Editor’s note: The Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District staff will be writing a monthly column that will focus on conservation in our area: what it means to different people; on-the-ground practices that are being implemented; and discussion of seasonal environmental issues.
Do you believe that one simple gesture can have a lasting effect on the whole? Zachary Montgomery does. Our first column is about a young man who grew up in Merrill and is now making his difference, literally, with one acorn at a time. Zac is a recent graduate from the University of Maine at Orono, having majored in parks, recreation and tourism. After taking a couple of forestry classes and conducting an independent study last year of projected shifts of species range and what species are most likely to move north due to climate change, he began to wonder whether species would be able to re-seed themselves as quickly as he believes the climate is currently changing.
Through research and an appreciation of the natural resources of Aroostook County as inspiration, Zac began collecting acorns in and around Orono last fall. He stored them through the winter and planted them in late April. Out of 75 acorns, he ended up with about 50 healthy seedlings that have since been planted in various parts of The County.
His initial planting included Northern Red Oak, Swamp White Oak and Bur Oak.
Zac envisions planting oak trees as a life-long project for himself and aspires for others to get involved. He firmly believes in the grass roots approach where making a difference begins with yourself. In Zac’s case, he looks at how one oak tree will produce acorns that will get carried away by different wildlife species which will help spread and propagate additional oaks in the future. And he looks at known information such as how oak trees can bring in different varieties of insect species or how the acorns that are dropped attract deer mice who then in turn eat gypsy moths.
When Zac is planting an oak tree he is thinking about more than just the visual pleasure to humans. He’s thinking how his seedling can benefit nature in ways humans can’t even contemplate. A ripple effect to extend throughout the natural world.
There are many Internet sites that give easy instructions on collecting and planting acorns. One site that Zac referred to for his planting last fall was www.wildbirds.org/oaks/oaks.htm. Acorns are also fairly easy to find in the early fall – especially the more accessible Northern Red Oak in southern Aroostook. As a general rule, any oak species that already grow naturally in some part of Maine are probably going to be OK. As a final note, Zac allows that while much of climate research is educated guess-work, oak trees can live for 200-300 years, allowing for a pretty good margin of error. As for the two Northern Red Oak seedlings that Zac passed on to me? They have been planted on the edge of my woodlot in Littleton and I look forward to their becoming trees to carry on Zac’s gesture of making a difference.
Angie Wotton is District Manager for the SASWCD and the many local projects they are involved in. She also raises pastured pork and vegetables with her husband on their small West Berry Farm in Hammond.
