Audubon Woods, MA   John Eichholz
  Nov 06, 2005 17:37 PST 

Bob, Ents:

A couple hours spent in the Audubon woods this morning yielded a couple
of prizes. First, a remeasurement of the #3 pine (11.2'cbh) gave a
height of 137.6'. On inspection, it seems 11 footers are kind of rare,
so I can see the interest in modeling. Second, I confirmed 4 other
130'+ pines, making this one of the few sites I have seen to boast a
group of 130's. Highland park in Greenfield, Burnt hill in Heath,
Bryant Homestead in Cummington, Monroe State Forest and of course MTSF
are the only other ones I have seen in this neck of the woods. There is
a nice young stand across the pond with pine in the 3-4+' cbh range up
to 115' in a classic duff-filled bench with streams going through it,
just above a wetland. It is easy to imagine 150' in 60 years when once
you have seen the Mohawk pines. I almost hit 100' on Black Cherry and
topped 100' on Bigtooth Aspen in there as well, which is pretty good.
I'd be glad to take you there.


In the interest of civic pride, and because you mentioned the idea
before, I am working on a Shelburne Rucker index set. So far I have
So far I have for Shelburne Falls:

species heightCBH
White Pine 137.6 11.2
Norway Spruce 115.8 7.0
Northern Red Oak 114.8 5.7
Eastern Hemlock 109.5 7.6
Red Spruce 109.0 5.4
Shagbark Hickory 107.9 4.0
Bigtooth Aspen 105.7 5.4
Tulip Tree 105.6 13.2
White Ash 104.9 nt
Red Pine 103.1 5.8
American Basswood 102.9 6.3
Bitternut Hickory 102.0 6.7
Red Maple 99.0 10.2
Black Cherry 99.0 5.5
American Beech 97.9 8.6

I am not going to predict where this is going to go, but up. (The
historical Rucker index is a classic monotone function.)

On a more poetical note, I found true refuge again, from the worries of
the day, when once engulfed in the forest mere. Hopping from mound to
mound or following a beaver's rill, I came again into the domain of
nature, where familiarity is again possible. The fogs and mists
intermediating between the ducks and I, but not obscuring the treetops,
I realized a greater gulf between the jogger beyond, yet a closer bond.
Our legacy of these woods can be valued higher when known in the context
of their rarity. Yet they are also a quiet backdrop to the commons.

John