ENTS,

Amid the recent discussion of West Virginia sites I thought I'd better get
some numbers out for Turner and others exploring the state.

In April 2007, Jess Riddle and I, under the excellent tall tree advice of
Russ Richardson, stopped very briefly at Holly River State Park near in
Webster County, WV http://www.hollyriver.com/.

Jess and I had just reticled the massive Webster Springs Sycamore and had
some time to stop and measure on the way to the Cook Forest Rendezvous.
Scant on time however, we selected a small cove near the lodges and another
along a road through the park. I did not take any photos (Jess may have)
since the trees were very young and unimpressive in a visual sense. The
bottomline is- Holly River State Park needs further ENTS activity and could
prove to be a significant site for tall trees. The numbers below are
preliminary and more tall trees are bound to be found. Several specimens may
be state records. The black cherry ties the second tallest known and the
Fraser magnolia is exceptional in height.

Species                        Diameter           Height

N. red oak                     31.9"                 128.2'
N. red oak                     37.8"                 130.4'
American beech            26.3"                 124'
Black cherry                  24.9'                 129.7'
Black cherry                  34.9"                 140.8'
Bitternut                        24.3"                 149.3'
White ash                      29.7"                 117'
White ash                      19.1"                 130.6'
White basswood           16.7"                 126'
White basswood           16.2"                 130.9'
Tuliptree                        26.3"                 143.3'
Tuliptree                        40.1"                 154.2'
Tuliptree                        26.3"                 155.6'
Red maple                    33.5"                 128.4'
Red maple                    25"                    129.2'
Sugar maple                 28.3"                 129'
Shagbark hickory           22"                    127.2'
Fraser magnolia            18.9"                 113.9'

Rucker indices:
Tuliptree            155.6
Bitternut            149.3
Cherry               140.8
Basswood        130.9
White ash          130.6
Rucker 5=         141.4
Red oak            130.4
Red maple        129.2
Sugar maple     129.0
Shagbark          127.2
Beech               124.0
Rucker 10=       134.7

Will F. Blozan
President, Eastern Native Tree Society
President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc.

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