Spruce,
You may be interested to know that the tallest accurately measured Norway
spruce in Massachusetts grows in Mohawk Trail State Forest in one of
those un-thinned plantations that is still sorting itself out. The tree
is 129.3 feet in height. John Eichholz, Andrew Joslin, and I measured it
some week ago.
Originally, I fell prey to the non-native species disparaging arguments.
But my forester friend Joe Zorzin kept discussing the virtues of the
Norway spruce and why we don't need to disparage it. One day I took off
the blinders and saw it as the noble, beautiful species that it is. I've
loved it ever since.
There are some beauties in New York's Taconic State Park. Several are in
the 120-foot height class. Most are 7 to 8 feet in girth. Another place
where you can see drop dead gorgeous Norways is in Lenox, Mass.
Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "spruce" <[email protected]>
To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 4, 2010 10:13:07 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [ENTS] Re: Honorary native tree--a possibility?: Norway spruce
NS Lovers:
Wow! I have found some more Norway spruce enthusiasts. There
really are a few of us out there—more about that in a minute.
First, as for what they are doing in Mass—destroying the NS
plantings. This is a shame, and it comes from people not
understanding how these plantations grow. An unthinned/un-pruned,
unmanaged NS plantation can be a very ugly thing to the casual/
uninitiated observer. My favorite plantation near Glady, WV can to
some eyes, at the present stage of its growth, looks like one of the
ugliest stands of trees on earth. It is so full of dead limbs, dead
and dying overtopped trees, some of which are fallen over, that it is
difficult to walk through. But, if one looks at the dominant trees—
and this is an important point—NS trees express dominance over time as
good or better than just about any other tree species—one’s eye is
drawn upwards into what is an astonishing cathedral of soaring trees
with wonderfully graceful weeping foliage, hanging like great green
banners from the vaults. To my eyes—and I almost always look upward
in a forest--the beauty of this stand is simply heart melting!
I haven’t visited this stand in several years—I hope it is still
there! The Rothkugel is recognized for its historical importance—the
connection to Gifford Pinchot, etc. so it will never be cut. In fact,
there may be some efforts to make it more open and accessible to
visitors. As for the Glady stand—I talked to a Mr. Brenneman, who at
the time was in charge of the woodlands management division of
Westvaco, the owner of the stand, and expressed my feelings that he
had something very special there—a stand of NS of an especially
wonderful, and very distinctive genetic strain—so I have hopes that
has had some influence. Mr. Brenneman was very nice and gave me
permission to cut down a few trees to take some measurements, etc. He
also gave me permission to get some seedlings, which are growing
wonderfully, both in the mountains of MD and here in Winchester. This
stand at Glady should be used as a seed source for NS, maybe not just
for areas with the same climate, but perhaps over a somewhat wider
area. My guess is that the original provenance was somewhere in the
more eastern and sourthern area of Europe. The cones would seem to
indicate that. I have not seen any other stands that look the same as
this one.
In the forestry community, there are a few—maybe more than a few—
real NS enthusiasts. One is Professor Edwin White, Dean of Research
at The Department of Forestry and Environmental Science at SUNY
Syracuse (at the moment I am not sure this is the exact name of the
department there). He directed a number of studies on NS a few years
ago, the most interesting of which to the non-forester may be the
growth curves study and the site factors study. If you contact him he
will be more than happy to send a copy of these studies, and refer you
to some others there, and elsewhere, interested in NS.
As for unthinned plantations of NS, Ed White says that NS stands
need no thinning to achieve the best development in the long run. He
says the same of white pine. I am growing plantations of both species
on my timberland (80 to 100 feet tall), but I do thin and prune—it
simply makes the stands more enjoyable and makes them look better (re
those in Mass that think they should be removed).
Another NS enthusiast is Jim Kochenderfer, a forest research
scientist at the N. E. Forest Experimental Station in Parsons, WV. He
is the one who told me about the locations of various stands in WV,
including the ones at Glady, and the Rothkugel. I hope Jim is not now
retired—I have not talked to him for many years. He did a study on the
release of small NS plantings overtopped by brush and saplings, etc
using roundup.
Well, I do go on and on. I have more to say/respond to later. I
have to go now.
--Gaines
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