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Posts by Alan Motion

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BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.

The end of the USFS? open.substack.com/pub/morethan...

3 weeks ago 1 0 0 0

This is just not correct. A beech tree's root system is optimised to be in balance with and support the above ground parts of the tree. Your initial post suggested the shallow roots led to branch failure. Now it causes trees to fall over? Please, if you don't have the knowledge, don't post.

3 weeks ago 1 0 0 0

Eh? What is the correlation between a shallow root structure and wind damage to heavy limbs?

3 weeks ago 1 0 0 0

I thought this was a reasonable account. Absolutely not, quite disgusting. Blocked.

4 weeks ago 1 1 1 0
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Turning invasive species into a mechanism for woodland recovery using Ecochar™ - Future Woodlands Scotland A new Future Woodlands Scotland-funded study shows how material from invasive rhododendron could help fund long-term woodland restoration

Rhododendron ponticum harms Scotland’s rainforests.🌸

Instead of using labour intensive methods to clear this invasive, we’re funding research by Treeconomy to turn it into a resource for woodland recovery.

Find out more and contact Treeconomy to take this research further ow.ly/7WvJ50YuMvL

4 weeks ago 2 1 0 0
A European roller bird perched on a branch, looking to the left of picture.

A European roller bird perched on a branch, looking to the left of picture.

European roller, Coracias garrulus, from a recent spell in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, KwaZulu-Natal.

2 months ago 3 0 0 1

I remember being taken to see a covered bridge like that in Felton CA in 1990. Why were they built that way? Can see the logic here in Scotland 🌧️ but we don't bother with a roof over our bridges.

2 months ago 3 0 1 0
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I was surveying today in a corner of Tentsmuir Forest, and was accompanied most of the day by one. It would land on a branch right beside me, then flit away and return. Lovely wee things.

3 months ago 1 0 0 0
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We’re delighted to announce Paul Brannen and Professor Peter Bonfield OBE have been awarded Honorary Fellowships, recognising their outstanding leadership in sustainable forestry, timber and climate action.

Read more: charteredforesters.org/paul-brannen...

3 months ago 4 2 0 0

Fraser fir for me this year, and the best needle retention I've had. Maybe this year I won't still be hoovering up needles in June.

3 months ago 2 0 0 0
A Long-tailed tit sitting on a branch of Scots pine.

A Long-tailed tit sitting on a branch of Scots pine.

A Long-tailed tit earlier this year at Anagach Wood, Grantown-on-Spey. I went looking for crossbills and crested tit without success, but this little fella made up for it.

3 months ago 3 0 0 0

Ah, you might be best sticking to the traditional waxed jacket! I spent my time surveying, so only pretend forestry work.

4 months ago 1 0 0 0

That's a great pic of the dugs.

4 months ago 0 0 0 0

I've had a Cascada jacket for about 15 years, working in woodlands. It's full of little holes in the outer fabric from brambles but still waterproof. Also same trousers, shredded, and repaired with sail tape. Still do the job.

4 months ago 1 0 1 0
A grand, ornate balustrade and staircase within St Leonard's Hall, Pollock Halls, University of Edinburgh.

A grand, ornate balustrade and staircase within St Leonard's Hall, Pollock Halls, University of Edinburgh.

Poster with the words Nurture Grow Thrive, promoting the value of becoming a Chartered Forester.

Poster with the words Nurture Grow Thrive, promoting the value of becoming a Chartered Forester.

Here we go, @theicf.bsky.social professional exams, 50 applicants hoping to progress to #CharteredForester within the grand setting of St Leonard's Hall. My 24th year as part of the exam team and a privilege to be involved with such a professional group of people #forestry #arboriculture

5 months ago 8 1 0 0

@bsbibotany.bsky.social late for #wildflowerhour but very early for spring!

5 months ago 23 3 0 0
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Good point. Toffee apples play havoc with the teeth.

5 months ago 2 0 0 0

I do mostly agree with you, Scotland is into 3rd rotation Sitka plantation still using clearfell. It's crap & dangerous but £ talks. Forestry needs to be, can be much better, but we need to produce timber. Please stop denigrating the entire industry when there are many of us who do actually care.

5 months ago 1 0 1 0

Carving a tumshie lantern, that alone deserves a toffee apple from yer first stop oot guysing.

5 months ago 1 0 1 0

Hardly trying to "rubbish your point." Simply pointing out that the two examples are vastly different because the management policy is different. Yours is not the only option. Neither is Sitka plantation. But both have a place, each with their inherent weakness.

5 months ago 1 0 1 0

The obvious point is if you want to manage land purely for nature, then @irishrainforest.bsky.social pic is a good example. If ur objective is to maximise timber production or wheat or turf for golf, it will look significantly different. Depends on objectives. None has exclusivity.

5 months ago 3 0 0 0
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Wooden polychrome door in Pedro I Palace Real Alcázar de Sevilla, 1356. Carbon captured and stored.

5 months ago 3 0 0 0
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The same can be said for the images below. Both are grassland.

5 months ago 17 0 1 0
Red squirrel pair on opposite sides of the stem of a Scots pine tree in a managed forestry plantation

Red squirrel pair on opposite sides of the stem of a Scots pine tree in a managed forestry plantation

Great spotted woodpecker on a Scots pine tree in managed forestry plantation

Great spotted woodpecker on a Scots pine tree in managed forestry plantation

Nuthatch on the stem of Scots pine in managed forestry plantation

Nuthatch on the stem of Scots pine in managed forestry plantation

Jay on a Sitka spruce branch in managed forestry plantation

Jay on a Sitka spruce branch in managed forestry plantation

These are all taken in managed conifer plantation. Perhaps we should fell it all and allow it to "rewild"? I admire many rewilding initiatives. I also hate unthinned 1st rotation Sitka. But we need timber, and gotta start somewhere.

5 months ago 3 0 1 1
shelves with books about trees and forests

shelves with books about trees and forests

This #GreenLibrariesWeek we are celebrating the amazing ecosystems of trees and forests with the Open Shelves display in the General Reading Room. Meet remarkable trees or explore the interconnected life of our woodlands. www.nls.uk/whats-on/ope...

5 months ago 22 8 0 0
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The UKFS isn’t just for foresters. That’s why we created the UKFS for Non-Foresters online course designed to help allied professionals understand and apply the principles of sustainable forestry 🌲

Start learning today: silvestor.org.uk/non-forester...

6 months ago 2 1 0 0
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Here I am, back in my favourite place for the penultimate guided walk of the year. Just an uneducated forester according to some, enjoying this nature-depleted landscape where every tree you see has been planted by others equally uneducated.

6 months ago 8 3 1 0

4 points seems very generous to the World No 1 who was staring an unenviable record in the face. He beat his nearest rival in singles. Apart from that he was sh1te. But the USA gave us a competition today, and that made this Ryder Cup.

6 months ago 0 0 0 0

Well said. I know what they mean by "nature depleted conifer" but it's no different from "nature depleted - towns, villages, farms, grouse moors,broadleaved plantations, or Woodland Trust Offices. Get a grip WT.

6 months ago 4 0 2 0
Dunlin with open bill sitting in grass

Dunlin with open bill sitting in grass

Fulmar in flight against a backdrop of dark cliffs

Fulmar in flight against a backdrop of dark cliffs

Great skua, locally known as Bonxy, standing on cropped grass, Shetland

Great skua, locally known as Bonxy, standing on cropped grass, Shetland

7 Guillemots standing in line along a cliff edge

7 Guillemots standing in line along a cliff edge

A few feathered friends from my trip to Shetland back in July. I love camera-shy Guillemot No 3.

7 months ago 3 0 0 0