Old Tree Saved As Wildlife Habitat

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By Doug Pifer

For the past five years, every time it stormed we worried that a big limb would break off our beloved old Kentucky coffee tree and destroy our entryway fence. Now our property is safe from that disaster, and a magnificent old tree remains as wildlife habitat.

I invited Erik Berndt, certified arborist and owner of Viking Tree Service, LLC, to inspect the nearly dead tree. My wife and I wanted to save as many main branches as possible while minimizing the risk of damage by falling wood. He agreed our tree was an excellent candidate for trimming as a wildlife habitat tree. He encouraged me to look at some of the standing dead trees at Morgan’s Grove Park, which his company cares for, to see examples of his work. We were impressed when we examined several standing dead trees there. Each was trimmed to look like a natural dead snag in the woods. After years of cringing whenever we saw a big shade tree with branches crudely lopped off, we were overjoyed to find a company willing to trim our tree the way we wanted. We were also delighted to find a tree service that considers a wildlife habitat tree an actual “thing.”  

The Viking Tree crew showed up at the appointed time with an impressive array of equipment and machinery. With block and tackle they ascended the main trunk and carefully removed the outer branches. When they encountered a heavy limb whose weight would stress the tree in a storm, they removed it with surgical precision. But they didn’t stop there. They made a series of V-shaped cuts at the top of each large limb to allow moisture to enter the dead wood, so the tree decays from the top down. This allows the main trunk to remain sound and stand for many years. Furthermore, cuts carefully made at various angles made the limbs look like they splintered and broke off naturally.

For hard-to-reach limbs, a large lift was necessary. Each cut made the tree look safer and less likely to drop a branch to crush our fence or garden shed.

By 4pm the crew had completed the finishing touches, and I admired the balanced, sculptural quality of the tree and its remaining branches. It was a piece of art.

While it’s now official, this tree had already been wildlife habitat for a long time. Several trunks have woodpecker holes in them. The lowest branch sprouts a tuft of stunted Kentucky coffee tree leaves. Years ago, a bird dropped a seed of bush honeysuckle into the crotch between two main trunks about ten feet up. The seed has grown into a sizeable bush. More bits of green include poison ivy and Virginia creeper vines, and a young Kentucky coffee tree shoot that has sprouted next to the trunk, growing from the original 
root system.

A tree is home to an amazing amount of life. As it matures and declines, it hosts an increasing number of organisms — from mold and bacteria to algae and fungi, to insects and spiders to woodpeckers and raccoons. Fallen limbs continue to feed and shelter numerous life forms as they decompose and enrich the soil.

For an old tree, dying isn’t an occurrence but more of a gradual transformation. Our Kentucky coffee tree demonstrates how a treasured old tree need not be destroyed. It can stand for many years as wildlife habitat.

Silicon Valley, Meet Berryville, Virginia

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By Claire Stuart

The big guys in tech are paying attention to a small research group in Berryville, reports Gary McGraw of Berryville Institute of Machine Learning (BIML). “We are working on stuff at the edge of science — artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).”

In 2019, McGraw, along with computer scientist Richie Bonett, cyber-security expert Harold Figuroa, and research engineer Victor Shepardson, co-founded BIML, a think tank dealing with ML and AI security. McGraw had retired after 23 years of pioneering work with a software security firm.

McGraw holds Ph.Ds. in cognitive and computer science. He is the author of eight books on software security and over 100 peer-reviewed papers in industry publications. ML and AI are at the heart of computer evolution, and computers are an intrinsic part of all facets of modern life. They run energy grids, air and rail traffic, military operations, satellites, food safety, water supplies, government offices and banking. For ordinary people, there are cellphones, home security systems, smart automobiles, connected appliances, video games, virtual assistants, and more.

In ML, computers are programmed to recognize data, automatically learn from it, and use it to improve their own functions. They add to their knowledge so that they can make decisions. When you ask your virtual assistant to play a song, it learns what you like and suggests similar music. It learns your food preferences and offers dining suggestions. But that’s just the “up” side!

Anyone who enjoys science fiction has no doubt seen the classic 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  When “HAL,” the deranged computer, refuses to let the astronaut back into the spaceship, it utters the chilling and unforgettable line, “I’m sorry Dave, I can’t do that!” Fortunately, that scenario did not come true in 2001, but we are moving a lot closer to meeting HAL now. Bad actors are constantly seeking ways to hack into ML systems, with potentially disastrous results.

McGraw observes that in an effort to quickly produce more and more sophisticated technology, security weaknesses are sometimes overlooked. McGraw mentioned a frequently-cited study illustrating an attack on ML — the alteration of a STOP sign with tape so that a self-driving vehicle sees it as a speed limit sign.

“If security, reliability and trustworthiness of technology itself is called into question, it makes technology companies take notice,” said McGraw. BIML is doing what McGraw defines as “architectural analyses” of ML systems, identifying weaknesses. “Our targets are the engineers designing these systems,” he explained, “We are helping them to do a better job—to build security in, in the first place, not have to go back and plug holes. All I suggest is that let’s build security into AI so hackers can’t get into a system. We’re helping the good guys fighting a war on the 
bad guys.

”McGraw notes that BIML’s architectural risk analyses are unique in the field, helping BIML build its reputation. They offer advice from a scientific viewpoint, identifying risks and determining how to mitigate them. McGraw speaks on cyber security at universities and conferences around the country and is on the advisory boards of a number of tech startups. He recently gave a presentation on taxonomy of attacks on ML at a private Silicon Valley conference, the Security Data Science Colloquium. It was attended by about 150 representatives of tech giants Microsoft, Google, Facebook and others, as well as many universities. He was excited to show how Berryville is directly affecting what’s going on in Silicon Valley!

Earlier this year, BIML received a $150,000 grant from a group called Open Philantrophy, an organization concerned with the effects of technology on people and the planet. BIML will use the grant to further their research as well to provide funds for an intern. They have their first intern, Nikil Shyamsunder, a Handley High student.McGraw moved to Berryville from Loudoun County in 1999. The speed of development there “pushed me over the mountain,” he said. Now he lives in a circa 1760 farmhouse on 10 acres on the banks of the Shenandoah next to Holy Cross Abbey. Of course, he observed that development is increasing in Clarke as well. “The future is going to happen — let’s make it better.”

He cares deeply about his adopted home town and is concerned that there are local people who are homeless and hungry. Grateful that he has been fortunate, he works to give back by helping make Clarke County a place where everyone can live. He personally gives regularly and generously to the Free Medical Clinic, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, local Habitat for Humanity and other nonprofits concerned with food, housing, medical care, legal advice and the environment.

Although McGraw describes himself as an “alpha geek” he is certainly not one-dimensional. He says music is supremely important to him and provides balance to his life. He is a classically trained musician, but he specializes in improvisation. Starting as a child with violin, he also plays mandolin, guitar and piano. He is in two bands, Bitter Liberals and Where’s Aubrey, and they have played many benefit concerts. With Covid restrictions ending, he looks forward to performing publicly again.

Welcome Woody’s Quick Stop

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The building at 304 N. Buckmarsh Street has been a convenience store for as long as anyone can remember; it was most recently owned by Mohammad and Farhat Kashmiree. When William “Woody” Woodruff, who grew up in Berryville, lost his barber shop in Herndon last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he returned home to visit his mother. While in town, he met the Kashmirees, who wanted to retire, and Woodruff found an opportunity. Woodruff bought the store and opened Woody’s Quick Stop in mid-May. On Aug. 1, Mayor Arnold officially welcomed Woodruff as a new Berryville business owner and commended him for keeping the convenience store open to serve residents and those traveling along U.S. 340. In the photo above, Woody Woodruff and his wife Tonette Stewart hold the grand-opening ribbon for Berryville Mayor Jay Arnold on August 1 at Woody’s Quick Stop. Watching the ribbon-cutting from behind are (from left) William’s mother Mary Woodruff, longtime store clerk Donna Segar, and the couple’s children Dominique and Jacquez Stewart. Photo provided by Clarke County.