MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, September 1, 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 Frederick summarized funds available to CCFCDB.

Big Tree Program Update:

John reported:

August Big Tree Report

I drove by the Rosebank Cemetery the other day and noticed that BT-3546, the Cecil County champion honeylocust, had been taken down. I have no idea why; last I checked, tree was doing fine. It actually is privately owned; I wonder if the cemetery folks (now that Cliff England is gone) were not aware it is/was privately owned. Anyway, Ron, it can be removed from the web site and BT-2676, the honeylocust at the Donaldson Brown Center, is the new county champion.

At the State level, after a slow July, 24 trees were measured/re-measured in August by volunteers in Allegany, Baltimore City, Harford and Montgomery.

Twelve of them were in Bel Air, as Wayne Merkel did most of the prep work, so we were able to get them all done in one day. 14 were re-measurements and 10 were new trees.

The English elm in Montgomery County and the European larch in Bel Air remain as the State Champions. Both are showing their age but doing “fair to middlin’”. Perhaps the most unique situation is the 3 yellow poplars that were re-measured in Baltimore City. All three are in a row in the owner’s back yard—at 396 points, 343 and 340. There is no comparable private ownership anywhere else in Maryland. Perhaps the most unusual tree in the group is the Chinese wingnut in Bel Air at 342 points. There are only two of these registered in MD.

Website Update:

Ron reported that he updated the website as follows:

Added August Minutes and September Agenda to website.

No new County Champion Trees have been identified since last month's Website Report.

NRCC Report:

No Report

New Business:

Tom reported:

Just to follow up on the ENSP Salvage Harvest from last month. Tom reported from last month that there was an Osprey nest found in the area being salvaged. We have consulted with US Fish and Wildlife Service and they determined that since the chicks have fledged from the nest, there are no restrictions for harvesting near the nest. The nest tree will be protected with a small buffer in which no standing trees will be removed.

Next Meeting: October 6, 2021