Juniper Trees ??

For those folks who  strongly advocate removal of Western Juniper from areas of Central Oregon, there are some things about removal programs that should be of interest.

Through observation, it looks to me like cutting down Western Junipers, regardless of age or size, or cutting them up for fence posts does not remove them.  Both actions create more junipers, with more robust growth.

Cutting one juniper tree to make multiple fence posts creates lines of uniformly aged and spaced trees.  One tree becomes many.  There is one illustration here, but there are many examples all over Central Oregon.  Examples are easy to spot once one starts looking.

Cutting down Juniper trees and letting them lie, or removing the cut off portion but leaving the stump, results in renewed, and in some cases, multiple new growth,  It is possible for multiple new trees to start and take root from one branch lying on the ground.   One cut down tree then becomes the generator for multiple tree starts.

One of the reasons people give for recommending juniper removal is that they use too much water.  The argument seems to be that if Junipers are removed, there will be more water.  In the area in which these two photographs were taken, two examples are in the very middle of an old water course.  Instead of increasing water by removing junipers, water use will increase because more junipers were started.

One of those mid water course examples is shown below.

All of the above examples are from publicly administrated lands.   My concern is that people have been convinced that removal of Western Juniper is a sound environmental choice and lend their support to agencies performing that removal regardless of actual results of such action.  If the reader is of the opinion that removal is appropriate, then please investigate the method that will be used and seek examples of management areas where those removal techniques were employed before lending support.

My preference is to leave Grand old Junipers that have been in place for hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of years.

Travelers Beware

Just returned from flights on 3 different airlines and learned A LOT!
    1. Neither TSA nor Airlines enforce the "1 carry on 1 personal Item" FAA regulations, People boarded with 3 large bags, plus, in a couple of cases, a pet carrier. If you board in group 2 through 5, forget overhead space.
    2. The seat you pay for carries no guarantee that you will be able to sit in it squarely upright. The seat I paid for on Alaska was already partially occupied by the oversize adjacent seat occupier when I boarded. Fortunately, I was on an aisle seat and could sit on the edge partially in the aisle. On a Delta 757 200 there was no leg room and I sat with one Knee protruding into the aisle and the other protruding into the gap between the seats in front of me. The headrest came squarely across my shoulders. No back support for the entire flight.
     3. By the time all "preferred, or those needing assistance customers" are boarded, there are less than one third of the passengers, i.e. groups 2 through 5, left to board. Feels like they are penalizing plain old full fare ticket buyers.
     4. One airline even boards space available passengers before fare paying passengers. Grrrrr !! 
     5. What other FAA regulations are they not enforcing ? BEWARE ! The seat you pay for does not guarantee you a seat in which you can plant your bum in the middle of the seat with your legs in front of you.

  Travelers beware

.