Hi - New Member - Mick Ricereto

[MickR]

Hello NTS,

After searching for information on big trees, I stumbled upon the ENTS.  I decided to join the forums as it looks like "amateur tree enthusiasts" like me are welcome.  I live in Baltimore City, which is centrally located to many great places in the eastern US.  A few weeks ago, after being introduced to the park through this website, my girlfriend and I visited Cook Forest for some early-spring hiking and tree hunting.  It was more incredible than I even imagined.  We laughed about finding the actual Longfellow Pine (sure... they all look so huge) and felt an incredible inner peace as we marveled at the ancient trees.  I find myself very drawn to conifers, perhaps because I grew up near the NJ Pine Barrens, and have a special affinity for Japanese-style gardens.

I have been measuring trees in the parks and local forests around here, to get a hang of the process.  I don't understand the height measurement techniques yet... still working on that.  I'm also interested in city planning and urban tree canopy, looking to get involved with some local organizations and learning more about selecting proper street trees.

Attached is a picture of me in front of that historic chestnut snag at Cook State Forest.

               

                       

                       

MickR with the Cook Forest American Chestnut snag.

               

               

I hope to visit many more important North American forests, and contribute whatever I can to the site.  Thanks for having me.

[jamesrobertsmith]

Welcome to NTS! I look forward to your posts and photos!

[Joe]

nice picture, Rick- I've been a forester in Mass. for 39 years and have seen a number of trees with twisted grain, but nothing quite like in your picture
Joe

[dbhguru]

Hi Mick,

   Welcome aboard. My usual greeting to new comers who express their enjoyment of trees is that you are among friends, and indeed you are. People come from all backgrounds in NTS. There are professionals and amateurs associated with many professions, but all of us are equal in the eyes of the trees.

    The Longfellow Pine is not particularly evident. It measures 11.3 feet around, which is respectable, but there are plenty of larger girth pines in Cook, so I doubt most visitors notice the Longfellow Pine unless they knew its exact whereabouts. BTW, our recent measurement of its height places it at 184.0 feet. This makes it the tallest accurately measured tree in the Northeast, and Cook Forest is the most appropriate place for it to be.

    In terms of measuring heights of trees, we'll give you all the help you need. With two instruments: tape and clinometer, it is extremely easy once you get the hang of it. You shoot the distance to the top with a laser rangefinder, you take the angle to the top with a clinometer. You look up the trigonometric sine of the angle and multiply the sine of the angle by the distance. That gives height above eye level. The same process is used for height below eye level. The height above and below eye level are added together. That's it. The big challenge is to successfully identify the top of the tree and get laser bounces off of it.

Bob

[RyanLeClair]

Welcome, Mick! That chestnut snag looks as contorted as a bristlecone pine, wild stuff.