Good Morning! Dale, I just had to go up to the Greendale Cemetery to see the new old growth you wrote about a couple of weeks ago. I was off of work on Thursday, and it was a beautiful day for a walk in the woods, so I went up. It was just over an hour for me from down by Clarion. First, you must be half billy goat to have been walking in that steep ravine with snow on the ground! The fresh, dry leaves on Thursday were as slippery as ice, and I nearly broke my neck several times getting around in there. You actually went from tree to tree, which I did not, so you were at much greater risk than I was. The thing that amazed me the most, though, is that big slippery elm. What a beautiful tree! I can't believe it could have stayed hidden all these years from the Dutch elm disease. More accurately, it stayed hidden from the bark beetles. There have to be other elms in the area, so how did they miss that one? I'm glad they did! That stand is also an excellent demonstration of the diversity that existed in the old growth forest. Using your inventory list, and adding black birch to it, there are 20 species of trees growing there. I've been working in the woods with the Bureau for three years, and never see that many species in the second growth stands. Some of our stands down at the Clear Creek State Forest are upwards of 90% oak. Even allowing for five different oak species in them, I doubt if most of them would go over 10 or 12 total species. I'm sure that diversity figures in the explanation of how that slippery elm was missed by the bugs. Sadly, we will never see that on the large scale again. The only thing that would make that stand better than it is would be if the American chestnut were still there. One hundred years ago, there probably were some in the ravine, or at least up on the edges. Well, it is time to head out to the pucker brush. There is nothing like a job where you get to go for a walk in the woods every day! Have a great day! Dave Forest Tech, Clear Creek
---------- Original Message ---------- From: Dale Luthringer <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: [ENTS] Re: Cemetery Run (Greendale Cemetery) - Meadville, PA (Part1) Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 08:26:32 -0500 Scott, There are four trees in Erie that you might consider taking a look at if you've got the time: Fairview Sasafrass 15.8ft CBH x 60.7ft high last measured on 11/15/07 (state champ, easy to get to) Scott Park Cuke' 14.9ft CBH x 112.9ft high last measured on 4/9/094 (contender, not difficult-light hike amongst the tics) Springfield Cemetery Red Pine 11ft CBH x 84.4ft high last measured on 11/15/08 (state champ, easy to get to) Walnut Creek Beech 15.9ft CBH x 119.3ft high last measured on 2/22/04 (contender, hard to get too but the only real fatty in one of the drainages, there's also some decent sycamore just upstream of the intersection of Walnut Creek and Millfair Bridge) If time is really limited, then just take the family for a drive through the Erie Cemetery. They've got some nice tulips, old cukes and white oaks in there. If you've really got some time and want to see some dwarf old growth hemlock forest, then I'd go behind Penn State Behrend. There's a decent trail along the top of Wintergreen Gorge that takes you through a decent bit of the old stuff. If you go down in the bottom, there isn't any real old stuff, but some very nice waterfalls instead. Dale On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 7:58 AM, pabigtrees <[email protected]> wrote: Dale, Nice report. We are planning a summer trip up to the Erie Ohio area next summer. I can't wait. Of course we will be visiting amusement parks mostly, but I hope to see some trees too. Any state champs in those drainages? that scarlet oak looked impressive. Scott --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- ____________________________________________________________ Passion for Animation? Earn an animation degree and advance your career! Free info. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/c?cp=IpKYXjQb3rChvydXcpO5nAAAJz2LwtrqvQiABggu6ZMeXRjWAAQAAAAFAAAAAPLSTT4AAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARBaQAAAAA= -- 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]
