Greetings from Andover, MA

[Richard Barry]

My name is Richard Barry. I have been a follower of ENTS for years and just finally joined. I love trees, especially native trees, old growth, the biggest and tallest ones. I would love to learn the height measurement techniques that your group uses. I'll be looking forward to posting photos of noteworthy trees or stands that I come across in my travels.

I attached a few photos. One of these is the Tamworth Pine which should be over 150 ft tall - I think it's the one I'm standing next to holding my 3 yr old daughter. I have never seen trees this size in the east! This was a truly outstanding pine-hemlock stand in Big Pines Natural Area we visited in August — at Hemenway State Forest, Tamworth, NH.

I will be going to Puerto Rico for a few days in about 2 weeks. I'll be visiting El Yunque, formerly known as Caribbean National Forest, the largest forested area on the island and the only tropical rainforest in the USFS system. I'll be getting to a few other forest areas there too so hopefully there are some good trees there. If so I'll post photos.

I am honored to be part of the group!

[Bart Bouricius]

Hi Richard,

Great to have you aboard. I live in Costa Rica most of the year, but am in Montague, MA in the part of the spring and Summer, so I would be happy to show you some of the superlative forest in the area then. Regarding Puerto Rico, there are some impressive trees in some of the deeper ravines, however, most of the forest in El Yunque is regularly devastated by hurricanes, so you have to search for the right places. The El Verde Field Station still has some impressive trees as do some ravines in the Park itself. Several trees will have impressive girths, but usually not the heights you get in less hurricane prone tropical areas such as Panama and Costa Rica. Consider also checking out some great caves, one huge Cavern system includes the Camuy River Cave Park that is well developed and family friendly. Unfortunately, because of Puerto Ricos financial problems, they got rid of the guides, raised the price and now use a recorded head phone system that some marketing genius sold them on. Nevertheless, it is an impressive cave system and has a good description in Wikipedia.

[Richard Barry]

Thank you Bart and thanks so much for the info - you're very lucky to live part time in beautiful Costa Rica - I've been there and there sure are some impressive tropical trees there! I'd love to see what you have to show of them. We're planning on getting to the Camuy caves, as well as Bosque de Guajataca and la Cueva del Viento there in the park. I'm taking my 5 year old son who has never been to a tropical forest or a cave before so it should be a blast!

[dbhguru]

Richard,

Welcome aboard. I live in Florence, MA, and you've probably seen some of my posts on the BBS. I've measured the Tamworth Pine and will measure it again in the spring. The Grandfather Pine in Monroe State Forest is close in size to the Tamworth Pine. I'd say about 100 to 150 cubic feet less. Both exceed 1,000 cubic feet of trunk volume.

If you are interested in learning how to measure trees using lasers and clinometers, I'd be happy to help you out. We could link up in western Mass in Mohawk Trail State Forest sometime in the future. The tallest trees in all New England grow in Mohawk.

Again, welcome aboard.

Bob

[Richard Barry]

Thank you Mr. Leverett! I have always wanted to meet you, as well as to visit the old growth trees in the Mohawk Trail State Forest. I've still for whatever reason never made the trip out there - that would be great! I would figure I'd need to get the necessary equipment to measure tree heights too, as the old stick method which I learned studying forestry at UMaine, showing you how many 16 foot logs are in the tree is probably not quite accurate enough! By the way, how do I get the photos I uploaded to be in the proper orientation? When I look at them on the bulletin board, they are all turned sideways. On my phone they are all in the correct upright position.

[Matt Markworth]

Richard,

Welcome! I'm planning on heading up to Massachusetts and New Hampshire this September and want to see Mohawk Trail State Forest as well.

I've had the same issue with photos showing sideways when uploading from my iPhone. I don't know of any fix, but downloading the same photos from my iPhone to my laptop and then uploading them to the site definitely works.

Matt