| Dry
Creek, NC |
Joshua
Kelly |
| Mar
14, 2006 16:10 PST |
Dear ENTS,
I have been an interested visitor of the ENTS website for over a
year now.
I am a botanist who spends 50-80 days a year in the forests of
the Blue
Ridge, mostly in Western NC. I have been intrigued with the
infatuation of
many ENTS with canopy heights and the Rucker Index as a way of
assessing the
productivity of growing sites to the point where I have recently
acquired a
laser range finder to go with my Suunto clinometer. All
measurements listed
below were made with laser and clinometer using the sine method.
I caution
readers that while my measurements are consistent, I still do
not consider
them that accurate: I rate them only to within +/- 3 ft. of the
actual
height of the tree.
Dry Creek flows southwest from Green Knob to join Big Creek in
the Shelton
Laurel area of Madison County, NC. This section of the Bald
Mountains is
composed of meta-sedimentary rock of great complexity. Most of
these
substrates are acidic, but two, Sandsuck Formation and the
Walden Creek
Group, contain some calcium bearing siltstone. The forests in
the middle
elevations of Dry Creek benefit from an exposure of Wilhite
Formation, a
calcareous member of the Walden Creek Group, that parallels the
bottom of
the cove between 2700-3800’ elevation. This section of forest
is quite
rich, not so much as some sites that have amphibolite
substrates, or Brevard
Fault Zone sites, but it is certainly some of the richest forest
in Madison
County. On any day in late April over 20 species of spring
wildflowers will
be blooming. The section of creek between 2800 and 3100 feet is
the most
diverse. Here, a rich cove forest dominated by tulip poplar and
also
including basswood, black cherry, sugar maple, buckeye, red
maple and a
significant amount of shagbark hickory covers the gentle slopes
of the cove,
while a nice montane oak-hickory forest intergrades on nearby
south facing
slopes. Poplars in this area commonly exceed 130’. The
surrounding ridges
harbor a significant acreage of old-growth forest, but most of
the growing
sites in those forests are less protected and productive than
the second
growth cove bottoms of Dry Creek and Big Creek. The result is
much larger
diameters in the old growth area, and taller trees in second
growth. A
comparison would be an interesting project.
Species cbh height
white pine
NA
141.6’
white pine
NA
149.2’
tulip poplar
9.68’
132.5’
tulip poplar NA 145.4’
tulip poplar NA 156.7’
n. red oak
NA
113’
n. red oak
11.6’ 110.6’
mockernut hickory
NA 128.6’
black cherry 6.59’ 127.6’
hemlock NA
100.6’
white basswood NA 128.3’
pignut hickory 10’ 124.9’
remnant
shagbark hickory 6.2’ 133.7’
sycamore
NA
108.9’
Rucker Index: 127.15
I think that given more time and more experience, the Rucker
Index for Dry
Creek could top 135 and the Big Creek Drainage as a whole could
top 140. I
have measured a black cherry in old-growth on Black Pine Ridge
that is 8.45
cbh x 141’ – maybe the RI for Shelton Laurel as a whole,
including the huge
hemlocks on Hickey Fork, could top 145. I’ll keep yuns posted.
Josh Kelly |
| Re:
Dry Creek, NC |
MICHAEL
DAVIE |
| Mar
14, 2006 19:37 PST |
Hey Josh-
That's a great report. What is the access to Dry Fork? I
couldn't find
anything on any maps, and at the bottom of the cove there are
some houses, I
wondered what way one could get in there. I live in Madison
County, but I've
only gone over to Shelton Laurel a handful of times- it's
beautiful but I
haven't found much big or tall there yet. Where on Hickey Fork
are the big
hemlocks? I'd love to see them. The Dry Creek area is the west
side of Rich
Mountain in Unicoi County where one of the largest white pines
known grew.
Mike
|
| Re:
Dry Creek, NC |
Joshua
Kelly |
| Mar
14, 2006 22:54 PST |
Michael,
The access to Dry Creek is off of Big Creek Rd., which forks off
of NC 212
at the Carmen Church. When the road turns to dirt bear right
past some
houses and a sawmill just before the ford of dry creek. Dry
Creek is in
public ownership, just the very bottom is private and the
right-of-way is
public. There is another Dry Creek on the Tennessee side of the
Balds in
Greene County that I have not explored. The Big Hemlocks on
Hickey Fork are
in almost every drainage of the East Prong above 3600'. The
biggest
hemlocks are on the upper East Prong between whiterock and
Baxter Cliff.
There was a hollow, 6 ft. dbh tree up there that fell several
years ago.
The largest remaining individual up there is 131 cm dbh. As of
last year
there was no HWA in that stand.
How long have you lived in the county? Let me know if you want
to check out
some of the nice local areas some time.
Josh
|
| RE:
Dry Creek, NC |
Robert
Leverett |
| Mar
15, 2006 05:38 PST |
Josh,
I second Michael Davie's praise. Great report
and welcome aboard. It
would be great if you and Michael Davie could join forces to
cover a
different area of the southern Blue Ridge more intensively.
The ENTS data continually reinforces what a
magnificent growing
machine the tuliptree is. There is just no other eastern
hardwood that
can consistently match its great height. However, we're still
shy of a
legitimate 180-foot poplar. Maybe you'll be the first to confirm
one.
Bob
|
| RE:
Dry Creek, NC |
Joshua
Kelly |
| Mar
15, 2006 06:19 PST |
Bob,
I agree that it would be valuable to sample more of the Southern
Blue Ridge.
Certainly, many areas had excellent growing sites. My old-timer
neighbors
used to go on and on about the 11 ft. in diameter poplar that
grew on Meadow
Fork before it was cut in 1917. Apparently people used to drive
from
Asheville to see it. I would be thrilled to find a picture of
it.
By the way, I'm looking forward to the EOGC and hope to meet you
there!
Josh
|
| Re:
Dry Creek, NC |
Jess
Riddle |
| Mar
15, 2006 19:27 PST |
Hello Josh,
Thanks for the description of the forests on Dry Creek. The
heights
impress me for both species of hickories, and the black cherry
on
Black Pine Ridge may be a very significant tree; the 141' height
essentially ties it with the tallest we have measured.
Having the geological context for the forest is great. I didn't
realize Madison County had substantial areas of metasedimentary
substrate. I'd love to see those sites sometime.
Jess Riddle
|
Hi Jess,
The state line between Allan Gap and Devil Fork Gap is a large
area of
metasedimentary rock - much of it producing acidic soils. The
sweet soiled
places are fun to find. I like to get out, especially week days,
so it would
be fun to get together with you and other WNC ENTS and do a
measuring blitz
of Green Ridge/Black Pine Ridge.
Josh
|
|