Beth Lapin

Allen Brook Pond is the prominent feature at the entrance of this state park.

Swamp pink was a lovely sign of spring.

Low-bush blueberries were flowering.

But the major attraction was the pitch pine forest here. It had been at least 30 years since I’d visited this sandy scrubby forest tucked into North Haven.

Sadly there was no canopy of pitch pine, but some scraggly stressed trees putting out needle bundles all along their trunks.

At its densest, the forest was sparse. Since its establishment as a natural area, the lack of fire/management apparently led to the replacement of the pitch pine with other trees.

Selective cutting and a major storm has opened areas and pitch pine is regenerating, amidst extensive stands of black birch.

One can only hope that this effort will be successful.

As part of: 2021 DEEP Sky’s the Limit Challenge List