Fellow Ents,
On 5/2-3/06 I was privileged to take a two day whirl-wind trip
of various old
growth/big trees sites in extreme Western New York and southern
Ontario with
fellow old growth sleuths, Dr. Bruce Kershner and Gerry
Horowitz. Sites we
visited included:
Niagara Glen - downstream from the famed 'Whirlpool' of Niagara
Falls, Ontario
Swayze Falls - Shorthills Provincial Park, Ontario
Niagara on the Lake - extreme E end of Niagara River flowing
into Lake Ontario
Long Point State Park - near Bemus Point, NY on Chautauqua Lake
Jamestown, NY - missed seeing possible big black cherry site at
local park
At Niagara Glen, Bruce took me to the hidden 'Lord of the Rings
Grove':
barbwire twisted mass of ancient N. white cedars growing on
steep talus slope.
Absolutely incredible trees. I don't think I was able to stand
up straight
unhindered the whole time we were in this stand. Bruce told me
that along the
Niagara Escarpment, a researcher cored a dwarf form N. white
cedar to just
under 1000 years. Says they couldn't even see rings under a
disecting scope.
We even had some chinkapin oak on the way out of the gorge.
Cool... never seen
OR measured chinkapin before.
Here are some quick stats:
Species CBH Height
chinkapin oak 7.1 72.6
chinkapin oak 8.1 79.4
E. hophornbeam 4.6 56.5
honey locust 1.7 47.1
N. white cedar 4.9 N/A (<30ft)
Swayze Falls was nice with an impressive black walnut stand.
Stats follows:
Species CBH Height
black walnut 6.2 117.1+
black walnut 6.7 120.1+
bitternut hickory 4 111.1
We also measured a large white oak on the Niagara Escarpment
just west of
Niagara on the Lake that Bruce named the 'Octopus Oak'. It
definitely was no
slouch at 16.5ft CBH x 69.6ft high x 122.8ft avg crown spread
for 298.3AF
points (43 12.714N x 79 3.671W). The 122.8ft crown spread was
particularly
impressive.
The highlight of the trip for me was our trip to Long Point
State Park near
Bemus Point, NY on Chautauqua Lake the following day:
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=3
Gerry said there was a couple of "nice" cottonwoods
just south of the Marina.
"Nice" was definitely an understatement. They were
absolutely out of this
world for someone whose never seen a cottonwood over 13ft CBH.
The cottonwoods
weren't the only nice trees at this site, 130ft class black
cherries & white
ash, and 120ft class bitternut hickories were here too.
17.9x125.4 cottonwood Long Point
We started by the Marina and headed due south. Just inside the
woods were the
two massive cottonwoods. The first, which was all single, stood
at 17.9ft CBH
x 125.4ft high. The next was even larger, with a big hollow gash
you could
walk inside, at 20.3ft CBH x 118ft. This second tree split at
around 15ft up
into two large stems. I was arguing that this particular tree
could've been an
old double where the hollow gash was located, but there was no
evidence of an
old fallen stem on the ground.
20.3x118 cottonwood Long Point
The flat that these cottonwoods were located on included various
species
typically found in rich bottomlands in this neck of the woods:
silver maple,
butternut, elm. As we progressed out of the seasonally wet areas
we got into
more N. red oak, black cherries, white ash, and bitternut
hickories. As we
worked our way east towards the base of the slope, we ran into a
nice skinny
130ft class white ash.
We continued to work our way east uphill, about 60 vertical feet
to a broad
plateau. Here lay an impressive hardwood stand of black cherry,
sugar maple,
cucumbertree, N. red oaks, tuliptrees, and bitternut hickory.
One particular
red oak went to 16.8ft CBH x 111.3ft high! We had one black
cherry here that
made it into the low 130ft class. I think this makes only the
2nd documented
130ft class black cherry in New York. There may have been
another 130ft class
black cherry in here, but we were rushed for time. I easily
could've spent
another hour in this stand.
We then turned north crossing the parks entrance road and
continued for about
1/2 mile until we ran into a much younger and unimpressive
deciduous forest,
then headed due west to Long Point.
There was a nice hiking path that ran the circumference of Long
Point. A number
of old weathered crown twisted trees were scattered here. If I
remember
correctly, most of the weathered trees were N. red oaks,
cucumbertrees, and
sugar maples.
Long Point State Park stats follows:
Species CBH Height Comments
bitternut hickory 5.1 100.1
bitternut hickory 5.2 114.1+
bitternut hickory 7.7 115.4
bitternut hickory 7.3 126.1 personal
highest measured
black cherry 11.3 107.6
black cherry 8.3 107.7
black cherry 9.1 108.5
black cherry 8.4 112.6
black cherry 11.1 115.7
black cherry 7.8 117.8
black cherry 9.4 120.1
black cherry 6.9 130.1
black locust 10.8 98.7
black locust 8.3 99.1+
butternut 4.5 66.1+
cottonwood 20.3 118 personal
largest measured, 2395 ENTS points
cottonwood 17.9 125.4 gorgeous
single, MASSIVE tree, 2245 ENTS points
cucumbertree 12 102.1+
cucumbertree 6.5 103.7
cucumbertree 6.4 105.1+
cucumbertree 7.8 106.2
cucumbertree 11 112.4
cucumbertree 6.3 115.5
E. hemlock 5.9 85.3
N. red oak 12.8 105.1
N. red oak 9.9 108
N. red oak 8.2 109.6
N. red oak 16.8 111.3
red maple 4.2 103.7
red maple 9 104.6
silver maple 9.2 109
silver maple 8.4 112.6
sugar maple 7.6 98.9
sugar maple 9.1 105.8
tuliptree 7.4 103.5
tuliptree 10.3
104.9
tuliptree 9.7 126.5
white ash 5.8 108.9
white ash 8.4 125.7
white ash 4.9 130.8
white oak 6.3 84.1+
yellow birch 7.5 92.3
Long Point State Park Rucker Index = 118.87
Species CBH Height Comments
white ash 4.9 130.8 personal
best H:D 83.82
black cherry 6.9 130.1 42
10.438N x 79 24.597W
tuliptree 9.7 126.5
bitternut hickory 7.3 126.1 42 10.527N x
79 24.626W
cottonwood 17.9 125.4 42
10.348N x 79 24.703W
cucumbertree 6.3 115.5
silver maple 8.4 112.6
N. red oak 16.8 111.3
sugar maple 9.1 105.8
red maple 9 104.6
Here are some pics of some nice black locusts on a private lot in Bemus Point, NY. It's almost adjacent (within stones throw) to Long Point State Park. Since I was pressed for time, I didn't gain permission to measure these trees. The sign they have in front of their yard says 'Isle of Wight 1822 Black Locust Guardian Trees'. The largest black locust Bruce, Gerry, and I measured at Long Point was 10.8ft CBH x 98.7ft high. The largest of the trees (black locust guardian 4.jpg) in this person's front yard, approached those growing close by (~1/2 mile) at Long Point.
I'm not sure on the credibility of the sign though. Bruce told me that black locust were an introduced species... I wasn't aware of that. If they were introduced, I don't have a clue when.
Dale
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