Hello all-
I hope
everyone had a good Christmas and has a Happy New
Year. On Wednesday the 27th, I traveled to Tallahala Wildlife
Mgt. Area,
and Bienville Scenic Pines Area, near central Ms., in Bienville
National
Forest. I spent a full day measuring and photographing trees.
This is a
very special place to me and it is where I feel one with the
forest and
the wildlife! The area I went to is traversed by creek bottoms,
hardwood stands and pine ridges. The forest
here was clearcut in the
1930's, and in most places has not been touched since then. So
for a
second growth forest, it has many large trees. The forest canopy
is
about 120' high, I couldn't imagine what it must have looked
like before
the 1930's? !
![image001.jpg (54188 bytes)](image001_small.jpg)
cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh |
![image002.jpg (39140 bytes)](image002_small.jpg)
cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh |
![image003.jpg (50099 bytes)](image003_small.jpg)
cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh |
![image004.jpg (62533 bytes)](image004_small.jpg)
nuttall oak 130'x 10'6" |
![image005.jpg (45579 bytes)](image005_small.jpg)
nuttall oak 130'x 10'6" |
|
![image006.jpg (48857 bytes)](image006_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121'x11" |
![image007.jpg (40479 bytes)](image007_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121'x11" |
![image008.jpg (48382 bytes)](image008_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121'x11" |
![image009.jpg (53686 bytes)](image009_small.jpg)
shellbark hickory 115' x5'6" |
![image010.jpg (37341 bytes)](image010_small.jpg)
shellbark hickory 115' x5'6" |
![image011.jpg (45963 bytes)](image011_small.jpg)
shellbark hickory 115' x5'6" |
![image012.jpg (56801 bytes)](image012_small.jpg)
blackoak 110' x8'6" |
![image013.jpg (51296 bytes)](image013_small.jpg)
blackoak 110' x8'6" |
![image014.jpg (53829 bytes)](image014_small.jpg)
blackoak 110' x8'6" |
![image-a015.jpg (51657 bytes)](image-a015_small.jpg)
slash pine 123' x9' 9" |
![image-a016.jpg (50388 bytes)](image-a016_small.jpg)
slash pine 123' x9' 9" |
![image-a017.jpg (48917 bytes)](image-a017_small.jpg)
slash pine 123' x9' 9" |
![image-a018.jpg (51417 bytes)](image-a018_small.jpg)
spruce pine 123' x8'10" |
![image-a019.jpg (43859 bytes)](image-a019_small.jpg)
spruce pine 123' x8'10" |
![image-a020.jpg (51827 bytes)](image-a020_small.jpg)
spruce pine 123' x8'10" |
![image-a021.jpg (53828 bytes)](image-a021_small.jpg)
willow oak 125' x 9'4" |
![image-a022.jpg (48346 bytes)](image-a022_small.jpg)
willow oak 125' x 9'4" |
![image-a023.jpg (50439 bytes)](image-a023_small.jpg)
willow oak 125' x 9'4" |
![image-a024.jpg (52510 bytes)](image-a024_small.jpg)
shumard red oak 115' x 8'6" |
![image-a025.jpg (34446 bytes)](image-a025_small.jpg)
shumard red oak 115' x 8'6" |
![image-a026.jpg (48846 bytes)](image-a026_small.jpg)
shumard red oak 115' x 8'6" |
![image-a027.jpg (51036 bytes)](image-a027_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121' 11" |
![image-a028.jpg (49956 bytes)](image-a028_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121' 11' |
![image-a029.jpg (53107 bytes)](image-a029_small.jpg)
swamp chestnut oak 121' 11' |
1st
Tallahala-
Slash Pine- 125' Height 8'6 CBH, 127' Height 10'1" CBH
Loblolly Pine- 123' Height 9'9" CBH, 125' Height
8'7" CBH
Spruce Pine- 123' Height 8'10" CBH
Willow Oak- 125' Height 9'4" CBH
Northern Red Oak- 120' Height 11' CBH
Shumard Red Oak- 115' Height 8'6" CBH
Cherrybark Red Oak- 121' Height 8' CBH
Nuttall Oak- 130' Height 10'6" CBH
Black Oak- 110' Height 9'6" CBH
Swamp Chestnut Oak- 121' Height 11' CBH
Shellbark Hickory- 115' Height 5'6" CBH
Southern Shagbark Hickory- 105' Height 6' CBH
Hercules Club- 60' Height 2'8" CBH
After a late lunch, at about
3;30, I decided to go to Bienville
Scenic Pines Area in Forest Ms. I arrived there at about 4;30,
not
having much daylight left, I began my measuring and
photographing. This
area is a tract of about 200 acres of Loblolly Pine in 120 year
old
class. A pine stump from a tree cut recently revealed 120 rings
and
talking with the foresters they said these trees were all
planted about
then, which would be 1886. Ed, I'll send you the photos when I
get back
to work. Here are my results,
2nd- Bienville Scenic Pines
![DSC04407a.JPG (123798 bytes)](DSC04407a_small.JPG) |
![DSC04408a.JPG (106095 bytes)](DSC04408a_small.JPG) |
![DSC04409a.JPG (116922 bytes)](DSC04409a_small.JPG) |
![DSC04410a.JPG (95935 bytes)](DSC04410a_small.JPG) |
![DSC04411a.JPG (66515 bytes)](DSC04411a_small.JPG) |
![DSC04413a.JPG (46878 bytes)](DSC04413a_small.JPG) |
The photos are all
Loblolly Pine, one is 10'10" cbh, 120' Height, the
largest pine to date I've measured! The others are 120'
or more. This area is about 200 acres of large
Loblolly's, with a park like setting. Located not more than
a mile from I-20 near Forest Ms. Also a photo
of a Loblolly stump 36" Dia., with 120-130
rings on it. Making these trees about 120-130 years old.
Probably, the oldest tract of pine timber in the state. The
final photo is a butt cut of an old Loblolly cut in 1952
due to a lightning strike, 46" Dia., 180 year
old tree. The cut had ring counts marked it was a
seedling in 1772! |
Loblolly Pine- 120' Height 10'10" CBH, 126' Height
8'6" CBH
All the
pines here were this size so I just measured these two. The
10'10'
Loblolly is the largest Dia., pine I have ever measured. There
are so
many large trees in Bienville it would take years to cover it
all.
Tallahala alone is 28,000 acres, and Bienville is about
300,000.
The Deep
Southern Ent-
Larry Tucei
|