MEETING MINUTES

 

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Meeting Held Through Email Due to Coronavirus Restrictions

 

Attendees:

                                                           

Gabrielle Oldham       Dori Murphy

Ron Anderson             Kathie Jarmon

Michael Morgan         Tom Frederick

John Bennett                                      

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

Tom reported on available funds.

 

Update on Big Tree Program:

 

John reported:

 

For Cecil, after talking to the owner twice by phone, I recommended and the Board agreed to move an active tree to the “Inactive” file where it can be retrieved if the owner requests it at a later time.  Also I stopped by the property where the State Champion Norway maple grew when last seen in 2011.  The new owners did not respond to the permission mailing so I suspected the tree was dead—it was.  So we have two county co-champions, BT- 1690 at 246 points and BT-2181 at 243 points.  I’m attaching the data sheets for Ron’s benefit for posting.  Finally Dori and I are scheduled to re-measure trees tomorrow in Cecil.

 

On April 10th Dori and I drove to the Kennedyville area of Kent County on the Sassafras River and measured 6 new trees on an estate.  Five of the six became either Kent County Champions or co-champions.  The original nomination came from the former Sassafras Riverkeeper—glad to have them involved.

 

Regarding State-wide news, the Montgomery County folks nominated and measured an Ohio buckeye last October which now has become the new State Champion.  Jim Bardsley requested the registration be held until spring so he could view photos of the flowers as they are an important ID key.  This species is not native to Maryland; we previously have registered 3 Ohio buckeyes; all of which have been planted, as we assume this has as well.  The trunk is covered in English ivy which made bark ID useless.

 

The MBTP has a new active volunteer who is exploring the C & O Canal National Historical Park area in Allegany County.  So far he has identified, measured, photographed and submitted 17 new trees; all over 300 points and over 55” in dbh.  Fourteen have been sycamores, 2 silver maples and one yellow poplar.

 

The Baltimore City Forestry Board folks (finally) got permission from Loyola College to explore their campus.  They discovered, measured, photographed and submitted 10 new trees, including three new State champions.  They are a European beech (not a copper or purple, but a beech with green leaves), and two Port orford cedars (AKA Lawson cedars).  Loyola College published an article which was picked up by various media outlets in Baltimore/Washington area, resulting in some good publicity for the program.  

 

Kathie reported that going back to her alma mater (Loyola) 20 years after she started at Loyola, and remembering how much the trees on campus had grown.

 

 

On April 13th, Gerry Schwemmer (Carroll County), Marc Lipnick (Baltimore County) and I met at the Hammonds Ferry Park and Ride and carpooled down to Waldorf, Charles County, to measure a newly nominated yellow poplar (433 points – see photo).  We then zigzagged back north, re-measuring trees in Anne Arundel County.  We were able to get 5 trees re-measured—a long day!    

 

Natural Resources Career Conference (NRCC) Update:

 

No Update.

 

Website Update:

 

Ron reported that he updated the website as follows:

 

Entered new measurements for BT-2322 (Mockernut Hickory) as Cecil County Champion.

 

Added CFCDB Meeting Minutes from April 7, 2021.

 

Added Meeting Agenda for scheduled on-line meeting of May 5, 2021.

 

New Business:

 

Tom reported:

 

Dan Lewis has been named the new Harford/Cecil Project Manager replacing Frank Lopez.  Dan will need to continue working in the Howard/Montgomery project, as they are trying to fill a previous vacancy in that project.  So he will be spending a day or two a week in Harford/Cecil.

 

50 Backyard Buffer seedling packets were given away in Cecil County.

 

 

Next Meeting:                        June 2, 2021