New Tall Douglas Fir Of SW Oregon

[edfrank]

Here are the results of our last 6 expeditions to SW Oregon in search of tall douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and tall sugar and ponderosa pine. Explorers for the last 2 expeditions included Mario Vaden, Chris Atkins and Mike Hanusckik.

Tallest Douglas fir found this year:

Height      Dbh         Location
 322.8       8.0       Coos County-BLM
 317.6       7.1       Coos County-BLM
 317.5      10.1      Coos County-BLM
 317.2      6.7        Coos County-BLM
 314.0      9.9        Coos County-BLM
 310.0      8.1        Coos County-BLM
 309.3      9.0        Coos County-BLM
 307.0     7.0        Coos County - BLM
 306.0     7.2       Coos Counnty - BLM
 303.0     N/A      Coos County - BLM
 302.0     N/A      Coos County - BLM

Tallest Ponderosa & Sugar Pines found this year:

268.7        5.5         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Pondersa
266.0        6.2         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Ponerosa
262.0        4.0         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Ponderosa
259.5        3.5         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Ponderosa
259.0        5.5         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Ponderosa
258.0        5.0          Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest-Ponderosa
255.0        7.7          Jackson County - Umpqua National Forest -Sugar
254.0        7.1         Josephine County - Siskyou National Forest -Ponderosa

+ many more in the 247-253' range... see      landmarktrees.net    for a complete list.
The tallest known pines and douglas fir grow in SW Oregon coast ranges for a reason, which is superior top soil, moderate temperatures and ample rainfall.
 
Will the 327.3' Brummett fir of Oregon be topped ?  I think there is a 25% chance it will be dethroned by the end of the year and this taller douglas fir will also be found in SW Oregon in either Coos or Douglas County.

I will post more big/tall/champion tree updates after SW Oregon expedition#5 this Summer.

[KoutaR]

Michael,

Those are exciting results, thanks for posting them here!

Brummit Fir's metric conversion in your www-site is incorrect. If 327.3 is correct, it should be 99.76 m. Maybe you forgot to update the metric height? Brummit Fir's height was given as 329 ft in older sources, then 326 ft and now you got 327.3 ft. Does this reflect better measurements or growth/decline of the tree?

Is the area in Coos County an old-growth forest? How large? Is it formally protected?

Kouta

[dbhguru]

Michael,

   Great information, and straight from the source.  You guys are a phenomena. All ENTS-WNTS salutes your accomplishments. Now, all we have to do is break that Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine height record set by BVP.

Bob

[mdavie]

Those are fantastic numbers, and thanks for the update! Did lidar help you in your searches there? I've been noticing more data showing up for Oregon lately.

[James Parton]

WoW , and everything is above 250 feet. Something you don't see in the east. Here, only one tree has yet been found to break 200. I would love to see ANY tree 200 feet tall. A 300 footer goes without saying.

[M.W.Taylor]

Kouta,

Thanks for pointing out the wrong metric figure for Brummett. I originally had the Brummett listed at 326 ft and also the correct 99.3m figure to correspond with it.

Later on in December 2010 I measured the Brummett with the Ascending the Giants member Bill Price and I got the same figure as Brian and Will on their recent climb, 327.3 feet. The discrepensy is easily explained by a recent retaining wall that was built on the West side of the Brummett . Approximately 2.2 ft of soil has piled up on the high side of the Brummett. If you jump over the guard rail look under the retaining wall you can see the original ground level underneath the railroad planks. This was where Acscending the Giants and myself consider true high point of ground level to be, thus the tree gains a little over 1 feet of height. I forgot to change the metric figure when I updated the list, as you suspected. I will have the web site updated today with the correct metric figure.  

Brummett's top is in really bad shape. Brian reports his foot nearly poked through the hollow shell of Brummett's top and it resonated like a drum. In the not too distant future, about 50 feet of Brummett's top will shatter and fall off.

The list of ponderosa I gave here is just the short list. A 250ft + pine tree of any variety is an extreme rarity. Only sugar and ponderosa are known to attain this lofty height. It's possible a Western White Pine might also get 250+ ft. I am searching hard for a 250'+ pinus monticola right now....very high on my priority list. It might be out there.

Michael Taylor

[M.W.Taylor]

The list below is the correct height/diameter/location for the tall and big douglas fir and pines found in the SW Oregon "Landmark Tree Expeditions".

322.8        98.34        8.6        2.62        Noname, Coos County, SW Oregon. Tripod Mounted Impulse 200LR
317.6        96.79        7.0        2.13        Edge Fir, Alder Creek, Coos County, SW Oregon. Tripod Impulse 200LR
317.5        96.77        6.5        1.98        Noname. Tioga Creek, Coos COunty, SW Oregon. Site Alititude 2300'.
317.2        96.68        10.1        3.07        Noname. N. Fork Cherry Creek. Two tops, the other 95.5m. Coos County
314.0        95.70        9.9        3.01        Noname. Tioga Creek, Coos County, SW Oregon. Dbh from high side of ground
310.0        94.48        8.0        2.54        Noname. Susan Creek, Coos County, SW Oregon. Dbh from on high of ground
309.3        94.27        8.5        2.59        Coyote Gulch Tree, Park Creek Watershed, Coos County, Oregon.
308.0        93.90        8.0        2.54        Noname, Tioga Creek, Coos County.
307.7        93.80        N/A          N/A           Noname, S. Fork Park Creek, Coos County, Oregon.
305.0        92.96        N/A        N/A        Noname. Tioga Creek, Coos County, Oregon.
303.0        92.35        8.4        2.56        Noname, Tioga Creek, Coos County, Oregon.
301.8        92.80       N/A           N/A          Noname, Park Creek, Coos County, Oregon.

Tallest Ponderosa Pines all in Siskyou National Forest unless otherwise stated:

268.73        81.9                        5.7        1.73                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
266.0        81.1                        6.1        1.86                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
262.0        79.9                        4.5        1.37                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
259.5        79.1                        4.8        1.46                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
258.0        78.6                        5.7        1.73                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
257.5        78.5                        4.1        1.26                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
257.0        78.3                        5.2        1.58                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
256.5        78.2                        5.4        1.65                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
255.0        77.7                        7.7        2.28                Sugar Pine, Umpqua NAt. Forest. Jackson Creek
254.0        77.4                        7.1        2.16                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
252.3        76.9                        5.5        1.67                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
250.5        76.4                        4.4        1.34                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
250.0        76.2                        4.0        1.22                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
250.0        76.2                        5.1        1.55                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
249.0        75.9                        4.2        1.28                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
247.6        75.5                        5.3        1.62                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)
247.0        75.3                        4.6        1.40                Ponderosa Pine (Benthamiana or Pacifica)

[M.W.Taylor]

Those are fantastic numbers, and thanks for the update! Did lidar help you in your searches there? I've been noticing more data showing up for Oregon lately.

We do have a partial LIDAR set (1.5 million acres) for SW Oregon's tallest douglas fir, which has led us to a few of these tall firs. Most of the LIDAR hits on our Oregon hit-list are over-estimated by 20-30 feet due to steep terrain of the area and most of the LIDAR hits have been verified now, yielding no world records yet. The tallest known douglas fir now listed on the landmarktrees.net website are a 50/50 mixture of LIDAR trees and trees located by brute force searching methods.  

There was no LIDAR hit list for the tallest pine trees of Oregon so we found them using the old fashioned techniques which is typically finding over-looks to nice groves of trees.

The search continues....

Michael Taylor

[KoutaR]

Michael,

In this site:

http://www.arthurleej.com/a-peninsulatrees.html

a 326 ft Douglas-fir in Queets Valley of Olympic National Park has been mentioned. Do you think this is a reliable measurement?

Kouta

[mdvaden]

Michael,

In this site:

http://www.arthurleej.com/a-peninsulatrees.html

a 326 ft Douglas-fir in Queets Valley of Olympic National Park has been mentioned. Do you think this is a reliable measurement?

Kouta

Maybe they were referring to the measurement for the Doerner Fir, but had the location wrong. Because a 326 Queets Valley Douglas fir would not have been the tallest in the "Pacific Northwest".

BTW - here is a photo of the top of the Doerner / Brummit Fir, to show the condition of the top Michael was referring too. If just a matter of months or a few years until 4, 5 or 6 feet of that crumbling top falls. If not a 50 foot chunk like Michael suspects.