Category Archives: Environment

Turkey Mountain Joins the Old-Growth Forest Network

Early in May this year I was invited to a small ceremony where Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness in Tulsa was going to join the Old-Growth Forest Network. Hmmm, never heard of them but sounds interesting. Besides, there was a hike included in the event. Sign me up!!

Jeff Edwards of RiverParks.

The Old-Growth Forest Network is an organization founded by biologist, turned author, turned activist, Joan Maloof who became alarmed at the loss of old-growth forests in the eastern USA. Very little old-growth forests remain in the east, less than 1% of the orginal forests and maybe about 5% in the west.

Sarah Adloo of Old-Growth Forest Network

Old-growth forests are those that have been undisturbed and old trees are allowed to grow old and die. I found out that old dead snags can provide habitat for up to 300 different species. The Old-Growth Forest Network is trying to find and designate at least one publicly owned tract of land in counties, that can contain such forests. They estimate that is about 2370 counties. Turkey Mountain is the 199th such forest to be designated and only the second in Oklahoma.

So the dignitaries made their speeches and a plaque was handed out.

I borrowed it for a closeup. And then we went on a hike. It was about a mile and we got to the location of the oldest tree on Turkey Mountain. I forget what kind of tree it is but the dendrologists say it got started in 1774. They only tested thirty some trees based on their experience of where the oldest trees would be. They said, rocky land on steep slope where logging is difficult is the best bet. So it is likely that there are older trees on Turkey Mountain.

True confessions, my original photo wasn’t very good so I went back recently and got this video. The tree is kind of old and bent and I couldn’t capture it in a still so I got this video. It’s not the prettiest or the biggest tree in the world but it is kind of special.

So it was a nice outing. I got to learn something and go on a hike. I’m always up for that.

This link is for the report on the event by one of Tulsa’s television station.

I bought one of Joan Maloof’s books. I got the kindle version because it is half the price of the paperback. I’ll let you know what I found out.

Check out Old-Growth Forest Network’s web site. Lots of information on Old-growth forests. Here is the organization’s page for Turkey Mountain.

Do you want to live in the Tulsa area and want to get involved in things like this. Check out the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition.

I am linking with My Corner of the World. Check it out.

Earth Day 2014

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You know I’m an urban person. I live in the city and work downtown in a high rise. I go to meetings, I do email and call people and IM them. I go and visit customers and all the rest. And I really do love it.

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I like the urban recreation also, movies, shopping, reading, watching televsion and facebooking. We go to concerts and musicals and to the museum once in a while. I like that though. I’m a Forest Ranger’s kid and lived way back in the sticks for much of my life but I always knew that I was going to live in a city.

Fiery Sunset over Turkey Mountain

Every once in a while though I have to get outside and get away from everybody. I mean everybody. Not be on a schedule, not answer emails.

#spooky Turkey Mountain #trails #tulsa #running

I like to go down familiar trails and unfamiliar trails. I have to breathe a while.

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And see the sights

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And make new friends.

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And when I come across somebody else’s dumped trash out in the middle of my woods.

#aftermyrun #selfie #notflatteringatall

It makes me really cranky

Earth Day 2014

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

“Desert Solitaire” published in 1968 is a nonfiction work by Edward Abbey mainly describing his work as a seasonal Park Ranger at Arches National Park in Utah in the 1950’s. It is considered a classic in environmental literature and one of the best books describing the deserts of the southwest. He can wax poetically about the idea of wilderness and the silence of the desert but he is a hell of a story teller as he describes some of the misadventures of the uranium miners and ranchers in the desert and some of his own adventures in the nearby Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon. He lives alone but pines for the company of a “good friendly woman.”

Abbey was not very politically correct and lashes out in all directions. He bashes all the major religions of world including atheism. He is considered anarchists. He is a fellow graduate of the University of New Mexico and was the editor on the school newspaper until he posted a quotation from Louisa May Alcott, “Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” Whereupon he was fired.

I give this book four stars out of five. I bought it for a quarter at the Central Library. It is a quite yellowed paperback. If you want it, you can have it. Just let me know.

As an aside check out the blog Geogypsy by my blog friend Gaelyn. She is a seasonal Park Ranger at the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. I don’t think she is an anarchist but she is definitely an environmentalist. Read her blog and find out for yourself what kind of “-ist” she is.

The Environment

Tulsa had a hazardous chemicals drop off Sunday at the fairgrounds today. So after church I loaded some old stuff up and off I went. It didn’t take too long. I had some some Coleman fuel. I have probably had it for 15 years, deck wash, (we haven’t had a deck in 9 years) and some other long unused stuff.


They have their pretty well together. They have several lanes and everything is very well organized and goes pretty quickly. They had people in blue moon suits messing with the chemicals.

And people with white moon suits unloading everything. Hey, notice the white on dark colored mobile home in the left background. That is the police bomb squad. Bomb squads strike fear in the hearts of geocachers everywhere. One day I’ll do a blog on the tupperware containers blown up by bomb squads all over the country. It hasn’t happened in Tulsa yet but it happened right down the turnpike in Edmond, OK a few years ago.
I’m all over the environment. I’ve seen a huge change in the attitudes of companies, especially energy related companies, over the years. My employer for instance is very strict about complying very strictly with environmental laws. Complying holds things up every once in a while. But I think complying with the laws, and the intent of the laws, is a great thing.

Used to be, with some of my first employers, a lot of winking and nodding went on. Plus the energy industry had so many grandfather provisions that some of the laws were kind of meaningless.

But getting back to geocaching. I took advantage of my jaunt to go find one: Stop in the Woods by BasicPoke. Its a devilish but doable little microcache.

Time to go home. The Dallas Cowboys are not playing this weekend. It is kind of hard to be interested in football if they are not playing. I’m sure you think the same. So I’ll guess that I’ll do laundry.