Will, It is good to get out. Lately I have been bringing my measuring equipment as well.
There are taller black birch, although not many by much. The tallest I know of, in Trout Brook, is 111.7' I think, and there is a 116.2' on Bob's 9th Rucker iteration for Mohawk. Up to 105' they show up from time to time, but over 105' is quite rare. Not sure about the adelgid, although I didn't notice any spreading outside a small area on the oxbow above Shelburne Falls. On Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 8:25 PM, Will Blozan <[email protected]>wrote: > John, > > > > Glad you are making it out to some new sites! Sweet black birch- is that a > NE record? Need some help this winter in Congaree- can you make it? > > > > Hey, did the HWA near you get killed by the winter cold? I hope so. > > > > Will F. Blozan > > President, Eastern Native Tree Society > > President, Appalachian Arborists, Inc. > > > > *"No sympathy for apathy"* > ------------------------------ > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On > Behalf Of *John Eichholz > *Sent:* Friday, November 06, 2009 9:14 PM > *To:* [email protected] > > *Subject:* [ENTS] Catamount State Forest > > > > The Catamount State Forest in Colrain, Massachusetts contains many > interesting features, among them a plaque commemorating the first time and > place an American Flag was raised above a school house, and extensive rugged > uplands, reaching as high as 570 meters at the summit of Pocumtuck Mountain. > This elevation is equivalent to the top of Clark Mountain and to the uplands > above Dunbar Brook. In these areas, the tree heights are undistinguished. > However, Catamount also contains several tributaries of the North River, > which then flows directly into the Deerfield River. As the Deerfield River > basin contains many of the state's tallest forests, and since Catamount is > within a 30 minute bike ride of my house, I have been spending time there > looking for exemplary forest stands to report on. > > > > The first area I have studied enough to develop a Rucker index for is the > basin of Meadow Brook, at the southern end of McLeod Pond. Stacy Road is a > dirt road that begins at Charlemont Road and travels up Meadow Brook, ending > in a turnaround near the pond. There is State Wildlife Management land > starting about half way up Stacy Road on the brook side, and this land > contains several nice stands of white pine mixed with red oak, bitternut > hickory, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, and various birches. I measured > several pines over 110', with the tallest at 120.4'h x 6.8'c. The road > enters the State Forest, eventually ending at a turnaround that features a > marker commemorating a McLeod (I didn't write down the first name). This > area seems to be an old home site. Just before the turnaround is a classic > rich forest area at the base of a 50' high ledge. There are several large > red oak, white ash, sugar maple, and white pine, as well as many younger but > quite vigorous trees. Following along the ledge leads to a series of flat > basins, mostly dominated by older red oaks and younger white ash. The > tallest specimens are a white ash at 109.0'h x 5.8'c, a red oak at 105.5'h x > 7.0'c, a white pine at 117.7'h x 5.4'c, a red maple at 104.4'h x 3.5'c, and > a yellow birch at 88.7'h x 3.6'c. > > > > Before this area there is a side road, which leads eventually to a crossing > of Meadow Brook as it leaves the pond, and then to the pond itself, but > which first passes by a cove leading to a confluence of Meadow Brook and an > unnamed tributary. This cove contains several nice white pine throughout and > also a very diverse and rich collection of hardwood trees. There are white > ash, bitternut hickory, red oak, sugar maple, black birch, basswood, and > bigtooth aspen in about that order of frequency. At the stream side there > are a few hemlock trees as well. The tallest specimens are a white pine at > 134.2'h x 9.5'c and a white ash at 121.0'h x 7.1'c, both near the stream, > and a bitternut hickory at 111.4'h x 5.7'd and a surprisingly tall black > birch, 103.9'h x 3.6'c, both at the upper end of the cove. > > > > An initial Rucker Index from both areas consists of: > > > > Species height cbh > > WP 134.2' 9.5' > > WA 121.0' 7.1' > > BH 111.4' 5.7' > > RO 105.5' 7.0' > > RM 104.4' 3.5' > > BB 103.9' 3.6' > > SM 103.7' > > ABW 103.4' 4.0' > > EH 102.2' 5.0' > > BTA 93.7' 5.7' > > > > RI 10 108.3 > > > > The area below this cove may hold more surprises, and there are a couple > more coves to explore, which leads me to believe a RI 10 above 110 is > possible for Catamount. > > > > John > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
