Living with Oaks

by Catherine Smith with James Lesher

In May ChicoryLane Foundation will host ecologist Doug Tallamy to talk about the importance of oaks in the natural world, especially for insects and birds. From a historical perspective, ChicoryLane’s oaks tell stories about the past, present, and future of this particular place.

Past

In 1796 eastern Pennsylvanians Andreas and Elizabeth Hausmann of Palatine German descent emigrated west. They purchased about 100 acres of Pennsylvania woodland near the headwaters of Penns Creek in a settlement later called Green Grove. The Hausmanns and their neighbors cut Green Grove’s old-growth white oaks and white pines (estimated as 170-200 trees per acre) to clear ground for farming and homesteading. They dammed tributaries for small sawmills so that water-powered saws could turn trees into logs.


Often barns were built first. The Hausmann barn was built using white pine and white oak trees felled in 1803-04. Growth rings in a white oak log (Image, right. Photo Credit: James Lesher) indicate that it came from a tree that began growing in the mid-1600s.

In 1974 we (Smiths) purchased about 69 acres of the former Hausmann tract. We didn’t intend to farm. We expected to live in the log house, raise our son, rent the tillable acres to neighbor farmers, and commute to work in nearby communities. Like the Hausmanns, we spent years changing the house and grounds to fit our needs, ideas, and desires. Also like them, we were fortunately taught and helped by skilled family members, friends, contractors, advisors, and experienced neighbors.

In 2019 we demolished the old barn (Image, left) to clear ground for a new one. The pine logs were rotted by damp and chewed by powder post beetles.


Not the old oak logs, however. They were mostly intact. Cut from probably 150-year-old trees, the oak logs had endured for about 150 more years as part of a barn. Food for thought: Next time you see a disheveled old barn, think about the age of its timbers. They might be 300 years old or older, as tree and log.

To build the Hausmanns log house, white oak and white pine trees were felled in the winter of 1817 and spring of 1818. As structure analyst Douglass Reed explains, “the logs selected for the Hausmann house were northeastern white pine for most of the wall logs, upper floor joist systems and flooring. White oak was chosen for the sill logs, the first-floor summer beam and joists.



The logs were culled by the builder or a trusted assistant, not the farm owner, from the nearby old growth forest that included an old, dense, mature stand of white pine (and white oak) trees. The annual rings visible on the log ends were very tightly packed." (Photo Credits: D. W. Miles, Mike Cuba)

Between 1820-25 or maybe longer, the pines and oaks were de-limbed and de-barked, left to dry, then sawn, hewed, notched, and joined to construct the house. (Images, above)


Wanting to know about forest history and house history before our time, we (Smiths) commissioned professional analyses. Dendrochronological analysis told us the approximate age of the logs used to build the old barn and present house. Architectural analysis characterized the house as multi-culturally American, notably Pennsylvania German construction with mixed European features.

Present

In 2005, farming at ChicoryLane ended after crop and hay field rental agreements were satisfied. The place began its next life as a conservation reserve managed for ecological regeneration and wildlife habitat protection.


The relationship of people and trees began to change, too. Co-existence was acknowledged. The need for human stewardship of the woods on the place was recognized in a conservation easement. The easement specifies present and future ChicoryLane owners’ responsibilities as stewards of its woods, waters, soils, habitats, and dark skies.


We find only one mature white oak and a few mature red oaks growing here now. We have introduced swamp white, pin, and burr oaks to enhance species diversity. Below are some late winter snapshots. (Photo Credits: James Lesher)

Mature trees are challenged by diseases and a warming climate now. But seedlings proliferate. We find many seedlings after we learn where to look for them. Land manager James Lesher says that in late November conservation tasks like invasive vegetation control or shrub planting are halted until spring. With no greenery left, we notice white oak and red oak seedlings, one after another. Alerted by their striking burgundy or cinnamon-colored leaves, we find these seedlings emerging from biodiverse old hedgerows of pioneer tree species to sprout in ChicoryLane’s old farm fields. Also, we find plentiful oak seedlings beneath introduced aspens, especially under a tangle of downed trees.

 

We help their survival by simply throwing a tree tube or a 5' wire cage over the seedling and remove it when the tree has started rocketing above 5' tall. (Images, below. Photo credits: James Lesher)

We protect the seedlings from deer, mainly. Woody plants make up 60% of a deer’s diet in winter. The conflict worsens when snowpack forces hungry deer away from foraging neighbors’ grain or alfalfa fields to browsing tree seedlings in ChicoryLane’s old fields.

 

It’s rewarding to imagine the future canopy of hardwoods, especially oaks, that these seedlings promise. We won't see them as a mature forest in our lifetimes, but we are inspired to mark and protect them because surely we have enjoyed a mature oak tree planted or protected by someone long before us.

Future

Oaks are not permanent residents. They migrate to find conditions they need for survival. They have done so for millions of years of evolution. In the future, oaks might find Pennsylvania too warm and move further north.

 

More food for thought: evolution is long but human life is short. A good human-scale strategy is to understand and care for oaks here and now. Scott Russell Sanders suggests “Only by caring for particular places ... can we take care of the planet. Every place needs people who will dig in, keep watch, learn the animals and plants, and take responsibility....“


A project now in planning stage at ChicoryLane will clear five acres of an invasive-overrun hillside and reforest it with oaks, especially white oaks. This project demonstrates people and trees living together, human desires merged with oak survival needs and benefits.

 

Because oaks grow best from acorns, we will need a supply of acorns. Finding enough viable acorns for a five-acre planting might be a problem. Acorns, once a staple human food and still an important animal food, are produced naturally only by 25- to 30-year-old oaks, only in some years, not every year. As far as we know, acorns are not commercially available in large quantities. We look forward to learning more, creating solutions to the source problem, and imagining future people and animals benefitting from oaks on that hillside.

 

Oaks matter to wildlife as well as people. Ecologist Doug Tallamy says, “No other tree genus supports so much life.” Tallamy explains that oaks vitally support the insect food required by birds and other animals. “Oaks are the top life-support trees in 84% of the counties in North America, which is just about every county in which they occur.”

People can help to sustain oaks’ vital role in food webs. These are some opportunities to care for oaks where you live:

White Oak Initiative works nationally and internationally with shareholders in industry, business, academia, and communities to ensure continued economic and ecological benefits of white oak-dominant forests.

Homegrown National Park initiative encourages everyone to plant natives including oaks in yards and gardens of North America to support wildlife.

In central Pennsylvania:

James C. Finley Center for Private Forests at Penn State trains landowners to be forest stewards.

ClearWater Conservancy, Penns Valley Conservation Association, municipal and regional land trusts, forestry associations, watershed associations, and outdoor recreation groups train volunteers to plant and maintain tree seedlings.

References and Resources
Comments

SAVE THE DATE!


Fall Bird Walk and Open Day

Saturday, September 12, 2026

more information coming soon

ChicoryLane is an ecological reserve near Spring Mills protected by a Conservation Easement held by Clearwater Conservancy. Its 68 acres are actively managed for conservation.


The landscape is natural and scenic. It includes wetlands and meadows, streams, remnant and successional forests, and a grassland. This diversity of habitats is especially inviting to birds and butterflies. A system of mowed trails and boardwalks make most of the property accessible to walkers.

ChicoryLane | 246 Brush Mountain Rd. PO Box 133 | Spring Mills, PA 16875 US

Unsubscribe | Constant Contact Data Notice

Constant Contact