On this date: 1904 news about upcoming plantings

On April 22, 1904, the Pentwater News printed a story, under it's "State of Michigan" section, "State Items of Interest", about the then-upcoming planting at Saginaw Forest:

Thirty-one thousand plants have been purchased for use on the Saginaw Forest farm of the University of Michigan. Planting operations will begin as soon as weather permits.

On this date: 2005 news about the return of forests

On this day in 2005, the Detroit Free Press ran a story ("Forests Return; Future Uncertain") about the return of forests in Michigan, and the author interviewed the then-caretaker for the article. Since the article is behind a pay wall, I will only use excerpts from it that are descriptive. As with previous references to caretakers, I will continue to only use initials.

Trees cover more of Michigan's landscape than a decade ago, but the growth may have more to do with quantity than quality.

...

[I]t's not necessarily towering stands of stately old trees that the word "forest" often conjures. Instead, it's typically early-stage growth of smaller, densely packed trees that fight vigorously with one another for sunlight and space. It will take decades for the slower-growing oaks and maples to take over such fields, providing the airy, shade-dappled forests that exist in many protected parts of the state.

...

[In Michigan, the] increase is part of a national trend that saw 10 million acres of forest added to the landscape [from 1990 to 2000], said Brad Smith, a U.S. Forest Service expert on the nation's estimated 300 billion trees - about 1,000 for every U.S. resident. "We're continually growing more than we're cutting," Smith said. "People think urban sprawl is eating all the forest - we can't say that."

But counting overgrown fields as forest can give a false sense of progress, said [M.R.], a forest service specialist with the Sierra Club's Michigan chapter.

"Yes, there is more forest, but it's like saying I had three Cadillacs once, and now I have nine Ford Pintos," said [M.R.], who also is caretaker of the 80-acre Saginaw Forest owned by the University of Michigan outside Ann Arbor. "Just because I have more cars than I did before doesn't necessarily mean it's more desirable."

The existence of both types of forest has spawned vigorous debate about how to manage them - whether to clear-cut more areas to provide young forest habitat conducive to hunting and logging, or pursue a more hands-off approach to allow hardwoods to thrive and provide the solitude and majesty found only in stands of towering trees.

...

Other factors, including better fire suppression, also have led to some increases in forest cover. But that's sometimes a double-edged sword: Oak trees, for example, sprout prodigiously in burned-over land, giving them an advantage over maple trees, which don't.

"We're not lacking for hardwood maple forests," said [M.R.]. "But we are lacking for oak savannahs."

...Michigan forests "are on the verge of recovering the beauty, grandeur and biological diversity which was the norm in Michigan before they were decimated," reads the Sierra Club's Michigan chapter Web site....

Mature forests also provide habitat for species that don't thrive in young forests, said [M.R.], such as moose, pileated woodpecker and the northern goshawk.

Snowy owl sighting?

I saw an owl flying through Saginaw Forest as I came home tonight. It was too dark to tell much from its silhouette other than it was an owl, and about the right size for it to be a snowy owl. This, of course, could have been me having snowy owls on my mind from the reported sighting almost 1 month ago. Imagine my interest when I saw this news story about snowy owls migrating southward in record numbers:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Apparently, there is an "irruption" of snowy owls. From the USA Today:

Scientists say the likely reason for the explosion is that the owls' chief food source, small animals called lemmings, was abundant last summer, allowing the adults to raise more young. Now, in search of food, young owls are heading farther south.

Although there are a few snowy owls spotted in Michigan every year, "I can tell you this winter is highly unusual," said Karen Cleveland, bird biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

...

By early December, there were 60 sightings in 10 lower Michigan counties and 34 in the Upper Peninsula, according to bird experts who track sightings.

New ones are reported almost every day, although some may be the same birds.

...

In Michigan, the owls mostly eat small voles, mice and rabbits. Some are healthy, but others are weak and stressed. As youngsters, not all are good hunters yet.

The birds are federally protected, and possessing them without a special permit is against the law. People should keep their distance from the birds and be careful not to disturb them, said Cleveland, with the state Department of Natural Resources. Spooking them causes them to use up energy and weaken them. Unless a bird is clearly injured, it shouldn't be disturbed, she said.

Well, the possible presence of snowy owls in the forest could explain why I haven't seen (or heard) too many small rodents around the cabin...

'Electronic' fishing is rapidly becoming surest way to find fish

Waaay back 1977, the Lakeland Ledger (Lakeland, FL) printed up a story about the new-fangled technology of using electronic gizmos to find fish. In this case, sonar units:

Sonar units are essential to locating most of the concentration points for fish... if you intend to do it in less than a lifetime!

What does this have to do with Saginaw Forest, though? Well, the article closes with a citation of a study that looked at dispersal of bluegill released in Third Sister Lake:

This inclination [of bluegill] not to wander [that was proposed by an Indiana study] was confirmed in another study on Third Sister Lake in Michigan. Of 27 bluegills marked, released, and later caught 12 had not moved at all and 15 had traveled less than 125 feet from their point of capture. Bluegills are just homebodies, it seems.

I can't speak to the methodology of the study (such as how did they track the fish, how did they account for bathymetry, what was their time interval between release and recapture, was Third Sister Lake effectively cut off hydrologically (when the lake level is low, almost no water flows west through the wetlands and into the adjacent property's pond), etc), but it's interesting to note that people had been doing fish behavior observational studies on Third Sister Lake. Perhaps more can be done in the future.

A day in history: Student outrage over 1,4 Dioxane

Way back on March 1, 1988, The Michigan Daily published an unsigned opinion piece about the 1,4 dioxane that was discovered under Saginaw Forest:

Polluters should pay

In 1986, 60 families living near the Gelman Science facility on Wagner Road in Ann Arbor were put on bottled water because dangerous levels of 1,4-dioxane were found in their wells by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It was also found that the chemical had been leaking into the groundwater beneath the Saginaw forest.

Numerous studies have shown that dioxane causes cancerous tumors in rats. It was also linked to birth defects at the Love Canal, a chemical dump.

Gelman has since hired three law firms to help them fight a State lawsuit for damages resulting from their irresponsible handling of dioxane. The company's lawyers have been trying every trick in the book to absolve Gelman of the blame.

Gelman's tactics are contradictory. Gelman refuses to admit that dioxane is harmful to people. At the same time, they maintain that Gelman is not at fault for damages resulting from dioxane because Dow chemical company, where Gelman obtained the dioxane, did not properly instruct them on how to handle it.

Whether or not Dow provided the proper instructions, it is ludicrous for Gelman to play the innocent victim in this case. The evidence suggests that Gelman knew that they were doing something wrong, and that they did it anyway. A company does not create the second worst toxic waste site in the state of Michigan by accident, according to the EPA.

• Gelman has known that there was a problem with the way they were disposing of dioxane for a long time. At least three times since February of 1981, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) distributed memos warning that dioxane was carcinogenit, and that the chemical could leak from its sewage lagoon and spray irrigation system into the groundwater.
• Two former employees of Gelman told the Ann Arbor News that they had been told to dump chemicals in what they thought was an improper manner.
• The company resisted performing studies and installing monitoring equipment that could have detected groundwater contamination before toxic chemical wastes migrated off company property.
• Gelman sprayed wastewater onto company land without a permit starting in 1972. It did not receive a permit for doing this until 1976, and this permit did not allow for spraying dioxane.
• Gelman has been extremely slow to deliver important data to the DNR. In July 1986, a hose carrying wastewater ruptured, spillint 18,000 gallons into the ground. Gelman didn't inform the DNR for 10 days, and the spill has still not been cleaned up.

Gelman exists to make a profit, and proper disposal of toxic waste costs money. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to monitor the activities of the private sector, and watchdogs such as the DNR lack the resources to deal with all the companies that are threatening people's health and lives. Moreover, it is the companies that can afford to hire the most lawyers, as well as the most expensive ones.

Everybody knows that a corporation will try to get away with whatever it can. But it has to be hoped that this will be one of those rare cases in which the company will be forced to clean up its own deadly, multi-million dollar mess.

Today, this remains an interesting piece of the history of Saginaw Forest. The caretaker back in 1987 wrote an entry about the "Gelman thing" -- something uncharacteristic in the tone of his entries (which mostly focus on stuff occurring inside the forest, and not wider issues). The relationship between the University of Michigan and PALL Life Science (who acquired Gelman several years ago) is normalized, and the extent to things that I've had to deal with PALL and 1,4-dioxane is quarterly monitoring visits from their techs and conversing with the security firm they hire to ensure that they know when SNRE students will be parking in their lot for the Homecoming campfire events. The only additional thing to this is when several monitoring wells were sporadically drilled from August 2010 until March 2011 (four sets of well holes drilled, three sets of wells installed). Hopefully, the "Gelman thing" will continue (with regard to Saginaw forest) to resolve itself into the future.

Origin of Saginaw Forest

Looking at a Google timeline for "Saginaw Forest", I came up with the following newspaper article from The Evening Argus on February 9, 1904:

The Saginaw Forest Farm

Eighty acres of land has been given to the University of Michigan to serve the needs of the department of forestry. The gift was made by Arthur Hill, of Saginaw, agent of the university, and one of the citizens of the state most active in the lumbering operations now nearly closed by the failure of the timber supply. This land will, it is hoped, be of great assistance in studies that shall in time result in reforestering those parts of Michigan and neighboring states that cannot more profitably be devoted to other purposes. The tract is situated a little over a mile west of Ann Arbor, about half a mile from an electric railway line. It is a typical piece of the low hilly land of the drift district, and contains as geart [sic] a variety of topographical and soil conditions as could probably be found in an area of this size. Its soils vary from heavy clay to sandy gravel, and in addition to its many other good features it contains a lake of clear water, 40 or 50 feet deep and covering 12 acres.

The tract is to serve as an object lesson in forestry and is planned to provide for: --

1. An arboretum of all useful forest trees suited to Michigan.
2. Demonstration areas for seed bed and nursery work.
3. Model plantation of forest trees.
4. Special experiment in forestry, such as the various methods of propagation of special kind [sic] of timber and the raising of particular kinds of forest poduct [sic], as well as for other practical purpose.

Owing to the important part that Saginaw has had in the lumber industry, the track has been christened "The Saginaw Forest Farm." -- U. of M. News letter.

Of the four points listed above, numbers 1 and 4 are really all that can be said to be continued from this original set of "object lessons in forestry". However, it's an interesting thing to come across the (I presume) original press release for the forest.

For those interested in the mention of the electric trolley (that was established before 1904, obviously), doing another web search for "electric trolley" and "Ann Arbor", I found a link to a book, Electric Trolleys of Washtenaw County, which describes their rise (in the 1890s) and fall (in the 1920s), to be replaced by buses.

History of Saginaw Forest -- as reported in 1953, 1958 and 1977

Looking at the historical account of Saginaw Forest — written in various encyclopedic surveys of the University of Michigan — one finds a very nice historical account from 1953 of the setup and initial planting of the property:

Shortly after the establishment of the Forestry Department in 1903, Arthur Hill, of Saginaw, former lumberman and Regent of the University, presented a tract of eighty acres to the University for the use of the department. The area is about four miles from the campus on West Liberty Road, and under the terms of the deed was designated as the Saginaw Forestry Farm. At that time part of it had so deteriorated that cultivation had been abandoned, and the remainder was still under lease for crop production. In 1904 several coniferous plantations were established on the idle part of the tract. Additional planting was done each year until by 1915 the entire plantable area had been covered. By 1928 fifty-five acres were in forest plantations, consisting of nine coniferous species and twelve hardwoods. The balance of the area comprises a lake of eleven acres, swampy ground, an arboretum, natural second growth on slopes that were never cultivated, and roads. Thirteen additional species were planted in the Arboretum. A detailed history of the various plantations by Professor Leigh J. Young has been published in Volume IX of the Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters under the title, "Growth and Cultural Experiments on the Saginaw Forest."

The 1958 encyclopedic survey noted a few additional pieces of historical information (in addition to the information presented above:

The Saginaw Forest — When the Forestry Department was established, one of the immediate needs was for land on which instruction and research in forestry operations could be carried out. The need was met by Arthur Hill, of Saginaw, a lumberman and Regent, who purchased an eighty-acre tract, two miles west of Ann Arbor, in 1903 and deeded it to the University, with the stipulation that it be used as a forestry demonstration and experimental area. The deed also specified that the official name should be "The Saginaw Forestry Farm." By 1919 the development of the plantations had reached such a stage that the name "farm" seemed inappropriate, so it was changed by the Regents, at the request of the Department of Forestry faculty, to "The Saginaw Forest."

Planting of the cleared parts began in the spring of 1904 and was completed in 1915. Later, some of the species proved to be unsuited to the sites on which they had been planted. Other species suffered serious damage from insects and diseases. Most of these unsuccessful plantations have been clear cut, and the areas have been replanted with different species. A few have been kept because of their demonstration value.

The total area of experimental plantations is fifty-five acres, with the balance of the area occupied by the lake, swamp, natural second-growth, roads, buildings, and a small arboretum. Most of the plantings are now so far advanced that the history of their development furnishes much information that can serve as a guide for future operations in reforestation in southern Michigan. Even the failures have been valuable in this respect.

During the summer and fall of 1915, a stone cabin was built for tools and materials and as a shelter for classes and work-crews in inclement weather. It was unfortunate that the need for a caretaker's residence could not have been foreseen, so that a design better suited to the present use of the building could have been adopted. In 1947 the building east of the cabin was erected as a garage and to furnish supplementary living and storage space.

In the hearts of many of the older alumni there is much sentiment for the old "Forestry Farm." It was there that they struggled with grub hoes and spades to establish the first plantations, while arguing vigorously as to the feasibility of starting forests in such an artificial way. There they enjoyed the fellowship of the annual "Camp Fire" in the fall and of the weekend-long "Field Day" in the spring. On the hillside back of the present cabin, they sat and listened to the inspirational talks of "Daddy" Roth. A short distance from the cabin, a large stone with an appropriate bronze tablet was erected by the students in 1927 as a memorial to Professor Filibert Roth, the first head of the Department of Forestry.

Most of the tract of eighty acres consists of level to gentle slopes, with a few short, steep slopes. Toward the north end is Third Sister Lake, covering eleven acres, with about six acres of swamp around the west and south sides. A deep ravine runs southeasterly from the lake to the mid-point of the east boundary. The bulk of the soil is Miami loam.

Stanley G. Fontanna

Twenty years later, additional historic information about Saginaw forest was provided in the 1977 encyclopedic survey:

There has been some evolution in the outlying forest properties. Soon after World War II, as Ann Arbor grew around the Eberwhite Woods area on the west boundary of the city, negotiations were made in the hopes of trading the 43-acre property to the city in exchange for a tract of equal value further out in the country. In 1946, however, the Regents voted to give the land to the city with no replacement. While part of the tract has been used for a grammar school, 30 acres are still undeveloped and are still used for field classes. A similar fate probably faces the Saginaw Forest property further west on Liberty Road. This 80-acre tract, which was given to the School in 1903 by Arthur Hill of Saginaw, has some beautiful plantations, some nearly 70 years old, and small Third Sister Lake is nicely sited in the center of the tract. It has become a favorite hiking spot for Ann Arbor residents; and, although the School continues to manage it for class purposes, the decision has been made that its principal future assignment will be recreational research and use.

An initial description of Third Sister Lake from 1904

The first scientific description of Third Sister Lake occurred in 1904, written by Lewis H. Weld in the journal Botanical Gazette in a paper titled "Botanical Survey of the Huron River Valley. II. A Peat Bog and Morainal Lake" (true, it is a description within the context of a detailed description of First Sister Lake). The description extends out toward First and Second Sister Lakes, but the general descriptions are quite interesting, from the point of view of history - both of the area as well as a description of land cover.

West of the second, a quarter of a mile away, is the third lake, the largest and deepest of the group. It is not connected with the other two, a low, gravelly ridge separating it from the marsh just east of the woods, through which the other outlet flows. The outlet of this third lake flows through a bog at its western extremity, then to the southwest, where it makes a great bend through a level plain; then, after two or three miles, it turns north again, joining the outlet of the other two and forming a branch of Honey Creek which empties into the Huron River about a mile above Foster's.

The levels of these lakes are approximately the same, ie, 914ft (278m) above sea level or 33ft (10m) above the bench-mark on the library building of the State University, and 120ft (36.5m) above the Huron River at the outlet of Honey Creek. The summit of the divide east of the first lake is 955t (29Im) above the sea, or 41ft (12.5m) above the lakes. The corner on Liberty Street, one mile South of Huron is 979ft (298m) and the kame just south of Liberty Street rises probably 75ft (23m) higher. It was once proposed to derive the water-supply of Ann Arbor from the third lake, pumping the water to a reservoir on top of this kame, about 140ft (42m) above the lake.

Ordinarily the level of the three lakes remains nearly constant throughout the year, becoming, however, 6 to 8in (15-20cm) higher in the spring. In the fall of 1901 the lakes were said to be lower than they had been in years. It is popularly supposed that they are fed by springs, but careful testing with a thermometer, in the fall of the year, has thus far failed to detect the influence of such springs. It is a very common thing, however, for lakes of this sort to be sub-irrigated, that is, water percolating through the stoney clay of adjacent hills makes its way to the lake, and, owing to the higher water-table on all sides, maintains the level constant in the lake basin. Another thing which helps to retain the water is the fact that the bottom of the lake basin is filled with a deposit of blue clay which prevents leaching. The depth of the lakes varies with the size, the first being 18ft (5.5m) deep, the second over 35ft (10.5m), and the third 55ft (16.75m).

This group of lakes is of glacial origin, like numerous other small lakes of Michigan. They lie on the western slope of the terminal moraine which was formed by the Erie lobe of the icesheet, and which now extends northeast and southwest across the county. Just south of the second and third lakes is a high kame, and these lakes lie in some of those local depressions in the drift which are characteristic of a kame area. The present outlets follow the glacial drainage channels. These flowed away from the ice front to the north and northwest to the Huron River, which at that time had just formed in the re-entrant angle between the Erie and Saginaw lobes and flowed to the west through the Portage and Grand into Lake Michigan. All the region east of this terminal moraine, including Ann Arbor, was then occupied by the ice sheet, and the glacial drainage was to the west.

...

The Three Sisters were then originally two lakes, the third, which has always been separate, and one from which the first and second and the marsh north of the road have been derived. The original lakes were some 5 to 6ft (1.55-1.8m) higher than at present, as is shown by a beach or terrace north of the second lake, and by other evidence. Their lowering is apparently due in great part to better drainage since open ditches have been cut in the outlet channels.

[In summary] The third lake never was connected with the others. The first and second were once one, with an island in the center. Subsequent lowering of water and filling of channels has made two lakes.