Sleeping
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan |
Ernie
Ostuno |
Jul
22, 2004 09:57 PDT |
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakehsore is a place that needs to
be
investigated for patches of remnant old growth. This area
contains
71,000 acres, with an undetermined amount of forest acreage that
was
either never logged, or only selectively cut. It is located
between
Traverse City and Frankfort in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan
.![](empirebluff.jpg)
Empire
Bluff, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - NPS photo
I did manage to find a 5-10 acre stand of old growth
hemlock-beech
forest on a trip up there in September 2000. The old growth is
located
in Benzie County, on Aral Road just north of the intersection
with Esch
Road. The old growth occurs on an incline and is bordered by
Aral Road
to the north and an open field to the south. On the southern
edge stands
the biggest tree here, a hemlock with a dbh of about 3.5 feet.
Back at
park headquaters, this hemlock is listed as the largest of its
species
in the entire park. Just down the road at Esch Beach, there is
an
interpretive sign that mentions that a small patch of forest was
never
logged near here, in order to provide shade for community
picnics for
the local lumber town.
In several trips to Sleeping Bear Dunes, I have not come across
any
large expanses of what appears to be old growth, but I think
some
extensive areas of forest in the park that weren't heavily
cutover have
recovered to being close to old growth. I wouldn't be surprised
if there
are at least a few more smaller (10 acres or less) segments out
there
that were never logged. It is just a question of finding them,
or
finding someone who knows about them.
Ernie Ostuno
http://www.nps.gov/slbe/
NPS Site: "Sleeping Bear Dunes
National Lakeshore encompasses a 60 km (35 mi.) stretch of Lake
Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou
Islands. The park was established primarily for its outstanding
natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations,
and ancient glacial phenomena. The Lakeshore also contains many
cultural features including a 1871 lighthouse, three former
Life-Saving Service/Coast Guard Stations and an extensive rural
historic farm district. Authorized: October 21, 1970. Acreage:
56,993 federal, 14,194 non-federal.
|
Sleeping
Bear Dunes Revisited |
Ernie
Ostuno |
Sep
14, 2004 00:37 PDT |
Paul, Lee and I also got a chance to visit the site mentioned
below
which contains some impressive maple along with the beech and
hemlock.
Paul measured a dbh of 4 feet for the fattest hemlock here. We
came up
with a height of 69.1 feet; quite the stubby hemlock!
At the park headquarters we got a list of the biggest trees by
species
on Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We took a tour of
some of the
trees listed and found the following:
What was listed as the biggest Rock Elm actually turned out to
be a Red
Elm.
What was listed as the biggest "Mountain Paper Birch"
turned out be a
regular Paper Birch. This was kind of odd since it was also
listed as
the national champion for the species. Hmmmmmm...
We also checked out the biggest Northern White Cedar, American
Beech and
Bigtooth Aspen. We also saw several acres of mature to old
growth
beech/maple forest along the forested dunes near the lake. This
place
could provide countless hours of searching and measuring some
impressive
examples of maple, beech and hemlock and this I actually might
attempt
to do in the future.
Ernie
|
Re:
Sleeping Bear Dunes Revisited |
Lee
E. Frelich |
Sep
14, 2004 06:54 PDT |
Ernie:
It was great to finally see the forests on the other side of the
Lake! Then there was that view from the top of
the 475 foot dune. There
is not any other such view in North America where one can see a
horizon to
horizon ocean of aquamarine water, an ocean of sand, hills
covered with
old-growth beech and maple forests, and islands with 500 year
old cedars.
There is a lot of potential for tall maples and beeches in those
dunes. Its
amazing that several square miles of open sand can be next to
old growth
maple and beech with some trees that looked to be up to 120 feet
tall.
Paul and I missed the ferry on the way back--it takes longer to
drive to
Muskegon from Sleeping Bear Dunes than we realized. However, we
decided to
take advantage of the situation by visiting Warren Woods State
Park in the
southwestern corner of the state. This was the most magnificent
beech-sugar maple forest I have seen. There is nothing like it
in the
Porkies, the Door Peninsula, Cook Forest, or the Berkshires.
Obviously
Warren Woods has superior site quality. I had no idea that such
forests
could grow in the Midwest. Lake Michigan must moderate the
climate by
alleviating droughts and reducing the frequency of high winds
compared to
the other side of the lake, where no beech tree would dare reach
a height
of 130 feet.
Lee
|
RE:
Sand dune forest |
Lee
E. Frelich |
Sep
30, 2004 07:20 PDT |
Neil, Ed, Bob:
The forests in Michigan and Wisconsin on sand dunes are all
rooted in a 1-2
foot thick horizon that has developed as organic matter
accumulates from
plant roots. Tree roots probably also break down some of the
sand into
silt, so that a layer of finer, organic and nutrient rich soil
is formed
and held into place by the forest floor and roots. We
know from gradually
emerging sand bars on Lake Michigan that soils development
capable of
supporting a climax forest of beech, maple and hemlock takes
over a
thousand years. The beech maple forest at Sleeping Bear Dunes
has tall
straight trees that go right over the top of the dunes, while
the first row
of dunes along the lake, which is younger, still has many square
miles of
open sand with occasional stunted groves of trees and patches of
dune grass
and goldenrods.
...
Lee
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