Stockwell, Sally

Thorn, Megan

Maine State Documents (Maine State Library)

Maine State Library Digital Maine Cumberland Town Lands and Conservation Commission Cumberland, Maine 1997 Cumberland Town Forest Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail Sally Stockwell Megan Thorn Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalmaine.com/cumberland_town_lands_and_conservation_commission Recommended Citation Stockwell, Sally and Thorn, Megan, "Cumberland Town Forest Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail" (1997). Cumberland Town Lands and Conservation Commission. 35. https://digitalmaine.com/cumberland_town_lands_and_conservation_commission/35 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Cumberland, Maine at Digital Maine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cumberland Town Lands and Conservation Commission by an authorized administrator of Digital Maine. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov, adam.fisher@maine.gov. Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail Cumberland Town Forest Ernest A. Rand (1891 - 1965) It is fitting that this trail is named after Ernest A. Rand, a man whose life-long love of nature benefited and inspired many others. After graduating from the University of Maine in 1914, Rand served in the army and then returned to Maine to take a job with the Oxford Paper Company. He moved to Cumberland in 1926 and was instrumental in establishing the Cumberland Town Forest, personally planting thousands of seedlings with the help of the local 4-H club, Boy Scouts, and students from the Greely Institute. An early and vigorous supporter of forest conservation, Rand was chairman of Keep Maine Green and a member of the American Association of Foresters. He passed his knowledge and enthusiasm on: for many years he was a forestry merit badge counselor, teaching older scouts about trees and nature, and he served as a Cub Scout master when he was a grandfather. Ernest Rand was a town selectman for fifteen years. \ I I \ I I ERNEST A. RAND NATURE TRAIL CUMBERLAND TOWN FOREST 4 OLD FIELD ' \ ' ' \ --~': . TRAIL : J. ... -- ---1 · END ( CAPP, LANOF ILL '- ..... ---- --- ---/ TOWN HALL /.,/ / I D ,, I I , .. / . -, - - _J ,- - / I ',, I I KIOSK' j __ _j SIGN KEY: ■ TRAIL BEG/ENO 11] NUMBERED SIGNPOST ~ TRAIL BRIDGE ' INFORMATIONAL SIGN Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail Cumberland Town Forest The Cumberland Town Forest represents the generosity and work of many residents of Cumberland over the past century. Deeded to the town in 1891 by Elizabeth Drowne, the l 00-acre lot was first planted by Ernest A. Rand in 1928. Rand, a forester, devoted conservationist, and long-time member of the town selectmen, continued to plant and manage the land until his death in 1965. Today the land is under the stewardship of a volunteer town forest board, which works to manage the forest as a place of varied animal and plant life and a place for public education and recreation. The trail is marked by red blazes. Throughout you will find numbered stopping points corresponding to the notes below. The forest is a dynamic place; it changes from season to season and from week to week. We hope you find other places along your walk to stop and listen and discover the beauty of the Town Forest. 1. Red Pinc Plantation This area is a single-species plantation that was planted in the late 1960s and was recently lightly thinned. Red red pine pine (Pinus resinosa) is native to Maine and, because it grows tall and straight (over 100 feet), i~often planted for timber. The selective thinning will allow the remaining trees to grow stronger and taller. This area was thi1med using one of the oldest and the lowest-impact metl~od of harvesting: draft horses. For five months in 1996, a pair of horses were used lo open up the area, giving the remaining; trees room to grow. Row thinning allows easy access into the stand for future timber removal. A forest area like this one where the trees are of even age and height has little diversity: the closed canopy and the acidic soils caused by the pine needles allow for little undergrowth. The slash (cut limbs) left behind will decay i1J about six to ten years. In the meantime, it provides habitat for wildlife such as snowshoe hares, raccoons, and fishers. slash pile snowshoe hare 2. Old Field - As you look ahead, count the number of types and sizes of trees you see. These trees have seeded themselves in an abandoned field. Forest stands like this one, with trees and slu-ubs of different species and heights, provide more habitat diversity for wildlife than do single-species, even-aged stands. Watch for chickadees and nuthatches in the winter; warblers in the spring; and blue-jays and white-throated sparrows in the summer. 3. Forest Edge - Follow the bridge to the edge of the meadow and you will see how the forest land looked before it was planted with trees. The meadow is dominated by grasses and flowers that attract different species than the forest, including the bobolink, common grackle, and American goldfinch. The forest edge supports wildlife that will use both the forest and the field, such as raccoons, foxes, white-tailed deer, and brown-headed cowbirds. Some of these species, including the raccoon and fo,q, are predators on songbirds, and can reduce nesting success of forest species. The brown-headed cowbird is a parasite, lay1ng its own eggs in the nests of much smaller birds. Once the young cowbird hatches, it pushes the other eggs or chicks out of the nest and the host parents feed the cowbird chick as if it were their own. 4. Poplar Stand - These native poplars (Populus sp.) are fast-growing trees that shelter younger, shade-tolerant trees. Wildlife also depends on the poplars: grouse and white-t_ailed deer eat the buds in winter and spring and porcupines and beaver eat the bark. When the relatively short-lived poplars die, they create an opening in the canopy, allowing the sun to reach smaller trees and shrubs. These new trees and shrubs provide diverse habitat for many animals. Stop here and listen for bird songs; look for wildflowers in the spring and summer. S. "Pumpkin Pines" -The large, knobby white pines (Pinus strobus) along the edge of the field show the effects of the pine weevil, a beetle that attacks the leader, or top, of a white pine, deforming the tree. The pines are known colloquially as "field pines" (since they often grow in sunny fields where the pine weevil thrives), "pumpkin pines" (for the large, knobby bulges), and "wolf pines" (for the . . aggressive manner m which they shield all other trees). 6. Telling the Trees Apart - There are a number of species of trees in this forest, both naturally occurring and planted. Bark, cones, and needles are keys to telling them apart. In this area are balsam fir (Abies balsamea), Norway spruce (Picea abies), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), red pine (Pinus resinosa), red spmce (Picea rubens), and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). eastern white pine • . ~ red spmcc '4f1 ◊ @ eas/ern he111/ock red pine Norway .<prucc 7. Softwood Plantation - These mixed spmce and pine were planted in the late 1930s and thinned in 1973. They are an excellent example of how active plantation management is used to grow tall, straight trees with few knots that are highly prized for their timber value. In a commercial stand these trees would be harvested at sixty to eighty years of age. Already, shade-tolerant balsam fir and spruce are coming up in the undcrstory. 8. Windthrow - Because of the wet, clay soils here, trees form shallow roots, which spread out instead of down. The large tree on its side was thrown over by winds, possibly during a hurricane. It will slowly decay and in another twenty years will be a mound of soil covered with mosses, lichen, and a myriad of small trees . Trees that fall to the forest floor and serve as a good source of nutrients for young trees are often called "nursery logs." 9. Wildlife Signatures Although you may not see many mammals as you walk through the woods, there are signs that can help you discover what lives here. 1»,IA.\;('.,, ~"'-'l<>rt,, . n<ldd<n ,-1lc.s Look at the bases of trees for holes used by chipmunks and for "midden piles"-collections of green and eaten cones left by squirrels. In the spring and summer, nibbled mushrooms show the presence of squirrels as well. 10. Telephone Poles - These tall, straight red pines would make perfect telephone poles, and half of the tallest eventually will. Poles of this quality have high commercial value. Telephone poles, paper pulp, lumber, and firewood are all products that this forest is carefully managed to provide at the same time it provides habitats for wildlife and opp01tunities for recreation or solitude for visitors. 11. Floodplain Features - Streams in a forest attract all kinds of wildlife. Search for raccoon or white-tailed deer footprints in the mud, salamanders along the banks, and aquatic insects in the stream. During the spring, water rushes tlu-ough the wide valley here; during the summer, hydrophytic (water-loving) plants emerge from the soggy banks; and during the winter, ice covers it all. Jewel weed, Ji:wcL \~CC!> skunk cabbage, maidenhair fern, sedges, alders, and ash are all plants that thrive in wet places. 12. Hummocks - The terrain becomes very bumpy and rugged here, where the soils cover old stumps and windfalls. Notice the tree growth on the top of the hummocks; the soil in the low swales stays too wet for trees and plants. Can you spot any "nursery logs?" --~· .. . MuR:>E'Ri Lo&5 A~ Ur-\M(kb 13. Snags - This is one of many dead standing frees in the forest. These are called snags, and are important for wildlife. There me seventy species of birds and mammals that live in snags, eating the insects that thrive in the soft wood and carving out R._=r-i cavities for their nests and ...,_. burrows. In this forest, downy and hairy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, raccoons, and American kestrels all use snags for their homes. 14. Forested Wetlands - Thirty feet in front of this post is a forested wetland dominated by red maples (Acer rubrwn), which are tolerant of the saturated soils. Note the different types of ferns growing here. Forested wetlands commonly occur within larger forests of Maine, but are often not recognized as wetlands because there are so many trees growing in them and water is not always standing on the surface. An area like this can provide exceptional breeding habitat for a number of amphibians-especially wood frogs-important links of the forest food chain. 15. Woodpecker Food - The large rectangular hole in this tree is pilented woodpecker the work of the pileated woodpecker, the largest woodpecker of our area. These birds can send chips flying up to ten feet away when they are clearing a hole in a tree in search of insects. Pileated means red-headed; if you hear sounds of drumming, look around for the woodpecker's distinctive red crown and solid black back. The round holes are the work of the smaller downy and hairy woodpeckers .. 16. Water Channel. - After the eight-acre town landfill was covered with a clay cap in 1992, natural water flow in the forest was diverted, creating a channel. This is a logical consequence when fill is added to wet soils. The water in the chmrnel and in the wetland at the base of the landfill is sampled regularly for water-quality analyses. We invite you to return often to the Cumberland Town Forest. If you would like to know more about the forest and how to get involved in helping to preserve and maintain it, please contact the Town Office for a current list of the Town Forest Board. "Leave only footprints; take only memories. " Credits: Brochure written and edited by: Megan Thom and Sally Stockwell 1//ustrated by: Anne Maher Design and Layout by: Je1inifer Morin and Bob Wood 

Cumberland Town Forest Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail

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Cumberland Town Forest Ernest A. Rand Nature Trail

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