ENTS: Yesterday I wandered around in Catamount State Forest. I explored the upper reaches and west bank of Stacy Brook, at the base of the appropriately named Pine Hill. The access road to the forest travels up the east bank, and has several areas of nice pine stands, topping out in the 120' range, but I usually pass them by on my way to the richer cove sites I have found near the lake.
This trip I noticed some taller trees in one of the stands, and carefully measured the tallest to 133.3'h x 7.4'c. There are about 8 trees in the group, all over 120', but only one over 130'. This stand is located at the head of the Stacy Brook cove, so I continued around to the west bank and followed the brook back to the entrance. In several locations, pines worked there way down to the brook, mostly following small stream corridors. The forest is quite young, with many trees showing juvenile bark characteristics and girths in the 4'-5' range. Many topped 120', so this area is one to watch. At the lower reaches of the Wildlife Management Area I found a particularly nice older pine that made the day a special one. I noticed it from the road as an emergent crown, but assumed it was a ways upslope and not so tall. It actually is quite close to the brook, and measures 144.4'h x 9.8'c. This 140' class pine fills a gap between the Avery Brook 140'er and the Highland Park 140'er, and possibly a couple others, and is one of a few known 140' pines east of the Mohawk Trail State Forest along the Deerfield River valley. It would appear that with a good site and time to grow, they wouldn't be all that rare, but they certainly are now. The Rucker index of Catamount might be reaching its limit, but I am still looking for a taller hemlock and possibly a taller red oak. I am continually surprised by this site. Tree type height girth White Pine 144.4' 9.8' White Ash 143.4' 6.8' Shagbark Hickory 116.3' 4.9' Sugar Maple 115.1' 5.2' Bitternut hickory 112.4' 5.7' Red Oak 112.0' 7.0' Black Cherry 109.2' 4.6' Eastern Hemlock 108.0' 5.6' Red Maple 107.5' 6.0' Black Birch 104.3' 3.6' RI 10 117.3 RI 5 126.3 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]
