News from Preserve UMass
Prexy’s Ridge Forest
The 24 acre Prexy’s Ridge Forest in the northeast section of the UMass Amherst campus is now on the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth. The Forest extends from the Chancellor’s House north to Eastman Lane. It lies west of the old University Orchard and east of Thatcher Way and the Northeast Dormitory complex.
Records, photographs and maps collected by Preserve UMass demonstrate that this site was forested in 1833 and has been forested since the campus was established. Increment borings and tree ring counts taken on selected trees by faculty in the Department of Natural Resources Conservation show that some of the largest trees date from the 1700’s. These data strongly suggest that this site has never been cleared and has been a “witness” to the initial settlement of East Hadley, Amherst, and the University.
In its acceptance of this site to the Inventory, the Massachusetts Historical Commission notes that the site has been a formally acknowledged as a woodland/parkland element on the campus “since at least 1900 and has been utilized as a research forest…since at least 1930.” The forest is crossed by a series of woodland trails and was used as a teaching facility by Professor William Gould Vinal (1881-1976), a national leader in outdoor nature education as an outdoor teaching facility and a member of the faculty from 1937 – 1951. No old-growth forest like this appears to occur in within the built environment of any other Massachusetts town or campus.
Joseph S. Larson, Ph.D.
Corresponding Secretary
Preserve UMass
++++++++++++++++++++++++
I created my blog and set of pages about Prexy’s Ridge a few years ago as we worked to save it. To see the blog and pages, and the comments that other people have made, look for Prexy’s Ridge in the green strip above.
Elisa
This is a great intro to an otherwise lesser known part of our campus. I hope that by raising interest, the preservation and conservation of the Prexy’s Ridge area will be aided.
Those are some nice pics of the trees. It is nice that we have areas like that around campus. I also like the trees in Durfee Gardens.
It’s a beautiful place to value and preserve. A really nice photo of the trees with true color — it will inspire our students to continue their current field work to record and map the forest.
Very nice project!!
Elisa, please explain to ignoramusses like me how a core is taken from a tree for the purpose of determining its age, without harming it.
Eva
The Pics and the story are very nice.
I wonder if tree stands can be designated and saved from development as rare animal habitats are ?
john
Eva,
there is a tool that looks like a thin auger – it has a handle, and a long thin tube perpendicular to it, in a T shape. A person puts that into the tree, as close to the ground as the person can do it (with room to turn the handle, etc.) and slowly drills into the tree. When the tool reaches the mid-point (not having been trained in this myself, I’m not sure how one knows it’s the mid-point, other than by having carefully looked at the size of the tree and the tool), it is pulled out, and brings with it a thin “core” of wood – much thinner than a pencil. That core is taken back to the lab and put into a slot in a long piece of wood, to hold it all together in order; then, I believe, there is some polishing so that the rings can be observed and counted.
The process does leave a small hole in the tree, but experts say this does not harm the tree.
Elisa
Everyone:
the most hopeful development is that Prof. Guy Lanza and his class are now studying the area comprehensively. It’s a great educational opportunity and will, I’m sure, demonstrate how special these woods really are.
Elisa
Some good news in this, Elisa. I hope The trees will besaved.
This is a speech given at the Old Oaks Festival, and to several classes, by Jason Szafranski, who accompanied me on a walk on Prexy’s Ridge last spring, when we discovered, to our chagrin, a big pile of trash. But we did enjoy the trees.
Elisa
Intro:
Breathe: with the trees
I come to you today Speaking for the Trees:
I’m here today without facts, without data, without numbers, and without science.
I’m here today because I believe the old trees on Prexy’s Ridge are a sign of hope.
It’s possible that this small wooded hill on OUR campus is “Old Growth Forest.†But really it doesn’t matter what we call the woods. We may be the only college that has such an amazing gift, and it’s right here on OUR campus.
I urge all of you to walk up to the ridge, and explore it. I also encourage you to go up into the library and look down upon the land. As you look out across the river valley and the surrounding hills, imagine this place 500 years ago. Trees covered the landscape so completely that it has been said: a squirrel could travel from here to the Mississippi and back again without touching the ground. Just imagine.
Imagine Prexy’s Ridge 300 years ago, a small pocket of forest sitting up on the top of a little ridge surrounded by cleared lands as all of the of the Northeast, and the country for that matter, gave way to expanding agricultural development. Many of the tree’s we see today on Prexy’s Ridge were there three hundred years ago, looking down from their perches watching us devour the countryside.
It amazes me to think that several of the trees on Prexy’s Ridge have stood through nearly all of what we consider to be “American History.†The trees have weathered colonialism, the revolutionary war, the birth of the nation, and every single president of the United States of America.
These ancient trees have watched the University grow too, and they can’t be pleased by the concept of “New Dirt.â€
It has taken those woods over 300 years at the very least to become what they are today. If by some miracle they are “Old Growth†it has taken an eternity for them to become what they are. But I’ll say again, it doesn’t matter what we call the woods.
They are ancient,
They are beautiful,
And they are rare.
Most importantly, as you breathe, remember that we are all part of the same community.
Consider these trees to be our Elders, sitting atop a ridge looking down upon us all, with our books and our knowledge. I have come here to talk to you today without facts, without data and without hard science. The lesson I wish to impart to you today is simple:
We only have one chance, to make one choice.
I’ll never forget the first time that I explored Prexy’s Ridge. I’d heard that there was “Old Growth†on campus and that it was threatened. It seemed impossible, but a claim so grand was certainly worth investigating. My companion and I entered the woods near the spine of the ridge, and hiked in along the fence at the edge of the construction. All that I could see was the exposed dirt, the observatory, the trash and the beer cans. We made our way along the ridge top and around to its front, dragging trash in some garbage bags that we had found in the woods along the way. We literally walked from one tree to the next as though we were introducing ourselves.
The woods we’d seen on our walk were nice, even impressive considering we were here on campus. Some of the trees were even mature and appeared to have grown up through a forest, but they certainly weren’t “Old Growth.†We found a spot that looked out at the university and we sat down together, with our bags of trash and the trees. We talked about the way “Old Growth†makes you feel different. The way that it energizes you, and inspires you; and the way that it humbles you. It’s as if the air is different and somehow makes you feel more alive. Sitting there in the woods it even felt a little like “Old Growth.â€
We talked about how fortunate we were to have access to such a wild classroom. Even more importantly, we felt it to be integral to have a place to escape from the noise and rhetoric of academia. These woods provide us somewhere to be free, somewhere to be spiritual, somewhere to grow.
And then we were sad even a little mad, as we realized that we had just found this place, and soon it may be altered in the name of “New Dirt.†We had come to the hill hoping to find “Old Growth†with the intensions of working for its preservation. And while what we found wasn’t “Old Growth†we decided that it didn’t matter. The value of a place like Prexy’s Ridge to a campus like Umass, and a community like Amherst doesn’t change based on the age or status of the trees. We need wild places in this world.
Having reached accord that we would work to preserve the woods, we got up and made our way back toward campus. Somewhere amidst stories of favorite trees and wild places something that seemed miraculous happened. Ancient trees surrounded us with massive trunks reaching up from the earth around us toward the heavens. The canopy high above our heads held us in complete and total awe. As the initial excitement broke, we grew silent and sat on the hillside meditatively. Everything about these woods was different, like, dare I say “Old Growth.â€
The ecology was different, the soil was different, and we were different; humble. While it would be wonderful if there were Old Growth on our campus, the optimist in me actually believes that it would be better if Prexy’s Ridge wasn’t “Old Growth.†Because that would show us all how capable the Earth is of healing herself. She needs time to work her miracles. All that we must do is leave her be and show our respect.
There are thousands of reasons this forest should be preserved. But I offer only one.
I’ll never forget the first time I explored Prexy’s Ridge. I fell in love that day. I refuse to imagine a world without wild places like Prexy’s Ridge. We only have one chance.
Generated as a speech for the Old Oaks festival in protest at Umass