Bob, Awesome! Saheda remains one of my all-time favorite trees. My two climbs of Saheda couldn't be much different. The first (and worst) was in a squall of snow and wind. We had a huge problem setting a line in the tree for ascent, then got the cambium saver stuck in the tree on the way down. Had to climb AGAIN and retrieve the device and hike out in near dark and hypothermia. The last climb I hit a 89' set on the first throw and breezed thru the climb on a gorgeous sunny day. Both climbs ended the same however, with good micro-brew at the Charlemont Inn. Always worth it!
ENTS, I am currently in Florida and hope to measure some live oaks and other species while down here for a week. There is supposedly a live oak with a 175' crown spread that is entirely unsupported except by the trunk (it does not touch the ground). Will ________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: "CAMPANILE, ROBERT" <[email protected]>; "Davis, John" <[email protected]>; "Gafney, David" <[email protected]>; "Gilmour, Carol" <[email protected]>; "Hurley, Claudia" <[email protected]>; "Jahnige, Paul (DCR)" <[email protected]>; "Kaiser, Amy" <[email protected]>; "Kaiser, Stephen" <[email protected]>; "Laubach, Rene" <[email protected]>; "Morrison, Laurie Sanders & Fred" <[email protected]>; "Ricci, Heidi" <[email protected]>; "Ryan, Mike" <[email protected]>; "Seale, Doug" <[email protected]>; "Richburg, Julie" <[email protected]>; "Stransky, Laura" <[email protected]>; "VanDePoll, Rick" <[email protected]>; "Williams, Bill" <[email protected]>; "Weiss, Nancy" <[email protected]>; "Sweetser, Wendy" <[email protected]>; "Foster, David R." <[email protected]>; "Kellett, Michael" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 9, 2009 5:15:01 PM Subject: [ENTS] Saheda and Chris Matera ENTS, Today Chris Matera and I visited the Elders Grove in Mohawk Trail State Forest. Chris wanted to investigate the spot as a possible site to take dignitaries in the future - a place of inspiration instead of destruction. While in the grove, naturally I grabbed the opportunity to remeasure the big Saheda white pine, one of two flagship trees in the Elders Grove. Chris is a fellow engineer and as a consequence at least potentially understands my tree measuring compulsion. He was very patient as I searched for the right canopy opening and fiddled with my equipment.I couldn't remeasure Saheda earlier in the season because of the thick canopy, but today everything worked out well.. I found the almost perfect vantage spot and I was able to use my high-end $1,600 TruPulse 360 to determine crown height above eye level. I got 116.5 vertical feet from the crown's highest point down to eye level. I then had to use my Nikon Prostaff 440 to shoot the base because of clutter that the TruPulse couldn't penetrate. I got 49 yards. Using the TruPulse to measure the angle, I got -19.1 degrees to the base of Saheda on the uphill side. I later determined the uphill point of the base to be 1.5 feet above the midpoint of the slope. So, the full height calculations at this point were: 116.5 + sin(19.1) x 49 x 3 + 1.5 = 116.5+48.1+1.5 = 166.1 ft. Now from many uses of my Nikon, I often get 1.5 feet too much as the reported laser distance. It happens frequently enough, that if I want to be conservative, I subtract 0.5 yards from the reported distance. I don't always do this, but I wanted to be conservative. With this correction in mind, the calculations are: 116.5 + sin(19.1) x 48.5 x 3 + 1.5 = 165.6. This is the height I'm going with. At the point I chose for mid-slope, Saheda's girth is slightly over 11.6 feet. However, a better determination of CBH was done by Will Blozan in Oct 2007, when he established a point midway between upper and lower slope positions as the best place to measure CBH. Will placed Saheda's CBH at 11.8. Using Will's dimensions from his 2007 climb of Saheda, I derived a trunk form factor of 0.3839 for Saheda. Using this factor, Saheda's current height, and the 11.8-foot girth, we arrive at a trunk volume of 704 cubes. At a 67% trunk utilization factor, this results in a board feet calculation of 5,660. That is a heck of a lot, but illustrates what the huge Mohawk and Monroe pines represent. Saheda is one of the truly great New England trees. It is the second tallest tree in Massachusetts and one of a select few with trunk volumes of 700 cubes or more. Saheda and its companion pine, the Tecumseh Tree, are part of the group of nine 150-footers in the Elders Grove, but Saheda and Tecumseh are the only 160-footers. Within Massachusetts, there are ten 160-footers, 9 grow in Mohawk and the other in Monroe. Should these great trees be a source of pride for Massachusetts? I certainly think so and I have a growing number of companions who also hold that position. Bob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
