The Lost Forests of New England: Eastern Old Growth

The story of New England's ancient, old growth forests... what they once were, what changes have taken place across central New England since European settlers arrived, and what our remnant old growth stands look like today.
Features appearances by:
David Foster, David Orwig, Neil Pederson (Harvard Forest)
Tony D'Amato (University of Vermont)
Tom Wessels (Antioch University New England)
Peter Dunwiddie (University of Washington)
Bob Leverett (Native Tree Society)
Joan Maloof (Old Growth Forest Network).
See companion blog at www.neforests.com
Note: if you care to post a comment, please keep it on topic and relevant.
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[@jeremiahsawyer2123]

I live in Northern Maine and our land has been in the family for 100+ years. Untouched and has sooooo many beautiful super old different types of tree's. We actually own many acres on the backside of Haystack Mountain. A number of acres were sold off by my father about 20 or so years ago, but thankfully the people just cleared enough land to put their house on. My son and I spend alot of time out at camp snowshoieng, camping, winter camping in the tents, and just playing around in the woods. We love it

[@jeremiahsawyer2123]

We have many hemlock that are absolutely huge...And all of our land looks identical to these forests shown in the video that were discovered in Massachusetts. So many unbelievably huge rocks, ferns, TONS of salamanders, moss, many huge varieties of mushrooms and so on. It's absolutely beautiful.

[@jokers7890]

your family should gift that land back to natives....it is stolen....100+ years does not make it old growth.

[@chrstfer2452]

Youre very lucky

[@matthewbyrns1032]

So Lucky. Enjoy

[@creatednordestroyed5339]

how many acres. good for you, most families sell off for new living and they bulldoze for a walmart

[@la7era1u54]

Growing up, I spent nearly all my time in a forest like this in western Maine. If I wasn't in school, I was in the woods. I miss everything about it, the sounds, the smell, even the feel of the forest floor. It has always been perfection to me and very spiritual. I loved to just sit and enjoy the peaceful calm

[@kathleenann631]

Thks for ur comment. U no doubt remember "feeling" the trees' presence.

[@christopherfox9433]

I waited to get back into the forest until I retired five years ago. Don't make the same mistake I did, it's there waiting for you. Visit it, you'll be glad you did.

[@Ujvi89721]

Man, I love trees! I really wish to visit these old growth forests once in my life.

[@rydplrs71]

Hiking the Appalachian trail through New Hampsire and Maine will cross some. I’m a detail person and I have seen all these scenes. There’s a lot that’s been logged, but when repeatedly approaching the tree line you can tell alot of areas are untouched. When the trails decend into gorges you can tell original growth from pockets that have logging history.

[@daveharris5390]

Old growth forests are amazing.

[@RiptideGaming_GXT]

As a kid i grew up on a mountain top in Vermont. Had several areas of forests that I use to play in as a kid that were old growth. let me tell you...there is something very primal, eldritch about an old growth forest. You spend enough time in one, and you start to feel like you, a human, doesnt belong in that forest. Its a very strange and unnerving feeling.

[@maxpollard6959]

i know exactly the feeling you are talking about, i have felt it before in the mountain i grew up on. i have later learned that indigenous peoples respected the personality of lands- some may be lived upon, some may be hunted upon, and some are to be undisturbed.

[@bluewaterpines8323]

At 68 years i can tell many stories of old growth i encountered as a child who wandered the woodlands daily . In my front forested yard alone i had black walnut , hazelnut, and towering white pines as far as one could see. The quail, pheasant, red fox, and many other species were so abundant. Under one big pine grove i counted nearly 40 quail one day feeding. The wild blueberries filled our little pails and jack-in -the pulpit was always a favorite find. When i came upon a stand of chestnut or beech , my heart filled with 4 year old wonder. There i would lay with my black shepherd yogi and sleep away. Yes, i worried my mother terribly. Beech nuts are delicious.

[@Bernacide]

Thank you for this beautiful summary! Felt like I was there myself! 😊

[@aaronlohr8477]

Beech nuts are a b*tch to get the meat out.

[@dortesandal4303]

♥️ beautiful.

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Something so warm and comforting in a forest like that. Makes you want to snuggle up in a bed of leaves there and really relax. Its so comforting.

[@rubynoils2872]

In the arms of Mother Nature all is well.

[@davidrn2473]

In 1973 I was working at a high adventure summer camp, I taught climbing and the last week (of 3 weeks) was a backpacking trip. I took my group, and we met up with another group in the Presidential range of the White Mountains. The other leader had spent years in those woods, we were hiking along, and he stopped us, thought for 4 or 5 minutes, then said, lets go up this side trail. We were well off the beaten path, and I was surprised on why he wanted to go in that direction. We stopped at a hill side and there was a Birch tree that was big enough around that 3 of us were required to reach around that tree. It was an old growth Birch, but unable to be cut down a hundred + years ago (when all these areas were clear cut for hay) because of the steep hillside. Still remember that tree, never could find it again, if it is still there.

[@NewEnglandForests]

David, sounds like it would have been a yellow birch. Large old ones like that are something special, aren’t they? I’ve found just one in a Massachusetts old growth forest that’s in that size category, nearly 13 feet in circumference (cbh). There are precious few like these left in New England, sadly.

[@davidrn2473]

@@NewEnglandForests Thanks for the info, I have had Birch trees in my yard, and they all died before they got to more than 15" circumference. That is why I remember a Birch that was enormous to me, and still is, almost 50 years ago. Is a Yellow Birch still white? If I remember correctly, I sure thought I remembered the tree was white. (but...well...my age)

[@NewEnglandForests]

David, yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) is a different species than white (or paper) birch (Betula papyrifera). As a younger tree, its thin bark is a silvery yellow (it’s also known as silver birch), and tends to curl into ribbon-like strips. When it gets old and large, like the one you remember, the bark gets more rugged looking and loses that ribbon curl characteristic; most people probably would not easily recognize it as a yellow birch unless they could see younger bark high up in the crown. You might like to see our film “Birch, Sweet Birch” (kzbin.info/www/bejne/aobbZXaXgNGerJY) to see examples. Also, you can see the yellow birch I spoke of in this blog article: newenglandforests.blogspot.com/2016/12/champion.yellow.birch.html?m=1 It’s possible the tree you remember was a white, but that would really be exceptional. I’ve never seen one close to 12’ circumference.

[@theGentlemanCaller73]

I love features like this. This is why KZbin was invented. Thank you.

[@Jayamidon]

I hang out in a 120 year old forest that won’t be touched because it’s a fish hatchery in the Berkshires. It’s truly a healing sanctuary.

[@TheJuicyNugget]

I'm from The Berkshires, lots of beautiful forest around the county! There's a little snippet on Stockbridge Bowl that's supposedly virgin, definitely some big old beauties down there.

[@blakespower]

this was a great documentary, and this is what documentaries used to be about Science and nature

[@antiNuetron]

Very interesting. I live in Maine and once in a while I'll come across a single big old tree in the forest.

[@patdud]

Just took a hike up Mt Sunapee in new hampshire and at about 2200 ft you enter an old growth area of Red/Black Spruce and Balsam Fir. Its incredible to walk through these old forests because they just feel so natural and wild. the temperature drops like 10 degrees too, its amazing to see.

[@lisapratt166]

Their almost every where’s up around there ;) just have to know where to look

[@chipworkhard4777]

There is indeed some amazing old growth in Harvard, MA and it’s surrounding towns of Bolton, Berlin, Lancaster etc. Spent much of my twenties getting lost in that vast web of trails and other conservation lands. So well kept and preserved by people who are committed to fighting this most noble fight. Here is my little salute to them!

[@jareddlockwood]

I’d love to know more about the old growth you’re referring to. I have found some remarkable individual trees in Harvard, Bolton, Lancaster, etc, but never a forest that strikes me as bona fide OG. Which trails or conservation lands would you recommend I check out?

[@roberthrodebert9263]

Are the trails you speak of open to the public? What are their names?

[@shiitakestick]

something about Harvard planting trees meant to be harvested in 100 or more years to serve as replacement timbers for the university buildings..

[@thomasjamison2050]

At one point in the 1990's, I bought an Audobon book on trees. It had profiles of all the different trees. Eventually, I came to realize that all the printed profiles of the trees in the book were only of very immature trees, all the truly aged ones being long gone. And as a side note, there exists outside of Philadelphia a state forestry building in the middle of suburbia. On the wall is a cross-section sample of a mature white pine that is eight feet in diameter.

[@josephboxmeyer5730]

I do not own a large forest here in central Pennsylvania (Penn's Woods), but now of advancing years I worry on how to protect it. Since moving here it has bothered me to see the condition of EVERY piece of woods that has been timbered. The soil is thin enough and by my estimate requires generations to accumulate mere centimeters. But after cat tracks have been everywhere to get the trees and access roads plowed all that is left is clay. The logging companies brag of "increased wildlife grazing and habitat" and "increased plant diversity" . Well, sure the weeds and stickerbushes are impressive. But I cannot imagine ever again seeing the huge oaks and other trees. And I already have the deer, bear, mountain lions, foxes, wild cats, etc. My brother has wisely,I think, recommended selectively cutting trees and having an Omishman haul them with a horse team. Those hooves don't move all the soil. It makes me nervous that men will buy land only to timber it and pay for the land with that timber. Not much left but clay and weeds. I welcome input. But you vultures I don't need to hear from.

[@SuperReznative]

Vultures, same here in Sask 🇨🇦, farmers & foriegn ownership) , have been clearing and grabbing every acre they(real estate, can, with gov. incentive. Forests regulate weather and attract rain, ironically we have been in drought conditions the last few years.

[@matthewgauthier7251]

I feel your angst. Grew up in opposite corner of country. San Diego County. Little to no logging at least when I lived there. But had the privilege of walking in canyons with 1000 year old oak trees. Traveled alot in the north west. I noticed that the logging roads the public had access to as they were on federal land, were now gated and posted. Walk a a few hundred yards off of the highway through the forest and too often its clear cut back in there. Looks great from the road though in your motor home.

[@nicktozie6685]

Bless you,keep what your doing

[@GinaBurlingham]

Old grown forrests are sacred and must be reverred and protected.

[@frederickphelaniii3733]

52:50 Exactly Humans the great destroyers of the natural world….may you All share the fate of these forests 💫

[@joeisslow1638]

I lived in the Berkshires for 20+ years, I lived literally 3 minutes from one of the places in this video, Campbell's falls. Massive old growth hemlock are in that area. It is majestic to be in a forest that you know is so old !!

[@roberttuss5349]

I gotta go check that out, man.

[@xeverettx2564]

Very, very, cool documentary!!! Being a fly fisherman, and a bow hunter I spend many an hours awood. To me paradise is finding an old growth Forest with a small to medium size mountain stream filled with with small native brown and brook trout. Average size probably 8-9 inches and as big as 12. Those beautiful bright orange yellow bellies and fin tips unlike trout that are farmed and then stocked. Those colors against the clear waters, blue skies, and the green of the white pines and cedars and the contrast it creates is truely a miracle of life. People always ask me how I spend hours on end chasing little fish that are only 10 inches and how it could possibly be any fun. Well if you nymph in small mountain streams you know exactly what it’s like and the thrill it brings. Just being n those old growth forests is like the perfect dream scape. To all the fisherman out there be it spinning reel or fly reel definitely look into getting a 2-3 weight 7ft. rod using a one pound tipit tied to your leader using beedhead nymphs with barbless hooks as to not damage these very delicate fish. It greatly decreases the risk to them and makes it more challenging and sporting for the angler. It’s equivalent to catching big 10 pound small mouth with a little 2 pound test ultralight on a 4’9 rod. Okay that was quite the digression but yes old growth equals amazing! New growth also equals beauty!! Get out in the forest and hike, fish, swim, hunt, just always remember to leave things the way they were. Pack out all gear and trash, don’t move around a lot of rocks and branches, basically try to the natural habitats exactly how you found them. Even if you pick up a rock on the bed of the stream to check what creatures are there that the fish would be feeding on so you know what fly to use just make sure to wet your hands and grip the rock on the edges as to not disturb any of the echo system clinging to the underside of that rock. Then place it gently back how you had found it. These ecosystems are a very delicate balancing act that effect from the smallest speck of a bacteria all the way to the top of a 200 year old white pine! Everything working in harmony. I know some of this stuff seems like over the top hippie bullshit but hey my forbearers introduced me to the woods and left it’s legacy to me to be a steward of so I feel we must do the same for the coming generations of so they may enjoy it like we did! And I don’t care how cool someone tries to act and if they say the forest is stupid and boring they are lying lol hahaha!!! 🌒🌕🌘🍂🍄🐌🦊

[@GuantanamoBayBarbie2]

Thank you for not interrupting your documentary with commercials!!

[@NewEnglandForests]

You’re quite welcome, they annoy me too. Note that KZbin reserves the right to show them whenever they choose, however. -Ray

[@GuantanamoBayBarbie2]

@@NewEnglandForests that's what made the lack of them so surprising! The documentary was a pleasure to watch, so informative. Out here in the PNW (Oregon,specifically) we love our big trees and old growth areas. It broke my heart to see so much burn the last couple summers.

[@yankeewatchdog7299]

Me being an old NH boy, my family came to Dover, NH, in 1635. They were sawyers from the get go. I'm the 15th or 16th generation to be here. I'm also a wood worker. The house I grew up in, was at one time a sugaring business, back in the day. We had sugar maples with 40 inch trunks, all over the property.

[@jeanninecathcart627]

Southern forest suffered the same fate. Many species of animals were wiped out. The Florida Panther barely survives. The last eastern blue bird I ever saw was dead, it flew into the glass window of a super market and broke its neck. The Carolina Parakeet use to crowd the skies in huge flocks but was wiped out by farmers because it ate the corn crop.

[@davidgovatski873]

An exceptionally well produced film on the value of old growth forests in New England. This should be required viewing for students of forestry or environmental science and also land managers. The film not only captures the ecological value of old growth forests but the mystical value of these places for our soul. I hope that if funding can be found that the producer will consider a second film on old growth forests of northern New England where spruce is often more common than hemlock.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Hi David, thank you. You won't get any argument from me on any of those points! :) We do have other films in mind, though not in northern New England. It takes a large commitment of time to do a reasonable job of capturing old growth scenes, and it would be difficult for us to travel there enough times to do that. Wish we could! Ray

[@goognamgoognw6637]

I had the same thought, this should required viewing for everybody getting a driving license.

[@HammockerSam]

I don't know how I found this channel, I wasn't looking for it, but I have learned a lot and I am enjoying it very much

[@arielphf]

Omg, old home week! I was a graduate student in Forestry at UMass in the late 80's under Bill Patterson and the names of the interviewees and images (that Harvard diorama!) in this piece kept pricking my memory circuits! Then Peter Dunwittie came on and he was the burn boss on a prescribed fire we did on Martha's Vineyard ('88, I think). Too cool! I went on to work as a forester in central PA and have documented a couple of old growth remnants in Centre County. I'd love it if someone did a project like this in PA. Thank you! I am really enjoying the program.

[@keesdenherder9396]

Thank you very much for this story of the old forests, it gave me a number of new insights. I am from the Netherlands and we have changed most of our country several times in 500 years time, so we do not have old forests. The word Holland comes from Holt-land, which means Wood-land: 400 years ago most oaks were used for building sailing vessels and our forest became grassland. Now most people think a forest is old when the trees are 100 years old. Forest management in State owned forests is now concentrated on improving ecological value, f.i. by replacing firs (planted around 1900 for construction wood in the coal mines) by deciduous wood (oak, beech, chestnut etc.). Although old wood is often not removed any more from the forests, the forest very often looks young. Timescale of humans is so short that basically most people can't understand forests and trees. The new scientific findings about forest-ecology (the role of fungi !) are very important. Yes, most citizens are not interested in forests, they are not interested in ecology not even in the ecology of their own body. WIthin 20 years people in the USA and other western countries will understand why bacteria and fungi (mainly in our gut) are so important for our health and they will say goodbye to the Standard American DIet for that reason. That will be good news for the tropical forests in the Amazonas too, but what remains is not clear because of the enourmous scale of deforestation (for livestock and soy: cheap burger meat). The world looks like Isengard, using wood in our furnaces of "progress", so carry on with the good work of finding new scientific results about old forests.

[@MaineOffGrid.]

There are some old growth pines in Norway Maine. The Ordway Grove. Massive, massive pine trees.

[@corkcamden9878]

I had a professor in school, Dr. Stanley Gemborys, who devoted his summers to studying one of the only first growth forests remaining in North America. A finer man I never knew.

[@adriamoffatt5821]

Where was this forest?

[@Wjbnolan]

This video was like therapy. So calming.

[@thomasmcdonald5887]

I live in Tennessee, in my county we had about 10 acres of old growth, in a little town called Gadsden . The lady who owned it died. When the government found out what the trees were worth , they gave the family who inherited them two choices. Pay for back taxes on the value of them , or cut them and give the money to them. They had no choice but to cut them. For no value to the true owners. I went out there and on one of the 10 foot wide white oak stumps I counted 525 years and still had a circle about the size of a old 33 record left. So the big ones were 600 years old or more. One of the saddest days of my life. Never forget people standing around watching them falling. One old man with mental issues would wave bye to each tree as it fell. It was so devastating for everyone watching. 😞

[@theamericanforester]

I'm so sorry that you had to witness it. I appreciate your truth

[@jugghead-1975]

Wow... should be someway to protect those old stands ! Gotta be

[@nicktozie6685]

Disgusting

[@johnallenismynameandmusici2796]

Before the trees there was the fungi. Mushrooms and fungus construct a unique root system that makes the soil conducive to growing grass and trees. I live near the Redwoods in northern Cal and when you walk amongst them you feel like you are in a church cathedral. The sunlight comes to the forest floor in rays and they may only get sun for a few hours a day, but man do they grow. I would recommend that every person see these redwood groves as there is nothing else like them.

[@YeszCore]

Thank you for making this wonderful documentary. As a new Englander who loves to take strolls in the woods, I found it moving to see just how much biodiversity our forests are missing. I hope more conservationist movements supporting the return of old growth forests can “take root” in the following decades.

[@kdavis4910]

It's starting in Maine. The goal is to protect forests from the mountains to the oceans.

[@baxter2413]

What a magnificent presentation and description of an old growth forest. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience these special places while backpacking. These forests provide a soul soothing, peaceful and magical experience to the extent that I just never want to walk away from. Thank you!

[@paulskopic5844]

I grew up playing in the woods in Western Mass. and this video brings back many happy memories.

[@blueforest2927]

I grew up in Greenfield mass...theres still some nice forest's and places left in that area...i live in south east ct now...i really miss western mass tho ! ! !

[@bsunny2417]

this video is a goldmine of old growth info that's so hard to find elsewhere, I keep coming back - the examples of old growth characteristics are so useful

[@NewEnglandForests]

Hi, and thank you for your comment. Lost Forests was intended to bring awareness of the old growth remnants we have in New England, and how important it is to preserve them and set aside more forest to eventually become OG again. We realize too that it’s difficult to recognize old forests (it certainly was for me), because there are misconceptions about what they look like. So, we’re working on another film that will concentrate more on the characteristics of eastern old growth...what to look for, etc. It will take some time to accomplish, but hopefully will be very helpful to those who are interested in honing their ability to identify old growth. Stay in touch. Ray

[@bsunny2417]

@@NewEnglandForests Fantastic! I can't wait to watch that film! It is such an interesting topic to me.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Is there anything specific you'd like to see?

[@nathanielanderson4898]

We need to stop clear cutting the land. The old growth forests are our most valuable natural resources.

[@BluRibTac]

New England has sustainable forestry down pretty good.

[@bennichols561]

Nobody clear cuts old growth forest anymore. They clear cut plantations

[@falfield]

Marvellous programme - thoughtful, informative, well-presented. Greatly appreciated here in Old England, where we have had similar scant regard for our old trees. Here: our great population density and rapacious consumption; our pathetically risk-averse attitudes; our obsessions with human youth, with tidiness, with control; and finally the minimalism and neatness of form that is our current fashion in aesthetics....all of these factors have combined with TERRIBLE consequence for our natural world in general and our veteran trees in particular. Worst of all, Joe Public continues to live in blind ignorance of all this, giving politicians and loggers free license to continue their exploitative ways.

[@dougcameron585]

Unsurpassed beauty, immensely important to conserve.

[@JorgeGonzalez-sx7fk]

Theres some incredible old growth beeches, white oak, and sugar maple in southwestern CT

[@chuckhiccox8086]

A very informative documentary. As a former arborist and U.Mass Stockbridge School of Agriculture graduate I can really appreciate this documentary. There is nothing more profound than walking through and ancient forest , we’re very fortunate to still have a few acres left .

[@peterrosaschi8726]

This was a pleasure to watch. It brings back a lot of memories of playing in the forest as a kid. Thanks for putting this video together.

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

Fantastic video. In Arizona, commercial logging companies are still cutting down old growth Ponderosa Pines near the Grand Canyon. Some trees more than 300 years old have been felled. The US Forest Service overlooks the deforestation program.

[@Veldtian1]

Nauseating to know that.

[@timmynormand8082]

The fox watching the hen house

[@rockjockchick]

So sad

[@sherriianiro747]

Similar situation out west when the National Parks were being developed and all it took was citizens calling their state senators to get action to stop and it did. Unlike today, back then people held their elected officials accountable to do their job for the people & I hope more people today realize that.

[@almofo2237]

Awsum doco . A far cry from the rainforests and eucalypt forests in Australia . I enjoyed seeing the N.E oldgrowth and i cant fathom how people could not preserve at least sum of the old growth on the lowlands and midslopes . Too many people see forests as a homogenous mass . Not different forest types on differing geography and soil types . I know a lot of those people . Sum of them loved ones .

[@jomama5186]

These are precious places. To be protected. No replacement cost.

[@jk1776yt]

That Black Gum (26:34) is truly astounding! The White Ash is one of my favorites too. Thanks for a great show. High calibur video shots!

[@anthonymorales842]

I find pockets of old growth while bushwacking for native trout, It's astounding the complexity and thickness of the floor mat. These areas have a very primal feel and of course the trout are keenly aware of any creature that appears as a predator. for me it is a spiritual experience

[@NewEnglandForests]

We're working on a film about eastern old growth characteristics, which should help you to recognize old forests.

[@marynollaig4124]

In Irish small rivers trees fall across from bank to bank. When floods occur, the water gouges out a pool under the three trunk and trout breed in these pools which are covered by the tree trunk itself.

[@kdavis4910]

Biodiversity is biosecurity for all species. All old growth forests should be protected through conservation efforts and protected as a matter of national security. You should check out Paul Stamets because he works almost primarily in old growth forests.

[@michellebeckstrom6110]

very intuitive and intelligent statments. I wish more people were like you.

[@ericgulseth74]

I went on a hike in the Ferris Wilderness Area of the Adirondacks with my son a few years ago. Its a relatively unknown hike off a dirt road to an unassuming waterfall, but along the way, we saw one of the largest hemlock trees I have ever seen. We sat in amazement for about 20 minutes enjoying the Grove of trees that included this massive tree. Ive watched this presentation a few times now over the past year. Fantastic work. This type of content is why I almost watch KZbin exclusively now.

[@jamessupernor6681]

I'm fortunate here in NH that I have some old-growth forrest right across the street .

[@75blackviking]

It's great to know that there are experts like the narrator of this video that take time to understand this vitally important topic. Our survival as a species begins with a clear understanding of our dependence on all other biological systems on the planet.

[@pepta]

What a wonderful video! Fascinating for this New Zealander to learn something about the trees and other species of New England. It also impresses on me how awesome and complex nature is

[@Ralphsearsart]

Beautiful east forest with so much diversity. I live in West Vancouver Canada where I have four 120 year old fir trees that reach higher then our 7 story apartment. There are a few1200 year old fir tress higher up 5 minutes from here that because of their location escaped the saw. I love hiking and gathering a few Chanterelles in October. I feel so fortunate to live close to the forest. Really enjoyed this video, thank you.

[@irk7153]

Beautiful story well told. I am a fan and supporter of the Old Growth Forest Network. Funny how this video found me. I did not find it. Now go for a walk! In the woods!

[@NewEnglandForests]

Thanks, and thank you for supporting Joan Maloof’s vision at the Old Growth Forest Network!

[@theothersidenumber9307]

Beautiful old growth so important.

[@covidinfectedmonkeypox6775]

I like to walk around the forest and hug trees 😍

[@davidlcaldwell]

Fantastic Nature Documentary. I Love Trees. Thank You.

[@809FILMS]

We own a 1200 acre farm that’s never been logged in it’s time we have black Elms 6-8 feet in diameter. Healthy as all can be we are currently growing 314 saplings from the black Elms since they are almost extinct in Maine

[@NewEnglandForests]

I’m not familiar with “black” elm. Is that another local/common name for slippery (or red) elm (Ulmus rubra)?

[@809FILMS]

@@NewEnglandForests ahh yes haven’t heard that name in a long while! But that’s what we call them here my gramps is trying to bring them back on the farm

[@809FILMS]

@@NewEnglandForests not sure why we called it black Elms to be honest but that’s what they call them on the ridge here

[@bt8406]

Would be wise to ensure theres diversity kept up there, if the system is to be healthy!

[@theCosmicQueen]

@@809FILMS maybe he should go check them out, as maybe it's a local species.

[@jeromegagnon8335]

Best documentary I watched in a long time. Thank you for that

[@tanakeilidh384]

Beautiful, beautiful film. Thank you

[@NatureShy]

I am in love with our old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, and I noticed how fairly similar those old growth forests in the east coast looks like to our more typical older forests. It doesn't even have to be like our old growth, but rather forests that have been protected by wilderness designation or the roadless land rule. I also didn't even realize the east coast even had old growth trees that exceeded 5 ft in diameter, like we do typically. Over here, I usually imagine old growth forests with trees of around 7+ ft diameter, 5 ft minimum maybe. A lot of similar characteristics of those forests we have here, such as the diversity of tree structures, diversity of tree species, lack of invasive plants, nursing logs, dead tree snags, wind-beaten trees, more moss, softer ground, and logs fallen into creeks. Unfortunately, we lost most of our old growth too. Today, only about 3% of forests in Oregon, and about 5% in Washington are considered old growth. So when we fight to protect our remaining old growth, we're basically fighting over the last slice of the pie. I sure wish loggers in the 20th century could have left us at least ONE old growth Douglas-fir exceeding 400 ft tall. Hundreds of records mention douglas firs that were logged and measured, that exceeded 400 ft in length when cut, with the tallest in Whatcom County, WA, at around 475 ft. While still somewhat anecdotal, there seems to be more basis for them being possibly true. For one, those 400+ footers were all found and logged off in the low river valleys, which were cleared and turned into farmland or developed into cities (Portland used to be covered in massive old growth forests that grew along the Willamette River). All the old growth Doug firs that remain, exist in untouched river valleys or steep mountain slopes. Hardly any old growth forests exist anymore in the lowest river valleys, now developed into rural and urban landscapes. Being a far more favorable and ideal climate down lower where they were logged off first, the likelihood of some of them exceeding 400 ft has to be more likely. Sometimes I have to wonder if Douglas firs could have been the tallest trees on Earth, over the Coastal redwoods, if only just one of those 400+ foot trees remained. (Unless of course, perhaps the Coast Redwoods themselves also once exceeded 400 ft tall before most of them were logged off; considering only something around 3% of the old growth redwoods remain, I figure that there's a pretty good chance some of them also exceeded 400 ft. However, the hundreds of historical documented references of 400 footer Douglas firs does seem to make the Douglas fir's case more likely. I also understand about the theoretical limit for tree heights to take up water, but with how little old growth (of either Coast redwoods or Douglas fir we have left), I really wonder if there is some truth to those historical height records.

[@nicolettewestdinnerparty6275]

Yes dear one totally same vibe Out here in New England just on a smaller scale. Your old growth out west is so amazing in giant I feel so small. East Coast New England is amazing

[@fredjohnson2360]

I've lived in Maine over 50yrs and the forests are embedded in my DNA. I have traveled extensively and this place calls my soul to come home if I'm gone to long. It's a piece of heaven on Earth.

[@jokers7890]

i agree but too bad theres no real old growth remaining......meaning if Maine was still all old growth it would be exponentially better than it is now even and it should be.....Maine, like almost all of the U.S. is a tragic wasteland of reforested land lacking life....even the great plains have been destroyed with toxic commercial farms

[@grandmajane2593]

I'm with you, Brother . They moved me away from the ocean, rocks, trees and everything I loved when I was 11 years old and I have never gotten over the pain of it (80) years. I never could find my way back because of all the people and circumstances in my life.

[@grant3062]

I love old growth forests. I live on property in western Oregon, and there are some amazing Old growth Douglas firs still left (my property was logged some decades ago). You can’t help but wonder how many people have stood at the base of that tree you are, what year it was when it was just a seedling, and how many years it will last after you.

[@scottyfox6376]

If I could time travel back in time im pretty sure I would literally cry to see ancient forests & giant trees.

[@forrestperkins6237]

It's all still here, you may just have to look far.

[@900bcy6]

Do not despair. New England is more forested today than it was in the 1800's. Stone walls can be seen here in RI among the reforested woodlands.

[@eatwhatukiii2532]

Yes, our forests are THICK but it’s extremely rare to see the HUGE old-growth trees encountered by the original European settlers. They came in and cleared vast areas for crops and pastureland, those stone walls marked the edges of fields when they were cleared of stones so the fields could be plowed or used for pastureland.

[@DieFlabbergast]

"1800's"?? Is that the real 1800s, i.e. the ten-year period from 1800 to 1809? Or do you actually mean the 19th century?

[@jokers7890]

lol that is a lie.... almost all of new england was deforested and reforested.....there is almost zero old growth remaining

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

We have pockets of American chestnut growing in Michigan. Great stand of old Growth in Aral Michigan. It was a park so it didn't get cut down.

[@kathyrastley2170]

This was so informative! We purchased land in central Mass and have placed it in Chapter 61A (I think that’s correct) I want to be a caretaker of this land. It’s a slice of paradise and I feel honored to care for it 😊

[@NewEnglandForests]

Kathy, you may really appreciate the Tom Wessels series on this channel as well. Best of luck enjoying your land.

[@albertgerace4295]

A wonderful work needed to make available the education of forest studies which was always in my interest and should be good for all who are interested!!

[@fieldofsky3632]

the forest is our common ancestor; like the wisest and oldest of grandparents; loving, powerful; sometimes stern but always just.

[@anoldgryphon]

I went to school with Ms. Qwimby, who became a BILLIONAIRE with Bert's Bees. She's the largest landowner in Maine and has given most of her holdings to the state.

[@AudioPervert1]

So nice that people make this films and put them out for public for free.. Kudos! Long Live Trees! Even if we do or don't///

[@Cerceify]

I once lived just up river from the Embreevile Poor House in Chester County P.A., established about 1804. It became an asylum, but most of the patients were gone. There was a hollow filled with huge, beautiful white barked Beech trees. A stream ran through it and the understory was filled with dogwoods and big white boulders I think were soapstone .The boulders actually looked like white skulls sticking up out of the brown leaves on the floor of the hollow. It was like entering Nature's Cathedral. I went on vacation, returning to see the state had allowed a contractor to come in and cut all those 200+ year old trees down!

[@a-aron14]

I know that area well. When was it cut down?

[@waynegraham7611]

Beautiful fall forest in New England I’d love to see them in real time not just video but it looks amazingly awesome!

[@rejjiecarter6548]

This documentary is so well done! Thank you 🙏🏽

[@NewEnglandForests]

Rejjie.. thank you for watching, and for commenting. Much appreciated!

[@kareneDallas]

Incredible documentary. These old growth forests are beautiful. The amount of destruction over the last 200 years makes the remaining forests truly precious.

[@jturtle5318]

400 years.

[@dortesandal4303]

Beautiful upload, thank you. I wandered some of your old growth as a Youth, I still remember the smell, my awe, the wonder of the Woods♥️

[@JohnnyPeacenic]

old growth forest will have giant trees that have fallen but most important it will have native flowers and plants that you dont see in other forest.

[@bathsheba56]

Makes me miss Massachusetts, and a chance to explore these forests.

[@silverload3622]

Living 20 miles from Boston I ask my wife whatcha think of moving out west?Yes!!! Where Montana Wyoming???NO !!!!! Western Mass Charlamont area off Rt2 lol true story

[@fisterB]

Very funny. I just had to look it up, seems like a nice place. There is a mountain resort with bike trails and such at Charlamont. Lots of forest too.

[@roberttuss5349]

Dorchester here. Like your wife, I do hope to get out west soon. Out west to the Townsend, Southwest NH area. Now, all I have is the Blue Hills, which are wonderful, and much of the info here is useful in understanding the stone walls and stone dumps found there.

[@DSesignD]

There are some seriously old trees in that area

[@krockpotbroccoli65]

One of my favorite things about being an umpteenth generation New Englander (Settled in Mass Bay Colony in the 1630s on my dad's side and 1710 in Maine on my mom's) Is that while the primordial forests are mostly gone, they live on as the structural timbers and floorboards of the countless structures still standing from the colonial era.

[@arislopes1924]

The northeast is such beautiful and historic place filled with sm history and natural beauty. It reminds me of the mata atlántica or Atlantic forest running along Brazil’s and South Americas east coast. Basically at the opposite end of the North Americas eastern deciduous forest but with similar history of plagued by colonization and sprawling urbanization

[@Johnonayacht]

In Portsmouth. RI is an old growth Beech Forest saved by the Vanderbilt family. The grandmother Beech just fell in a storm she was 375 years old.

[@84wister]

Such beautiful, interesting, and educational content thank you so much for creating this.

[@darcymcnabb9259]

I am from the west coast of Canada I found this video entertaining as well very informative on the east coast forests and on forests in general ...well done .

[@thatsalotofsodiumcoins1615]

I have an old growth hickory in my backyard I live in Connecticut it is truly beautiful an old stone wall runs no more than 10 feet from it it was probably alive when the wall was made I don’t know why they didn’t cut it too but I’m glad they didnt

[@goldenacres3269]

I own a table made from a "King's pine." It was branded by King's foresters to claim it for the King's navy. That means it was a huge (from your video, over 24 inches) before 1776. It was harvested in 1953 near Pittsfield New Hampshire. Those really old pine trees had an orange tint to the wood and were referred to as pumpkin pine. It is cherished by my family.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Very interesting. I’d like to see pictures of that. -Ray

[@thecaveofthedead]

What a tremendous film you've produced. I was not expecting something so broad in information and philosophical scope. Whoever worked on putting this together deserves a real pat on the back. This is a wonderful hour of KZbin well spent.

[@practicalman45]

I grew up in Western Mass., some places in this video reminded me of places I tramped around and spent time in the forest there, as a young man in the 1970s. Up around Leverett, North of Amherst, looked a lot like your old growth scenes. 🤫 😉

[@mrCetus]

I'm an aquatic ecologist I learned alot thank you!!

[@Chris-jm4zk]

Here in Southern New Hampshire I have a towering pine beside the house that’s more than 5 feet in DIAMETER beside the house. It’s magnificent and I’m amazed it escaped the kings axemen.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Chris... is it a multi-trunk tree? (My guess would be yes). If it's a single-trunk pine, THAT'S a tree we'd like to come and see! But open-grown (ie, not surrounded by other trees in a forest) pines very often have multiple trunks, typically as a result of the uppermost leader twig being killed by white pine weevils, and can be greater in girth than a single-trunk pine might be, due to the multiple trunks. You can find out more about the topic in two other films on this channel, "Eastern White Pine: the Tree Rooted in American History" (kzbin.info/www/bejne/mILWaKGlq9GpqqM), and "The White Pine Weevil's Life Cycle" (kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqrOno15iMulf5Y). Tom Wessels also discusses this in "Reading the Forested Landscape, Part 1" on this channel (kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJSvgq1jpLdpqdk).

[@Chris-jm4zk]

It’s a single tree and you’re more than welcome to come see it.

[@Chris-jm4zk]

I’m happy to send pictures to you if you’d like.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Yes, I'd like to see a photo of this tree. You can contact me by email using the "Contact Us" form at the bottom of any page at neforests.com -Ray

[@charleslacombe359]

@@NewEnglandForests I have read that much of the eastern US was covered with Giant American Chestnut and American Elm. It would be very interesting if you did a video on that also. Great Video, i learned quite a bit. For instance i would've had no idea that the 3 different looking barks were of the same species and instead were just different ages.

[@johannesswillery7855]

So refreshing to watch a video that is simply science.

[@chrisholmes6029]

God made the beautiful environment we enjoy. We ruin. Leave nature to itself and it takes care of itself. Science alone without understanding God's plans is worthless. We simply need to live in balance with nature by learning it's ways through observation and live in balance with it as the American Indians did in New England long before us. If men had done this when they 1st arrived here and not been take-over by there own selfishness and greed we would be living in a better balanced and well cared for land.

[@johnshields6852]

Interesting show, I remember as a kid driving to cape cod and all the trees were so uniform, without much wildlife, but never realized man cut down so many areas. The bark on those really old trees almost looks like the pattern of dinosaur armour

[@jamesguralski5156]

Awesome. I live in Massachusetts! I've seen some of these environments.. amazing how much rain these forests can hold.

[@robertscheinost179]

Really great video! I lived on an abandoned 300 acre farm in Mansfield, Ct. one mile away from UCONN in the early 1980's.there was a grove of White Pines (5 trees) that were around 100 years old. Second growth for sure but magical! On a scorching, hot day I would seek refuge from the heat. Just these 5 trees shaded about 1/4th of an acre. The cooling effect was about 10 degrees cooler. The most amazing tree on the whole property was a dead and standing Chestnut tree that I theorized was grown in an open clearing and even though the blight killed it in 1916-7, it still stood mighty with branches sticking out almost vertical from it's trunk, 3 or 4 feet thick where they left the trunk. I got a surveyor's tape to measure the circumference of the trunk and it was 68' 2''. I have no idea how old tree was but it had to be pre settlement. I was young then and thought that if I went to the Botanical Department at UCONN and told them about this tree and it's girth that they would smirk and say "Yep, we know", so I passed.I walked this land day and night and one night on a full moon an owl landed on a high branch of this standing Chestnut, perfectly framed in the center of that full moon. The image was magnificent! By 1987 the farm was sold and the whole area bulldozed for development. I wish I knew of any old growth in Connecticut, but I don't.

[@NewEnglandForests]

Hi Robert...68 feet?? Is that a typo? You might like to watch “The Cathedral Pines of Cornwall, CT” on this channel at kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoSqcql9j9iMjLc

[@creatednordestroyed5339]

such a shame. equally your fault for not buying and preserving it

[@matthewbyrns1032]

Very Sad

[@ryankiesow8440]

@@NewEnglandForests no its not a typo. He measured circumference not diameter you could do some math and get an estimate of diameter i forget what the formula is its been a few years since ive sat in a desk. Emphasis on estimate as the tree was probably oblong in shape at the trunk.

[@NewEnglandForests]

A tree of 68 feet circumference would be approximately 21.6 feet in diameter (circumference is "pi" (ie, 3.14) times diameter). That still puts the tree well beyond what I'd believe grew in CT. But I could be wrong.

[@paulscottfilms]

Same as the others thanks to all you people who have shown the energy to identify and help preserve and renew old forests

[@MrEyesof9]

There are also lots of old growth trees just west of the berkshires in the woods of New Lebanon NY many just behind the speedway/drag strip.

[@vincentrobinson9325]

Really great documentary

[@mikehunt8375]

I've lived in New England pretty much my hole life. I was born in Vermont. Lived in Upstate NY, New Hampshire, Maine, and Connecticut. Currently I live in Saranac NY. The forests i grew up in dont look the same anymore. I'm only 41 and every forest I've walked in in the past 10 years look dead and dying. Especially around here. There isnt a single live Birch tree around. Every maple has disgusting looking black growths on it with barely any leaves. I'm not sure what's going on but by the looks of things we wont have any forests in 10 more years. I dont want to hear climate change I'm not an idiot... Something is going on and it's more then just pollution although that's obviously a big part. It's sad. Sugar maples maybe have a couple more years... I haven't met a single person who even cares. People give me strange looks when they ask where I been and I say im in the woods. They cant even fathom why I would want to be out there and any explanation I give just gives me even funnier looks. The way I see it we're all screwed. TV programming has turned everyone into brainless zombies who are more concerned with getting sick then the dying sick trees we already have. Its a shame. I dont see any way out of this....

[@anotherdave5107]

Acid Rain?

[@MrChristianDT]

Sounds like a lot of what's going on in Ohio too, but we're not as bad as that. Weather is shifting away from a spring-winter cycle to a rainy-dry seasonal cycle. You keep going back & forth to extremely wet, flood-heavy times which encourages fungal growth (sometimes dangerous fungus) & puts trees through serious wind storm after wind storm as the rainy turns to dry & vice versa, then the droughts starve the trees. All that tends to weaken the trees & they fall. I've seen different fungal attacks in Ohio, but definitely more serious than normal, plus the same thing you describe with fallen trees- birch in particular. But, I'm more concerned with trying to clear out invasive species before they cause worse damage & replant. Doing that by myself could take years.

[@rasp6389]

Surface level ozone poisoning.

[@chrispony5000]

Geo engineering poisons and lack of sunlight and excessive moisture input and emf ? Those forests in New England seem ill, I dont remember it being so nasty when I was a kid but that was a long time ago.

[@lairdhaynes1986]

Here in the southern Appalachians the Woody Adelgid has been decimating the hemlocks. The formerly well shaded stream beds are now much more exposed to light. It's a depressing sight.

[@gangoffour6690]

New Hampshire here. Great presentation

[@LastTrumpRevelation]

I have been blessed to see some old growth areas in northeast Ohio in 20 years of land surveying, beautiful.