Jacks River, GA   Jess Riddle   Jan 18, 2005 18:11 PST  The Jacks River drains the eastern part of the Cohutta mountains in north-central Georgia. The largest wildness area in GA includes the more rugged lower half of the watershed while the gentler upper half of the drainage lies on other Forest Service land and a few private parcels. In wet years, over 100 inches of precipitation feed the river's headwaters on Flat Top Mountain, which coalesce and flow through a series of beaver ponds and beaver meadows before reaching the private settlement above the wilderness boundary. Below that point, a hiking trail snakes back and forth across the river through tunnels of rhododendron and hemlock and white pine forest. Much of the trail follows the old railroad grade left by the Conasauga Lumber Company, which thoroughly logged the lower Jacks River and the adjacent Conasauga River. Smaller logging operation and later Forest Service clear cuts have resulted in second and third generation forests of varied ages covering the upper reaches of the watershed. About a week ago, a friend who is very knowledgeable about the Cohuttas took my dad and I to two of the finest hemlock stands he knows of in the area, both in the upper part of the Jacks River basin. One stand occupies a small cove that drains northwest directly into the West Fork Jacks River. An old roadbed parallels the small stream, and the hardwood component of the stand, consisting primarily of tuliptree, black birch, and scattered sassafras, appears young; however, several of the large hemlocks probably exceed 300 years old, and some older oaks remain on the adjacent drier slope. As usual, rosebay rhododendron fills the understory beneath the hemlocks, and grades into mountain laurel on the west facing slope. This stand probably contains a taller hemlock than the current 145.5' best for the species in the Cohuttas, and may contain a tree over 150'. Conasauga Creek supports the other hemlock stands we visited. To the west, the steep sides of Cowpen Mountain (4151') shelter the stream, and, to the east, a low ridge separates the creek from West Fork Jacks River. The upper part of one tributary contains uncut forest that includes the tallest known black birch in the state (105.8') and a 140.3' pignut hickory, and several small patches of uncut hemlock remain along the relatively low gradient main stem of the stream. Of those patches, the largest and lowest one, which spills across the lower Forest Service property boundary, is by far the most impressive. Rather than just a group of hemlocks that were left when the area was logged, this stand appears entirely uncut. Old hemlocks grow in a flat along the creek and on the adjacent steep slopes. Old white pines are a major component of the canopy on the slopes while black birch tuliptree and some red maples mix with the hemlocks in the stream flat. American holly forms a sparse midstory, and rosebay rhododendron thrives in the shady understory. Most of the hemlocks along the creek appear to be in the 120's for height with a few reaching the 130's. White pine heights often reached the 140's, but with more variability in height than the hemlocks. Cbh Height Stream - Species 8'2" 89'+ Conasauga Creek Black Birch 11'6" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 11'7" NA W. Fork Jacks R. Eastern Hemlock 11'8" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 11'9" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 11'9" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 12'0" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 12'4" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 12'8" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 13'1.5" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 13'5" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 13'11" NA Conasauga Creek Eastern Hemlock 14'9.5" 141.0' W. Fork Jacks R. Eastern Hemlock 4'3" ~62' Conasauga Creek American Holly 11'1" NA Conasauga Creek E. White Pine 11'2" NA Conasauga Creek E. White Pine NA ~128.1' Conasauga Creek E. White Pine NA ~140.0' Conasauga Creek E. White Pine 12'2.5" 152.6' Conasauga Creek E. White Pine 2'5" NA Conasauga Creek Rosebay Rhododendron 5'4" 112.0' W. Fork Jacks R. Sassafras The black birch, while not record size, is unusually massive for north Georgia. We measured most of the large hemlocks on Conasauga Creek, so the above list gives a good idea of the size distribution present. Fortunately, hemlock woolly adelgid is still over 25 miles east of the Cohuttas. With a 49' average spread, the hemlock on the West Fork ties for the highest point total of any forest grown hemlock I know of in north GA. The current height record tree for the state, a 13'3" x 159.0' individual in the Chattooga watershed, also achieves 330 points. The current state champion, if it's the tree I'm thinking of, is an open grown individual with a short, 18'+ cbh, single stem that divides into a multitude of codominant and suppressed leaders due to an early injury (Willard Fell, please correct me if I'm thinking of a different tree). Another hemlock of similar form in the same area was 19'6" x 124' several years ago. The largest hemlock on Conasauga Creek is the fifth that I know of in Georgia that qualifies for the 12 x 150 club. The area surrounding that tree may include the finest collection of old white pines in the state; Noontootla Creek supports some comparable forest, but in smaller stands, Mill Creek also has forest of similar composition with large, but younger pines; and the well known pines of Cooper Creek are much more extensive, but also much younger. The arrow-straight sassafras on the West Fork far exceeds the height of all previously known sassafras in GA, and appears to still be growing. One other sassafras in the same cove likely exceeds 100'. Jess Riddle RE: Jacks River   Willard Fell   Jan 19, 2005 05:12 PST  Jess: You're thinking of the right one. The current champ is a rather ugly (in my opinion) tree with multiple stems as you describe. It is located in a residential yard in the persimmon valley in western Rabun County.   Home