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The Trump administration is reportedly poised to take another step to advance drilling at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.

Two people familiar told Bloomberg Newsthat the Interior Department will host whats known as a call for nominations as soon as Monday to gain advice on which parts of the refuges coastal plain to lease out.

The administration formally approved opening up the entire 1.56 million-acre coastal plain to oil and gas drilling this year.

Bloomberg reported Friday that the call for nominations could help shape a future lease auction, though the department is required to issue a formal notice before holding the actual sale.

"Congress directed the Department to hold lease sales in the ANWR Coastal Plain, and we have taken a significant step in meeting our obligations by determining where and under what conditions the oil and gas development program will occur,Interior spokesperson Ben Goldey told The Hill in an email.

Goldey didn't immediately respond to questions seeking clarification.

President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenViolence erupts between counter-protestors, Trump supporters following DC rally Biden considering King for director of national intelligence: report Here are the 17 GOP women newly elected to the House this year MORE has pledged to permanently protect ANWR, though a measure in a 2017 tax law requires one lease sale to be held there by Dec. 22, 2021 and another by Dec. 22, 2024.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has been eager to open up the refuge to drilling, with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt saying earlier this year that it could "create thousands of new jobs and generate tens of billions of dollars."

The department has also recently taken another step to advance drilling, proposing a plan for the Kaktovik Iupiat Corporation to test for oil deposits there starting as soon as December.

Critics, meanwhile, argue that drilling at ANWR could harm animal species that are found there, negatively affect the landscape, exacerbate climate change and harm the Gwichin people who hunt caribou there.

ANWR is home to a number of species, including grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, and more than 200 species of birds.

Environmentalists slammed the latest reported action Friday.

Its not surprising that Trumps Interior is pushing a last-second lease sale in the Arctic considering its political appointees are essentially industry insiders, but it is disappointing that this administration until the very end has maintained such low regard for ... public lands, or the wildlife and Indigenous communities that depend on them, said Adam Kolton, the executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, in a statement.

Updated: 7:07 p.m.

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Trump administration to further advance lease sales at Arctic refuge: report | TheHill - The Hill

Tax system is key to preserving farms and vistas

By Tim Carrington For Foothills Forum

The grain mills have rusted away, the clothing assembly lines are silent, and the apple business has mostly rolled off to North Carolina, Winchester, the Pacific Northwest and China.

Rappahannock Countys surviving treasure island land tucked inside sunsets, punctuated by fences and streams, home to calf-and-cow operations, vineyards, fine eateries, art galleries and footpaths. The cows, cooks, artists, tourists and retirees all are here because of the land, whether they gaze at it or graze on it. The county treasury needs it just as badly: real estate taxes this year will bring in $10,668,017, or 70 percent of local revenue, to support the schools and help fund a panoply of services.

Mount Vernon Farm has been in Cliff Millers family for eight generations.

But ringed by towns and exurbs subject to crowding and commerciality, Rappahannocks timeless hills command ever higher prices. The average price per acre has soared from just under $1,000 in 1974 to about $7,000 in 2017. In 2020, despite COVID-19 (or maybe because of it), real estate offices and construction firms have never been busier, with building permits rising above pre-pandemic levels. By driving up prices, land buyers threaten the landscapes that enthralled them in the first place, because for farmers, costlier land makes it harder to get started or show a profit after taxes. Should a developer approach, its more tempting to cash out.

For the artist, tourist or weekender, the land needs to be a beautiful and evocative backdrop. Not so for most farmers and owners of substantial parcels. For them, the landscape is also an economic asset. It doesnt only have to be protected; it also needs to generate income.

The threat of landscape loss extends far beyond Rappahannock County. The American Farmland Trust found that between 2001 and 2016, 11 million acres of U.S, farmland was paved over, chopped up and built on, effectively taking those thousands of pastures out of agriculture forever. Some of the lost farmland still looks something like a farm, though it has effectively become a piece of exurbia. In Virginia, in the same time period, 340,000 acres of farmland, twice the size of Rappahannock County, was developed or threatened with development.

Using one measure of development population density Rappahannock County is succeeding in maintaining its open spaces, notwithstanding its 75-mile proximity to a major metropolitan area. In 1930, there were 28.9 persons per square mile in the county, and following a decades-long tapering off in population, the latest calculation shows 27.7 per square mile still below the level 90 years ago.

The number of farms has been rising, with fluctuations; in 1987, there were 288, and in 2017, there were 439. But the farms are getting smaller, shrinking from an average of 268 acres in 1987 to 160 acres in 2017.

Taxes: A tool for conservation

Tax policy has always been a tool for encouraging some activities and discouraging others, and in Rappahannock theyre calibrated to encourage farming, forestry and generally, letting land be. Conservation easements lower tax rates while placing permanent limits on development. But some farmers want a tax break without taking options away from future generations. So in 1982, the county adopted land-use tax deferrals to keep the farmers farming, including weekenders who grow hay that a farmer cuts, bales and takes away. Deferrals also are available for land used for forestry and horticulture (the latter being a tiny proportion of the acreage subject to land use). In some cases, the benefit shrinks the tax bill to about half of what it would be if taxed at fair market value.

Foothills Forum is an independent, community-supported nonprofit tackling the need for in-depth research and reporting on Rappahannock County issues.

The group has an agreement with Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News, to present this series and other award-winning reporting projects. More atfoothills-forum.org.

To qualify, residents must have at least five acres dedicated to agriculture or horticulture, or 20 acres in forestry, to gain that land-use deferral. The arrangement particularly when applied to those whose only crop is hay can be an irritant to long-time residents whose taxes are based on fair-market value because their holdings are too small to meet the land-use threshold. But by giving the weekend hay farmers an incentive to enter land-use, the tax structure helps cattle farmers avoid buying hay. Easing the financial strains, it keeps farmers farming, and protects the landscape.

By any measure, land-use is widely used and popular. Together with conservation easements and public land holdings, it whacks deeply into the revenue that the county might earn from its main asset. Heres the breakdown: Starting with 170,496 acres, the Commissioner of Revenue Mary Graham must immediately subtract the untaxable Shenandoah National Park as well as various tax-exempt properties, plus highways, roads and rights of ways, leaving 136,581 acres of taxable land. Of that, 33,634.9 acres are under conservation easement and 83,363.8 acres are in land-use. That leaves just 19,582 acres, 14 percent of all taxable land, that is taxed at fair-market value.

Farmers say that without todays land-use tax breaks, for-sale signs would proliferate and Rappahannocks beloved landscape would begin to mutate. According to Mike Kane, the Piedmont Environmental Councils land conservation director, studies show that land-use tax deferrals, by easing the burden on farmers, help preserve the landscapes that visitors and homeowners prize, generating more economic gains for the county than they cost in lower tax receipts. He adds, You cant find a study that doesnt support the notion that agricultural and open spaces generate more revenue than they demand in services.

Given its commitment to protect farms and farmers, the county counts on construction of new houses to generate new tax revenue. There are 171 homes that the assessors designate to be mansions, old and new. Amassing to a total assessed value of $202 million, the mansions account for 12.7 percent of the taxable value for the county. Says Al Henry, a member of the countys Planning Commission: Thats where the increases in our taxes is going to come from people building houses.

Of course, there can be too much of any good thing: Build too many over-large, showy houses in visible locations, and the county loses its rural ambiance. So far this year, there are 20 building permits for new homes, up from 17 a year earlier. The 20 new structures covered by this years building permits will provide a boost in the countys tax revenues, but, depending on location and design, some may encroach on a cherished landscape.

For the time being, there is no groundswell to raise taxes on land thats farmed, forested or protected under easements. In fact, the one idea that gets some attention is an additional land-use category for open space. The State of Virginia allows this tax break, and a number of neighboring counties, such as Madison and Fauquier, have adopted it. The open-space tax break was initially understood as a way to encourage golf courses and other private recreation spaces. But experts point out that the participating county can attach a variety of conditions to qualify, such as cultivating native plants, providing habitat or encouraging pollination. And to avoid competing with the farming tax deferral, the county could set the tax reduction for open space below that for agriculture.

Heres a hypothetical situation where an open-space tax break could help preserve the landscape. A large farm cuts back, opting for a family farm, or smaller, more specialized commercial operation. The land taken out of active farming would lose its agricultural land-use advantage, immediately bouncing into a higher-tax category. The owner might decide to carve the old farm into parcels to sell to home-builders. An open-space land-use deferral would allow the farmer to retain the agricultural land-use deferral for the new, smaller farm, applying the open-space tax advantage for the rest. The formerly farmed land would be tended according to healthy land-use practices, encouraging native plants and pollinators, which would benefit neighboring orchards and vineyards. As a result of careful environmental management, if the land were to transition back to active farming, it would be in healthier condition. Its not known how many Rappahannock land-owners would claim the open-space tax deferral if it were available, but PEC analysts say it has worked well in Fauquier and Madison Counties, without resulting in a significant loss of tax revenue.

Farmers and conservationists see landscape preservation as a three-legged stool: conservation easements to remove land permanently from development; land-use tax deferrals to lighten the tax burden on land under management; and third, business strategies for generating enough income from land to reduce the temptation to sell.

Addy Hausler of Castleton digs into an apple crate at Thornton River Orchard, which has found success selling directly to consumers. Overall, orchards occupied 1,378 acres in 1992, but by 2017 covered just 211 acres in the county.

The strategies dont follow a single rule other than a willingness on the part of landowners to rethink and reinvent. A look at two defining agricultural mainstays for Rappahannock cows and apples underscores how much, and how quickly, rural economies can shift. The cattle population, which stood at 17,548 in 2002, dropped to 12,997 in 2017. The prospective sale of the 7,000-acre Eldon Farms would bring the numbers down further. Apples, once an economic engine, show an even starker decline; orchards occupied 1,378 acres in 1992, but by 2017 covered just 211 acres in the county.

U.S. agriculture is increasingly concentrated, dominated by a handful of processors and distributors, with prices set by sweeping market forces well outside the control of the producers. The large commodity-type markets arent friendly to agriculture on the scale that is practiced in Rappahannock County, says one land-use expert in the region. But because cows need large swaths of land for grazing, the calf-and-cow businesses are uniquely valuable in keeping Rappahannocks landscape looking as it does now.

For comparison, a major vineyard adds beauty, diversity and income to the county, but it requires no more than about 25 acres. A comparably positioned cattle farm needs ownership of, or access to, hundreds of acres. Once the land is in place, these businesses can generate profits, though not at the level that alternative sectors might offer in todays economy. The proposition shifts when farmers have to acquire the land. But if the land is already in the family, or can be economically leased, many believe that beef cattle can become a solid business.

While the tax policies for easements and land-use are stable. But business strategies, the third leg of the stool, are constantly in flux, and likely to remain so. And other than repeatedly, and calmly, asking, What now?, theres no single template for success.

The following trio of snapshots offer three currently successful approaches. They are wildly divergent, suggesting that Rappahannocks future will be more of a quilt than a monochrome blanket. But for all their differences, the three management approaches have these elements in common:

All three take advantage of Rappahannocks proximity to the large customer base in the Washington metropolitan area.

All three engage the fresh thinking and continuity brought by younger generations.

All three focus on the future more than the past, listening closely to todays customers.

With 840 acres, eight generations of family owners and 193 years of farming, Mount Vernon Farm rises from the eastern edge of Sperryville, an icon of Rappahannock County history and beauty. At one time, 115 cows were milked twice a day in the 235-foot barn that stretches along the lowland section of the farm, down the hill from the graceful brick farmhouse John Miller Sr. bought in 1827 from Francis Thornton and later expanded. At other times, grass-fed beef cattle, pigs, lambs and chickens were rotated through the pastures, with llamas parading to scare away coyotes and other visiting predators.

Weve got the perspective of 200 years,Cliff Miller III says. Weve seen a lotof things that worked well at one time, but stopped working well.

Today, the animals are gone. The barn, emptied of cows, caters to brides and grooms, celebrating their vows with family and friends, flanked by tables heaped with offerings from the countys best cooks. The Miller family no longer sleeps in the farmhouse, which, newly renovated, is The Inn at Mount Vernon Farm, with rooms starting at $250 a night. The grazing pastures are filled with wildflowers, native grasses, and in the summer and early fall, hundreds of butterflies darting across miles of grassy trails where guests walk and enjoy breathtaking views.

Its a new business, and the product is beauty. Young couples, stressed city-dwellers, environmentalists and fishing enthusiasts flock to the place. Cliff Miller III notes that his immediate ancestors would be reeling if they saw the changes, but he applauds the vision brought by his son, Cliff Miller IV, who arrived in 2010 after trading NASDAQ stocks on the West Coast. His idea was to turn the farm into an eco-refuge and hospitality business. The reengineering includes a nine-hole golf course along Route 211, tied to the Headmasters Pub, which anchors the old Schoolhouse structure, which the Miller family also owns. Since the pandemic hit, Headmasters put its menu online, and business picked up smartly. Golf activity benefitting nationally as an apparently safe pastime has doubled in recent months. Active farming is part of the picture only through the successful adjacent vegetable and flower mainstay, Waterpenny Farm, which leases acreage from Mount Vernon Farm.

Weve got the perspective of 200 years, Cliff Miller III says. Weve seen a lot of things that worked well at one time, but stopped working well. For Miller, the environment evolved from a parallel preoccupation to the central focus. In the late 1990s, he worked to eliminate toxic fertilizers and pesticides, cleaned up the stretch of the Thornton River that traverses the property and used federal subsidies to help cover the necessary green investments. He stopped cutting hay, concluding that it took nutrients away from the land. Six hundred and four acres went into conservation easement.

Mount Vernon has migrated from being a farm inside a landscape to being a landscape that remembers farming. Visitors share the Millers passionate appreciation of the local environment, and the hospitality business so far is working out. Reflecting on past and present, Cliff Miller III prefers the current incarnation of their Mount Vernon. Im not here because my family owned the land, he says. Im here because of the beauty of the place.

In contrast to Mount Vernon, animals are the center of life at Bean Hollow Grassfed near Flint Hill. Soon after Bill and Linda Dietel bought the 200-acre Over Jordan Farm in 1980, sheep arrived. Linda Dietel set up a meat and wool business she managed for 20 years. After her retirement, a neighboring cattle farmer leased part of the land for grazing and haying. In 2012, the Dietels daughter Betsy and her husband Mike Sands moved in, and after giving the land a few years to rejuvenate, launched Bean Hollow Grassfed on 105 acres of the original farm. Sands, a long-time consultant on community-based agriculture and animal science, preferred sheep to cows, because theyre less expensive, mature faster and are smaller (If all else fails, I could push a sheep where I want it, he explains.)

Pigs came next, but in modest numbers initially. Theyre now the second-highest contributor to farm revenue, with about 25 on the farm. Today, in addition to the pigs, there are 21 beef cattle, 98 ewes, five mature rams and 65 lambs.

Mike Sands feed pigs atBean Hollow Grassfed

Initially, Sands recalls, it was a very simple market. The farm sold animals to three buyers, who then handled slaughterhouse bookings, processing and marketing. But one of the main buyers moved, and Bean Hollow ventured into retail sales. The sticking point was the cost of staffing the farm store. A Midwestern farmer persuaded Sands to operate the farm store on a self-service basis. People thought I was nuts, he says, but its worked. The only irregularities result from customers paying too much, either by accident or as a gesture of good will.

The COVID-19 crisis brought a surge in demand, and a challenge to meet it. People associated large grocery stores with empty shelves and infection risks. Nightmare stories of COVID surges at huge meat processing plants added to the aversion. The result: Bean Hollows customer base quintupled, and the challenge to keep up was intense, particularly when local processing facilities began to get overburdened.

Once the pandemic subsides, Sands hopes to retain half the new customers, selling them meat at the farm store and the farmers market in Sperryville. Staffing includes his son and daughter-in-law, plus a younger-generation hire, Amanda Frye, who has managed pasture quality, the health and growth of the animals, and more recently, integration and marketing. When her responsibilities expanded, Bean Hollow extended her salary with in-kind payments in livestock. Shes now off on a paid maternity leave.

If trends continue for local and grass-fed, you could see some real benefits for the county, says Mike Sands.

Sands says the team, and the customers, are happy with the focus on animals. The farm provides recipes and tips on grilling the meat. Customers want to reserve their favorite cuts and return. He says financial strains would ease if the county showed more flexibility by allowing farms like Bean Hollow to supplement their revenue through occasional events like weddings and weekends for agro-tourists. What youre really looking for is to grow the revenue base without further burdens on the land base, he says.

Sands says hes optimistic. If trends continue for local and grass-fed, you could see some real benefits for the county, he says, not in the sense of a boom, but youd see a healthier landscape, higher returns through higher management of the pastures and more opportunities for young farmers.

When he was a year old, Allan Clark moved from Fairfax to the base of Old Rag Mountain, and he has been fastened to the Rappahannock landscape ever since. After school, he mixed carpentry work and small-time farming, turning in 2015 to the countys one-time economic mainstay apples. Leasing land from the Jenkins family, he planted apple and pear trees, including lesser-known varieties like Evercrisps, Pink Ladies and Arkansas Blacks. Tall deer fencing went up to protect the newly planted trees.

Youve got to diversify and sell directly to the customer, says Thornton River Orchard owner Allan Clark.

Strategically located between Sperryville and the national park entrance, the 30-acre orchard is positioned to intercept hikers and foliage watchers as they come off the mountain. But more customers were waiting in the city, so Thornton River sets up at two Washington area farmers markets every week.

As Clark sees it, the orchards of old were ensnarled in a complex business of juicing, processing and distributing fruit through a chain of intermediate businesses. Contracts were complicated and regulations could beheavy. Direct sales to customers are simpler, cleaner and more profitable. The younger-generation component comes through the Clarks 27-year-old daughter, Megan, who studied business and agriculture in college. Four workers help from August through December.

Luis Barrios picks some of the orchards last Pink Lady apples of the season.

Youve got to diversify, Clark says, and sell directly to the customer. Alongside the fruit and vegetables, the Clarks churn out a stream of value-added products: Bloody Mary mix with horseradish, Vidalia onion peach sauce, hard cider, and in the latest innovation, apple cider slushies.

Like other Rappahannock farms, Thornton River found that the pandemic expanded business. The two farmers markets led to direct customer deliveries. In the late spring, Thornton brought in as many as 50 boxes of fruit and other products for individual customers to pick up. For one Chevy Chase, Md., customer who was wary of crowded markets, Clark delivered the produce box to her door. We show people were loyal to them and they show us theyre loyal back, he says.

A natural optimist, Clark expects problems, but also solutions. Stinkbugs damage the apple trees, but Samurai wasps are beginning to punish the notorious pest. Berries involve a lot of work, but Thornton might draw people to the farm with a pick-your-own arrangement. Apples were left spotted by the surprising Mothers Day freeze last May, but they recovered their flavor.

Although he leases the land his orchard occupies, land-use tax policy is important because it helps the owner keep the leasing costs down. Land-use to Rappahannock County and to rural land is the only way youre going to keep people doing this, says Clark. We dont want to be the next Prince William or Fairfax County.

Tommy Starts atop a straw horse at the front of the Thornton River Orchard store in Sperryville, Va.

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Protecting Paradise Land and landscape: A backdrop and a business - Rappahannock News

When Dr Wilfrid Fox began his arboretum in 1938, he envisaged not simply a collection of tree species, but planting on such a scale as to create its own landscape. Under its new manager, this extraordinary place is, at last, being given the attention it deserves, reveals Charles Quest-Ritson.

Winkworth was the brainchild and passion of Dr Wilfrid Fox (18751962), who planted this most beautiful arboretum in the middle years of the 20th century. It is now a much-prized asset in the National Trusts portfolio of grand gardens.

The Trust calls it a Museum of Trees, but, actually, its better than that. Ever since Fox started planting in 1938, much thought has gone into the artistic effects made possible by planting for flowers in spring and leaf-colour in autumn.

Fox was an interesting man. He came from a family of Liverpool merchants who made their fortune in South America. Independently wealthy, he nevertheless qualified in medicine and ran a thriving Harley Street practice as a venereologist (politely known, in those days, as a dermatologist). During the First World War, he converted his motorcar into a field ambulance and drove to France to serve with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Winkworth Arboretum is set in a valley within a rolling landscape in Surrey.

He retired from his medical practice aged 51 in 1926 and spent the rest of his life at Winkworth Farm, three miles south-east of Godalming in Surrey. His acquisition of 65 adjoining acres in 1937 enabled him to create the arboretum of which he dreamed. Further land was added subsequently, so that Winkworth now extends to about 100 acres.

Foxs passion for trees dated from his earliest youth. He was one of the founders of the Roads Beautification Association, which, in the 1930s and 1940s, was responsible for planting thousands of ornamental trees, such as pink cherries, along trunk roads. He admired the tree collections at Exbury, Westonbirt and Sheffield Park and knew their owners.

Not for him the bitty plantings of plantsmen who simply want to collect as many species as possible. A mistake which is commonly made in landscape planting, he wrote, is making the groups too small. Fox wanted massive plantings and mega colour effects. He believed that, if one planted on a grand scale, the result would be a landscape of its own and no longer need to be in harmony with the landscape beyond. He explained: If one plants exotics (sometimes a term of opprobrium) sufficiently boldly, they can, in a very short time, become part of our English scenery.

Most of the land at Winkworth lies on a greensand plateau, but part of it runs down a steep hill to a valley where an artificial lake was made long before Fox bought the estate. He saw he could plant the dramatic escarpment with bold groups of trees, the shapes and colours of which would be reflected in the calm waters below. Accordingly, he placed two massive drifts on the lower slopes: 24 trees each of American red oak Quercus coccinea and Liquidambar styraciflua.

The lake at Winkworth Arboretum.

Over the years, the oaks have proved a disappointment because they dont colour as well as expected and seem to be short-lived. The liquidambars, on the other hand, have thrived, and their display of autumn colour is the longest of all trees up to 10 weeks from start to finish. The Trust has decided, quite correctly, to increase the number of liquidambars and to try the oaks in another part of the arboretum.

Fox called himself an artist using trees and shrubs to paint a picture. He loved maples and planted many species. Some have fared better than others. Acer rubrum is one of the most successful and, over the years, mature specimens have been limbed up to create a woodland canopy under which shade-loving species flourish. Layered planting is now the key to maximising the ornamental effect.

In the lee of Acer rubrum are some 80 different Japanese maples, some dating back to the earliest days of the arboretum, their fallen leaves creating a carpet of red, orange and yellow in late October. Acer palmatum Osakazuki is consistently one of the best.

The Canadian sugar maple, Acer saccharum, is always among the first at Winkworth to show its brilliant red colouring, early in September. Nyssa sylvatica, the American tupelo, is also a dependable vehicle for autumn colour, but its leaves do not last long upon the trees. A smaller tree that does give a lengthy autumn display is the Persian ironwood Parrotia persica; three specimens planted as a group down by the lakeside have spread themselves out very attractively.

There are many habitats at Winkworth and Fox exploited them to meet the different needs of ornamental trees and shrubs. Some of his ideas, such as underplanting ancient bluebell woodland with azaleas, might not be considered acceptable nowadays. He had an interest in Sorbus species rowans and whitebeams all of which have handsome leaves and impressive flowers, usually followed by autumn colour and splendid clusters of fruit (S. cashmiriana keeps its large white fruit until well into the new year). Once, Winkworths Sorbus were recognised as a National Collection, but severe losses they are often short-lived are now being made good with help from another National Collection at Ness Botanic Gardens in Cheshire.

Fox planted mainly for spring and autumn colour, but a Trust property open to the public must support visitor interest all through the year. Mahonias, hamamelis cultivars and Cornus mas are always much admired when they flower in winter. This is also the season to study the infinite colours and patterns of tree bark: snake-bark maples and almost all birches show their trunks off best in winter. Late-summer colour comes from such shrubs as hydrangeas, Clerodendrum trichotomum and flowering trees of Eucryphia Rostrevor and E. x nymansensis Nymansay, both of them champion specimens.

Winkworth has many champion trees. Among the largest examples in the British Isles are Acer davidii Madeline Spitta (named after Foxs secretary), the upright tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera Fastigiatum and the American chestnut Castanea dentata, now blighted almost to extinction in the wild. The many Surrey champions meaning that they are bigger than anything at Wisley or the Savill Garden include three huge magnolias flowering in early spring Magnolia campbellii subsp. mollicomata, M. Lanarth and M. x veitchii.

Sunlight falling on tree trunks in an autumn afternoon in Winkworth Arboretum.

There is much to entice the knowledgeable visitor, including a huge Halesia monticola and a magnificent Nothofagus obliqua. Fine horse chestnuts include the invaluable Aes-culus indica, late flowering and resistant to leaf-moth, and Japanese Aesculus turbinata, the leaves of which are the largest in the genus, twice the size of our common conker trees.

There are several Cercidphyllum japonica trees at Winkworth and the intriguing smell of burnt sugar their leaves emit in autumn catches the visitor unawares. An avenue of the Japanese Hill cherry, a close relation of Prunus serrulata Kanzan, was one of Foxs first plantings. Almost all those trees have died, so the Trust needs to consider whether to replant them and, if so, where to put them.

You will not see a single eucalyptus tree they were far too exotic even for bold Dr Fox. For simple tree worship, however, Winkworth remains a most enjoyable place of pilgrimage.

Winkworth has been owned and managed by the Trust in some degree since 1952 and now has 140,000 visitors most years. It is the charitys only dedicated arboretum and perhaps the knowledge and skills required to manage it have not always been readily available in-house.

The current manager, Graham Alderton, came from outside the Trust and is quickly putting Winkworth on the right tracks for the next 30 years or so. A programme of restoration and upgrading is on the way, as are better parking, refreshed reception buildings and improved signs.

Nevertheless, the Trust is hampered by a lack of records nothing to indicate when the individual trees were planted or where they came from. Labelling was, at one period, completely neglected. There are important trees that Mr Alderton, a Kew-trained tree-expert, is still trying to find. Others are in need of accurate naming. He is assisted by three full-time gardeners not really enough for 100 acres, although two are qualified arboriculturists. In a normal year, as many as 30 volunteers undertake essential tasks pruning, clearing, chipping and mulching, as well as working with strimmers and light machinery. Although building work is on hold for now, the future looks positive.

Winkworth Arboretum, Godalming, Surrey, near Gertrude Jekylls Munstead Wood http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

A riot of autumnal splendour has broken out across the country.

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Winkworth Arboretum, the Museum of Trees that celebrates the art of planting for autumn colour - Country Life

How did these abandoned cars and trucks from another era get here? The forest is too dense, too rocky, and too hilly to drive a 1953 Oldsmobile 88 two-door coupe to its final resting spot, wedged tightly between trees. And could that 1941 Buick have arrived under its own power? Neither car has wheels.

The cab of a pickup truck intact at the bottom of a hill seems to have somehow found its way here without benefit of any motor, chassis, or doors.

A cemetery of maybe half a dozen vehicles, all seemingly dropped from above, sit in silence, subsumed in varying degrees by a patient but relentless natural world. And all without a hint of explanation as to their presence.

Stepbrothers Allan Bezanson and Don Haitsma, 85 and 86 years old, respectively, know the answers.

Theyd grown up here on Stirrup Brook Farm, a small dairy with maybe 20 cows and a few fields of corn and hay. Farming was hard work, but the boys found diversions when they could. They carved a track into the brush around their fields, where they raced aging automobiles bought on the cheap, even though they werent old enough to have drivers licenses. Farm kids often drive early.

And then, just a few years out of high school, Haitsma bought a used Oldsmobile, an otherwise great car cursed by an infamous transmission. Its reverse gear didnt work.

General Motors designed an advanced automatic transmission, the Hydra-Matic Drive transmission. The companys factory in Livonia, Mich., churned out thousands every day until it went up in smoke in 1953, in one of the countrys largest industrial fires. With no Hydra-Matics available, Oldsmobile had to install inferior Buick transmissions in many of its 1953 models and they had the defective reverse gears.

Haitsma recalled buying the car when it was just a few years old. I didnt have it for too long. Just a couple years. I got really tired of looking for parking places that I wouldnt have to back out of, he said.

Don got so mad at that car he drove it out behind a field and left it there and walked home, Bezanson said. The sleek sky blue coupe was parked for good before the 1960s began.

With a laugh, Bezanson fondly recalled that recurring method of disposing of the cars with his stepbrother. Cars and trucks that were beyond their useful lives wound up dumped behind the field, vandals stripping parts as the elements took their toll.

Before too long, the little dairy couldnt compete with larger operations. Over time, the farmlands were sold off or taken by eminent domain. Nature reclaimed what once had been tilled. A new forest grew up around the cars, 60 years of growth transforming the landscape. Just one field remains, visible from the cars only when foliage has fallen off the trees.

Northborough began carving an impressive trail network through private and town-owned land in 2001, now linked with the Boroughs Loop Trail and nearly 30 miles of paths in Marlborough, Southborough, and Westborough.

The Old Farm Trail named for Stirrup Brook Farm leads hikers right past that Oldsmobile and its rusting brethren, waiting to intrigue the next baffled visitor.

Lane Turner can be reached at lane.turner@globe.com.

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In Northborough, theres a secret resting place for relics that once cruised the highways - The Boston Globe

Damon Pla's 'The Delay of Winter,' an acrylic work, is featured in an exhibit of the artist's work at the Rehoboth Art League starting Nov. 13.

On Friday, Nov. 13, from 5 to 7 p.m., the Rehoboth Art League will host an opening reception for two new exhibits featuring Damon Pla, with his Memory of a Late Afternoon collection of landscape and surreal paintings, and Linda Hill, with her collection of work She the People, a series recognizing the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Both exhibitions will run through Dec. 13.

The opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on the RALs campus. To ensure the safety of all attendees, RAL will continue to require masks to enter the galleries, and volunteers will monitor attendees numbers in buildings and direct one-way traffic flow.

We look forward to recognizing these accomplished artists in a safe public forum and are delighted to be able to provide an in-person opening for our community, representatives said.

The Corkran Gallery will highlight Plas paintings, which are inspired by ambient music and the late afternoon light. Plas work explores landscapes and surreal compositions in an effort to provoke thought and meditation. His artwork consistently exposes his obsession for late-afternoon light and the subtlety of both cool and warm ambient spaces. Pla said he was drawn to express himself through art at an early age, and after a decade of largescale projects throughout Florida and neighboring regions, the largely self-taught artist moved to Delaware and continues to work full-time creating timeless murals, large paintings and limited-edition reproductions.

Linda Hill's 'Second Look in Cherokee Red' is among her works inspired by the women's suffrage movement, on exhibit starting Nov. 13 at the Rehoboth Art League.

Hill will be featured in the Tubbs Gallery with her collection of works inspired by the suffragettes/suffragists movements both in the United States and in England. Hill said she wanted to design a show that would reflect the voting-rights struggles of the early 20th century. Her research, she said, left her in awe and admiration for the dogged determination, courage and tenacity of the women who participated in this movement.

Hill said she is hopeful that her art will serve to suggest that one should not take voting for granted. In researching some of the more prominent women of this early enfranchisement movement, Hill found so many faces compelling, so full of spirit and strength of character, that, she said, it was impossible to not want to paint them all.

The Rehoboth Art League is located at 12 Dodds Lane, in Henlopen Acres. For additional information on the RAL, its classes, events and exhibitions, visit the website at rehobothartleague.org or call (302) 227-8408.

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Surrealism and suffrage exhibits to open at RAL on Friday - Coastal Point

THE WOODLANDS, TX - The latest additions to the impressive amenities residents can enjoy in The Woodlands Hills Sue Luces Daisy Park and Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park have recently opened, The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) has announced. The Woodlands Hills is one of Houstons newest master planned communities in Conroe and Willis, located 13 miles north of The Woodlands.

We are excited to announce the addition of two parks, Daisy Park and Peace Park, in The Woodlands Hills, said Heath Melton, Executive Vice President of MPC, Residential for The Howard Hughes Corporation. Each park is surrounded by nature, creating the perfect ambiance for health, fitness and wellness activities for residents to enjoy. These nature-encompassing parks offer pedestrian connectivity within the community as each one is accessible just a short distance from homes.

Sue Luces Daisy Park, a one-acre neighborhood park nestled in the trees and accented by daisies, serves as the social and recreational focal point for nearby neighborhoods in the Grove village of The Woodlands Hills. Thiswhimsical activity park utilizes nature as the playground for younger and older children, featuring a giant spider climber, stepping logs and a hill that youth can climb up and roll down. Its playground, aptly called Branch Out, creates a tree fort within the park. It also features ADA- compliant swings. A pavilion provides a nice respite from the sun and serves as an area for gatherings with family and friends. To take in a little more nature, a natural trail bisects the park highlighting the native flora and fauna. A giant 24-foot native white oak tree is a highlight of Daisy Park.

We are committed to nature and are proud of our masterfully-designed forested recreational amenities. The trees removed for this park project were reused within Daisy Park as park benches, play equipment and path pavers, stated Melton.

Sue Luces Daisy Park is named in memory of the late Sue Luce, who was a successful Realtor and pillar of Montgomery County. Her daughter, Nelda Luce Blair, won the naming rights in a charitable donation bid that benefited the Montgomery County Community Foundation. The auction item was donated by The Howard Hughes Corporation.

Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park features a 1.8-mile meandering pathway that winds along an intermittent creek bed, a tributary of Stewarts Creek, accessible through three pedestrian boardwalks for leisurely walks. The forested park offers playful exploration with boulders and logs to scale and several nature trails. Connected by nature to two patio home neighborhoods in the Ridge village of The Woodlands Hills, Peace Park features shaded sitting areas for relaxation and reflection, away from the hustle and bustle of life.

Officially named Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park, with the naming rights donated for a charitable auction to Montgomery County Community Foundation from The Howard Hughes Corporation, the 2.5-acre park is designed with a passive, tranquil landscape for serene enjoyment. Native plants and wild birds indigenous to the area can be observed from the park.

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Two New Masterfully-Designed Parks Now Open in The Woodlands Hills - Woodlands Online

PUBLISHED: 07:00 15 November 2020

Michael Hammerson, Heath & Hampstead Society

The Tumulus circa 1890. Picture: courtesy of Michael Hammerson

Michael Hammerson

We all love the Heath, for its wildlife, its scenery and its peace; but equally magical, and more mysterious, is the Heath of which most visitors are unaware: the unknown Heath beneath our feet.

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However the evidence shows that the Heath was occupied long ago and is the remnant of a vast historic landscape, most of which was destroyed by Londons expansion.

My own historical walks for the Heath and Hampstead Society aim to show things visitors have walked past a thousand times without even noticing, but which are fascinating clues of the Heaths past.

The Heath has been used for many things in recent centuries; but three hundred years ago it provided Londons Water supply, it had mediaeval mills (Millfield Lane, once an important mediaeval road) and farms like Shirewic, near Athlone House. A farm is recorded in Domesday Book at Hamstede, and the land was given by the Norman Kings to Westminster Abbey; its boundaries are described in Anglo-Saxon charters; and there is evidence of occupation during the Bronze (2,500-800 BC) and Mesolithic (8,000-6,000 BC) ages.

Excavations on the West Heath by the Hendon Archaeological Society in 1976-81 found a nationally important Mesolithic site, with traces of huts and thousands of flints, while analysis of the peats in the nearby West Heath Bog yielded pollen and plant remains showing how very different the area was then.

From the Bronze Age is the famous Tumulus, once called Boadiceas Tomb (without a shred of evidence!). An excavation was carried out here in the 1880s, but with the crude techniques of the time, nothing was found. It is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

But Bronze Age Burial mounds dont come in isolation. There could have been others, now lost, and its presence, together with the exciting find of a Late Bronze Age feature on Parliament Hill in 2017, suggests that the two sites sat in a Bronze Age landscape, yet to be explored. No signs of Roman occupation have yet been found.

READ MORE: Dame Jenny Abramsky: Friends of Kenwoods new chair on childhood memories and the huge challenge facing English Heritage

READ MORE: Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Alexandra Park win Green Flag awards

The Heaths magnificent ancient oaks are well known; but on a map it can be seen that they form hedgerows (some of them becoming swamped by secondary woodland growth after the Second World War). These mark the boundaries of ancient fields, from the days when most of the Heath was Middlesex farmland, and have large ditches. Some are thought to be at least 500 years old, and the most remarkable, the so-called Saxon Ditch so-called because it follows the line mentioned in the Saxon charters - follows the west boundary of the mediaeval Tottenhall Manor and can be traced from the southern end of the Heath right to the eastern edge of the Kenwood Estate. But, if it is at least Saxon (8th-10th century?), it may well mark farm or estate boundaries established in the Roman, Iron or even Bronze Ages. Our knowledge of the Heaths archaeology is still minimal, because current academic thought frowns on excavating sites not threatened by development. However, a thoughtful programme of exploring the Heaths archaeology would make a big contribution to our knowledge of the archaeologically underexplored north-west London.

The Ponds and their dams, which were recently a subject of intense debate, are of archaeological importance too. They were created in the late 16th and early 17th centuries to provide a water supply for London. A small excavation in 2009, and more extensive excavations during the Ponds project, found clay pipes, pottery and a hearth which could have been used by the Ponds work gangs, as well as stray flints.

There is so much more than can be covered here. Ken Wood is mediaeval in origin, Hampstead Lane is mediaeval or earlier its original route, some 75 metres south of the present road, can still be traced by lines of trees and old boundary markers). The Flagstaff is thought to be the site of an Armada Beacon and the area near Whitestone Pond known as The Battery marks the site of a fort on a Napoleonic War defence line. What was the White Stone after which the Pond was named?

Enjoy spotting these features and trying to imagine what they were. But if you find anything, particularly struck flints, please let us know, to help us build up our knowledge of the Heaths mysterious history. And never relic-hunt on the Heath; its illegal, and will destroy the very history it unearths.

If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Ham&High. Click the link in the orange box above for details.

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Digging into the history of Hampstead Heath - Hampstead Highgate Express

CONROE, TX The latest additions to the impressive amenities residents can enjoy in The Woodlands Hills Sue Luces Daisy Park and Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park have recently opened, The Howard Hughes Corporation (NYSE: HHC) has announced. The Woodlands Hills is one of Houstons newest master planned communities in Conroe and Willis, located 13 miles north of The Woodlands.

We are excited to announce the addition of two parks, Daisy Park and Peace Park, in The Woodlands Hills, said Heath Melton, Executive Vice President of MPC, Residential for The Howard Hughes Corporation. Each park is surrounded by nature, creating the perfect ambiance for health, fitness and wellness activities for residents to enjoy. These nature-encompassing parks offer pedestrian connectivity within the community as each one is accessible just a short distance from homes.

Sue Luces Daisy Park, a one-acre neighborhood park nestled in the trees and accented by daisies, serves as the social and recreational focal point for nearby neighborhoods in the Grove village of The Woodlands Hills. This whimsical activity park utilizes nature as the playground for younger and older children, featuring a giant spider climber, stepping logs and a hill that youth can climb up and roll down. Its playground, aptly called Branch Out, creates a tree fort within the park. It also features ADA-compliant swings. A pavilion provides a nice respite from the sun and serves as an area for gatherings with family and friends. To take in a little more nature, a natural trail bisects the park highlighting the native flora and fauna. A giant 24-foot native white oak tree is a highlight of Daisy Park.

We are committed to nature and are proud of our masterfully-designed forested recreational amenities. The trees removed for this park project were reused within Daisy Park as park benches, play equipment and path pavers, stated Melton.

Sue Luces Daisy Park is named in memory of the late Sue Luce, who was a successful Realtor and pillar of Montgomery County. Her daughter, Nelda Luce Blair, won the naming rights in a charitable donation bid that benefited the Montgomery County Community Foundation. The auction item was donated by The Howard Hughes Corporation.

Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park features a 1.8-mile meandering pathway that winds along an intermittent creek bed, a tributary of Stewarts Creek, accessible through three pedestrian boardwalks for leisurely walks. The forested park offers playful exploration with boulders and logs to scale and several nature trails. Connected by nature to two patio home neighborhoods in the Ridge village of The Woodlands Hills, Peace Park features shaded sitting areas for relaxation and reflection, away from the hustle and bustle of life.

Officially named Rick and Roz Dauzat Peace Park, with the naming rights donated for a charitable auction to Montgomery County Community Foundation from The Howard Hughes Corporation, the 2.5-acre park is designed with a passive, tranquil landscape for serene enjoyment. Native plants and wild birds indigenous to the area can be observed from the park.

For more information on The Woodlands Hills, visit http://www.TheWoodlandsHills.com.

The Woodlands Hills is an approximately 2,000-acre master planned community, situated 13 miles north of The Woodlands in Conroe and Willis, Texas. Located on FM 830 on the west side of I-45 with the property boundary extending north to FM 1097 and south to League Line Road, The Woodlands Hills offers easy access to I-45, the Grand Parkway and the Hardy Toll Road. The development is in close proximity to Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport in Conroe, Lake Conroe and the Sam Houston National Forest. The Woodlands Hills is the third master planned community in Texas from The Howard Hughes Corporation and is the sister community to The Woodlands and Bridgeland, two of the top-selling, award-winning master planned communities in Texas and the nation. For more information and to register your interest, visit TheWoodlandsHills.com.

The Howard Hughes Corporation owns, manages and develops commercial, residential and mixed-use real estate throughout the U.S. Its award-winning assets include the countrys preeminent portfolio of master planned cities and communities, as well operating properties and development opportunities including: The Seaport District NYC in New York; Columbia, Maryland; The Woodlands, The Woodlands Hills, and Bridgeland in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Summerlin, Las Vegas; and Ward Village in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Howard Hughes Corporations portfolio is strategically positioned to meet and accelerate development based on market demand, resulting in one of the strongest real estate platforms in the country. Dedicated to innovative placemaking, the company is recognized for its ongoing commitment to design excellence and to the cultural life of its communities. The Howard Hughes Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange as HHC. For additional information visit http://www.howardhughes.com.

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Two New Parks Now Open in The Woodlands Hills - hellowoodlands.com

A lone tree stands on a low rise, silhouetted by the setting sun. The scene recalls the traditions of American landscape painting the golden glows and manifest destinies of figures like Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church and George Caleb Bingham.

But this hill is surrounded by cranes and debris, this sun a mere reflection in the glass faade of a boxy corporate high-rise. The ground here is shattered. Decaying ruins are left half-standing, contemporary structure only half-completed.

In Nickels from Heaven, his new exhibition for the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, artist Tim Portlock explores both the iconography of the American landscape and the reality of life in the post-industrial American city.

Researching empty buildings is an entry point into understanding some of the dynamics that are going on in that place, said Portlock, professor of art and chair of undergraduate art at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Even when the economy is booming, we tend to leave out the stories of people who cant necessarily participate in that exchange.

In this video, Portlock discusses his work, his use of visual effects and 3D animation software, and what architecture reveals about the social order.

Nickels from Heaven

Nickels from Heaven is one of three exhibitions organized as part of the Contemporary Art Museums Great Rivers Biennial 2020. Also on view are new work by Sam Fox School alumni Kahlil Robert Irving (MFA 17) and Rachel Youn (BFA 17).

In addition, the museum is currently hosting when the cuts eruptthe garden ringsand the warning is a wailing, a new exhibition by Ebony G. Patterson(MFA 06).

All exhibitions are free and open to the public and remain on view through Feb. 21. The museum is located at 3750 Washington Blvd. For hours or more information, visit camstl.org.

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Washington People: Tim Portlock - Washington University in St. Louis Newsroom

The City of Boston kicked off a community process for renovations to Mission Hill Playground with a virtual public meeting on November 5.

The Gazette spoke with Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods about the citys thoughts for the improvements, as well as what will come next.

The Mission Hill Playground, located at 60 Smith Street, currently features a playground, a water spray area, a mini basketball court, swings, a seating area along shaded pathways, and a turf field for various sports. The consultant for the improvements project is Kyle Zick Landscape Architects.

Woods said that is has been at least 15 years since updates have been made to the playground, and the goal of the Parks Department is to have a park that is well programmed and well-utilized.

The budget for the new improvements is about $2.6 million, but Woods said that the Parks Department also received a $400,000 Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities grant last week, which is the maximum award amount for one project, according to the state. Thats really going to help us finish off the baseball field, Woods said, which would have otherwise not had enough funding to complete.

He said that the Mission Hill Playground is in a very interesting location due to its three tiers on a slope, so he said the Parks Department is exited to be engaging with the community on what they want to see done.

He said that 18 people attended the virtual community meeting to talk about what they think works in the park and what they think might need improvement.

He said the middle tier on Tremont St. is a large focus of the project, with the potential relocation of the spray feature. He said that at the meeting, discussion topics included things like whether the basketball area should be retained, and people were also asked what features of the playground they liked best.

Right now, the water feature sprays out from up above, but the project team wants to know if people would like to see a different water feature instead. Woods said that feedback so far has indicated that people are very interested in having some sort of water feature in the park.

We want to make amenities in the park and have people feel welcomed in the park, Woods said. Mayor Walsh is a firm believer that having more positive activity in the park pushes away that negative behavior.

Other people shared that they use the park as a cut through, so people would like to see the pathways renovated so the park can better connect to the community at large.

There were also some concerns with kids climbing the retaining walls and parents are worried about their safety. Woods said that people asked us to look at the wallshow can they be engaging and safe spaces instead of kids climbing on these walls?

The park is heavily used by camps and school groups during non-COVID times, as well as the library and the Tobin Community Center, Woods said.

Right now, the project is still beginning, and there is plenty of time for people to give feedback. The playground survey, as well as more information about the park, can be found at https://www.boston.gov/departments/parks-and-recreation/improvements-mission-hill-playground.

More community meetings will be held in the future that will tell the scope and the lay of the land for the project, Woods said, as well as introduce some conceptual ideas to the public for feedback, and then eventually a final design will be agreed upon.

I just think that were very excited about this $3 million investment going in the middle of Mission Hill to bring a high quality park and playground to the residents of Mission Hill, Woods said, and that it is a safe and inviting place that everybody wants to go to.

Link:
Community process kicked off for Mission Hill Playground renovations - Mission Hill Gazette