Sunkhaze Meadows NWR, ME   Jess Riddle   Nov 15, 2006 19:33 PST  Ents, Formed in 1988 to protect extensive peat lands, the approximately 10,000 acre Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge lies about 15 miles northeast of Bangor in east-central Maine. A layer of clay over granite bedrock and glacial deposits limits drainage and allowed the deep peat deposits to develop. Wet meadows and shrub thickets in turn cover the saturated peat. On the slopes rising up to 70 feet above the meadows, silty soils support mixed conifer forests (this information and more available at sunkhaze.org). I only had a couple hours to explore, so my observations only reflect one small portion of the refuge. Second growth hemlock forests with scattered sugar maples, bigtooth aspen, paper birch, and a few emergent white pines cover the gentle slopes upstream of the meadows. That forest's open understory makes the extremely uneven surface topography clearly visible. An adjacent ridge supports a pure red pine stand, and seep areas within the hemlock forest support small groves of northern white cedar. White cedar also mixes with the black spruce and balsam fir that make up the majority of the forest on the partially inundated ground next to the shrub bogs. Red maple and red spruce also grow scattered amongst the low land conifers and above the dense conifer regeneration. Goldthread and bunchberry persisted into the late fall in the slightly more open areas along the trail. Species                          Cbh      Height Aspen, Quaking             5'3"      70.7' Aspen, Quaking             4'4"      78.1' Fir, Balsam                    3'2.5"   57.7' Fir, Balsam                    3'6"      67.7' Fir, Balsam                    3'0"      68.3' Hemlock, Eastern          3'4"     76.4' Hemlock, Eastern          9'10"   85.0' Larch, American            2'10"   67.2' Pine, Eastern White       7'8"     101.7' Pine, Red                       4'9"      95.4' Spruce, Black                4'4"      87.8' Spruce, Black                4'0"      89.0' Spruce, Red                   4'5"      69.0' White Cedar, Northern 3'11.5" 62.1' The few quaking aspen grow in the wetter conifer forest. The large eastern hemlock is one of a pair of remnant trees adjacent to a maintained clearing. The larch was the only individual present in the area, although they are apparently common in other parts of Sunkhaze. The black spruce approach national champion size, which may reflect the lack of attention the species receives or may result from hybridization with red spruce (which is apparently common in the area). Jess Riddle Re: Sunkhaze Meadows NWR   Lee Frelich   Nov 16, 2006 19:40 PST  Jess: There are a number of black spruce with bigger cbh in the Boundary Waters, but I never thought about measuring them for possible champion status. I didn't realize the national champion was so small until you pointed it out. The big ones grow on upland sites where they are not constrained by flooding and nutrient-poor soils of the acid bogs. Lee   Home