Connecticut River Valley   Robert Leverett   Jul 30, 2002 04:26 PDT  Ents:    The Connecticut River Valley was settled in the early to middle 1600s. The City of Springfield dates back to 1636. Forest clearing was principally for agriculture, fuel, and building locally. The timber boom came later. The early to middle 1800s saw timber being cut everywhere in southern New England. So what was happening to the ridge and ravine forests of southern New England in the 1700s? Well, I suspect, not much and the steeper the ridges and deeper the ravines, the more protection they received. However, there are only a few places from the eastern Berkshires across the Connecticut River Valley and into the Pelham Hills that have isolated trees or tiny patches if trees (a half dozen to dozen and a half) that predate the period of European land usage. However, there are strip of trees; i.e. belts perhaps 300 linear feet wide, following the steep ridges of the Metacomet Range that cuts the Connecticut River Valley that date back into the middle 1700s. What are we to make of these strips? Prior Indian influences most assuredly impacted/shaped them.     A strip of extremely old hemlocks, red oaks, and black birches are to be found on the west side of the Holyoke Range. I had forgotten just how old until yesterday when I met Dr. Steve Roof of Hampshire College at the Halfway House on Mount Holyoke and hiked to the top. Wow! Oldest black birch I've seen. Many old hemlocks and some ancient oaks. There is a story brewing here. Nothing like discovering gold on your back door step. Please stay tuned. Bob Connecticut River Valley   Robert Leverett    Jul 06, 2003 15:36 PDT  ENTS:    For a good 6 years I've been trying to break the 140-foot tree height threshold in the Connecticut River Valley. Today Rick McNeil, Bob Austin, and I went to the ravine in Easthampton where the super tall sycamore grows. On 7/21/2002, I measured a white pine in that ravine to 139.7 feet. Gary Beluzo measured its girth at 8.4 feet. Several pines in the ravine are above 130 feet, but the target tree had the potential to surpass 140 feet. I felt shaky on the height calculation as compared to a white pine on Mount Tom, which I've measured frequently and a pine on Smith College campus in Northampton that is extraordinarily easy to measure. All 3 pines are above 137 feet in height, but until today, none made 140. Well, today's measurement was 140.2 feet. Looking at the pine's top through magnification, it appeared to have a 5 or 6 inch leader. So I considered the two July measurements (2002 and 2003) as corroborating each other, i.e. the combination is very credible.    It is worthwhile to think about what the pine represents as the first of any species to be confirmed to 140 feet or more in height in the Connecticut River Valley since I've been looking. I arbitrarily include the volcanic uplifts of the Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke ranges within the valley region. The Rucker Index applied to the valley is as follows. Species Height Circumference WP 140.2 8.4 SY 136.2 13.2 TT 131.1 13.4 CW 127.0 10.4 HM 121.0 14.6 RP 118.8 5.4 WA 117.2 7.3 NRO 115.0 7.8 SM 114.7 3.8 BLCT 114.2 5.8 Average 123.54 9.01    The 123.54 is pretty good, but how good? How the Connecticut's Rucker Index in Massachusetts will compare with the index in Connecticut or the Hudson River valley's index beyond that river's mountain origins or other river valleys in the Northeast remains to be seen. I suspect the Hudson's index will surpass it by a couple of feet.     Regardless of how the index compares with other river valleys, I am thankful for what we've got. Bob Acorns and cottonwoods   dbhg-@comcast.net   Jan 30, 2005 10:53 PST  Paul:        Gary Beluzo and I scoured part of the lower Connecticut River flood plain including the confluence of the Westfield and Connecticut Rivers. A gentleman in Longmeadow, MA invited us to walk his land. His family were among the first white settlers, dating back to 1636. He had an excellent understanding of the history of the surrounding land including the ages of the trees. I identified a group that post date asparagus fields. The cottonwoods started growing in the mid to late 1940s. Gary and I measured the taller of the trees to 113 feet. Circumference are 6 to 9 feet. That's what the lower Connecticut River flood plain can grow in 55 to 65 years. This is a single point fix, but an important one that identifies the best of the growing conditions for the Springfield-Longmeadow flood plain.     In terms of tree ages for this part of the flood plain, the 1938 hurricane defines the upper limit to the ages for large areas. Bob RE: cherrybark oak and big [eastern] pines   Robert Leverett   Jan 31, 2005 07:29 PST  Don: Our discussions about growth rates as opposed to the maximum dimensions that are eventually achieved came to the surface again for Gary Berluzo and me on Sunday. The gentleman in the Longmeadow flats whose family lineage dates back to 1636 was a goldmine of information. The rich, well watered soils of the Connecticut River flood plain in the area produce very rapid growth in Cottonwoods. The trees we measured to 113 feet in height achieved that stature in slightly under 60 years. That's impressive for New England. Sycamore does the same thing, as does tuliptree, and white ash. So as far as New England is concerned, the super growers are white pine, sycamore, cottonwood, tuliptree, and white ash. I suppose we need to include silver maple in the group also.    Incidentally, we now have 150 laser measured cottonwoods in our database. Over the next two months, we hope to add handsomely to this total and expand into eastern NY. Given all the time we spend in the field, it might seem like we should have more cottonwoods in our datbase, but we are looking only for the exceptional trees across a large geographical area. We seek to find the maximums over as much territory as we can cover - a much morer labor intensive operation than sturation measuring in compact stands.   Home