ENTS--
I have recently returned from a fantastic adventure to northern
Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. My family and I visited a
number of old pine-dominated stands, and I took my trusty
Impulse 200LR and diameter tape along. This trip was part work
(I was collecting red and white pine heights for a paper I'm
working on) and part pleasure (visit family and run through some
big trees).
We drove from our house in Arkansas northwards in mid-May. En
route, we made a quick stop in Big Oak Tree State Park in the boot heel
of Missouri not far east of New Madrid. This would be a
great place for the July get-together, if we're still planning
on doing it!! I only had enough time to stroll along a boardwalk
(being repaired) down one trail (probably less than a mile
total). This trail boasts some very large bur oak, cottonwood,
pumpkin ash, and a number of other hardwoods. Looks like a
target-rich environment!
From this point, we ventured to northern Wisconsin to visit with
my folks for a few days. While there, I shot some heights on
trees from the place I grew up at. My parents' property is
approximately 40 acres (half conifer swamp, half mixed
conifer-hardwood upland) in the glaciated terrain so common to
the northern Lake States. Most of the property is glacial till
with a high sand and stone content (some erratics are the size
of small cars), with areas of impeded drainage and high water
tables. Soils are primarily spodosols, with some histosols in
the low, wet areas, and these soils tend to be relatively low in
nutrients and fairly acid. Of the 40 acres, approximately
one-quarter is in a mature (~100 yr old) stand of red
(primarily) and white pine. We have thinned the stand several
times over the years, but its diameter distribution still
reflects a history of a stand of natural origin that thinned
itself. The largest diameter pines are found scattered around
the hardwood-dominated uplands. Most hardwoods are relatively
small red maple, aspen (bigtooth and quaking), paper birch, and
a few northern red oak, while the conifer swamps are dominated
by balsam fir, black spruce, northern whitecedar, and tamarack.
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 27.1 7.1 88.8 PINSTR
= eastern white pine
PICGLA 16.9 4.4 78.8 PICGLA
= white spruce
PINSTR 28.0 7.3 85.3
PINSTR 26.2 6.9 99.6
PINRES 25.6 6.7 82.9 PINRES
= red pine
PINSTR 24.5 6.4 96.5
PINRES 12.7 3.3 86.0
PINRES 14.3 3.7 95.2
PINRES 16.8 4.4 92.1
PINSTR 15.0 3.9 95.5
PINSTR 16.6 4.3 99.2
PINSTR 25.8 6.8 99.6
PINSTR 20.0 5.2 93.7
PINSTR 22.2 5.8 97.6
PINSTR 16.4 4.3 91.8
PINSTR 19.5 5.1 91.2
PINRES 16.3 4.3 93.1
PINRES 21.2 5.6 92.9
I would guess than a few of the pines probably do exceed 100
feet, or soon will, as they all have vigorous leaders. The white
spruce is also doing well.
While in Rhinelander, I also visited
a Nature Conservancy property called "Holmboe Woods (WI)" (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/er/sna/sna79.htm)
located on the banks of the Pelican River just across from the
city's sewage treatment plant (not as unpleasant as you may
expect...). This hemlock-dominated stand is not far from
downtown, and contains a few remnant old hemlocks (200+ yrs)
amongst a bunch of hemlock, white pine, and red pine ~125 years
old. This area, given its proximity to a major historical
logging and lumbering center, was probably cut (high-graded, I
would guess) and partially burnt over in the late 1870s-early
1880s. Holmboe Woods is an area of steep moraines of fairly good
but acidic soil, with abundant tip-up mounds (probably due to a
fragipan in the soil). Most of the overstory is a dense stand of
eastern hemlock 70-80 feet tall, making it difficult to shoot
heights on the supercanopy pines. There are also a couple of
depressions (either old river channels or kettles in the
moraine) that hold wetland species like tamarack, black spruce,
northern whitecedar, and black ash. I didn't have a lot of time
this afternoon, so I went through this stand quickly, and
undoubtedly missed many big trees.
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 26.8 7.0 95.8
PINRES 20.6 5.4 91.6
PINRES 22.8 6.0 73.5
TSUCAN 26.7 7.0 75.5 TSUCAN
= eastern hemlock
PRUPEN 4.9 1.3 51.9 PRUPEN = pin cherry
PINSTR 27.7 7.3 102.9
PINRES 19.9 5.2 98.5
PINSTR 27.8 7.3 105.1
TSUCAN 26.2 6.9 93.1
TSUCAN 29.3 7.7 91.2
LARLAR 13.5 3.5 68.4 LARLAR
= tamarack
PINSTR 26.2 6.9 99.2
PINSTR 18.9 4.9 94.9
PINSTR 20.2 5.3 93.8
PINSTR 28.5 7.5 94.7
The biggest pines are between 100 and 110 feet, and the hemlock
may also push 100 feet as well. Most other species probably do
not exceed 70 or 80 feet in Holmboe Woods, although there may be
a scattered sugar maple or yellow birch mixed in with the
hemlock that would. The pin cherry is about as big as this
short-lived species gets in this area.
After a couple days in Rhinelander, we drove to northern
Minnesota so I could spend some time working with the Forest
Service silviculture unit in Grand Rapids, and also took the
opportunity to measure some more big pines. Our first adventure
took us about an hour northwest of Grand Rapids on the Chippewa
National Forest to a small natural area called the "Lost
Forty (MN)" (http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/chippewa/camp/sitemaps/lostforty.pdf).
This parcel was apparently mistakenly plotted as a lake by the
GLO land surveyors, and therefore escaped the big logging
efforts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The overstory
is dominated by old-growth red and white pine up to 350 years
old, with a mixture of second-growth hardwoods and other
conifers. What a stand!! I spent an afternoon tallying big
trees, and still missed most of them!! They have a nice
interpretative trail that goes through only a portion of the
stand, and I would guess that there are hundreds of big pines
out here. Unlike my parents property, this is on a somewhat
better morainal site, with understory vegetative evidence that
this stand would probably become a northern hardwood forest,
barring further disturbance. Currently, there are only a few
small sugar maples, but their importance is growing in the
understory. A dense understory of beaked hazel (some 12 to 15
feet tall!) covers most of the stand, with large numbers of
mountain maple, red maple, balsam fir, and sugar maple filling
in the midstory. The overstory is relatively open in parts of
the forests, with some closed-canopy older red pine-dominated
stands in portions. White and red pines form a towering
supercanopy over the other hardwoods and conifers.
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 36.7 9.6 125.6
PINSTR 32.4 8.5 127.7
PINSTR 42.6 11.2 99.1
PINRES 32.8 8.6 107.9
PINSTR 29.9 7.8 91.7
PINSTR 26.5 6.9 106.6
PINSTR 26.0 6.8 96.5
PINRES 30.8 8.1 96.9
PINRES 24.9 6.5 91.6
PICGLA 17.4 4.6 94.0
PINRES 32.9 8.6 111.9
PINRES 33.8 8.8 108.4
PINRES 36.0 9.4 104.0
POPTRE 19.4 5.1 88.0 POPTRE
= quaking aspen
PICGLA 24.3 6.4 103.3
ABIBAL 12.0 3.1 80.7 ABIBAL
= balsam fir
PINSTR 41.5 10.9 131.9
PINSTR 41.5 10.9 124.9
PINSTR 44.1 11.5 122.8
POPGRA 24.5 6.4 93.5 POPGRA
= bigtooth aspen
6 species Rucker Index (RI6) = 131.9 + 111.9 + 103.3 + 88.0 +
80.7 + 93.5 = 101.6
My work schedule did not permit me to really pursue a 10 species
RI, and it may not have been possible at this relatively
species-poor site, but this first iteration is at least a start.
For this part of the world, the white and red pine were
IMPRESSIVE, with capital I-M-P-R-E-S-S-I-V-E!! I only wish I had
remembered my digital camera! I don't know if I've every seen a
36" DBH red pine, and the 40+ inch DBH white pines were
pretty common. I suspect I could find bigtooth aspen even taller
than 93.5 feet (this was the only one I measured, and there were
other big ones around). I think it would also be possible to
find quaking aspen, white spruce, and maybe even balsam fir >
90 feet tall in this stand. I'm definitely coming back once I
get the chance!
The next day, I then drove an hour west of Grand Rapids to the
Pike Bay Experimental Forest (MI). This experimental forest, located
on the east side of Pike Bay, is a good quality northern
hardwood site that has several extensive areas of white pine
(with scattered red pine). In the 1930s and 1950s, the Forest
Service implemented some thinning and release studies in these
pine forests, which are now approximately 125 years old. The
thinning treatments have encouraged good diameter growth on the
pines, with many exceeding 30 inches DBH.
White Pine Thinning, Pike Bay Experimental Forest |
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 22.9 6.0 106.0
PINSTR 27.4 7.2 100.5
PINSTR 32.6 8.5 108.6
PINSTR 26.5 6.9 120.9
PINSTR 25.8 6.8 117.3
PINSTR 31.4 8.2 106.0
PINRES 26.6 7.0 92.1
PINSTR 31.4 8.2 114.3
PINSTR 30.5 8.0 115.0
PINSTR 31.1 8.1 112.2
PINSTR 23.7 6.2 97.5
PINSTR 29.8 7.8 116.8
PINSTR 35.8 9.4 120.2
PINRES 25.6 6.7 97.5
PINSTR 25.4 6.6 104.8
PINSTR 28.2 7.4 102.7
PINRES 18.5 4.8 85.6
The thinning/release treatments have largely removed any
non-pine species, but the stands are open and quite impressive
to walk through. These stands still receive thinning treatments,
and should be around for quite a while.
On our return trip to Wisconsin, we took a slight detour into
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and traveled up to the Black
River Harbor (MI). This area is a part of the Ottawa National Forest,
and is designated as a scenic recreation area. The Black River
cascades over a series of waterfalls before finally placidly
running into Lake Superior. Most of the timber along the river
as it flows into the harbor is uncut old-growth, although this
is only a relatively narrow swath. About a mile from the lake,
white pine seems to disappear from the canopy, and I suspect
this area (and further upstream) had the scattered pines logged
during the big cut. The wind-swept hills along the river contain
many old (200 to 400 year) white pine and hemlock, with
scattered sugar maple and yellow birch. Trees close to Lake
Superior are relatively stunted, and the trees get progressively
taller as one travels up the river trail. There are many scenic
views of the river and the forests along its banks as one
travels upstream. The white pine in particular tower above the
dense hemlock canopy, which is probably only about 60 to 80 feet
tall, on average.
Black River Harbor, MI pines |
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DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 36.7 9.6 104.5
PINSTR 26.9 7.0 104.8
PINSTR 43.8 11.5 112.5
PINSTR 35.7 9.3 115.9
PINSTR 29.3 7.7 98.2
PINSTR 37.9 9.9 104.2
PINSTR 44.4 11.6 131.6
PINSTR -- -- 113.1
PINSTR 36.0 9.4 135.3
PINSTR 40.8 10.7 117.4
PINSTR 40.7 10.7 125.2
PINSTR 33.7 8.8 122.6
PINSTR 34.4 9.0 113.0
TSUCAN 32.0 8.4 87.0
I am sure there are taller and bigger trees than these in this
area--I only walked up one side of the river, and didn't venture
down the steep banks. There are literally hundreds of
supercanopy white pine in this area, and thousands of old-growth
examples of hemlock, maple, birch, basswood, and other species
in the general area. The white pine with missing diameter data
was shot from across the river, and probably exceeded 3 feet in
DBH. The Black River is just down the lakeshore from the
Porcupine Mountains, and if I may be so bold as to propose a
future meeting area for an ENTS rendezvous, it could be
somewhere in the vicinity of the western Upper Peninsula!!
Between the Black River, Porkies, Sylvania, McCormick Tract,
Estivant Pines, and numerous other places, there are thousands
of acres of intact old-growth in this part of the world!
We then returned to Rhinelander for a few more days. On one day,
my brother Bob and I ventured to a couple more pine stands in
northern Wisconsin. The first was located right along US highway
8 (WI) between Crandon and Laona on the edge of the Nicolet National
Forest. This stand consists of a few dozen old-growth red and
white pines on the east shore of a lake and the surrounding
northern-hardwood dominated hills. The trees appear to be on
Connor Lumber Company land, so I'm not sure of their protected
status (indeed, there are numerous old pine stumps, and obvious
logging evidence in adjacent hardwood stands, but no recent
cutting of the big pines). Once again, these pines tower above
the surrounding hardwood and hemlock forests, and are classic
examples of the role of white pine in the northern hardwood
landscape. Some of these white pines were impressively large,
exceeding 40 inches DBH with boles clear of limbs for 70 to 80
feet.
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 32.7 8.6 130.7
PINSTR 29.7 7.8 113.3
PINSTR 25.9 6.8 101.6
PINSTR 31.1 8.1 100.5
PINSTR 40.0 10.5 99.5
PINSTR 39.9 10.4 104.6
PINSTR 29.3 7.7 107.9
PINSTR 29.0 7.6 110.0
PINRES 21.6 5.7 105.7
PINSTR 30.0 7.9 104.3
PINSTR 37.2 9.7 116.1
PINSTR 36.5 9.6 116.0
PINSTR 36.8 9.6 133.2
PINSTR 44.3 11.6 131.7
PINSTR 37.5 9.8 118.6
PINSTR 40.9 10.7 110.2
A combination of a good site with high nutrients and ample
moisture makes me think that these pines are not as old as those
along the Black River or at the Lost Forty, and I think they
have some potential to add more height.
Our final stop was at a remnant old-growth stand called the
"Cathedral of the Pines (WI)" on the Nicolet National
Forest near Lakewood, WI. This virgin forest is primarily
hemlock dominated, with many supercanopy white and red pines.
Non-conifer overstory species include American beech, sugar
maple, aspen, and birch. The most unique attribute of this stand
(beyond the big pines) is the blue heron rookery found in many
of the supercanopy individuals. My brother and I were there
during the nesting period, and the sound was incredible!
Unfortunately, this stand is starting to experience some
significant pine mortality, some from windthrow, some from
lightning, and the rest from beetles and/or disease. On average,
the trees are not as big in diameter as the previous site or the
Lost Forty, but they are tall:
DBH CBH sinHT
Species (in.) (ft) (ft)
PINSTR 35.0 9.2 134.7
PINSTR 33.7 8.8 119.0
PINSTR 20.9 5.5 119.8
PINSTR 32.1 8.4 133.0
PINRES 21.2 5.6 116.5
PINSTR 28.7 7.5 120.4
PINRES 23.4 6.1 108.1
PINSTR 34.5 9.0 127.3
PINRES 19.2 5.0 120.4
PINSTR 30.9 8.1 119.6
PINSTR 30.3 7.9 126.1
PINRES 20.6 5.4 109.2
The dense canopy made it difficult to get the heights of most
pines and hemlocks.
I will send Ed some pictures from this trip to post on the
website. Sorry for the length of this posting, but as you can
see, it was productive both for my research as well as the ENTS!
Don Bragg
--
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Don C. Bragg, Ph.D.
Research Forester
USDA Forest Service
Southern Research Station
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