• Old Growth Black Tupelo Trees on Long Island, NY

Trees, in the words of Daniel Karpen, have become the centerpiece of an environmental mission. For the Winter 2004 Quarterly Newsletter of the Long Island Botanical Society, Karpen wrote of discovering 10 sites on the Island with old-growth black tupelo trees. Three co-authors assisted him in his search, including Bruce Kershner, co-founder of the New York Old Growth Forest Association.

• Old Growth Forests in Putnam County, NY

Yesterday (Saturday), in 2 degree weather, I took a hike to the Mount Nimham Multiple Use Area with Daniel Karpen, an expert in old growth trees, and guess what we found.... many black birch and chestnut oaks in the 100-200 year old range as well as forests in different states of maturity with patches of genuine older growth characteristics. Mr. Karpen, brought in as a consultant, will prepare a report to be sent to Commissioner Crotty and I'll post that here as soon as it's done. To paraphrase Mr. Karpen, 'we already have a model forest, it's a model of what a maturing forest should look like.'

• Black Tupelo in Bear Swamp, New Jersey

In this land where trees grow five stories tall on the edge of an old sand- mining operation, scientists are trying to determine whether the soaring canopy of sweet gum, maple and magnolia might be the oldest hardwood forest in the northeastern United States. A stand of gnarled black gum trees, a swamp-loving hardwood species, could be between 500 and 700 years old, according to some scientists analyzing core samples of the largest of the trees.