Westfield River Watershed: Discovery of a Whopper   dbhg-@comcast.net   Jan 02, 2005 13:23 PST  ENTS:     Today Gary Beluzo and I scoured the Westfield river watershed for worthy trees. Here is the catch of the day minus one, which justifies special attention. Species            Height    Girth Cottonwood        103.7      8.0 Sycamore              97.4   14.3 Sycamore              93.7   13.5 Cottonwood          91.1     8.8 Cottonwood         108.6     7.8 Silver maple         116.2   11.2 (I mis-punched on my calculator)                                                   (Otherwise there would have been ape calls) Cottonwood         105.0    11.2 N. red oak           101.2      9.3 White oak              97.4      9.1 Tuliptree               114.3     8.1 White oak             100.2     9.7    The above catch would ordinarily satisfy us, but we have one more tree to report. We measured a cottonwood at the edge of the Westfield River. It is one the banks of the Westfield opposite an industrial parking lot. Leaves and organic clutter have partially buried the trunk. The part that is exposed branches 6.5 feet above the base and there is still trunk going down. I would imagine that the trunk is buried to the depth of 1 to 2 feet. At just under 6.5 feet, the tree measured 22.0 feet in circumference. Its height is 113.4 feet. Folks, it is one huge tree. Since it splits into two trunks at around 7 feet, the possibility exists that it is two trees. I can't be sure that it isn't two large trees fused together. The clutter around it makes it hard to judge. For the present, it needs to be given a provisional/candidate status. It is definitely the state champion on points if its provisional status turns into a permanent one. Bob   Home