Coopers Rock State Forest, WV   Fores-@aol.com   Jul 09, 2006 06:35 PDT  ........ Yesterday, I was working on a timber sale near Coopers Rock State Forest near the WV/PA line and encountered such a patch of old growth timber straddling the property boundary between Coopers Rock SF and the private property I was working on. In a couple of acres I found a red oak 58" DBH...15.2' CBH....a 54" DBH red oak, a 40" DBH chestnut oak, a 48" yellow poplar, I have also encountered a 38" white ash, 49" red maple.....there were several dead red oaks on the ground between 40 and 50" DBH. I am not certain that the area is true old growth but the growing sites in the area are fair and I really do not think that the biggest trees could be much less than 200 years old.   The largest poplar had thick plates and deeply furrowed bark that was over 4" thick. This particular patch of older growth will remain unharvested. We really have very few large patches of virgin forest in WV because so much of the state was under corporate ownership in the early 20th century....it is still possible to find small patches on private land throughout the state like I encountered yesterday. Russ Richardson Re: Cathedral State Park? -- Coopers Rock   Fores-@aol.com   Jul 11, 2006 03:37 PDT  Anthony: It's good to hear from you! The area of older growth runs across a few acres. Today, I am going to be visited at the site by the Silviculture professor from WVU as the area I found lies along the boundary between the private land I am working on and the University/Coopers Rock State Forest. The OG stand I encountered probably covers around 10 acres but most of it is in a decadent state with the carcasses of very large diameter red oak and poplar trees littering the forest floor. The property contains many trees between 30" and 40" DBH but the heights are not as impressive as they can be farther south in WV as I am fairly certain that almost none of the trees are over 120' tall. If you want to look over the area, just holler. In New England, especially Vermont there are several disputed areas covering many square miles that were never incorporated into towns and they fell between recognized or established property boundaries and are called gores. I seem to recall that "Baltimore" Vermont is one of the largest "gores". The opposite of a gore is a "lap" or overlap when the same area is legally claimed by more than one person...you will almost never find any old trees in a "lap" but near property corners in many remote areas some incredible old trees can almost always be located. Russ   Home