ENTS:

        This winter I was able to measure enough trees in on a tract to
develop a Rucker Index. The tract is a portion of the McDonough
Wildlife Preserve in the City Of Vienna, Wood County, West Virginia.
The entire Preserve contains 377 acres, and was give to the city in
1980 with wishes that it be a wildlife preserve.  Bernard  McDonough
had owned the land since the 1930’s and much (70%?) of it had
previously been cleared for farming purposes. He let this acreage
revert to woodland. The other 30%?, which was composed of the steeper
and rockier areas has probably always been in woodland although
heavily impacted by timber cutting, oil/gas drilling, and fires and
lately recreation. Even though it is called a preserve, it is managed
more like a city park with picnic areas, paved walking trails, parking
lots, restrooms, etc. I covered an area on the north end of the
preserve which overlooks the Pond Creek Valley and is bisected mid
slope by the Main Loop Trail. It contains about 100 acres. This
section has a mostly north to northeast aspect and is cut by three
small drainages/ravines. The elevation difference is about 180 feet
from 830 feet at ridge top to 650 adjacent to Pond Creek. All the
trees that comprise this index are below 700 elevation feet and most
are in the ravines.

SPECIES CBH     HT
Yellow-poplar   L. tulipifera   8.1     137.0
Northern Red Oak   Q. rubra             10.4     122.7
Shagbark Hickory   C. ovata                       109.2
Chestnut Oak   Q.  prinus      7.8   108.1
White Ash   F. americana    5.7     106.7

5 species index =                116.7

Pignut ? Hickory   C. glabra                       102.9
Sugar Maple   A  .saccaharum  4.8     102.0
American Beech   F. grandifolia  6.1     101.6
White Oak   Q. alba       6.1       100.1
Black Cherry   P. serotina     6.2     100.0

10 species index=               109.0

Black Oak   Q. velutina     8.0     98.1
Virginia Pine   P. virginiana   5.3     98.0
Yellow Buckeye   A. flava               3.6      96.5
Black Walnut   J. nigra              5.9       90.2
Tree of Heaven   A. altissima    7.1     89.3
Red Maple   A. rubrum             6.5       86.0
Persimmon   D. virginiana   1.8     58.4
Hophornbeam   O. virginiana   1.5     53.7
Grape Vine   Vitis spp            0.84

114 annual rings counted on downed oak across trail. 4 feet above root
flair
Turner Sharp