| West
Virginia Trees |
Fores-@aol.com |
|
May
17, 2005 20:39 PDT |
Bob:
It has been an exceptionally nice spring in West Virginia and I
have been
crawling through the woods more than I've been at my 'puter. We
have been
enjoying cool weather with lots of sunshine and rain falling
often enough to keep
the frogs happy in the mud holes, all the trees flowering and
keep spring
racing towards summer. We've actually had a couple of breezy
days this spring
when the tree pollen has been so heavy that the air was yellow.
I haven't had a chance to buy any of the laser equipment yet but
I'm trying
to get an ocular estimate of tree heights and sizes as a run
through the
private woodlands of central West Virginia.
I have seen enough of the region in the past fifteen years to
suspect that
if the hills and valleys of West Virginia were scoured for
large, old trees
and small patches of old growth the way New England has, it is
likely that
world records for several different species in terms of height,
diameter and
overall size could be documented.
Over the years I have seen too many single stemmed second and
third growth
yellow poplar trees cut out 120 linear feet of logs to make me
wonder how tall
the whole tree really was....and how tall the biggest yellow
poplars might
still be in WV. However I think that is a moving target that
will climb for
some time as more trees on really good sites slip quietly into
maturity.
In a couple of past postings there has been some mention of the
Widen poplar
but there are also several different oak trees scattered around
the state
that have specific names. I think I'm getting a little spoiled
in the Mountain
State because most of the big trees I can actually remember are
over 15'
CBH..
In my work as a private forester I encounter patches of woods
with trees at
least 200 years old several times each year. Generally the areas
are only a
few acres in size and scattered across the
landscape..........some are on
very steep land (land with 70 to 80% slopes) or small coves near
old farmsteads
but the best tend to be corners of old farms that are on the
wrong side of
the ridge from the main farm. But nothing can beat a really good
cove site
where the overstory can have 30 different commercial hardwood
species and the
forest floor can have another 400 species of plants. It's not a
rain forest
but it'll do.
One thing has puzzled me however, Greenbrier and Pocahontas
Counties in
eastern West Virginia has some of the best quality white pine I
have ever seen.
With all the white pine talk I have read on ENTS no one has ever
mentioned
measuring WV white pine.
Personally, I have encountered very few white pine in the area
of WV I work
as the woods here are 96% hardwood. However, several times I
have measured
vigorous and thrifty looking native white pines over 10' CBH. In
plantation
situations, dominant white pines can grow 3/4" growth rings
and sustain 30"+
internodes. A few years ago I did a forestry plan for a property
owner that
had some 30 year old white pine he planted in the mid 1960s.
None of the
trees were weeviled and the largest one I taped was 28" DBH
(7.3' CBH) just a
little shy of 1" per year diameter growth.
I'm coming up to Massachusetts for Memorial Day week and it
would great to
get together for a walk around some woods. I am interested in
your program in
October.
Also, are you aware that the National Tree Farm Convention is
being held in
Springfield Mass this year very close to the timing of your
October session.
I better stop writing before I start talking about ponds in the
woods,
frogs, barred owls and dragonflies, all subjects far away from
big, fat, old
trees.
Russ Richardson |
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