On a rainy night a few weeks ago, sitting in a pavilion at Bolingbroke Park on Moneymake Road in Trappe during a monthly meeting of the Maryland Mid-Shore Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, I began thinking about forests. For good reason.
The speaker, Joan Maloof, professor emeritus at Salisbury University, founded in 2011 the Old-Growth Forest Network, a Maryland-based, American forest conservation organization. What most of us see during our travels are second-growth forests; the original typically has been logged.
A soft-spoken scientist, Joan Maloof learned that less than one percent of our original forests in the East and five percent in the West remain undisturbed either by logging or other circumstances, including natural causes such as a tornado or insect, or a fire. When Europeans came to our country, forests began to disappear, often for agricultural reasons.
Why should the loss of old-growth forests or even newer, second-growth forests matter when we have so much to worry about in our troubled world?
Undisturbed forests provide food for wildlife. Trees that die and fall create a habitat for insects, fungi, reptiles and amphibians. Old-growth forests are a rare land use where topsoil is created, not destroyed. More carbon and nitrogen are contained in all forests, but particularly so in old-growth forests. They contribute to cleaner water and air quality.
They are effective environmental assets.
Fast forward a few weeks after hearing Ms. Maloof speak simply but forcefully about the need to protect our forests and allow them grow undisturbed and unbothered by us humans, I then attended the opening the past Friday evening of a Trumpy Yacht exhibition at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (CBMM). This once-illustrious company, based in Eastport in Annapolis, built magnificent wooden yachts until fiberglass construction for smaller boats and aluminum for larger ones caused its demise.
A confession: I love wood in its simple and eloquent uses. And, yes, I realize that wood comes from forests, some of which Joan Maloof’s organization would like to preserve in a pristine state.
As I viewed old black-and-white photos and drawing of Trumpy boats at the exhibit, I drew a parallel between old-growth forests, such as the majestic one in Redwood State and National Park in California, and the distinctive boats built by Trumpy Yachts. Both represent the height of quality, one natural and one man-made. Both are throwbacks to another time, one prior to the arrival of European settlers in America and one prior to newer, inexpensive yacht construction.
Both are historic. Both are marvels.
One of the best-known Trumpy products is the Sequoia, a 104-foot houseboat that provided a respite for U.S. presidents from 1933 to 1977. President Jimmy
Carter sold the Sequoia as a symbolic cost-saving move. I paid little attention to that transaction. Now I think it was foolhardy. The yacht represented our country’s maritime history and culture, not to speak of superb American manufacturing.
Political symbolism can seem shallow at the time, if not later.
Perhaps it’s my increasing age—a standard caveat—but I find myself increasingly drawn to older things, whether they are old-growth forests or even second-growth ones, or yachts that not only bespeak luxury but also superior, exacting craftsmanship.
When I viewed harvested forests i11 years ago in Washington State, I felt sickened by what looked like a graveyard in an otherwise lush forest. And, yes, I read the sign that this scorched area had been planted. Seemed superfluous to me.
When I saw gorgeous yachts a few years ago in Fort Lauderdale, including the $200 million Seven Seas yacht owned by famed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, I was impressed and star-struck. It was slick, shiny and sensational. Did I say it was breathtaking?
The CBMM exhibit brought me back to earth. Trumpy vessels seemed more authentic than what I saw in Fort Lauderdale. They seemed more comfortable. Their luxury seemed understated and classy.
While the link between old-growth forests and Trumpy Yachts products may seem tenuous, I think old creations, natural or man-made, are ageless.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
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