new girth records for Cook Forest   Dale J. Luthringer
  Sep 22, 2003 12:23 PDT 
Bob,

I tried to get back into the Indian Springs area on Saturday to try to
wrap up the white pine tally study, but I was stopped by a couple of
“chatty” hunters. It was a nice talk, and I’m thankful that they did
find me. Since I didn’t have enough time to get to my original
destination, I thought I’d try a small chunk of woods I hadn’t walked
before. It’s not far from Indian Springs, and is in the same general
woods as our record height white oak. I only measured a few trees but
we found two new park girth records. The day’s tally follows:

Species            CBH     Height   Comments

Am. beech        9.6        102.1+
Am. beech        10.1      105.1+
Am. beech        9.2        ~100
Am. beech        11.1      110.3    nice beech, new park girth record,
no sign of die back, directly on Bridle Trail

Black cherry      10.2      123.1+ (not bad, but Cook Forest has
better, lost ½ its crown in July microburst)

E. hemlock        13.9      116.6    gorgeous single stem, nice gnarl
factor, new park girth record

Dale
RE: new girth records for Cook Forest   Robert Leverett
  Sep 22, 2003 13:39 PDT 

Dale:

   Good job! Both American beech and black cherry grow larger in Cook
Forest and western PA in general than in western Massachusetts. Beech
reaches equal height in Mass, but not black cherry.

   Regional variations continue to be of great interest to me. At this
point I have measured 4 hemlocks in Massachusetts to over 130 feet, 2 in
Ice Glen, 1 in Little River Gorge, and 1 in MTSF. There may be a few
more, but it is crystal clear that they reach greater height development
in western PA. What's the reason? I have no idea? The regional
variations will keep us busy though for a long time. Thank goodness,
we've got Lee to sort it all out.

   What about the 2nd 100-foot yellow birch? Still, they're rare as
hen's teeth.

Bob