Table of Contents

Preface XIII

Southern Forests

Alabama: Sipsey Wilderness, William B. Bankhead National Forest The Tree…Being still and paying attention 2

Tennessee: Falls Branch, Cherokee National Forest Muir's footsteps…Yellow buckeye…A water fall…Floating 8

North Carolina: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Burials…Children…Tulip poplar trees…Ravenel's Woods 16

South Carolina: Congaree National Park Rain…A floodplain forest…Woodpeckers 24

Florida: Lignumvitae Key Botanical State Park A rare type…Poisonwood…Wood of life…Butterflies and crab wood… Paul Ehrlich 30

Georgia: Moody Forest Natural Area The song of the pines…The Moody legacy…Wildflowers and beetles…Fire 38

Mississippi: Bienville Pines Scenic Area, Bienville National Forest A forest gone missing…Forest management…What could have been 46

Mid-Atlantic Forests

Virginia: Ramsey's Draft, George Washington National Forest The world has changed…Nettles…Adelgid…John Seed 56

West Virginia: Cathedral State Park Arrivals…Partridge berries…Funnel-web spiders…Caterpillars…Drought 62

Delaware: James Branch, Trap Pond State Park Tucker La Prade…Canoeing…The Patriarch…Dragonflies 72

Maryland: Swallow Falls State Park Henry Ford…White wood-sorrel…The uses of forest… Fred Besley 82

New Jersey: Saddler's Woods An urban tract…A freed stave…Land trusts…Near miracles 88

Pennsylvania: Cook Forest State Park Abundance…Chestnut blight…The family Cook…Bacteria 94

Central Forests

Kentucky: Blanton Forest State Nature Preserve Dog…Fraser magnolia…The maze vs. Serra…Smooth rocktripe 104

Illinois: Beall Woods State Park The Bealls…University of Trees…Pawpaw…Butterflies…Patent leather beetles 112

Indiana: Pioneer Mothers Memorial Forest Sleeping…Song of the forest…Characteristics of old growth…Individuals 120

Ohio: Johnson Woods State Nature Preserve Death…Whitetail deer…May apples and rust fungus…Lucy Braun 126

Wisconsin: Sand Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Balsam fir…Arranging the excursion…Safety training…Where's the old growth? 134

Michigan: Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park Bluebead lily…The yurt…Hummingbirds, warblers, and thrushes…Phoebe nest…White pine 142

Northeast Forests

New York: Inwood Hill Park Manhattoes…Gingko…Nesting hawks 154

Rhode Island: Oakland Forest Infill…Perc test…Responsible forestry…Health 160

Connecticut: Cathedral Pines Crows…Estimates of natural rotation…Gardens…Controls 168

Massachusetts: Mohawk Trail State Forest Gypsy moth caterpillars…Ruffled grouse…Bob Leverett…Death comes to trees and humans 176

Vermont: Gifford Woods State Park Something wilder…Increment coring…Sugar maples…Slugs 186

New Hampshire: Nancy Brook Natural Area, White Mountains National Forest Red spruce…The hero's journey…The need for eco-reserves 192

Maine: Hermitage Preserve, Gulf Hagas Appalachian Trail…Roxanne Quimby…Baxter State Park…Howland Forest 198

Epilogue 207

Other Forests of Interest 211

Notes 213

Acknowledgments 231

Index 233