| New
Hampshire and Maine Report |
Robert
Leverett |
| Nov
27, 2006 05:26 PST |
ENTS,
Thanksgiving was a bummer for
Monica and me. It rained all day, so
we delayed a planned trip to New Hampshire and Maine. However,
Friday
was spectacular. So, we hit the road aiming for the Big Pines
Natural
Area of Hemmenway State Park in New Hampshire. The pines are
also known
as the Tamworth Pines. My specific purpose was to check on the
huge
Tamworth Pine – colossus of the North. The day was perfect,
but we got
there late, so I couldn't model the pine with the reticle, but I
did
take a number of new measurements of it. But first, a tree
tidbit. On
the way north, we stopped at Brattleboro, VT for breakfast. From
the
parking lot of the restaurant, I spotted a very handsome
cottonwood off
near a stream. It proved to be a worthy catch. The cottonwood
has a
13-foot girth and is 106.5 feet in height. Those are substantial
dimensions for streamside Vermont cottonwoods. Inspired by the
Brattleboro tree, I’ll be searching for others along the
waterways of
the Green Mountain State.
Well, it was on to New Hampshire and the Tamworth Pines. But
meandering
across the countryside on secondary roads exacts its price. By
the time
we arrived at Hemmenway, I was disappointed that I had so little
time to
measure. So, I set to work right away. I am mightily pleased to
report
that the huge Tamworth Pine’s girth is now 14.5 feet, based on
measurements from 3 locations. Its last measurement from the
trailside
of two years ago was 14.2 feet. This year’s measurement from
that same
location is 14.4 feet. That is excellent radial growth. However,
the
measurement from the opposite side of the big trunk is a hefty
14. 6
feet and the measurement from the left side as seen from the
trail is
14.5, which is also a mid-slope position. I finally settled on
14.5 as
the tree’s girth. The Tamworth Pine’s girth at just above
its root
collar is 16.5 feet. Will Blozan definitely needs to climb this
big
tree. It needs a proper modeling. My conservative guess is that
its
trunk volume lies between 960 and 980 cubes. It certainly will
exceed
1,000, if limb volume is included. My rough, conservative guess
is a
combined trunk and limb volume of 1025 cubes. Regardless, the
Tamworth
Pine goes to the head of the charts in the Northeast as the
largest
single-trunk, forest-grown great white. Oh yes, the Tamworth
Pine’s
height is arguably 150.2 feet. That is giving the tree the
benefit of
the doubt.
There are several of the pines in the Big Pines Natural Area
that
exceed 140 feet in height and 10 feet in girth. But the Tamworth
Pine
has no other real competitors in the stand. By comparison
elsewhere, the
Grandfather Pine in Massachusetts is 14.0 feet in circumference
and
145.3 feet tall. The Ice Glen Pine is 13 feet in circumference
and 154.3
feet in height. The Grandfather Pine tapers a little more
quickly that
does the Tamworth Pine and the Tamworth Pine appears to taper a
little
more quickly than the Ice Glen Pine. After a discussion with
Will, I
suppose the Tamworth Pine’s volume could brush a thousand
cubes, but
based on the work of Will and Jess, I’ve come to err on the
conservative
side. For now, I’ll stick with the 960 - 980 cubes.
On Saturday, Monica and I visited the Ordway Pines in Norway
Maine.
Bruce Kershner visited those pines several years before. They
are
located near the shores of Pennesseewassee Lake and inside the town of
Norway. Its outflow feed runs for a few miles and then
into the Little
Androscroggin River.
Bruce took measurements of several trees in the Ordway Grove
that were
over 140 feet tall. He listed one pine as being 155 feet, but
couldn’t
substantiate the measurement on a return visit. Bruce listed the
diameters of the pines at between 30 and 40 inches. I had to
find out
for myself.
Monica and I spent a couple hours in the small 9-acre area,
which lies
at about 44.2 degrees latitude. A small run-down sign marks the
entrance
to the stand. The pines grow in sand soil above the Saco River.
The
terrain is flat. The latitude is slightly south of the pines in
the
Elders Grove at Paul Smith College and well south of those in
the
Porkies in Michigan. The Ordway Pines are old trees –
certainly 250
years and some likely approaching 300. They clearly show all
characteristic signs of advanced age for the species. The pines
are very
stately, but suffer from being adjacent to a somewhat run-down
neighborhood. From an admittedly brief encounter, outside a few
attuned
souls, the local folks appear to show scant understanding of
what they
represent on a historical level. The woman who runs the motel at
which
we stayed has lived in Norway, ME for 43 years and had never
heard of
them. However, there are always good souls around. The trees
were saved
in 1931 from the logger’s saw.
I would like to have stayed longer in the Ordway Grove, but an
impending
town parade was going to tie up traffic for several hours. So we
went
scurrying shortly after 10:00AM. However, I am pleased to report
for
ENTS that I was able to measure the tallest pines in the Ordway
stand,
although we weren’t able to stay long enough for me to compute
a full
Rucker Index, which will not break 100, regardless. Based on
what I saw,
the Rucker index of the Ordway Pines will be around 90 and 95 at
the
very most. The hardwoods are all short.
There may be one or two more of the Ordway pines in the 140-foot
class
that I didn’t get, but I definitely got the tallest and
largest. BTW,
Bruce was fairly close on his measurement. He was relatively new
to
measuring at the time. While the flagship tree isn’t quite 155
feet, it
still exceeds 150. The results of our visit to the Ordway Pines
are as
follows:
Tree Height Girth
Ordway Pine 151.8 10.9
Pine #2 149.4 9.7
Pine #3 149.0 10.7
Baby’s Pine 145.2 12.2
Pine #4 141.3 10.4
Hemlock 95.7 9.4
N. red oak 72.9 11.5
After Norway Maine we headed west and crossed the scenic
Kangamagus
Highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The heavily
glaciated
sides of the Whites make them unusually scenic and suggestive of
western
mountains. One thing that always stands out to me is that except
in low
elevation, protected ravines, the White Mountains are an austere
tree-growing environment. I measured 5 conspicuous white pines
along the
stream that Route #112 follows. The tallest was 117.5 feet. The
others
were 95.0, 95.0, and 108. As you gain altitude, the heights of
the
hardwoods fall well below 80 feet; sometimes below 50. One has
to be in
the foothills of the Whites to see worthy hardwoods. Overall,
there’s
plenty of good tree growing terrain, but it is at the bottom of
the
mountains, not up on the slopes. However, the windblown slope
and summit
forests can be aesthetic. They take on a weathered look that
engenders
respect.
A final word or two is in order about the forests of southern
Maine and
central Vermont and New Hampshire. We drove, roundtrip, through
about
500 miles of the wooded landscape of Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine
on the trip and what did we see? Well, in my finest southern
vernacular,
“those woods ain’t gonna win no prizes.” New Hampshire is
known as the
granite state and it well earns the title. Glacial sand
deposits,
granite bedrock, and a colder climate than that of southern
Massachusetts makes it hard for a poor tree to earn a living in
most of
New Hampshire and Maine. If the demanding landscape isn’t
enough of a
challenge to the trees, there are the ubiquitous signs of forest
high
grading that leave the woods looking ratty. If you tune out the
details
and gaze at the landscape as a whole, New Hampshire and Maine
are quite
beautiful. The northern Appalachians are magical. But if you
look at the
woodlands up close and personal, the tree scene is dismal. The
locals
don’t recognize what they’ve been doing to their forests, so
it is best
to keep one’s comments to oneself, but square mile after
square mile of
the central New England forests are downright junky. Forest
managers
often speak of the return of the forests from the clearings that
occurred in the 1800s. Well, unless you keep clearing the land,
of
course forests return. Woody plants are the common eastern land
cover.
But what I observed this past weekend reinforced my awareness of
the
extent to which private forests in New England are high graded.
So,
public preserves like New Hampshire’s Big Pines Natural Area
can be seen
as forested jewels set in a sea of woodland mediocrity.
On Sunday, Monica and I visited MTSF to get re-initiated to our
forest
Mecca. I managed to confirm a new MTSF red pine champion at
(117.2,
5.3). I also measured three more striped maples: (46.1, 1.3),
(51.0,
1.6), and (55.5, 1.7) ft. The other measurements were of
ordinary stuff,
at least ordinary for Mohawk – no need to report them, with
perhaps one
exception. A handsome white pine in the Elders Grove that I
hadn’t paid
much heed to in the past is now a respectable (141.1, 9.0) ft.
It is
growing well and will one day join the 150 Club.
Bob
Robert T. Leverett
|
| RE:
New Hampshire and Maine Report |
Will
Blozan |
| Nov
27, 2006 06:56 PST |
Great report, Bob. I am looking forward to the climb of the
Tamworth Pine-
it may be THE big eastern white pine. The "1K Club"
for white pine will be
VERY small with the trees we currently know about. Probably
similar to the
"1.4K Club" for eastern hemlock...
Will
|
| Re:
New Hampshire and Maine Report |
Jess
Riddle |
| Dec
01, 2006 22:45 PST |
Bob,
The Tamworth pine sounds fantastic. It'll be interesting to see
how
similar that pine's volume is to the largest down here, and get
a
little better idea if white pine really is climate blind.
The Ordway pines sound like a good starting point for Maine. I
appreciate hearing about how the species performs in a different
part
of its range.
Jess
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