A Message from Tom Rawinski to the IGC

Here is a message from Tom Rawinski, our November speaker and Botanist USDA Forest Service, sent to Alicia on Dec. 16th. Tom's message reads as follows:

Hi Alicia,
If you would be so kind, please forward the note and attached photo to the Garden Club members - as my Christmas card, of sorts.

Click on photo for a larger view.

I photographed this doe today at the Turkey Hill Conservation Area (in Ipswich--she was one of 5 deer I saw there.  She is certainly a pretty gal. While I get so very depressed seeing what these deer have done to our forests and wildflowers, I will forever admire their exquisite beauty and grace.

I also visited Linebrook Conservation Area and found it to be just as devastated by deer as Turkey Hill was.  Life is full of tough choices, and we simply have to do something about the current deer overabundance problem - the forests are disintegrating before our eyes, and my magic wand seems to be on the fritz lately.

We should really, as a next step, meet with key town officials to discuss the issue.  Perhaps the Weston, MA model would work well in Ipswich, for instance.  And, while I was at Linebrook, I thought that it would be a fantastic place for a couple deer exclosures - for educational purposes primarily - like the ones
you saw at Audubon's Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. Perhaps the Garden Club could spear-head or fund the exclosures at Linebrook via Ross? I'd be willing to provide guidance.

I've cc'd New England Wild Flower Society's Conservation Director, Bill Brumback - he may be very interested in partnering with the Garden Club on such a project. I've also cc'd Mike Simmons who wrote the management plan for Turkey Hill - Mike is presently a grad student at UNH and is one of our seasonal employees at the Forest Service.

Happy holidays,
Best,

Tom