Indian Flats, MTSF, MA   Robert Leverett   Apr 25, 2006 04:50 PDT  Dale, Will, Ed, et al., Well, on Saturday John Eichholz found a little visited spot in MTSF - Indian Flats, and he immediately took possession of it. My secret hideaway is no longer a secret. Indian Flats is where the champion 128.4-foot bitternut hickory for MTSF grows. I measured it last at the end of 2002. It has had 3 growing seasons sense then and guess what? John confirmed it at 131.0 feet. YEEEEEHAA!! He also go another bitternut at a little over 125. He remeasured the tall ash tree on that site and it is now 143.1 feet. Now that's what I call Eichholzing a site! Well, thanks to John's re-measurement of the bitternut champ, the MTSF Rucker index has crept up to 135.8. White Pine 167.3 10.4 White Ash 151.5 6.2 Sugar Maple 133.8 5 N. Red Oak 133.5 9.3 Bitternut H. 131.8 4.3 Hemlock 130.8 10.9 A. Beech 130.5 8.4 Red Maple 128.0 6.6 A. Basswood 125.6 5.9 Black Cherry 125.3 5.5 Rucker Index 135.81 7.2 With reasonable growth from the younger champions and barring no crown loss, MTSF is a candidate for a Rucker of 136.0 by the fall. Hey, we could have a double party, Jake making 168 feet and the Rucker index making 136. Outside of marrying my sweetie pie in July, I can't think of a better reason to celebrate.    With the explosion of great southern sites, the Northeast is doomed to drop further in the Rucker competition, but interestingly, Zoar Valley, Cook, and MTSF continue to dominate. However, with MTSF not yet 136.0, we clearly have our work cut out for us. Maybe, just maybe, we can find a new champ or two and make 136 before the canopy closes with new growth. John and I believe that somewhere out there is a 135-foot sugar maple and maybe a 127-foot black cherry. Ten feet under the Cook Forest BC champ isn't too much to ask, now is it? Dale,    I don't expect MTSF to catch Cook Forest, but I do expect it will stay very close in Cook's shadow. Seven of the ten MTSF height champs have plenty of growth left in them and there is still Ash Flats to re-measure, which is a larger site than Indian Flats and it too has had several growing seasons without having been measured. Bob Robert T. Leverett Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society Re: John Eichholz strikes again   djluth-@pennswoods.net   Apr 25, 2006 05:44 PDT  Bob, John, Great finds and re-measures! MTSF sure puts out some dandy hardwoods. I haven't been able to get Cook anywhere close to your white ash, sugar maple, bitternut, N. red oak, and Am. basswood finds. I also agree that MTSF will get pretty darn close to Cook with it continuing to be a neck & neck race. I'm also thinking that either Cook or MTSF has very little chance of surpassing Zoar Valley again for the top RI slot in the Northeast... unless I somehow come across a tall tulip or white ash site at Cook, which is very unlikely since I feel I've scoured almost every acre of this place. Dale Home