What The Glacier Didby Mary Jasch
Connecticut's Housatonic Highlands are part of "proto" North America, formed when the continents collided and buckled and lifted the earth. Sharon Mountain and Mt. Easter's bedrock is the same -- quartzite, gneiss, and schist -- but their landscape differs. Sharon Mountain is open forest with hardly a rock in sight. Mt. Easter is densely wooded and covered in rock. We wondered why. We asked and were told…. Sharon Mountain - soils on top of Sharon Mountain are deeper than on Mt. Easter - greater deposition of glacial till on Sharon - maybe more schist on Sharon (softer and erodes faster) Mt. Easter - Mt. Easter scraped more by glacier - more gneiss and quartzite on Mt. Easter (harder and more likely to form outcrops "Sharon Mountain was heavily charcoaled a century ago," says David Irvin, Forester 1, DEP Division of Forestry. "They clear cut the mountains again and again and again. The woods are dotted with charcoal mounds. The whole place was denuded. Charcoal affects the landscape and what vegetation came back. "People had subsistence farms from before the 1700s through the American Revolution. The state was cleared. It looked like England - open land. In the early 1800s there was a mass exodus to the mid-west. There, they didn't have to deal with rocks and slopes. In the 1900s, the forest was mature and was clear cut for wood and charcoal. The charcoal was for the iron industry early on and then for the brass industry in Waterbury. They also used charcoal as a component in gas masks in WWI." If any original forest remains in Northwest Connecticut, it is stunted trees on ridge tops or steep slopes that weren't worth anything or couldn't be reached. The Housatonic River Valley to the East is made of marble and limestone formed from offshore coral reefs of the original land, says Nancy McHone, geologist, also with the State's Survey. "The reefs were squished up as a result of continental collision," she says. "The river doesn't follow the marble valleys. It cuts through valleys because the bedrock is soluble and it dissolves. The marble is covered over with sand and gravel deposited by the glacier." In the woods at the bottom of the Pine Knob Loop Trail lives a diminutive plant that made big news. It's on the US Government's federally endangered species list and in Connecticut it only lives here. The DEP manages this part of the forest for this little plant, by opening the canopy to let in light, monitoring, thinning the understory, and removing ground litter. In this fourth year of protection, there is only a 20% increase in a handful of plants, according to Metzler. The Connecticut Forests - 100 years ago, CT's first forest was 70 acres - now, 30 forests comprise 150,000 acres, covering 60% of the state - Housatonic State Forest is 10,000 acres - current forests are 3rd and 4th growth There is no bear hunting in Connecticut There is no bear over-population, with only several hundred in the area. The bear population was established about 20 years ago and is slowly growing. NJ was always near Pennsylvania's existing population and also never lost its own bears completely. Connecticut bears were gone from the state for a long time. Their return is a southbound expansion of the bear population from Massachusetts. "We do have conflicts with bears, but it's not gotten to a point where most people say it's out of hand. If the population continues to increase as it has, we'll probably get into a scenario much like New Jersey's," says Paul Rego, wildlife biologist, Wildlife Division, DEP. There are lots of coyotes in Connecticut though, and they do interact with people. "They strike fear in their hearts by walking across their yards," says Rego. "We receive many complaints about them living near human residential areas." Coyotes live in small family groups. Most attacks on pets, including small dogs, are near homes. "It's rare for a coyote to be a problem for hikers," Rego assures. "And rare for bears. Sharon Mountain is one of three rattlesnake habitats in the state." The most important things, Rego advises, is the proper storage of food in containers or hanging it 10 feet off the ground. "Tie a rope between two trees and hang it from there. Some campsites have a pole between two trees. Keep a clean camp. It's better to do cooking and eating at some distance from your sleeping aream," he says. The CT Appalachian Mountain Club maintains and manages the trails and corridor lands (100 to 1000 feet on each side), structures, and use. They clear brush and keep the blazes fresh, eliminate erosion, and build stone staircases. Hikers must spend the night in campsites in Connecticut. "We see it as a way to protect the trail by concentrating use rather than leave an impact trail-wide. There are 10,000 hikers statewide in season. Our campsites have a water supply and also a privy and a wash pit," says Trail Committee Chairman Dave Boone. Most of the land along the Appalachian Trail is owned by the National Park, but some on Sharon Mountain is state forest-owned. The National Park has a conservation easement in Connecticut. "The whole length of the trail is protected except for Schaghticoke Indian Reservation in Kent," says Boone. "It's privately owned by the tribe and if they choose to take the trail off their land, they're entitled to do that. It's the only unprotected stretch. It would be a real problem with internal tribal politics. There are two factions of the tribe - one is pro casino, the other is anti. That situation and the political climate is a concern to us for protecting the trail long term." The AT is 51.6 miles long in Connecticut. The state also has a "Blue Trail" system, establishd and maintained by The Connecticut Forest and Park Association. Most of its 700 miles of Blue trails are on private lands. |
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