Ecological History of Mt. Washington

Steuben County Forests in 1783

A mere 240 years ago, Steuben County was almost entirely covered by an ancient hemlock forest. Judge Samuel Baker of Pleasant Valley left an eloquent description of the forest found by first European settlers.

On a summer’s day, shortly after the close of the War of Revolution, let the observing citizen stand with me on an exceedingly high mountain and survey the land. It is a vast solitude, with scarce a sound to break the reigning silence but the splashing of the brooks in their defiles, and the brawling of the rivers at the rifts, or perhaps the creaking of sulky old hemlocks as the light wind stirs their branches or sways their tottering trunks slowly to and fro. What a noble forest is this, covering the valleys and the high, rounded hills, and the steep sides of the winding gulfs, and the crests of the successive ranges that rise above each other till the outline of a blue and curving barrier is traced against the sky. For ages upon ages has this land been a wilderness. Savages have hunted in it. Storms have passed over it, and its history would present but a record of wild beasts slain, of trees uprooted, and of the passage of terrible whirlwinds which broke wide lanes through the forest and overthrew the timbers of whole hill-sides. See how the three rivers flow through groves of elm and willow, while the white sycamores, standing on unmolested islands, raise aloft their long branches where the cranes rest with the plunder of the shallows. Free rivers are these, flowing joyously through the channels provided for them of old, shackled by no dams, insulted by no bridges, tormented by no saw-mills. They bear with gladness the occasional canoe of the people that gave them their sounding names; they give drink to the heated deer, to the panther, and the wallowing bear,--disgusted by no base-born beasts of the yoke wading their stony fords, nor by geese swimming in their clear waters, nor by swine lounging in the warm mud of the eddies. See, also, the lakes sleeping in the hollows prepared for them anciently, their bluffs and beaches occupied even to the water’s edge with forest trees, while solitary loons and fleet of wild fowl cruise on their waters, scared by neigh wheels of the passing steamer, nor by the whistling bullets of fowls. Behold too the creeks, the brooks, the torrents, leaping down from the highlands like hearty young mountaineers; while in the ravines through which they brawl the great pines stand as if dreaming, unconscious that their gigantic trunks contain spars and saw-logs.

But the forest is not destitute of an active populace. Bears sit growling at the widows of their towers in the hollow trees; painted catamounts lurk in the glens; panthers crouch on the low branches of the oaks; elk and many thousand deer are standing in the ponds or browsing in the tickets; while hungry gangs of wolves rove at dusk through the groves with dismal howling. And these are not the only citizens of the wood. There we see the myriads of squirrels, the wood-fowls whistling and drumming in the tickets, the old and clumsy sons of the she-bear tumbling in the leaves in their awkward play, the comical raccoons frolicking in the tree-tops, while the wise and sober woodchuck goes forth alone, and the otter cruises in the still water of the streams.

All these things, let the observing citizen mark,--these far rolling forests, these silent lakes and wild rivers, these savage creeks and torrents, these gorges and wooded glens, these deep-worn valleys and the abrupt ranges that bound them, and the promontories that jut from the ever-changing outlines of the ranges,--all as they were in the ancient time before I begin the story of their conquest,--a half melancholy story; for who can think how these solitudes were broken up and these fine forests mangled without a half melancholy story; for who can think how these solitudes were broken up and these fine forests mangled without a half-regretful thought?"

Quoted in Chap. II of the History of the Settlement of Steuben County, New York by Guy McMasters (1853).

Steuben County Forests Today

According to the USDA Forest Service, 479,900 acres or 53% of Steuben County is timberland. But this timberland is a far cry from the primeval forests that covered the county in 1783. Saw timber represents 247,300 acres with the remainder consisting of seedlings, saplings and pole timber. 95% of the timberland is owned by private individuals. Corporations own 13,900 acres and state and county governments own 10,400 acres. See Steuben County, New York, Agricultural Expansion and Development Plan, 2001, It is likely that the recent history of forests in Steuben County parallels the history of forests in nearby Tompkins County. An analysis of Two Hundred Years of Forest Cover Changes in Tompkins County, New York concluded that:

Forest cover in Tompkins County dropped from almost 100% in 1790 to 19% by 1900, then increased to 28% by 1938 and over 50% in 1980. Thus over half of the forest in Tompkins County today is post-agricultural. The number, size, shape, and distribution of forest stands within the land-scape changed during a century of conversion of agricultural to forested lands. From 1900 to 1980, there was more forest in the southern part of the county, where the topography is hillier and soils are more acidic. For a portion of the county with extensive clearing for agriculture, the Ludlowville quadrangle, we mapped the outline of all forest stands present in 1900, 1938, and 1980. Post-agricultural forest developed predominantly on the steeper lakeside and stream-side slopes rather than on the flatter uplands. Throughout the period 1900-1980 the majority of the forest stands were quite small, <10 ha in area. The distance from random points in forest to the nearest edge of the stand was often less than 50 m, except for some extensive stands on the slopes in 1980. The development of forest on former agricultural lands has resulted in the coalescence of stands, and the degree of fragmentation and isolation of forest stands in the Ludlowville quadrangle of Tompkins County is much reduced today compared to 1900.

Although we are lucky to have so much timberland in Steuben County, climate change and acid rain make it difficult to regain the forests we once had. In his book, The Dying of the Trees, Charles Little notes that “The original Appalachian forest may have become established under cooler and moister conditions than occur at present. In addition, conditions during future climate change, . . . might become sufficiently unfavorable to prevent complete secondary success following present-day clear cutting.” Damage by acid rain from coal-fired power plants is visible in Steuben County forests. Though many of the coal plants are now shut-down, the residues and other industrial emissions impede regeneration.

More on the Ecological History of this Region

Some of the ecology-related articles published in the Crooked Lake Review include:

1. Old-Growth Forests in Western New York by Thomas D. Cornell, 12 Jun 2010.

2. Observations on the Environment: A Plea by Robert J. Gregory, 12 Jun 2010.

3. Indian Land Claims by Robert G. Koch, 6 Sep 2008.

4. Wild Soils by Stephen Lewandowski, 12 Jun 2010.