ENTS,

 

On 10/8/08, Carl Harting & I embarked on a short canoe float on the Allegheny River from the Tionesta RT36/62 Bridge, downstream to Hunter at the RT62 Bridge, a distance of 3.2 miles.  The mission for the day was to explore the Refugee Islands, a series of 13 islands of varying size, in hopes of finding new big/tall tree records.  I call them the Refugee Islands, because there is a historical marker on RT62 due west of their river location that reads:

 

"Refugee Towns

 

This part of the Allegheny was allotted to Munsee and othe displaced Indians by the Seneca before 1750.  IN 1767-70 Zeisberger worked among these refugee groups, then occupying three towns along the river here."

 

 

David Zeisberger was a Moravian missionary to the Indians during Pontiac's Rebellion and the Revolutionary War periods:

 

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=428

 

Most of the islands were fairly small in nature, and could be easily surveyed for exceptional trees without leaving the canoe.  We decided to hit the biggest as time allowed.  The first island we stopped on, "Refugee Island 1" was the largest at 45 acres.  The top end of this island is visible from the RT36/62 Bridge in Tionesta.  It wasn't long before we found some decent sized sycamore and tallish silver maples.  The tallest trees were on the upstream end of the island.  It didn't appear that the downstream end was going to be any better from our vantage point, so we decided to move on.  The island in general was fairly open with very little closed canopy.  Stats follow:

 

Refugee Island 1

Species          CBH   Height   Comments

 

black willow     7.7     80.5

butternut          3.4     37.5

 

silver maple      9.4     97.6

silver maple     13.7   101.4      41 28.776N x 79 27.845W

silver maple      8.3    108.1+

silver maple      N/A   110.1

silver maple      9       117.3

silver maple      9       118.7      41 28.767N x 79 27.879W

 

sycamore        12.8   112.6      41 28.953N x 79 27.605W

sycamore        10.7   120.9

sycamore        13.8   127.1      41 28.964N x 79 27.631W

sycamore        10.7   127.6

 

white ash          5.1    75.1+

 

Species observed but not measured = Vitus sp.

 

Invasive species = Japanese barberry, Japanese knotweed

 

 

We hopped back in the canoe and headed down the east side of the island and stopped at the next largest island, 'Refugee Island 2', at 31 acres.  This island had much more closed canopy.  Carl took off down the center and reconned a good bit of the island taking in some measurements as well.  Me, well, I got stuck measuring one  tallish silver maple.  It took the majority of my time trying to get a good shot and photo.  Why a photo you may ask, well, turned out to be a new NE height champ at 6.4ft CBH x 121.9ft high!  Then it started to rain... and didn't stop the rest of the day.  It's a good thing it was a "warm" rain, because we had a good bit to go before we'd feel heat again from the car.  Another highlight was finding another 140ft class sycamore on the island.  Stats follow:

 

Refugee Island 2

Species               CBH   Height   Comments

 

bitternut hickory     6.9    85.4

common hackberry 8.1    86

 

silver maple       16.3(2x)  81.1+

silver maple       10.3       117.3

silver maple            6.4     121.9      NE height record 41 28.575N x 79 28.069W

 

sycamore              15.7     91.2

sycamore              6.8     109.9

sycamore              8.3     119.3

sycamore              8.8     119.8

sycamore              7.9     123.1+

sycamore              6.2     132.1+

sycamore             10.3   142.1     41 28.460N x 79 28.247W

 

white ash              6.9      101.9

white ash              8.8      101.9

white ash              9.7      106.6

 

By the time we finished with Refugee Island 2, the rain was coming down in buckets.  We cruized past the smaller islands.  None of them appeared to have anything worth getting out of the canoes in a steady downpoor.  Another place I wanted to check out though by canoe was where Little Tionesta Creek came into the island complex from the south.  I was hoping there might be something worth documenting in this flat.  Problem was we couldn't get close enough via canoe, since the channel became too shallow via mud and choked with logs behind the island we needed to skirt.  After being drenched for the previous 2hrs, and viewing what crowns we could see from a distance, we decided that it wouldn't be worth the effort to conduct a thorough "mud run" into the area.  So, we continued down to the RT62 Bridge, pulled out at the golf course property, and portaged the next 300 yards to the vehicle.  This is NOT a designated canoe access point.  It's private property, and we had to secure prior permission to use it.

 

Eventhough the day turned out to be a soaker.  It was still productive along the 'Belle Riviere'.

 

Dale