Caterpillars threaten New York forests

I read in the June 20 New York Daily News that one of the worst invasions of forest tent caterpillars to hit New York in decades has caused heavy defoliation to more than 34,000 acres of forested land in Onondaga and Oswego counties. Isolated outbreaks have also been spotted in Syracuse and suburban Liverpool.

A forestry educator said that at this point, caterpillars can be removed by hand. Some pesticides can be effective, but only if used early in the season.

The article says that the state planned to conduct an aerial survey this week, to determine the damage and to see where the caterpillars are spreading.

I wonder about our Maine forests, and if they’ve escaped this serious problem. I also would not like to be one of those removing the caterpillars by hand.

‘The Best Job In State Government’

This headline is Buzz Caverly’s statement about his 24 years as director of Maine’s Baxter State Park. An excellent interview appears in the Summer-Fall 2005 issue of Appalachia, America’s longest running Journal of Mountaineering and Conservation.

He was turned down repeatedly for the director’s position at the park before he finally got the job for good 24 years ago.

His highest academic degree was a high school diploma. It was 1981, and Caverly was the acting director of the park. The job positing specified that the permanent director must have a master’s degree, so Caverly’s chances appeared to be nil. The personnel office in Augusta had refused even to file his application. Then one night, while he was watching the national news on television, he saw a report on a U. S. Supreme Court decision that made it illegal to turn away an applicant based on his education. Early the next morning, Caverly drove to Augusta and confronted a Department of Personnel staff member, taking his job application with him.

Caverly said, “I walked in with this paperwork and said, ‘I want to resubmit this.'”

The staff member said, “We told you, we don’t take that,” and Caverly said, “I saw it on TV. This would be a discriminating act…He went out and got a supervisor. Then they recorded my application and accepted it.”

He went through seven interviews, and made it. Today he presides over the fourth-largest state park in the United States. At its heart is the stunning Mount Katahdin and the ridges around it.

Another nice paragraph concerns a birthday card Caverly sent to Percival Baxter, who donated this acreage to the state in 28 deeds, between 1931 and 1962. Caverly was a young supervisor, in 1968, when he sent this card for Baxter’s 92nd birthday. The reply, which hangs framed on Caverly’s office wall in downtown Millinocket, says, “In your position in the park, you’re making good progress and I hear good things about you. I expect to be home all winter, and I shall keep in touch with you, for you have a most important position. I shall write you, and want you to write me. We are partners in this project. Please tell your associates that I depend on you and them to make the park successful.”

Caverly says, “You can imagine being in your 20s and getting a letter from the most important person in Maine!”

Baxter died a year after writing that letter.

The article in Appalachia is well-written. The final paragraph follows: Believing that he has “the best job in state government,” Caverly says, “I’ve never had a day I dreaded going to work. Even in the office here I feel a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for what I do. I tell people I’m halfway through my career. I really believe in what I represent here.”

Now we have just read that he will soon retire. Many hikers will be sorry about that.

Lupines a welcome invader

The Capisic Pond Park lupines, near the Macy Street end (off Capisic Street), are a sight I welcome every June, and on my last walk there I met two ladies, each walking alone, who remarked that they always look forward to them, too.

A few pink lupines are growing among the purples. You can imagine my dismay when I read in the June 19 Sunday Telegram that park botanists had started cutting down this non-native species of lupines growing at the edge of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor. However, park visitors gave their strong opinions about removing that beautiful plant. Acadia’s Chief of Resource Management, David Manoki, said, “We certainly were caught off guard. Obviously, people love lupines, and with good reason, but in a national park lupines are not part of the natural landscape.”

Because of the reaction of park visitors and island residents, park officials curtailed their containment program, at least for the time being.

Ann Judd, a member of the Garden Club of Mount Desert Island, said, “I would like to hear all the information on the case to eradicate lupines. We all love the beautiful blue color and the stands we see along toe road and the hillside.”

Last weekend the popular annual festival, the Deer-Isle-Stonington Lupine Festival, was held. Of course, that is not a National Park, nor is the Capisic Pond Park, we’re pleased to say.

Two Visits To Iris Gardens

I made my annual visit (in fact, visits) to the lovely Iris Garden of Audrey Kenison and her daughter Mary, on Spiller Road, Gorham. I was afraid that the long rainy spell we had, followed by two days of extremely hot, 90-degree weather, might have made quite a difference to the plants. But they were in all their splendor, both Saturday and Sunday.

I had written before about the many varieties and colors there – deep purple, pink, all white, lavender, yellow, brown, and almost black. On Sunday, I wrote down the names of a few varieties, printed on small cards inserted near the base: Brave Viking, all lavender; Heart Breaker, all pink; Henry Shaw, all white. Some I admired, without an identifying card: one with a white center and purple petals, a deep red one, and one, almost black.

It is a beautiful, large garden and can be seen easily from the roadside. I also stopped at the corner of Stroudwater and Pleasant Streets, in Westbrook, to see Jan Usher’s Iris Garden, beside the sidewalk on Pleasant Street. She and Merle have many of the varieties seen at the Kenison garden. Also Jan’s backyard garden has many interesting plants, shrubs and vines, with a birdbath and sundial in their midst.

These gardens may look effortless to the casual observer, but the tasks of planting and weeding require much planning and energy for the owners.

Recipe

Magic Cookie Bars

This recipe is one I cut out years ago, printed by Borden’s Eagle Brand (the dessert maker).

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

One 14-oz. can of Sweetened condensed milk

One 6-oz pkg. Of semi-sweet chocolate morsels

One 3-1/2 oz. can of flaked coconut (1-1/2 cups).

1 cup chopped nuts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for glass dish). In a 13×9-inch baking pan, melt margarine in oven. Sprinkle crumbs over the margarine (or butter). Mix together and press into pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumbs. Top evenly with remaining ingredients. Press down firmly. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool thoroughly before cutting. Store, loosely covered, at room temperature.

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