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Morning All

Morning all.
Winter Fest looked to be a wonderful time. maybe next year for us. Enjoy the day everyone.

Good Morning from SE lower Michigan. The snow danced worked but it went too far East. The pictures are spectacular but I wouldn't want to shovel it.

Pasty Central folks,

Any updates on the wireless network progress?

Thank You!

So, were any world records set at Tech this weekend?

Detroit News has an article saying that Tech unofficially believes all three were broken. Gooooo Tech! Don't know when the official word can be expected.

Mornin'

Good morning everyone :) Weather here is staying nice and cold, and the snow we got over the weekend is still on the ground...which isn't really that much...but is enough to brighten things up at bit.
Margo, I agree with you about the weekend snow storm. Now how it is that all that snow bypassed us? It just isn't fair, if you ask me ;)

Not fair. All the snow dancing I did and it went to far east.

Charlotte,
When you were doing you 'SNOW DANCE' which direction did you turn? I think you must have been going in a counter clock wise direction (to the left). The storm was classified as a "Noreaster" which means the wind was swirling in a counter clock wise motion.

Sur5er
Regarding your post on Cam notes page. It is NOT our state legislators trying to sell off National Forest land. It isn't even our national legislators. It is the Bush administration that has come up with this plan. Because we have restricted the logging and other revenue generating operations in the national forests, they have come up with this plan to sell off parts of the national forest to generate income.

Hi all!

This is few JENKKIRAUTA;

http://www.selonen.org/photos/BigWheels2005/html/frames.html

Eyeswideshut, Selling National forests/ federal land would require a federal action, in Washington DC, (compared to the selling of state land via a state bill). Thus, state senators and state representatives would have a voice on the selling of off of federal land/ forests...and the Bush administration would have to get a bill passed by both the house and senate, before they could sell any type of federal land/forest. Like John said in his first post, the people to contact regarding this issue would be your state senators and state represenatives, asking them to vote down this bill, when it is introduced in the house, and later the senate.

Clear cutting healthy for forests: er, no. Not necessarily. It sure is healthy for the pockets, though, since it's comparatively cheap. enjoy it while it's possible, but better make sure those trees really grow back.
Were we to clearcut forests here (SW Germany), chances are all we'd get was blackberries and nettles and grass, and perhaps some pioneering tree species in between - not necessarily forest. But as far as I can tell, the UP might not have that problem.

Actually, unless we allow forest fires to burn uncontrolled, clear cutting seems to be the next best alternative. As part of the growth cycle, forests periodically burn large tracts of land, which does keep them healthy. Clear cutting performs part of that function, though with the disadvantage of not leaving all the boimass and carbon behind that a large fire would.
There is also the fact that we have more forest land than we did 50-100 yrs ago, I believe. This was all related to me by a guy who works in the US Forest Service and it sounded good to me, but I'm no expert...

Marc, Yep, we do have more forest land in northern Michigan and the UP now...than we did at the beginning of the 20th century. The heat from forest fires also causes the release of the seeds in pine cones.
Danbury, in clear cutting, the trees that are cut down, are replaced with saplings, to insure the regrowth of trees.

Ok, so you DO plant - then, of course, it should work. I'm not going into the details of the e4ffects of clear cutting - no time, but troubles with the university - or rather, it's bureaucracy.
Fire - heard that about the forests out west, the need of fire for growing. UP-type forests, too?

Danbury,
I think it's only one specific tree that needs the fire for re-growth-a fir I believe. However, there are other factors that a forest fire stimulates that keep a forest healthy such as new crops of undergrowth as well as the change in animal species that may inhabit an area after a fire. The biggest plus to forest fires I have ever seen personally is the explosion of blueberries afterwards :)

Bon appetit, Marc! ;)