Dendrology Final Tour

Introduction

The forests of Connecticut are almost entirely made of temperate deciduous habitats with some wetlands throughout the state. They’re dominated by multiple species of oaks and hickories. Beech, birches, and maples are also common. Wildlife is fairly hard to see here, but you can find the more common animals like deer, turkey, fox, coyote, hawks, eagles, owls, raccoons, crows, pigeons, and squirrels here. Mink, beaver, fisher, hummingbirds, and osprey are also present but much harder to see.

Most of the land is considered timberland, harvested for lumber regularly. The other forests are usually in public parks, on private land, or in wildlife reserves. Our forests are usually broken up by urban development, it’ll be hard to find large forests outside of the northern parts of the state. Litchfield and Middlesex counties are by far the most densely forested.

Brief History:

In the 1800s only about 25% of CT was forested. The wood was mainly used for construction lumber and fuel. Bears, wolves, mountain lions, elk, and grouse were forced out due to habitat loss and moved farther up north. Farming was always fairly hard in CT compared to other states because of the wetlands and harsh winters. Once the industrial revolution started it didn’t take long for farming to become basically impractical for most people in the state. Forests took over the abandoned fields and the state put more funding into conservation efforts. Now, about 60% of the state is forested. Chestnuts were unfortunately wiped out for the most part after the Chestnut blight in the 1900s, replaced by oaks and hickories. Ashes have also taken a huge hit from invasives like gypsy moths and ash borers. Dutch elm disease has also posed a huge threat in recent years. Urban development also limits most of the forests to small area sn restricts their gene pools. Other than that though, our forests are generally healthy and responsibly managed.

Supplies/Materials:

Nones of these areas are especially treacherous or harsh, so you won’t need to worry about bringing lots of supplies. All I would suggest is long pants to avoid getting ticks on you. Some of these areas will also have lots of poison ivy and pricker bushes. You will also have to drive between some of these areas.