a cofounder and executive director of the Eastern Native Tree society and Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest. Bob has co-authored a book entitled “Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeast. He is one of several ENTS who is developing the discipline of Dendromorphometry – the art and science of measuring trees in the field. Close friends know him as “low-pressure Leverett” a reference to the fact that Bob’s field trips are legendary in terms of scrambling through mountain laurel during the height of black fly season on the most miserable rainy day imaginable….and yet.. he has a staunch following of supporters that appreciate his vision if not his choice of terrain. Special Local Focus: Green Certification in Massachusetts. Green Certification has become highly contested in some areas of Massachusetts and one of the testing grounds is Robinson State Park in Agawam, MA. Although a park with high biodiversity, rare species, and perhaps the best natural regeneration of tulip trees in the State, the MASS DCR Bureau of Forestry has tried to implement a timber harvest plan for this urban park on a National Wild and Scenic River . Friends of the Robinson State Park seek to preserve this unique forest. Should it be designated for Timber Harvesting or a Reserve? Jim DiMaio. Chief Forester. MASS DCR, Bureau of Forestry “Why Green Certification is Good for Massachusetts” In 2003, he began serving as Massachusetts Chief Forester for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Jim holds a Massachusetts Forester License and is a Society of American Forester Certified Forester. He belongs to the Massachusetts Association of Professional Foresters, Society of American Foresters, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association, National Association of State Foresters, and Northeast Area Association of State Foresters. Jim has been meeting with the Friends of Robinson State Park group to create a management plan for the Park. Should commerical timber harvesting begin or should the park become a Forest Preserve? Ehrhard Frost. Forest Stewards Guild. “Taking a Closer Look at Green Certification: Does it Really Deliver?” Ehrhard Frost is a graduate of Paul Smith College and a private consulting forester of some 30 years. He is a member of the Forest Stewards Guild. Ehrhard is in every sense of the term an eco-forester who puts ecosystem health above short term profit. Directions to HCC Forest Summit The Fall 2007 ENTS Rendezvous The Fall 2007 Eastern Native Tree Society Rendezvous events will be held the very next day in Charlemont, MA at the Mohawk Tree State Forest and include Tree Climb Demonstration, Tree Measuring Workshops, and Ecology Walks to the ENTS Grove of White Pines. In the evening a buffet dinner at the Charlemont Inn and special concert and poetry reading will celebrate the trees of the Eastern Forest. For reservations please email Bob Leverett at dbhguru@comcast.net Team Who Speaks for the Forest? Summit Sponsors Holyoke Community College Eastern Native Tree Society (ENTS) Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest Massachusetts Audubon Society Forest Stewards Guild Walnut Hill Tracking and Nature Center The Forest Summit Lecture Series is Dedicated to the Memory of Jani Leverett Ice Glenn, MA Robert T. Leverett Executive Director of ENTS President and Co-Founder of FMTSF 52 Fairfield Avenue Holyoke, MA 01040 413 538-8631 dbhguru@comcast.net

Hemlock Forest Primeval Westfield, MA Other Speakers for 2007: Dr. Lee Frelich Center for Hardwood Ecology University of Minnesota Dr. Tom Diggins Youngstown State University John Davis Conservation Director Adirondack Council ver Will Blozan President of ENTS Will Blozan on Gabes Mt. Hemlock in GSMNP, TN Jim DiMaio. Chief Forester Massachuetts DCR Ehrhard Frost. Ecoforester. Forest Stewards Guild Gary A. Beluzo Professor of Environmental Science Holyoke Community College Robert T. Leverett Executive Director of ENTS President of FMTSF HCook Forest, PA John Knuerr Forest Researcher and Photographer for ENTS and Friends of MTSF Deerfield, MA 413 774-2108 urwald@comcast.net photo by G. A. Beluzo Fisher Pines, VT