Bob- That would be great, I am of course interested in any light Laura could shed on the area fire history! -Don
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 21:29:12 +0000 From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [ENTS] Re: Piedra River and HDs Don, Maybe Laura can comment on the fires history of Piedra. She was reading fire signs everywhere we went. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "DON BERTOLETTE" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2009 1:26:14 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [ENTS] Re: Piedra River and HDs Bob- Don't know the fire history of the area, but reading your description of the height grouping, I'm wondering if there wasn't a broad scale wildfire some time in the last century or two...while dbh and age are poorly correlated usually, the 100 foot grouping of ponderosa pines suggests that you were looking at the first cohort to respond to stand initiating catastrophic fire... -Don Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:17:11 +0000 From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] CC: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [ENTS] Piedra River and HDs ENTS,WNTS, Attached are some stray images I took when in the San Juans and HD mountains in early July. The first image shows Laura Stransky of the Forest Service standing near an old Ponderosa near the Piedra River. Without someone in a photo for perspective, it is difficult to assess the scale of the forest. In most of the areas I visited in the San Juans that had mature pines, ponderosas exceeding 100 feet were as common as lice on a mountain man. However, at about 120 feet, their numbers drop dramatically. A few pines make it to above 130, and a very few above 140. We only encountered one area with 150-footers. I expect they are fairly rare and that agrees with the Forest Service's experience. Our top pine in the Piedra River drainage tops out at 148.5 feet in height. Girths of the largest pines make it to about 10 feet. I expect that if one were to travel on foot a few miles farther up the Piedra River, surprises would be encountered. In fact, there might be some real surprises. It is a pretty wet area. To the south of U.S. 160, the HDs rise as a long stretch of low mountains, comparatively speaking. However, they exude a kind of mystery that calls to some of us. The HDs are drier than the San Juans, so average tree size is not great, at least what I've seen so far Yet I've been told that the HDs hold some big tree surprises. Finding them will be a 2010 objective. Image #2 shows a ridge side on the HDs. The third image is of a fairly typical forest scene in the HDs. Girths of conspicuous pines run from 7 to to at most 9 feet. Heights to between 100 and 115. Doug firs are comparable. The total acreage of old growth is being determined,by the Forest Service. It won't break any records, but still may be considerable by most eastern standards. Bob Bing™ brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. Try it now. _________________________________________________________________ Bing™ brings you maps, menus, and reviews organized in one place. Try it now. http://www.bing.com/search?q=restaurants&form=MLOGEN&publ=WLHMTAG&crea=TXT_MLOGEN_Local_Local_Restaurants_1x1 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
