Decades ago, I rarely heard anyone in outdoor circles talking about chaga.

These days it appears in teas, health shops, and all manner of woodland conversations, though back then the only people I knew using it regularly were a few bushcrafters and winter travelers. We did not call it chaga.We called it True Tinder Fungus.

At the time, I had no idea it could make such a good drink. What interested us was the golden foamy centre — the part without the darker grain running through it. Once dried, it makes an excellent coal holder. A spark catches easily, and putting it out becomes a more serious discussion altogether.

Blowing on it greatly improves its mood.

A small amount powdered and dried on a rock catches quickly. A piece the size of a dime is usually enough. Something marble-sized may smoulder for fifteen minutes or more, carrying fire quietly along with it. The outer black crust is less enthusiastic in these matters. A dear friend, Martha Weber — among the most knowledgeable wild edible experts I have ever known — laughed when I described using it for fire lighting.
“Oh, what a waste.”
Apparently it makes an excellent and healthy drink. My far removed and unspoken response was that priorities sometimes depend on whether one needs tea or warmth more urgently.

Harvesting chaga is not especially easy work. It holds tightly to the birch and less known, on ironwood, and in any case, a little goes a very long way. Regardless of use, it seems best not to take more than needed.

I first learned about its fire-lighting qualities from a canoe guide friend many years ago. I still remember him standing there with an axe and flint, casually throwing a few sparks toward a piece on the ground. Away it went. One of those small wilderness moments that permanently improves your respect for certain ordinary things.

Some people may know this tinder from Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski. Mors was one of a kind, and very much a gentleman. I had the privilege of camping and wandering alongside him once or twice in northern Alberta.

Those stories are probably best saved for another fungus fueled fire.

-Chad

This song began as a journal entry while sauntering the property. The lyrics come directly from observation, with any metaphor appearing in an unplanned way. The imagery is drawn from the land itself. The song and video were later used for CKCU’s Tree Songs campaign — a grassroots effort encouraging the City of Ottawa to preserve protected greenspace from development.  -Chad

The cliffLAND Field Journal is an ongoing record of seasonal change, wildlife observations, field notes, songs, and podcasts. Many weekdays pass here in near silence. Hours can go by without seeing another person. In such conditions, the land tends to speak a little more freely.

Visitors are warmly invited to join the shared biodiversity record through iNaturalist by documenting the species encountered along the trails. We also have over a decade of bio-accoustic monitoring, animal tracks records and more. -Chad

 

Recent finds on iNaturalist

 

Recent Podcast Entries

 

NATURE EXPERIENCED AS SUBJECTS

By Howard Clifford

Personal experience impacts my convictions at a deeper level than anything else. I am indebted to my academic training – critical to meet the challenges confronted in social work. However academia didn’t prepare me for the feelings flooding over me when Jean smilingly handed me our first born. Similarly I value nature research but when I experience nature as a subject I am taken to a different level. Emotionally powerful – uniquely individualized.

This proved true for Jane Goodall and also for wolf biologist, Doug Smith. He previously worked with David Meech, whose description of the social structure of the wolf pack was considered definitive. What they didn’t know was wolves behave differently in their natural settings than they do in captivity. They now state: “thinking of a wolf as alpha is no more appropriate than calling a human parent or a deer an alpha.” I think Smith’s conclusion, following decades of studying individual wolves, is the way forward to a richer understanding of wildlife. He states wolves have “fantasticindividuality”. “You can no longer say wolves do this or wolves do that. They differ in personality as much as humans do.”

Having lived 40 years at cliffLAND, I believe Smith’s experience rings true. CliffLAND is a wild area – large enough for most non-migratory wildlife to spend all or most of their lives as my co-inhabitants, as well as many of their descendants. I have many stories involving individuals of different species that convince me of their “fantastic individuality”. They read our intent and that of other species. Some are curious and make contact – some in ways that were special – beyond my comprehension. Many are very adaptable responding uniquely to changing situations. I developed deep affection for them.

I no longer believe wildlife are innately fearful of humans. Darwin observed this lack of fear on the Galapagos Islands. At cliffLAND a short-tailed weasel took residence in our home – eventually showing no alarm at our presence. Pepi and I visited a Beaver pond. Initially they slapped their tail in warning but within a few visits no longer did. They eyed us and swam ever closer – eventually taking offerings of aspen saplings from my lap and my hands. Pepi occasionally gave me the look of “isn’t this something.” I understood how Grey Owl, experiencing their unique personalities, could no longer trap them. They were becoming my friends too.

It shouldn’t be a surprise we learn more about the richness and complexities of other species when we come to know them individually. The closest most of us get to experiencing this is through our pets.

John Muir argued adamantly against taking Stickeen on a wilderness excursion because dogs had no place in such wild areas. When Muir snuck off before daybreak to explore a glacier he was annoyed to find him at his heels. I have wondered why Stickeen chose Muir. How could he have read his soul so well? So fortunate for us he did so. They came face to face with death, convincing Muir that Stickeen understood this and also rejoiced as much as he when they escaped death’s grasp. This transcendental experience forever changed his perspective: “I have ever since been looking in deeper sympathy into all my fellow mortals.”

I understand. My journey at cliffLAND was enriched because Pepi shared many years with me in my journey. We bushwacked to every part of the property and he had an uncanny ability to lead me back when I was turned around. He pointed out things I would have missed – a recently born porcupine with quills still soft and flexible – the first recorded cliffLAND sighting of a Blanding’s turtle. I never knew him to harass or harm wildlife. Chickadees were comfortable with him at my side while they took seeds from my hand, ruffled grouse paid him no heed, squirrels waited for him to come out so they could play. Children and adults loved him. Being a social worker I was amazed by his ability to read our mental state. Following my dramatization of John Muir to a youth group, a staff described an unusual experience. She had watched with alarm as a girl, who recently tried to take her own life, pulled out a knife. Pepi made his way to the girl – she smiled and put him on her lap – put the knife away.

Nearing the end of his life we were sitting together on top of Blueberry. I was reflecting on the beauty of the place and wondered how many experiences had we shared. I looked at him. He seemed as deep in thought and as enraptured by the beauty around us as I was. We locked eyes – a moment without a word of exchange – I knew something special took place. I can never know to what extent his feelings or thoughts were mirroring mine. I know there was something deeper being exchanged that was more profound than I believed possible. Like John Muir I was to look at my fellow creatures differently from that moment on.

I am convinced he loved cliffLAND. I believe he needed nature outings as much as I do. I think his name deserves to be on the Circle of Gratitude as much as any other name. I have no doubt that nature at cliffLAND was blessed by his presence. As Doug Smith said about wolves I say about dogs. “You can’t say dogs do this or dogs do that. Pepi taught me differently. I think this is true for all species.

As each of us move in the direction of communing with nature as individual subjects, our lives become richer. We become more passionate – we can’t help but do what we can to protect these sacred places. We are becoming ambassadors for the Wild Kingdom.

CREATING AMBASSADORS FOR WILDNESS

By Howard Clifford

Einstein cogently declared that intuitive insights, emerging out of authentic experiences, predicts the path forward. Science is where inspirational insights once were, science will become what intuitive insights now are. Over a century ago, conservation icons shared their nature experience based insights. John Burroughs “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” John Muir “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the Mountains is going home, that wilderness is a necessity.” Thoreau “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” “Each town should have a park or rather a primitive forest, of five hundred or a thousand acres, where a stick should never be cut for fuel, a common possession forever, for instruction and recreation.”

Science is now affirming the validity of their insights – the healing forces of nature are incredibly powerful. These findings are attracting many potential ambassadors. Because MMLT was founded on the conviction that wildness is a necessity for humans and wildlife they are positioned to partner with Forest Bathing Schools, Outdoor schools, health and social agencies and others who have come to a similar understanding.

The Muir era was inclusive. His friendships included prominent people of science, arts, poetry, philosophy – to the benefit of all. This inclusive interactions suffered somewhat as science became more lab based. The views of John Watson and B. F. Skinner influenced the psychological and animal behaviour sciences – only observable, measurable, recorded behaviour had scientific validity while attempts to explore the inner life of wildlife did not.. The decrease in collaboration with field naturalists is regrettable.

Enos Mills is one example. Considered the John Muir of the East and the father of the Rocky Mountain National Park, he spent years immersed in the Colorado wilderness. Armed with a camera, a vivid curiosity and astute observational skills he observed bears sliding down snowbanks for amusement, bears watching beavers at play and even seemingly enraptured by a sunset. He detailed accounts of grisly intelligence – one backtracking in his steps until he jumped from a cliff into thickets below, temporarily outfoxing Mills. To scientists such claims were rubbish – animals lack the biological capacity to feel or think in ways attributed by Mills.

However science is taking a second look. With advanced technology scientists discovered the brain circuits lighting up in both humans and animals are similar in the presence of varied emotional and thinking states. The intuitive, experiential observations of Darwin, Muir, Mills and others regarding the emotional and intellectual capacity of wildlife are no longer ridiculed as simply anthropological heresies.

This converging symmetry between the intuitive insights based on nature experiences by past and present conservation icons and the recent findings of the scientific community may result in a tidal shift in the way we relate to nature. If the conviction that all life – all creation are subjects to be communed with rather than objects to be manipulated takes hold, a much more powerful ambassadorship for the Wild Kingdom will be created.

This is not New Age, Bambi like fluff. I am thinking of iconic conservationists. Jane Goodall recently stated that in the 1960’s “I was absolutely castigated by the scientific community” because she gave

names, not numbers, to her chimpanzees. Now she and others are noting ritualistic like behaviour in animals. She stated “the most cogent explanation for the dancers reflects “awe”. This is not far from what Enos Mills suggestion that the bear he observed seemed enraptured by a sunset.

Goodall suggested at the World Economic Forum in 2020 “To save the planet’s trees, we should treat them like people.” If we name them we will want to protect them. This reminded me of Julia Hill experience. In her early 20’s, she volunteered to sit a 600 year old, 180 foot tall Redwood destined to be cut. She never dreamed she would live on a 6 by 6 platform high up in the canopy for over two years before her feet would again touch ground. Imagine – experiencing freezing, torrential rain, all alone, often frightened, harassed by loggers who hated her guts, occasionally sick. She too gave the tree a name – Luna. No longer just a wonderful tree – it was named – an individual – a subject. Julia felt crushing sorrow witnessing Luna’s family falling to the ground – toppled by chainsaws. Never named – just objects.

After two years never leaving Luna’s side, she described Luna as “my best friend and teacher.” She had been a waitress then a restaurant manager – her background didn’t matter to the greatest teacher of all – wilderness. This nature based experience propelled her into becoming a powerful ambassador for nature.

I have an intellectual hunger to learn more of the workings of nature. But as Carson said: “It is not half so important to know as to feel.” We need to understand nature intellectually but experiencing nature as a subject is our highest good. If I learned that someone cut down a few trees at cliffLAND I would be upset. If they cut down “Grandfather” the name given by an aboriginal to an old cedar tree I would grieve. I experience this tree as an individual. Grandfather is on my property – I visit him often. He has a name.

In Part 3 of this Trilogy I will share how my perspective has evolved through 40 years of experiencing nature at cliffLAND. I feel more confident in affirming Muir’s conclusion “Nature is the best teacher” – “Wilderness is a necessity”. I believe the highest form of ambassadorship comes from those who have have forged a bond with nature.

CREATING AMBASSADORS FOR THE WILDNESS KINGDOM

By Howard Clifford

MMLT’s future depends on informed, passionate, inspired ambassadors. A quarter century ago Stephen Jay Gould presciently wrote: “We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love (but only appreciate in some abstract sense).

”Love grows out of relationships – in-depth authentic experiences.

Looking at the lives of conservation icons like Muir, Thoreau, Leopold, Goodall and Carson provides insights as to what is meant. Their lives became stirring messages so

powerful – so inspirational – they motivate us to experience nature for ourselves. Their message is inclusive, grounded in experience, involved heart and intellect and far beyond the grasp of any single discipline. Read More…

I love Einstein’s ability to put things into perspective. “The only source of knowledge is experience” – “Imagination is more important than knowledge” – “Intuition is the father of new knowledge while empiricism is the accumulation of old knowledge” – “Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.”

Thoreau stated “there is no power to see in the eye itself any more than in any other jelly.” “Objects are concealed from us because we do not bring our minds and eyes to bear on them” If you do not empty your mind you will only find what you are looking for. Thoreau looked deeply and his experience led to the astonishing insight “In wildness is the preservation of the world.” This unexpected truth spoke to our hearts and gave us a dream far bigger than ourselves.

Aldo Leopold’s academic background was not predictive of his future legendary status. It was a common experience, the killing of a wolf that inexplicably became an extraordinary experience. Watching the fierce, green light fade from the eyes of the dying wolf became a transcendent moment – something clicked in his brain and he began to “think like a mountain.” This was not science but he saw things through fresh eyes – a way of ecological thinking that affected many. It had the ring of authentic truth.

It wasn’t science alone that made Jane Goodall a conservation icon. She actually turned her back on the credo that only objectivity and detachment could yield uncontaminated truths. She came to know the chimpanzees by name. She saw them as subjects, not objects, and in so doing she came to love them. In so doing she opened our eyes and our hearts to greater truths.

Rachel Carson is a hero to me. What a gifted courageous woman. Her message without her impeccable science would have gone nowhere. But her truths went beyond science. She spoke to our hearts as well as to our intellect when she challenged us to imagine a Silent Spring – a Spring where no birds sang. Who would not weep over such a loss? This spoke truth to our souls. Urging us to make sure children experienced nature wasn’t for educational purposes alone. She wanted us to understand – to really understand “It is not half so important to know as to feel.” What a powerful truth. We knew she was speaking from personal experience, from her intellect and from her heart.

John Muir was friends with Asa Gray, Father of American Botany, Joseph LePlant, renown geologist, Charles Sargent, said to know more about trees than any living person, Louis Agassiz, the prodigious scholar of Earth’s natural history, John Burroughs, the esteemed nature writer, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, considered by many as the most influential American nature philosopher. Emerson honoured Muir by placing his name on his shortlist of the greatest men he had ever met.

Why was it Muir, instead of any of these towering figures, who became perhaps the highest regarded conservationist of all times? The University of Wisconsin provided a great start but what changed history was his immediate enrolment in what he called “The University of Wilderness”. He found “Nature to be the greatest teacher of all” Nature took him beyond what could be taught in academic halls.

He came to believe there was life and sentience in all creation including the rocks. Flowers became friends. Like Leopold, he had a transcendent moment, where he saw every flower being connected to everything else in the universe. However his transcendent moments were more often and more profound than Leopold’s. Some he couldn’t explain nor did he try to. It left him humbly knowing there was much beyond his ability to understand.

When he spoke about the need to save sacred places – wilderness temples, not created by human hands, it was not hyperbole but from heart-felt experience. When he uttered “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.” we knew he spoke a profound truth. For who hasn’t at some time experienced a moment of being enraptured in beauty? We can’t explain it, can’t measure it, can’t replicate it but neither can we deny the power of the experience.

It is easy to understand that these nature-based experiences made these icons of conservation such great ambassadors for the Wildness Kingdom. They knew whereof they spoke – they experienced it. They continue to inspire us because our generation has felt the tug of nature sufficiently to know their messages rings true. Deep down in our own souls we know.

Part two of this Trilogy will discuss how many of these nature experienced insights are being confirmed.

by Tessa Clifford

We have added a new video of Blueberry Mountain, filmed by Kyle Starcher with his aerial drone. Check out his beautiful work! Also new are photographs by Barrie Clifford of various mushrooms found on the property. In order to simplify the viewing of photos in our photo gallery, we have broken down the gallery into several themed galleries. Visit the ABOUT section to see these new additions to the website. Thanks for visiting and for your interest in cliffLAND.

Co-owner, Chad Clifford, was interviewed on Lake 88.1 FM in Perth, Ontario for his role as Sound Technician for the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust’s Soundscaping Initiative. He also runs his own business, Wilderness Rhythms.

Have a listen (please click on the logo or the direct link below):

http://lake88.ca/2015/09/16/in-focus-wed-september-16-2015-mary-vandenhoff/