MEETING MINUTES
Meeting Held Through Email Due to Coronavirus Restrictions
Attendees:
Gabrielle Oldham Dori Murphy
Ron Anderson Kathie Jarmon
Michael Morgan Tom Frederick
John Bennett
Big Tree Program
Update:
John reported:
In
Cecil County, BT-2791, the common apple near the Holly Hall Mansion, is the new
State Champion, after the death of the previous champion in Montgomery
County. Dori Murphy confirmed it is
still alive and took photos of the tree and some apples.
I
was contacted by the Director of the Rodgers Tavern about recommending an
arborist to evaluate the health of the Rodgers Tavern willow oak. The Director said the oak had recently
dropped some limbs. I directed her to
the DNR list of registered arborists.
Wayne
Merkel told me about some large cedars at the Furnace Bay Golf Course outside
Perryville. He believed they may be Blue
Atlas cedars. I have not had time to
check them out.
I
was contacted by the Director of Haven House about the Bicentennial white oak
on the property which had recently dropped some limbs. I stopped by Heartwood Landscaping and told
Christy I would pay for an evaluation of the tree—knowing that Haven House
survives on grant funds. Hopefully
Michael will tell me the tree is OK to leave standing.
At
the State level, as usual I responded to a number of email requests. One that stuck out was a request by Kenneth
Jolly to respond to an illustrator about permission to use an illustration of
the Goshen Elm in Montgomery County in an upcoming book. It turned out that Joli had been working with
this gentleman for over a month, so not sure why he decided to contact Maryland
government.
Only
one tree was measured in July—a very nice yellow poplar that is privately owned
in Harford County—measured by Jim Sherring. (photo
below)
Website Update:
Ron reported that he updated the website as follows:
Added July meeting notes
Added August agenda
Ron updated and corrected a few typos on Cecil County Big
Tree page.
BT2791 Common Apple is now state champ
Removed
saucer magnolia state champ status
BT3668
Pignut Hickory noted as state champ
(Cecil County currently has 26 state champion/co-champion
trees)
NRCC Report:
:Gabrielle Oldham reported:
It was a good week with a good group of kids. Counselors were wonderful. Weather was a bit on the warm side and we had
problems with several yellow jacket nests.
I'll send a more detailed report later.
New Business:
Dori found the first Spotted Lanternfly on her property.
Tom reported that the logging contractor began operating again on August 2nd. He started on the east side of Rt 272. Of course, we immediately located an osprey nest in the area. We are currently investigating what if any restrictions need to be implemented with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Next Meeting: September 1, 2021