Brian,
The story of this great species will soon be told in Ray Asselin's new video "Eastern White Pine - Rooted in American History". It promises to be as successful as his "The Lost Forests of New England". Ray is compiling a list of successful nature films that tell important stories through an important medium. We never imagined the success of Lost Forests that has developed. It is a testament to the public's thirst for substantive nature films that go beyond the typically shallow films we see today on television, that feature animals fighting.
In terms of data, it is quintessentially our NTS mission to engage in profiling a species across its full range. Continuing to gather measurements of outstanding pines can help us better tell the full story of this fabulous American species: its pre-colonial glory, colonial and post colonial exploitation, and now gradual return to its rightful place in the hierarchy of outstanding species. The eastern whites, as great as they are, cannot match the sugar pine or ponderosa for size, but nonetheless, they do us proud here in the East. And because of their fast growth that can be sustained for 150 years, they are important across the northeastern countryside to carbon sequestration. They are also, once again, very valuable as a timber species, which signals renewed exploitation and short rotations. So, the more we can tell their story, the more we be a voice for conserving pines in the 80 to 150-year age range from pre-mature harvesting. This is my current focus.
In the past, the one and only Dr. Lee Frelich has expressed interest in us publishing a paper on the maximum size that the white pine can achieve. That's still open. Unfortunately, potential NTS partners in that paper have drifted away. However, we can renew the project if enough members can participate. In terms of NTS members actively contributing data, we have Elijah Whitcomb, Erik Danielsen, Jared Lockwood, Brian Beduhn, Dale Luthringer, Doug Bidlack, Larry Tucei, John Eichholz, Jess Riddle, and Bob Leverett. From the past, we have an excellent and invaluable cache of data from Will Blozan, Matt Markworth, Rand Brown, Steve Galehouse, Mark Rouw, and a few others. But we can't have too much.
At present, it appears that we have a range of between 20 and 25 feet difference between the maximum heights from latitude 35 to 44 degrees with heights increasing from north to south. Conversely, we have see that pattern slightly reversed for overall volumes. Not sure.
In terms of volume modeling, we have our reticle-based methods and then there are the statistical methods used in the FS's vast FIA system. Here is a companions between our direct measuring and the statistical models.
You'll note that the two methods yield results that are fairly close. I once thought the opposite, but I was wrong. It has taken me a long time to decode the complex statistical models used by forestry academics. But they're proving to be much better than they initially appeared. But then we'd hope so. The FIA models deal with stand-grown white pines that are much more uniform in shape, allowing for statistical averages to work.
Despite our small membership and the understandable changing interests of members, NTS can still be an important contributor to projects and papers that require accurate tree measurement.
Bob