New finds - Cook Forest State Park, PA

[djluthringer]

NTS,

On 2/1/12 I decided to re-measure a tall pine beside my house on the Cook Estate.  On 5/16/10 it came in at 8.4ft CBH x 153.5ft high.  On Wednesday, two growing seasons later, it now stands at 8.6 x 154.7ft high.  Not bad for a second growth pine.

After this, I decided to take a short walk back to the park boundary and check out some other second growth pines growing on the slope above the Indian Cabins.  I was VERY surprised to find the following white pines:

CBH        Height      Comments

  9           149.5        tac 921, 41 20.069N x 79 12.450W
10.3        152.7        tac 920, 41 20.046N x 79 12.407W
  8           160.2        tac 922, 41 20.086N x 79 12.439W

None of these pines I've measured before.  I've measured 100's of pines in the park over the last ~10 years, but have yet to seriously get into our second growth pine stands, measuring our higher priority old growth stands first.  

This pine is like a spike growing straight up into the air, about 1/2 up the slope of the, ~300 vertical feet up from the valley floor, growing near the bottom of slanting bowl depression on the side of the hill.  The other two pines were very close by.  All trees are virtually right on top of the Indian Trail.  There are a handful of others that'll likely break the 140ft class, and I'm hoping there'll be another sleeper 150 footer or better in there as well.

As I systematically go through the stand, I break the area up into sections so I know where to start up again the next time I'm in.  This section is on the uphill side of Indian Trail.  I've got a few more trees in this zone to measure, then I'll likely go downhill from the trail working my towards the Indian Cabins.  Most Nts who've visited the park over the years during the rendezvous know that's where we house our speakers during the events.  Well, just uphill from there is where this last batch of dandies were hiding.

We've now catalogued the following living white pines for Cook Forest:

Height Class        # trees
      150                            78
      160                            30
      170                             3
      180                             1
                                     112


Dale

[dbhguru]

Dale,

   Outstanding! Good time to start beating the drum for Cook Forest. April isn't that far away. American Forests may include a half page add in the next issue of their magazine on the Cook Forest gathering. We're building toward an epic event.

Bob

[edfrank]

Dale,

The most important thing in preparation for the April measuring event is to push the number of 150 foot pines at Cook Forest to more than MTSF.  Nothing else is nearly as important.

Ed

[AndrewJoslin]

Dale,

The most important thing in preparation for the April measuring event is to push the number of 150 foot pines at Cook Forest to more than MTSF.  Nothing else is nearly as important.

Ed

Ed you are dastardly villain! I'll bet you're a Giants fan too!
-AJ

[edfrank]

Not Really.  All I can hope for in the game is a career ending injury for Tom Brady.

[AndrewJoslin]

Folks, I feel like an ignoramus but I'm unable to locate the dates for the upcoming Cook Rendezvous, I would like to attend if only to trip up Ed to prevent him from getting more 150's at Cook then at MTSF.

Thanks in advance from the "Preserve MTSF 150's Superiority at Any Cost Committee"  ;-)
-AJ

[edfrank]

Andrew,

The link is here to the announcement: viewtopic.php?f=288&t=3560 It is under Events - 2012 for as much of a full description as is available so far.

   

Cook Forest State Park. PA will be sponsoring a tree-measuring workshop for April 18-19.The agenda has not been completely determined, but at this point it will likely include at least five major events.

I look forward to seeing you there. The problem with your evil plan, however, is that you will need to invent trees for MTSF, while at Cook Forest we simply need to measure them.

Ed

[dbhguru]

Ed, Andrew,

    Well, guess it's time to look up that Bob Leverett look alike with his Miracle Grow. Word on the streets is that he has quite a track record of success, and this is now all out war. However, come to think of it, I am equally committed to Cook. Andrew, you'll have to do the dirty work. I must stay above the fray.

Bob

[Chris]

I look forward to seeing you there. The problem with your evil plan, however, is that you will need to invent trees for MTSF, while at Cook Forest we simply need to measure them.

lol. Tree measuring "smack talk" at its finest!