WNTS Vice President Reporting For Duty

[M.W.Taylor]

Hi Everyone,

I have agreed to take on the position of WNTS Vice President.

Sorry I missed you guys at Pocatello 2011. I will see you in 2012 (unless I break my leg and a bone is sticking out)

Michael Taylor

[dbhguru]

Michael,

  Thanks very much!

NTS,

    WNTS, ENTS, and any other arms of NTS that we may establish share a common mission. It is just carried out in different geographical areas. That said, our most visible tree measuring accomplishments will predictably by concentrated in areas where the size and ages of the trees challenge the human imagination. And in that arena, no place surpasses California, Oregon, and Washington. The redwoods, Douglas firs, and sequoias are the Mount Everests, K2s, and Kanchenjungas of the tree world. These three tree species challenge the very best in the tree-measuring world. Consequently, Don Bettolette, WNTS president, and I look forward to working with Michael Taylor to expand the reach of WNTS.

    Thanks to webmaster Ed Frank's tireless efforts, we have the Internet infrastructure firmly in place to support an expansion of the WNTS mission. But it doesn't end there. Thanks to Dr. Don Bragg's efforts, we have a vehicle for presenting technical material in the appropriate format to the scientific community. Thanks to Mitch Galehouse, we have an excellent tool for recording our tree measurements in a database that will allow us to get the most mileage out of our collective efforts. Thanks to the splendid efforts of the NTS A-team, we have the best and most accurate set of measurements for "wild trees" ever assembled. It is up to us to maintain quality control. Quality is what we must always stand for.

    We have seen serious tree measuring compromised through the state and national champion tree programs. The data these organizations have accumulated and regularly present in their lists is virtually useless. If that sounds unduly harsh, I challenge anyone to come forward and prove me wrong. We regularly see multi-stemmed trees, often the fusion of two or more separate trees, presented as candidates for big tree champion status. We regularly see trees listed that have obviously been over-measured as to height, sometimes in the tens of feet, and continue to watch as those trees stay listed. We  see the weaknesses of the infrastructure that supports these champion tree programs, but are not in a position to do much about it. Still, NTS shares a common mission with the champion tree programs to promote the importance of the largest, tallest, and oldest members of each tree species to the public.

   Although they may not always understand, we are not in competition with the champion tree programs. We very much want to see them succeed. But as a group, they seem paralyzed. A few programs stress quality and are making progress toward achieving it, but the rate of progress for the others is disappointing. Unless something changes, I predict the group, as a whole, will not arrive before the year 2100. If anyone one person or group is going to help the collective of champion tree programs speed up this snail's pace progress, I believe it has to be NTS, and leading the charge will be none other than WNTS president Don Bertolette. However,Don is but one person. He needs help.

  With Michael Taylor on board as the WNTS VP, we are now in a much better position to help Don in Alaska, as well as achieve a number of worthy goals, coast to coast, WNTS or ENTS; i.e. NTS. Michael, Don and I have been anxiously awaiting your officially arrival. From your WNTS and ENTS brothers and sisters, welcome aboard.

Bob

[Will Blozan]

Michael,

I echos Bob's welcome and am really impressed by the progress the NTS has made in the last few years. I am honored to be a part of the organization as well as being associated with world-class tree measurers and researchers such as yourself, Bob Van Pelt, and the rest of the "Wild Trees" gang. The fact we are even considered to be in the rankings with you western pioneers says a lot to me!

I do hope one day to be in the woods with you (east or west) and continue the great finds and work we are doing.

A hearty welcome and wishes for many years of collaboration.

Will

[Don]

Michael-
Glad to have you aboard!
I'm about a week away from heading to a location in the middle of the Eldorado NF, and doing some big tree searching (generally in the Loon Lake drainage).  I noted that you'd visited the El Dorado, do you have any suggestions where I shouldn't look, you having already been there?
How long has it been since you signed on to the California BT Coordinator slot?  Congratulations, as a native Northern Californian, it pleases me to know the state is in good hands!
I've just a few big trees here in Alaska seeking my presence: a large black cottonwood on Kodiak Island; and a large western hemlock (192' hight, 277" around, 48' crown spread for 481 points), pending my update this Fall. Being on islands, they're a bit more difficult to get to (have to fly in or boat in).
Under the category of idle thoughts going astray, I've an older Opti-Logic that I've been thinking might be programmed to do a sine/sine routine (shoot angle and slope distance to top, shoot angle and slope distance to bottom, compute sine angle/distance pair products, yield a tree height).  I know little about such programming, but surely there are folks out there that can do this, huh?
-Don

[M.W.Taylor]

Thank you all for your warm welcome.

Don,

I mostly use the sine/sine type system to measure tree heights as I walk about through a forest looking for tall trees.

The Trupulse 200 which I most often careful with me, has the "Vd" i.e. Vertical Distance  Mode that displays a vertical distance of target above or below scope level with one click of a button. The inclination and slope distance are measured to the target and the vertical distance is returned. By taking a pair of Vertical distances to the target tree's top and base you can get fast and accurate height estimates, even for leaners. I assumed the Opti-logic already had a "vertical distance" fucntion.  

If you have a good sense of ground level around you in a forest,  you can estimate tree heights just by finding a single window to the tree's top and measuring a sinle "vertical distance". By knowing your ground level difference between your eye and the distance tree's base, you can quickly estiamte tree heights of all the all looking trees around you with the single click of a button.

The Nikon Forestry Laser has a vertical distance function which allows sine/sine measuring. The Nikon Forestry laser costs about $350 versus the $700 for the Trupulse 200. The Trupulse does have 50% longer range and .1 meter resolution compared to .2 meter resolution of the Nikon 550 Forestry Laser. If you are measuring super tall redwoods and douglas fir I would recommend the Trupulse 200. The Nikon should be sufficient for most other trees. I once used the Nikon 550 Forestry Laser and it is a decent unit, but I prefer the Trupulse 200's longer range.

To me, the idea of re-programming an Opti-logic laser without direct manufacturer involvement seems way over my head. I would not even know where to start. Also, I get the impression a lot of these type of laser range-finders do not have serviceable parts. I have sent more than one laser rangefinder in for repair and received in return a new unit. I think the manufacturer found sending me a new unit more cost effective than paying somebodhy to crack open the old one and replace the bad parts.

I have been the Cal big tree coordinator since June of this year. Glenn Flamik passed the torched over to me as he is just too busy with his job these days to verify trees.

Hope this answers your questions and sorry I have no clue as to how to re-program you laser unit. If you find a way, please let me know. I am curious.

Michael Taylor

WNTS - VP
AFA California Big Trees Coordinator
http://www.landmarktrees.net