Will climbed the Seneca hemlock and did a successful tape
drop. From up the ridge, I took two measurements of the tree via our
ENTS methods. I got 144.8 feet on one shot and 145.8 on the other.
The average of those two, which I felt were equally probably is
145.3 feet. Will's tape drop was 145.4 feet. Results like those
allow me to feel very confident that overall, our sine-based
technique is not only good, but very good. The big tree yields about
750 cubic feet of trunk volume. That is most respectable.
-
Bob Leverett
The final tree
modeling happened the next day back at Cook Forest. This was
my climb of the Seneca Hemlock, the tallest known eastern hemlock in
the
northeast US. I went up to the tree early with Carl Harting and Ed
Frank to
rig the tree. My fears of a difficult rigging were unfounded as the
first
set at 85' worked just fine. When the group arrived I ascended while
Jess
zeroed and measured the base while Dale spotted the pole extension
to the
leaning top. From the top, the view of the HQ area and the river
below was
spectacular. The old pines of the Forest Cathedral could be seen
emerging
from the hemlock midstory. The tape drop was 145.4' and incremental
girth
measurements indicated a trunk volume of 753 cubic feet. For those
wondering, this is as much wood as is in the lower 44 feet of the
largest
hemlock Jess and I have documented for the Tsuga Search. -
Will Blozan
I have video of
the climb I will post when I am finished editing the video clip. -
Ed Frank |