{"id":3484,"date":"2025-12-12T11:05:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T16:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2025-12-13T06:32:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T11:32:28","slug":"impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earthmoves.vassarspaces.net\/?p=3484","title":{"rendered":"Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can one being make a difference for many?<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday, my brother brought me a baby oak tree that had sprouted in his yard. Barely six inches tall, it has one brown leaf clinging to the stem. It had had a few leaves and they even turned the rusty red color of oak leaves in the autumn. My plan is to plant the oak in a recent light gap at the back of my yard, where a large hickory tree fell over the summer. The herd of deer that spend their days in my yard will likely want to eat the tender sapling, so I’ll have to protect it from their grazing. Fingers crossed this tiny tree can take hold and thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love oak trees, but my love is pretty recent, born from learning about their biology (they are so cool!). When I was a kid growing up in Northern Virginia, I wasn’t a big fan of the oak trees everywhere<\/strong><\/em> in our yard and the neighborhood. The leaves turn late in the fall and the brownish red isn’t as gorgeous as the brilliant hues of maple trees up a little ways north. The leaves are big and hard to rake when they fall and a number of leaves just hang onto their branches, dropping over the course of the winter. Seems like we needed to rake leaves endlessly. This was in the days before leaf blowers, so now that area is regaled by leaf blower noise and fumes for weeks. I didn’t realize what wonders were oak trees until I noticed the magic of the oak tree in my next door neighbor’s yard and started to learn more about them (oaks, not the neighbors!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image from: https:\/\/joegardener.com\/podcast\/nature-oaks-doug-tallamy\/<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I learned a lot about oak trees from a short book by Douglas Tallamy called, “The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees.”<\/a> I also learned about oaks from the National Parks service website<\/a>. Here’s some of what I learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 600 species of oak trees, 50 or so native to the eastern part of the US. They can live in moist areas, dry areas, on hills and mountainsides, near swamps and even city streets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One oak tree, especially a White Oak (Quercus alba<\/em>), can help sustain what seems like an entire ecosystem. The acorns feed squirrels, rabbits, birds, hordes of insects. All the parts of an oak tree provide housing, shelter and nourishment. Dr. Tallamy counted 511 different moth and butterfly species that develop on oak trees in Pennsylvania, and he noted in his book that oak trees are the “top life support” trees in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a picture of the bark of a White Oak:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oak trees are home (and sustenance) to lots of other insects, including ants, beetles, cicadas, bees…..lots more. And, all these insects (and their young larvae and caterpillars) are crucial food for baby birds. One Earth<\/a> reports that oak trees can support more than 2300 different species: birds, fungi, insects and other invertebrates, mammals, including us. We need oak trees because they support so much life, above and below ground.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Oak tree flowers are wind-pollinated, but oak trees rely on their animal friends to help disperse the acorns away from the tree. Blue jays fly with them and cache them for use later in the fall\/winter. Squirrels stuff them in their pouchy mouths and carry them off and bury them. Oaks can “move” and enter new areas in the beaks and mouths of their animal partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us, besides thinking about the huge number of leaves, or acorns pelting our roofs and heads, think about furniture, oak floors and other things made out of oak wood. Oak trees are hardwood trees, valued by builders of all kinds (homes, flooring, furniture, outdoor structures); they can live hundreds of years. The mighty White Oak and many other oaks are great shade trees, for hot summers, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We used to have an oak tree in my family’s front yard in Virginia that was estimated at older than 300 years. That tree had witnessed the colonization of Virginia by the Europeans, the Civil War and the industrial revolution. Sadly, that glorious, majestic tree was cut down when the town expanded the road my family’s house was on. My sister and I, high school\/middle school, went to a town hall meeting to make an impassioned plea for the tree, to no avail. That oak tree likely could have lived hundreds more years if left alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a graphic<\/a> that might be helpful in understanding the impact of an oak tree:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One oak tree can make a huge difference! Imagine if you planted an oak tree in your yard? You’d make a huge impact on the life around you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A person can be an oak tree<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One ordinary person can have a huge impact, like an oak tree. You might have learned about a few such individuals- Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Rachel Carson. They stood up for what’s right, they didn’t give up. They got the word out. What helped them have their huge impact was other ordinary people lending a hand, lending a voice. That builds a movement, for human rights, civil rights, environmental rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ordinary person who is currently making a difference is Doug Tallamy. He’s a biology professor (of insect biology) at the University of Delaware and is one of many suburban homeowners trying to nurture the life in their yards. He recognizes the importance of sharing what he knows about the crucial importance of the insect world to all of us. So, he wrote books to get the word out. I recommend, Nature’s Best Hope<\/a><\/em>. He also gives talks to various groups. He visits colleges and universities to give talks. He gives public lectures and webinars sponsored by groups like Wild Ones<\/a>, the Columbia Land Conservancy<\/a>, and PBS<\/a>. When some other ordinary folks hear Doug Tallamy’s message, they join in and help spread the word to others. People who have skills with social media, with fund-raising, with organizing. And, now, there’s an organization called Homegrown National Park<\/a> that’s growing and building a new culture of homeownership as nurturing and caring for the land upon which our homes sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you’ll check out some of the links in this newsletter to learn more. You<\/mark><\/strong> can make a difference for hundreds of others. Here are a few tiny little ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Make a New Year’s resolution, if you have a yard, to plant an oak tree, or a little native plant<\/a> garden around a tree. Start small- it’ll make a difference!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. If you don’t have a yard, or if you don’t really like to garden, give a little money to groups dedicated to nature. I am partial to Earthjustice<\/a>, Sierra Club<\/a>, the Nature Conservancy<\/a> and Wild Ones<\/a>, but there are many more.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Read a book, view a video to cultivate a mindset of care and stewardship<\/mark><\/strong><\/em> towards the natural world in your area. Tell others what you learn.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

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    Can one being make a difference for many? Over the recent Thanksgiving holiday, my brother brought me a baby oak tree that had sprouted in his yard. Barely six inches tall, it has one brown leaf clinging to the stem. It had had a few leaves and they even turned the rusty red color of…<\/p>\n

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