Monthly Archives: May 2016

Don’t blame global warming

Posted on May 26, 2016 by JohnMatel

The problem with blaming global warming for everything is that it discourages better management practices that could be done, should be done to make our forests healthier. A good example are pine beetles. They are a problem and have been … Continue reading →

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SITES a LEED for landscape

Posted on May 26, 2016 by JohnMatel

It is not the destination; it is the journey. That makes sense in the figurative way and today literally when I rode my bike down to the SITES event in Alexandria. We went to Alexandria a lot when I first … Continue reading →

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Why some people are not poor

Posted on May 22, 2016 by JohnMatel

The big question is not why some people are still poor but why today most are not. The world before 1750 was uniformly poor and miserable, a long dark age punctuated by a ephemeral points of light, enough to give … Continue reading →

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High grading

Posted on May 22, 2016 by JohnMatel

High-grading involves harvesting the biggest and the best trees. This is attractive because it is most profitable, but it is also attractive because it is easy to confuse it with selective cutting. Over time, high-grading is usually significantly more disruptive … Continue reading →

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Cities and the future of conservation

Posted on May 22, 2016 by JohnMatel

Cities are the future of conservation. By 2050, about 80% of the world’s population will live in cities, and the danger is that they will be separated from nature with little appreciation for its complexity. If most people are going … Continue reading →

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Gettysburg

Posted on May 20, 2016 by JohnMatel

Picture edited 5/20/20 Stopped off at Gettysburg on the way home. I have been here a few times before, the first time in 1985 with my colleague Rick Roberts, who knew the facts of the battle very well and gave … Continue reading →

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Edison and Menlo Park

Posted on May 19, 2016 by JohnMatel

Edited to add pictures 5/20/20 Edison set up his research laboratory in Menlo Park, now part of Edison Township, New Jersey. This is where he invented the phonograph and the light bulb. He later moved his home and factories to … Continue reading →

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Edison and West Orange

Posted on May 18, 2016 by JohnMatel

Pictures edited 5/18/20 We went to West Orange, NJ to look into innovation and Thomas Edison. Edison invented a practical light bulb, the phonograph & the motion picture camera. At least that is what I learned in school. Since then, … Continue reading →

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Road through Conn., NY & NJ

Posted on May 17, 2016 by JohnMatel

It took longer than I thought to drive through Connecticut and New York to get to New Jersey. It was good most of the way. Who knew there could be traffic in the middle of the day in and around … Continue reading →

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Being rich in the gilded age

Posted on May 17, 2016 by JohnMatel

Still in Newport looking at the mansions of the formerly rich and famous. Among the places we visited was “The Breakers” one of the Vanderbilt homes. I know it is fashionable to criticize these fat cats, but they did built … Continue reading →

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