Flooding emergency in Texas (click here for additional news article about recovery efforts - thank you)

Below is the current river gauges of the USA (click here). The Mississippi River has moderate flooding. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that if the Mississippi River level falls, the other major tributaries will begin to drain out and reduce their height as well. 

That hasn't happened.

It continues to be a chronic pattern of rain and severe storms that are causing the Mississippi to maintain higher levels. In examing this map, the purple color indicating Major Flooding somewhat blends in with the green. There is significant flooding continuing through the Midwest and West. None of this is good news and short of the Democratic candidates for President of the USA, there is no one addressing the continued suffering of these Americans.

If any of these high levels throughout the Midwest and West have resulted in stagnant water that means there is a concern for disease.

The children are out of school. Perhaps by late August, they might be out of homeless shelters and back to a somewhat normal life. If the water doesn't recede by autumn, the country has to seriously begin to build a new assessment of where dry productive land actually lies.

I am fairly confident, the Army Corp. and USGS can already answer that assessment.

This is a Sugar Maple in bloom with it's flowers.

A blooming sugar maple (click here) is one of the most conspicuous trees in the landscape, except that it's not obvious that the trees are actually flowering. The flowers are quite small, borne abundantly in clusters, each at the end of a long dangling flower stalk (pedicel).  All these parts are light yellow-green, presenting a very bright display that stands out, but with little apparent detail, so might be mistaken for leaf-out, which hasn't happened yet (branch/leaf buds are just breaking when the bloom is in full force)....

The flower is 3/16 inch long with bell-shaped 5 lobed greenish yellowish flowers. The flower clusters contain both male and female parts. They are drooping together on long slender hairy stalks. The Sugar Maple blooms in early Spring.

The bark on the Sugar Maple is light grey. With age it can be (brown, gray, or near black, often with an orange interior bark). The bark runs vertically is rough and deeply furrowed into narrow scaly ridges.

The twig is slender, greenish to brown or gray. This particular twig has a bud.

The seed pod of a Sugar Maple is basically a helicopter to transport it to areas where water and sunlight are plentiful.

The seed pod is considered the fruit of the tree. it is 1 to 1 and 1/4 inches long including the long wing. The wing is a forked pair, brown with one seed.

The black and white image to the right is how the seed pods are arranged on the twig in relation to the leaf.

We already know the Sugar Maple is a broadleaf. It is 3 and 1/2 to 5 and 1/2 inches long and wide.

It is in the shape of the palm of the hand and is appropriately named Palmately Lobed. 

It has 5 main veins from the base that appears best on the reverse side of the leaf. The reverse side is a far paler color than the front side, It also has 5 deep, long and pointed lobes to the leaf. The leaf stalk is long and often hairy. It is a dull green color that varies from pale to dark green.

Sugar Maple leaves turn from yellow to orange to red in the autumn/fall. 

The Sugar Maple's 
habitat is moist soils of uplands and valleys.

The Sugar Maple is a very hardy tree and is used for maple syrup. It is stated the Native Indians taught the Colonists how to tap the tree and refine the maple syrup. Each tree yields between 5 to 60 gallons of say per year. It takes about 35 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup or 4 and 1/2 pounds of sugar.

Who is picking the crops? Who will pick the crops, assuming there will still be crops.

May 8, 2019

By Jessie Higgins

The average age of America's hired farm laborers was just under 42 in 2017, up from 36 in 2006. 

Evansville - The average age (click here) of America's hired farm laborers is steadily increasing, threatening the future of the nation's farming industry, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The reason is the foreign-born workers, who comprise more than half the workforce, are getting older. At least half those workers are unauthorized. And because the United States is cracking down on illegal immigration, younger immigrants are not arriving to replace them.

Between 2007 and 2016, the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico dropped about 22 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. During roughly that same time period, the average age of migrant and immigrant farmworkers in the United States rose from just under 36 in 2006 to nearly 42 in 2017, according to the report, released last week by the USDA Economic Research Service.

"This is a pretty big concern," said Michael Langemeier, an agricultural economics professor at Purdue University. "If that group is aging, farmers are going to have more problems finding workers. Their bottom lines will be under pressure."...

This is the range of the Sugar Maple.

Acer saccharum Marshall (click here)

It is New York State's most abundant hardwood. 

The Sugar Maple is a large tree with a rounded and dense crown. The trees in dense populations make for a beautiful canopy. As a single tree at a home provides for very nice shade.

Height is about 70 to 100 feet at maturity. The diameter of the trunk 2 to 3 feet.

Maples, but, in particular, Sugar Maples are coveted as a furniture wood. The wood from a Sugar Maple when processed has some interesting classifications that sometimes are considered unique or rare and bring a higher price of lumber.


To the right is a sample of "bird's eye" maple wood. It is said the small dots look like bird's eyes. It is the way the wood grew that created this pattern. There is no clear indication that it is a stronger wood than regular maple wood, but, the patterns in the maple wood can provide uniqueness in the finished product. 

Trees with Don Leopold - Sugar Maple the Official Tree of New York State

The sugar maple was adopted as the State tree in 1956

It isn't simple recovering the USA's Midwest.

June 26, 2019
By Daniel Cusick

The 2019 Mississippi River (click here) flood fight is going to slog deep into the summer — and maybe much longer.

While communities north of St. Louis are beginning the expensive path to recovery after record-breaking winter and spring precipitation and runoff, people below the Missouri River are shoveling mud from their houses and praying for a dry spell.

The Lower Mississippi Valley remains in a flood crisis as high water continues to swamp streets, homes, businesses, sewage and water treatment plants, and farm fields, including across some of the poorest counties in the United States....

The levees are infrastructure. 30 levees is an entire river system. How is the water going to be contained when the levees are not intact. It is nearly an impossible situation because to control the river is to have the levees intact. So long as the flooding persists and the rain continues it is very difficult to rebuild levee systems.

...With prior floods, "it was a nuisance and then we were back in business," he added. "But the duration [of this flood] wears and tears on the minds of not only the business owners but the homeowners. I know several that are done."

As it stands, the river needs to drop an additional 4 feet to open Grafton's main street — the "Great River Road" — by the July 4 holiday.

Jared Gartman, chief of readiness and contingency operations for the Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division in Vicksburg, Miss., said most of the Army Corps districts in the basin have broken records for flood duration, in some places by weeks, and roughly 30 levees have been overtopped or breached in the lower basin....

The Sugar Maple is considered a "broad leaf."

Look at the trees (click here) in your area and you will notice that they are not all the same. By observing the differences, you will be able to identify which species they belong to. However, to correctly identify a tree, you need to look at several parts of the tree. There are three simple steps to follow. Do you know what they are?

To determine which species a tree belongs to, first observe its silhouette. This is very important, as there are many types.

Next, look at the leaves, which occur in different shapes. They are often the best clue to identifying the tree species. Look carefully at the leaf and note its characteristics, i.e., the type of leaf, location on the twig, and the shape and arrangement of the veins. Each of these features is very significant and should be carefully examined in order to correctly identify the tree.

The fruit of broadleaf trees contains the seeds for reproduction of the species. Finally, observe the bark, the protective covering on the trunk and branches. It is to trees what skin is to humans. The fruit and bark are often used to help identify a tree....

Fish and Forests

June 30, 2019
By Paul Hetzler

As many anglers know, trees and trout are closely related. (click here)

Not in a family sense, of course. And not like the way in which tomatoes and fish were briefly married in a 1996 experiment at Oakland, California-based DNA Plant Technology in an attempt to get a frost-tolerant tomato (or possibly a saucy fish.)

NATURE'S ROOM SERVICE


If it weren’t for tree cover, cold-water fish species would not survive in most of the streams they now inhabit.

Forests provide us with many “ecosystem services.

While the term sounds like you can call up Ecosystem Services when camping and order wine delivered to your tent, these services, or gifts, range from the sublime (aesthetic beauty) to the mundane (dollar value of tourism.)

They also include essential things like the production of oxygen, and the removal of airborne particulates.

TOP TO BOTTOM BENEFITS

The impact of extreme storm events is dampened by forests in many ways. The canopy reduces the force at which rain hits the ground, which leads to less water running over the land and more of it seeping into the groundwater....

Considering the relationship between forests and fish, the idea of protecting the forest is a very good one.

February 24, 2017
by Devin Golden

The American Sportfishing Association (click here) and Southwick Associates released the 2017 update of Economic Contributions of Recreational Fishing: U.S. Congressional Districts. The report states America's 46 million anglers have a total economic impact of $115 billion for the United States.

The report, which describes the economic contributions for each state's economy from anglers who live within each district, also includes one-page infographics with economic impacts broken down for all 435 congressional districts and all 50 states....

Outlook Period June, July and August 2019

Issued June 7, 2019 (click here)

...Fire activity continued to be well below average during May as a cool, wet pattern redeveloped over the western United States that persisted through month’s end. High elevation locations in many areas received late season snowfall that further slowed snowpack melting rates. Middle and lower elevations continued to see the development of a robust, continuous grass crop. Drought continued to recede except across Washington State where it persisted and across the Southeast where a slight intensification was observed....

And why exactly are forest rangers necessary?

June 12, 2019
By David Figura

DEC foresty Rangers conduct swift water rescue training on the Raquette River.

A trio of kayakers (click here) overturned and were separated from their crafts in the raging Batten Kill River recently and were reported missing -- resulting in a widespread search by officials that continued into the night.

Fortunately, the kayakers made it to shore and were located at a nearby campground in the early morning hours.

That rescue effort and others involving state Forest Rangers were included this week’s news release by the state Department of Environmental Conservation of Forest Ranger rescues. All information below was provided by the DEC....

New York has awaken the spirit of nature.

"William F. Fox, Father of Modern NY Forest Rangers" (click here)

June 14, 2019

Saratoga Springs - The New York State (click here) Department of Environmental Conservation has renamed the State Tree Nursery in Saratoga Springs the Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery.

Considered by many to be the “father” of DEC’s forest rangers, Fox is arguably one of the most important people in New York state forest lands and forest management history, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said.

During its more than a century of service, the State Tree Nursery has adapted to the changing needs of forestry and land management. The trees and shrubs grown at the nursery support DEC’s goals and overall mission. DEC encourages planting trees and shrubs by providing nursery service to provide low cost, quality stock that is readily available to the public....

It's Sunday Night

Mac Wiseman - Maple Sugar Sweetheart (click here for Grand Ole Opry artist page - thank you)

"Maple Sugar Sweetheart"

Written by Ward Allen and Henry Hank Lariviere (click here for artist's page - thank you)

Oh I left her in the mountains in the golden summertime

I told her not to worry little darling pal of mine

I told her that I loved her and always would be true

When the moon comes o’er the mountain I’ll be waitin’ there for you

She’s my darling she’s my sweetheart she’s the one for me

With a heart as pure as gold and in dreams her face I see

Soon I’ll be returning and the wedding bells will chime

And I’ll make her mine forever when it’s maple sugar time

Jerry Tuckett will play the fiddle folks will come from miles away

To the maple sugar hoedown what a happy wedding day

I’ll be a country king and I’ll paint a pretty scene

I’ll kiss her smiling ruby lips she’ll be my maple sugar Queen                     

Other than Israel's perceived security threat, these seem as mostly unprovoked attacks.

Israel has carried out many strikes against reported Iranian supplies to Hezbollah. I guess the five Russian S-300 are viewed as a security threat.

There is no doubt there is a bond between Iran and Syria as Assad is Alawite, which is a sect of the Shi'ite religion.

Russia certainly knows how to create a mess.

June 30, 2019

Syria said Israeli jets attacked (click here) several military sites near the capital Damascus and the central city of Homs early Monday, lightly injuring several people.

State news agency SANA said that Syrian air defense had intercepted several of the incoming missiles that were fired from Lebanese airspace.

The report said explosions damaged some houses and lightly injured several people in Sahnaya, a neighborhood of Damascus.

There was no response from the Israel Defense Forces, which rarely comments on reported strikes.

Israel accuses Iran of seeking to set up a military presence in Syria that could be used to threaten the Jewish state.

The Israeli military has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years on targets linked to Iran, which is backing President Bashar Assad’s regime in the Syrian civil war.

The reported strikes came just hours after an Israeli satellite imagery analysis company said Syria’s entire S-300 air defense system appeared to be operational, indicating a greater threat to Israel’s ability to conduct airstrikes against Iranian and pro-Iranian forces in the country....

Satellite photos released by ImageSat International appear to show all four missile launchers of the S-300 air defense system in the raised position in the northwestern Syrian city of Masyaf on June 30, 2019. (ImageSat International)

Putin's Spies

More Russian election propaganda, Junior?

There is probably even more reasons to have a FISA investigation into the Trump family and their LOOSE loyalty to USA national security in the boldened year of 2019. 

US Senator Kamala Harris is a very esteemed Senator, an American and one that grew up in the USA during very difficult times of oppression and local government efforts to rise above it.

I don't care if she is 99.9 percent Irish, she grew up as a minority in this country in very oppressive times. I am proud of her. She and her family rose above the oppression and BRAVELY went forward to become a highly intelligent, talented, self-assured and beautiful woman.

"Junior" obviously is a White Supremacist embracing such hatred. Honestly, these people do not below in or near the seats of power.

I apologize to Senator Harris for this obvious racist action by Trump, Junior. She is undeserving of such hatred. She has worked diligently all her life to improve the circumstances of minorities, even from the time as a child being bussed for integration. She is a magnificent person and this was very unfortunate. I am sorry the USA is STILL a hotbed of hatred. I also strongly believe it is a national security issue that divides the country.

June 30, 2019
By Mary Papenfuss

Donald Trump Jr. (click here) was bashed on Twitter Saturday for boosting a type of “birtherism” campaign against Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) that surged in the wake of her breakout performance in one of the recent debates among Democratic presidential candidtates.

A right-wing operative attacked Harris on Twitter after the debate, claiming she had no right to represent American blacks because her father grew up in Jamaica. Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, was born in Oakland, California, in 1964....

With the exception of the First Lady, the Trump family serves the purpose of "The Dictator's Spies." Trump's family talks to him all the time. This is Putin's way of obtaining information without being there.

There is a reason the world's strongmen, primarily communists, befriend Trump and make it appear as though Trump is making inroads to peace. It is ridiculous. The Trumps are the eyes and ears of Freedom's Enemies.

They are mobile listening posts.