sad tree news from Oregon
People are already counting board-feet before it dies.
One of the things I liked about Lassen National Park (N. Cal.) is that it has never been logged or "salvaged". You can see the whole cycle, from saplings, to giants, to snags, to fallen trees, to trees gradually turning into soil.
They might want to let this just fall and slowly return to the earth whence it came.
At least one big tree (not a giant, but pretty large) came down in Big Basin, across a trail we regularly hike. I'd guess a 100+ year old Douglas Fir. The usual treatment is to cut out the section of trunk that crosses the trail, and push it off to the side.
There's a reason the 300ish foot redwoods are usually in gulches -- a degree of protection from wind storms.
unable to sign in at latimes.
I assume the gist of the article is that bush-republicans are giving the go-ahead to the tree industry to lay waste to vast amounts of our forest lands.
"salvaging" snags (and killing vast amounts of living trees and plants in the process)
Snags rule. When I was a kid there were loads of them, they're all but gone in the Tillimook Burn area now.
Steve the Sitka spruce you took us to see has a huge crack in it after wind storm- they think her 700 years are up.
That is sad, There have been some big storms here lately. My apologies to the Bush Administraton, timber lobbyists and republicans.
That crease in the second photo looks like the crack from lightning damage that was opened up by the wind.
From The Oregonian:
Oregon's champ Sitka is hurting, but still contender
Measuring up - Although damaged, the "Klootchy Creek Giant" is holding its own
Friday, January 05, 2007
RICHARD L. HILL
Oregon's national co-champ Sitka spruce is still standing tall -- at an even 200 feet -- despite being clobbered by a severe windstorm last month.
Clatsop County officials measured the tree Thursday after the damage left many admirers wondering whether the height of the "Klootchy Creek Giant" had declined in recent years -- and in some cases asserting it had "shrunk" to 190 feet, possibly knocking it out of contention.
The aging tree won fame in 1989, when the nonprofit American Forests conservation organization listed it as the nation's co-champion Sitka spruce after a friendly "largest size" competition with a Washington tree. At that time, the Oregon tree's height measured 204 feet.
"It's amazing that it's only a few feet shorter than it was two decades ago," said Steve Meshke, Clatsop County parks director. "We had seen several figures and estimates about this tree's height that ranged from 190 feet to 216 feet, so it's nice to know what the actual height is."
Lest you think this is all folly, knowing the tree's height has a practical purpose. The feeble tree may topple over, posing a safety concern for people visiting the popular tree at Klootchy Creek County Park off U.S. 26 southeast of Seaside.
Officials found the tree to be in a severely weakened condition after a windstorm Dec. 14 knocked a large section of rotted wood out of the tree's trunk. The area around the tree has been cordoned off to keep the growing number of concerned visitors at a safe distance.
"We wanted to get a better figure about how far we need to keep people away in case this tree falls," Meshke said.
County commissioners will decide in the next two weeks what to do. Meshke said a likely choice is "to let nature take its course" rather than cutting the tree down. "There's really not much you can do with the tree -- it's just rotting away. But we want to make sure that people are safe."
Meshke and Vance Swenson, a Clatsop County surveyor, took height measurements of the tree with a laser instrument. The large hole left by the windstorm is about 80 feet above the ground. The windstorm aggravated damage left by a lightning strike a few decades ago.
About 100,000 visitors stop at the park annually to view the famous tree. In 1997, the spruce became the first tree honored under Oregon's Heritage Tree program. The age of the nearly 17-foot-wide tree is unknown, with estimates ranging from about 500 to 750 years.
Although the Klootchy Creek Giant is Oregon's tallest known Sitka spruce, it ranks nationally behind two trees in California's Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park that tower more than 315 feet and two trees in Olympic National Park that are about 250 feet high.
The tree's height alone did not make it a champion Sitka spruce, however.
American Forests officials declared that the Oregon spruce and its Olympic Park rival -- an 191-foot-high tree called the Quinault Lake Spruce -- were the nation's "largest" because of a point system that includes calculations of its height, trunk circumference and one-quarter of its average crown spread.
Measurements of the Klootchy Creek Giant found that it was 204 feet high, had a circumference of 52.4 feet and a spread of 93 feet. The shorter Quinault Lake Spruce scored higher because of its nearly 40-inch longer circumference. However, Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, declared it a tie to honor both trees and placed them on the National Register of Big Trees.
"They're still considered the co-champs 18 years later," Gangloff said in a phone interview from her Washington, D.C., office. "It's nice to see the Oregon tree getting so much attention. It's sad that the tree is in bad shape, but it shows you how devoted people are to these big trees."
Richard L. Hill: 503-221-8238; richardhill@news.oregonian.com
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- mb 1-08-2007 9:53 pm
People are already counting board-feet before it dies.
One of the things I liked about Lassen National Park (N. Cal.) is that it has never been logged or "salvaged". You can see the whole cycle, from saplings, to giants, to snags, to fallen trees, to trees gradually turning into soil.
They might want to let this just fall and slowly return to the earth whence it came.
At least one big tree (not a giant, but pretty large) came down in Big Basin, across a trail we regularly hike. I'd guess a 100+ year old Douglas Fir. The usual treatment is to cut out the section of trunk that crosses the trail, and push it off to the side.
There's a reason the 300ish foot redwoods are usually in gulches -- a degree of protection from wind storms.
- mark 1-08-2007 11:12 pm [add a comment]
unable to sign in at latimes.
I assume the gist of the article is that bush-republicans are giving the go-ahead to the tree industry to lay waste to vast amounts of our forest lands.
- steve 1-08-2007 11:44 pm [add a comment]
"salvaging" snags (and killing vast amounts of living trees and plants in the process)
Snags rule. When I was a kid there were loads of them, they're all but gone in the Tillimook Burn area now.
- steve 1-08-2007 11:47 pm [add a comment]
Steve the Sitka spruce you took us to see has a huge crack in it after wind storm- they think her 700 years are up.
- mb 1-09-2007 12:19 am [add a comment]
- alex 1-09-2007 4:12 am [add a comment]
That is sad, There have been some big storms here lately. My apologies to the Bush Administraton, timber lobbyists and republicans.
- steve 1-09-2007 5:10 am [add a comment]
That crease in the second photo looks like the crack from lightning damage that was opened up by the wind.
- mark 1-09-2007 5:14 am [add a comment]
From The Oregonian: Oregon's champ Sitka is hurting, but still contender
Measuring up - Although damaged, the "Klootchy Creek Giant" is holding its own
Friday, January 05, 2007
RICHARD L. HILL
Oregon's national co-champ Sitka spruce is still standing tall -- at an even 200 feet -- despite being clobbered by a severe windstorm last month.
Clatsop County officials measured the tree Thursday after the damage left many admirers wondering whether the height of the "Klootchy Creek Giant" had declined in recent years -- and in some cases asserting it had "shrunk" to 190 feet, possibly knocking it out of contention.
The aging tree won fame in 1989, when the nonprofit American Forests conservation organization listed it as the nation's co-champion Sitka spruce after a friendly "largest size" competition with a Washington tree. At that time, the Oregon tree's height measured 204 feet.
"It's amazing that it's only a few feet shorter than it was two decades ago," said Steve Meshke, Clatsop County parks director. "We had seen several figures and estimates about this tree's height that ranged from 190 feet to 216 feet, so it's nice to know what the actual height is."
Lest you think this is all folly, knowing the tree's height has a practical purpose. The feeble tree may topple over, posing a safety concern for people visiting the popular tree at Klootchy Creek County Park off U.S. 26 southeast of Seaside.
Officials found the tree to be in a severely weakened condition after a windstorm Dec. 14 knocked a large section of rotted wood out of the tree's trunk. The area around the tree has been cordoned off to keep the growing number of concerned visitors at a safe distance.
"We wanted to get a better figure about how far we need to keep people away in case this tree falls," Meshke said.
County commissioners will decide in the next two weeks what to do. Meshke said a likely choice is "to let nature take its course" rather than cutting the tree down. "There's really not much you can do with the tree -- it's just rotting away. But we want to make sure that people are safe."
Meshke and Vance Swenson, a Clatsop County surveyor, took height measurements of the tree with a laser instrument. The large hole left by the windstorm is about 80 feet above the ground. The windstorm aggravated damage left by a lightning strike a few decades ago.
About 100,000 visitors stop at the park annually to view the famous tree. In 1997, the spruce became the first tree honored under Oregon's Heritage Tree program. The age of the nearly 17-foot-wide tree is unknown, with estimates ranging from about 500 to 750 years.
Although the Klootchy Creek Giant is Oregon's tallest known Sitka spruce, it ranks nationally behind two trees in California's Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park that tower more than 315 feet and two trees in Olympic National Park that are about 250 feet high.
The tree's height alone did not make it a champion Sitka spruce, however.
American Forests officials declared that the Oregon spruce and its Olympic Park rival -- an 191-foot-high tree called the Quinault Lake Spruce -- were the nation's "largest" because of a point system that includes calculations of its height, trunk circumference and one-quarter of its average crown spread.
Measurements of the Klootchy Creek Giant found that it was 204 feet high, had a circumference of 52.4 feet and a spread of 93 feet. The shorter Quinault Lake Spruce scored higher because of its nearly 40-inch longer circumference. However, Deborah Gangloff, executive director of American Forests, declared it a tie to honor both trees and placed them on the National Register of Big Trees.
"They're still considered the co-champs 18 years later," Gangloff said in a phone interview from her Washington, D.C., office. "It's nice to see the Oregon tree getting so much attention. It's sad that the tree is in bad shape, but it shows you how devoted people are to these big trees."
Richard L. Hill: 503-221-8238; richardhill@news.oregonian.com
- steve 1-09-2007 5:15 am [add a comment]