Please note: you are encouraged to comment and welcome to ask questions, but Tom does not monitor these posts and probably will not personally respond. -Ray
No, excuse me, but surreal is people exploring under that forest unknown to sunshine or starlight visits over wooded land. Because spelean growth is deeper than some people know.
And a similar experience should be a class in school. But they don’t promote that type of thing. That type of thing helps promote self reliance and real education and they don’t like that ;)
I have hunted and trapped my entire life. I thought I had an appreciation and basic understanding of the woods... I was wrong. You sir had my full attention for the entirety of this video and I was amazed at how ignorant I have been while walking the woods. Thank you so very much.
I have a friend who lives in southern Pa.and she has a full-grown American chestnut tree growing in her backyard. It has been estimated to be close to 400 years old and still produces nuts. She lets some of the nuts sprout in the soil around the mother tree and grow into 12" high seedlings which she then pots up and gives to her friends and visitors to take home and plant them where they live. It is an absolutely amazing tree and hopefully will be the progenitor for hundreds of other chestnuts to follow in her giant footsteps.
I'm very happy to hear the American Chestnut will recover. I wish I could live long enough to see them come back full force. I remember hearing about roasted chestnuts as a child and not knowing what they were.
You may not have ever tasted roasted American chestnuts, but just before Christmas, you can often go into the supermarket and get European chestnuts that you can roast. They are a singularly rare treat, and well worth trying. :). Even now, you can still occasionally find some in the supermarket in the cooler section, Alongside fresh produce.
This is fascinating. The pre contact eastern forest must've been a truly wondrous sight to see. It's weird having this nostalgic longing for a place I haven't any hope of ever experiencing as I was obviously born a bit late. 🙂 And too far west.
I get it too. It’s a weird feeling, missing something you have never experienced. It must have been incredible to walk this continent before the 1700’s.
I live in the PNW and I just have this longing to see it before the Oregon Trail, see the locals fishing the rivers, which must've been huge and abundant then, giant forests (a lot of trees are still pretty big here though), with the mountains rising above them all. The area is still quite beautiful but the original landscape must've been amazing.
Georgia man here. When I was a kid, I used to come up with ideas about trees like this. I haven't played like that in the woods for decades. I still enjoy seeing moss and disfigured trees. Now, with this series, I will understand a little more of what I'm seeing. Thanks for posting.
I have been hiking in the woods of PA my entire life observing old logging roads, stone walls, old stumps, etc. I thought I knew quite a bit about the history of the woods, but I have learned way more in the last hour watching these videos than I have in the last 40 years. Tom’s knowledge is really amazing. Great videos!
@@jollyjokress3852 I've used my belly to go under low roots and SRT vertical equipment underground following roots of surface growth. Re: National Speleological Society, and presently a 2022 member of the NSS Wyoming Grotto.
What an amazing discovery. An accidental click of a mouse and I have found answers to questions I wonder about everyday when I walk in my local woods here in Wales. I'm 68 and still learning. Better than school . Thank you Sir. Looking forward to learning more .
I very much appreciate pure knowledge, no bs, no subscribe, no "today we speak about.... sponsors...". Bless you man, you read the forest like a druid.
That last tree he spoke about was hella resilient. It took a second for me to even understand what happened before he finished speaking about it. Very cool.
I watched your video with my chesnut tree. It is 4 years old, well taken care of. Right now it grew spring leaves. Chesnut trees have the fastest growing wood of any hardwood trees. It is also why they can get so big. My chesnut tree produces a wonderful aroma that perfumes the air even without flowers. My chesnut tree grew from a chestnut that germinated.
This video series is a dream come true. Tom Wessel's books were an eye opening experience for me, but I find these videos to be even more easy to digest. They seem to enter my brain in a different way than the written word and book illustrations. Now these videos will surely get me visiting the books again with more of an underlay on which to build additional knowledge. There is so much to take in!! My current favorite activity is to practice my guitar fingerpicking patterns endlessly and mechanically as I watch this. I already feel things getting better in that department too! LOL!
Fascinating. I have been watching one piece of forest grow and change for 50 years. I have learned a lot about forests and tree growth, just from observing. You have confirmed things that I thought and shown me much more about it. My bit of rocky forest looks exactly the ones that you show, except that I have never seen such large birch. I spotted rings of oaks and figured that they had been logged. What's bothered me is all of the trees dying.
This man goes into the woods to talk about the forest. Bravo! I am a forestry graduate from Iowa State (a few decades ago) and you can't learn this in the classroom. I lived in eastern Virginia for about 30 years and now live in Lynchburg, VA. We have mixed hardwood in this area and a walk on the Blackwater Trail system through part of Lynchburg and out onto Percival's Island in the James River looks just like this. This system is well used and more cities would do well to fund and undisturbed, easily accessible area for walking, running and cycling.
Supposed to be finishing a research paper for an English writing class but I can't get enough of this content! so incredibly knowledgeable!!! I love just listening and learning. Oh how I would pay to see this in person...
I honestly think this "Reading the Forested Landscape" series is the most interesting video I have ever watched regarding our Northeast forests. ALL your videos are great actually. Thanks for putting all the time and effort into this, it's much appreciated by this fellow forest fan in Cattaraugus Country NY.
Your videos are the closest thing I have right now to being in the woods. Due to coronavirus I'm in my small city apartment dreaming of hiking. You've saved me. And I'm learning so much!
Hello Deirdre, thanks for that wonderful sentiment. I guess I’m one of the fortunate ones who can still be out in a natural setting during these trying days (or, months!). It’s gratifying to know that these films are helpful to you. There are more coming, but you’ll be wearing out a pair of hiking boots well before they’re ready, I’m sure. Be well. -Ray
Great video! As a dry stone wall builder for 25 years in New England I have read every book and article I could get my hands on about the history of dry stone walls in New England, so this information really helps me connect some dots that I have puzzled over for many years while out trying to decipher the history of the woods. Here in Maine the snow will be gone in a few weeks and I can't wait to use some of what I've learned from these videos to get closer to understanding the past. Thank you!
I can't believe it took me this long to discover all of these wonderful videos! Growing up in rural Southeastern Massachusetts I've always been fascinated by the forest. Tom is one of the most brilliant narrators I've ever heard... In addition to his clear mastery of the subject matter! I'm looking forward to watching them all!
I so wish this type of video could be done for the west coast, specifically the Pacific Northwest. This is amazing content. Thank you for doing this series.
I’m sure a lot of it is the same. Like seeing where logging or farming was done. You would have to adjust the winds since most of the winds would be blowing from the west (like for hurricanes possibly of other big storms), but most of it would be applicable to every forrest.
I started watching this video thinking it would be a good prompt for a nap, as I find certain RU-vid videos such as knife making and Wood lathe project videos fairly quickly put me in a drowsy mood. To my surprise, on what I would have thought to be a relatively mundane topic, this video was actually pretty fascinating and kept my attention for the entire nearly 20 minutes. I subscribed to the channel as a result, even though it meant that I’m probably going to have to wait until bedtime before I get any sleep today.
8:00 "Its hard to imagine trees of that size growing in our forests... and yet they did." What a powerful and unfortunate quote. To our forefathers the new worlds forests were vast and endless.
I have hiked woods all over the US, and as rewarding as each experience is, having this gentleman along the trail would be priceless. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion.
I lived in Charlton MA. most of my life and behind my house was a tree with a branch that grew into a tree right next to it connecting the trees. It looked natural to both trees. But upon close inspection you could tell what tree it was first part of before joining the two trees. Never seen this before and i spent my life in the woods. Love the nature and wonder of the trees/plants.
My son, who is six, loves things like that. Every time he sees trees that have grown together he gets excited and points them out. Once he spotted two trees that were intertwined while we were driving and asked me to stop. I couldn’t just then, or the next couple of times we passed the place. Finally, we were driving back from an appointment and though it was well below freezing we didn’t have to be anywhere so I pulled off the road. He gets out and goes bounding away through the park. When I catch up, he is standing next to two intertwined trees, that look like two people embracing. I say “wow that’s neat.” He punches me in the leg and says, “that’s you and mommy in the kitchen” and runs off back to the car. He had been saving that punchline for a while.
Great video...This is the type of thing that should be taught in schools The Chestnuts that were growing out of the remains of an older tree..How amazing is that? Thank you Sir
Thank you to the creators of the video and Tom for putting this level of education out. This is all fundamental information we all should understand about the places we live in and manage as systems within a landscape. What an incredible knowledge resource, and I am in a completely different eco region!
Wow! I have read many books about American woodlands and this video shows how important it is not to clear the forest because it is the fallen trees and stumps that rejuvenate it, while sustaining shrubs, perennials and groundcovers too. You see so many forested areas literally die out from no understory. Excellent series!
Very interesting. I live in a log home that is made up of Chestnut in the highlands of NJ. Beautiful large logs I'm taking were part of this salvage. There are many Chestnut log homes in my area that were vacation homes turned into year-round homes.
I share your sentiment. This is fascinating. It is truly amazing how interconnected the life in a forest is, especially when someone like this gentleman helps one see the connections clearly. I am not sure that you needed an almost in your statement!
I have found five or so different locations in the catskills that have chestnuts still growing. None of them are giants though. I'll have to go back and see if they are dropping seeds and if they are re-sprouting from old roots.
I have wandered around in woods and small stands of trees as far back as I can remember... grandad would go walking for mushrooms. These videos are the most dense information I have probably ever taken in. Lots of little things over years, and a lot of things I have seen and wondered why. Thank you for these videos they are much appreciated knowledge to be shared.
When I saw the thumb nail I assumed it was going to be about the way Indians marked certain things in the forest. Very interesting to watch and learn from from you. Thanks for sharing
As a New Englander, I just love and appreciate the information shared here. It's so clearly and well explained. Just enjoyable. Would love to walk the woods with Tom. With much gratitude.
Wow This man knows his trees. I love walking in the forest and knowing by looking and the trees and landscape what happened in the past but he takes it to an expert level. I would love to join him on a hike. I hope he is right about the American Chestnut tree making a comeback.
Hi William, Welcome to the region, it has a lot to offer. Tom Wessels has done a masterful job interpreting our forests, and this film is packed with great information. I hope you enjoy it and will be able to spend time in the woods applying the knowledge gained. Ray
That's great, walks can be so much more rewarding when you take the time to look at details in the forest around you. Have fun! And let us know what interesting things you find; you might inspire others to get out there and learn more too.
This should be mandatory curriculum in public schools. We need to understand and be able to interpret--and utilize--the information that land is presenting to us.
Holy cow. Three minutes into this and I will never look at the forest the same way. Haven’t thought of this in years but I remember being in a wilderness area within the George Washington National Forest, seeing a series of opposing scars on the base of trees and wondering what exactly had caused them. I know the area was once logged and marks from dragging trees out makes perfect sense now that I hear it. The area was so overgrown I just didn’t think of manmade marks, though they were almost certainly left before I was born! This video is like listening to an experienced forensic scientist take you through analysis of crime scenes.
My dad is a forester in Mississippi so I grew up surveying, marking and cruising timber. Never been to New England but I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Wish I could find someone who makes similar videos in Pacific Northwest forests as that is where I now reside. Thanks!
Check out the ring of stump sprouts that sprouted up after the felling of the John Muir redwood in California. It’s amazing that redwoods logged hundreds of years ago are still alive and kicking. They are incredibly difficult to kill
The lines in the callus wood is a pretty awesome fact! I will use that in my woods to get a better idea of the history. We are in the remnants of an oak savanna (no pines whatsoever), and a lot of our trees have stumps that last a very long time like white oak and black locust. We are doing our best to restore the oak savanna, so I find this video series fascinating! Our woods was hit by the emerald ash borer about 15 years ago, and we have stump sprouts of the as all over the place - as well as the last of the standing deadwood. We are out of the original range of the American Chestnut, but I planted blight resistant seed from the American Chestnut Foundation and have three that survived. I just splinted one on my RU-vid channel - the top of an ash killed by the emerald ash borer fell on it and pinned it to the ground 😐
Has Tom Wessels ever had the chance to meet with Bernd Heinrich? I like the idea of the two of them walking the woods together. They both seem to have such beautiful mycelial minds.
Extremely interesting. If you ever get a chance come and have a look at some of our remaining Australian forests, they're interesting places too. Some are so thick that if you went in six feet no one could see you.
I've wondered the woods of the highlands of the Mid-Hudson Valley since i was a kid old enough to go outside on my own (7 or 8) and I have seen all of the things Mr. Wessels talks about. So nice, fifty years on, to know the meaning behind what I've seen. Sincere thanks for the knowledge dump!
Oh my, you are very smart and I'm so glad I've found you as a resource. Thank you for what you're doing. How refreshing to find this topic and to start a new learning experience!
