Clarke Tract York Regional Forest Stoufville Ontario Canada

Clarke Tract was established in 1949. Has 63 ha. and is available for free to be visited by the public.

It is owned and managed by the Municipality of York. Clark Tract is part of the York Regional Forest.

Address: 15015 McCowan Rd, Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON L4A 7X4

Forests are places which make us reflect on our existence. Their ecosystem, so unique and so holistic, make us wonder whether we should also try to be in harmony with the world as an ant in the forest is in harmony with the tree leaf’s.

Forests are a source of joy and refreshment on a sunny day, in ways that are hard to describe in words. They were here long before we came into existence and will be long after we are gone. They are the guardians of existence.  

Prior to the industrial revolution that changed the very roots of society, humanity lived in greater harmony with the earth.

This is reflected most clearly by our past connection to trees. In the past, trees were venerated and held as symbols of fertility, wisdom, power and renewal. Across cultures and continents, the mythologies of ancient civilizations had at their core a Cosmic Tree or Tree of Life that explained our earthly existence.

 

Forests were of course of great importance to ancient people, and almost everywhere in the world trees grow, some forests were to be protected, and never desecrated. 

In the past people  went on about preserving and worshipping their forests; how they set out certain forests as sacred. “In them no axe may be laid to any tree, no branch broken, no firewood gathered, no grass burnt; and animals which have taken refuge there may not be molested.”

Forest Bathing Is a concept that encourages people to visit forests to relieve stress and improve health.

Some of the benefits of forest bathing are:

Boosts immune system -While we breathe in the fresh air, we breathe in phytoncides, airborne chemicals that plants give off to protect themselves from insects. Phytoncides have antibacterial and antifungal qualities which help plants fight disease.

When people breathe in these chemicals, our bodies respond by increasing the number and activity of a type of white blood cell called natural killer cells or NK. These cells kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies.

Lowers blood pressure - Numerous studies show that both exercising in forests and simply sitting looking at the trees reduce blood pressure as well as the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

Reduces stress - Our lives are busier than ever with jobs, school, and family life. Trying to focus on many activities or even a single thing for long periods of time can mentally drain us, a phenomenon called Directed Attention Fatigue.

Improves mood - Spending time in nature, looking at plants, water, birds and other aspects of nature gives the cognitive portion of our brain a break, allowing us to focus better and renew our ability to be patient.

Increases ability to focus, even in children with ADHD -The part of the brain affected by attention fatigue (right prefrontal cortex) is also involved in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Studies show that children who spend time in natural outdoor environments have a reduction in attention fatigue and children diagnosed with ADHD show a reduction in related symptoms.

Accelerates recovery from surgery or illness -Hospital patients may be stressed from a variety of factors, including pain, fear, and disruption of normal routine. Research found that patients with “green” views had shorter postoperative stays, took fewer painkillers, and had slightly fewer post surgical complications compared to those who had no view or a view of a cement wall.

Increases energy level

Improves sleep

 And now more about the tract: 

York Regional Forest was established in 1924. Clarke Tract was established in 1949 and has 63 ha. Today, 20 properties with an area of 2,257 hectares (5,578 acres) are owned and managed by The Regional Municipality of York. These public lands offer rich natural habitats which are home to a diversity of wildlife. They provide for a variety of recreational uses, including bird watching, dog walking, horseback riding and mountain biking.

 

The Dainty and Clarke tracts are two parcels of land in the York Regional Forest in Whitchurch Stouffville immediately to the south of the Patterson Tract Side Trail in Hike L23 Eldred King Woodlands.

A small parking lot on the west side of McCowan Road just south of Aurora Road provides access. The two loops are relatively flat and make for easy hiking or trail running as well as cross country skiing in winter. Together they make for approximately a 7.9 km hike. This is a good choice for a leisurely family outing although no facilities are provided save for a trail map at the parking lot.

The soil is fairly sandy and although hard packed in most areas, there are places were the sand is quite loose. Of course this soil condition is typical of the Oak Ridges Moraine where the sand serves as a natural filter for rain water. The moraine extends for approximately 200 km from the Niagara Escarpment in the west to Rice Lake in the east. As such it bisects York Region and many of the York Regional Forest Tracts are located on this moraine.

Links

Clarke Tract 

York Regional Forest Map 

"Forest and Trees" By Liliana Usvat

 

People and Plants George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born into slavery in Diamond Grove, Newton County, near Crystal Place, now known as Diamond, Missouri, sometime in the early 1860s. The exact date of his birth is uncertain and was not known to Carver – however, it was sometime before slavery was abolished in Missouri in January 1865. His master, Moses Carver, was a German American immigrant who had purchased George's parents, Mary and Giles, from William P. McGinnis on October 9, 1855, for $700.

When George was only a week old, he, a sister, and his mother were kidnapped by night raiders from Arkansas. George's brother, James, was rushed to safety from the kidnappers. The kidnappers sold the slaves in Kentucky. Moses Carver hired John Bentley to find them, but he located only the infant George. Moses negotiated with the raiders to gain the boy's return and rewarded Bentley.

After slavery was abolished, Moses Carver and his wife Susan raised George and his older brother James as their own children. They encouraged George to continue his intellectual pursuits, and "Aunt Susan" taught him the basics of reading and writing.

Black people were not allowed at the public school in Diamond Grove. George decided to go to a school for black children 10 miles (16 km) south of Neosho. When he reached the town, he found the school closed for the night. He slept in a nearby barn. By his own account, the next morning he met a kind woman, Mariah Watkins, from whom he wished to rent a room. When he identified himself as "Carver's George," as he had done his whole life, she replied that from now on his name was "George Carver".

George liked Mariah Watkins, and her words, "You must learn all you can, then go back out into the world and give your learning back to the people", made a great impression on him.
At the age of 13, due to his desire to attend the academy there, he relocated to the home of another foster family in Fort Scott, Kansas. After witnessing a black man killed by a group of whites, Carver left the city. He attended a series of schools before earning his diploma at Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.

College

At work in his laboratory

Carver applied to several colleges before being accepted at Highland University in Highland, Kansas. When he arrived, however, they rejected him because of his race. In August 1886, Carver travelled by wagon with J. F. Beeler from Highland to Eden Township in Ness County, Kansas. He homesteaded a claim near Beeler, where he maintained a small conservatory of plants and flowers and a geological collection. He manually plowed 17 acres (69,000 m²) of the claim, planting rice, corn, Indian corn and garden produce, as well as various fruit trees, forest trees, and shrubbery. He also earned money by odd jobs in town and worked as a ranch hand.

In early 1888, Carver obtained a $300 loan at the Bank of Ness City for education. By June he left the area.

When he began there in 1891, he was the first black student. Carver's Bachelor's thesis was "Plants as Modified by Man", dated 1894.
Iowa State professors Joseph Budd and Louis Pammel convinced Carver to continue there for his master's degree. Carver did research at the Iowa Experiment Station under Pammel during the next two years. His work at the experiment station in plant pathology and mycology first gained him national recognition and respect as a botanist. Carver taught as the first black faculty member at Iowa State.

In 1896, Booker T. Washington, the first principal and president of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), invited Carver to head its Agriculture Department. Carver taught there for 47 years, developing the department into a strong research centre and working with two additional college presidents during his tenure. He taught methods of crop rotation, introduced several alternative cash crops for farmers that would also improve the soil of areas heavily cultivated in cotton, initiated research into crop products (chemurgy), and taught generations of black students farming techniques for self-sufficiency.

After becoming the institute’s director of agricultural research in 1896, Carver devoted his time to research projects aimed at helping Southern agriculture, demonstrating ways in which farmers could improve their economic situation. He conducted experiments in soil management and crop production and directed an experimental farm.

At this time agriculture in the Deep South was in steep decline because the unremitting single-crop cultivation of cotton had left the soil of many fields exhausted and worthless, and erosion had then taken its toll on areas that could no longer sustain any plant cover. As a remedy, Carver urged Southern farmers to plant peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) and soybeans (Glycine max).

As members of the legume family (Fabaceae), these plants could restore nitrogen to the soil while also providing the protein so badly needed in the diet of many Southerners.

 Carver found that Alabama’s soils were particularly well-suited to growing peanuts and sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), but when the state’s farmers began cultivating these crops instead of cotton, they found little demand for them on the market. In response to this problem, Carver set about enlarging the commercial possibilities of the peanut and sweet potato through a long and ingenious program of laboratory research.

He ultimately developed 300 derivative products from peanuts—among them milk, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils, and cosmetics—and 118 from sweet potatoes, including flour, vinegar, molasses, ink, a synthetic rubber, and postage stamp glue.