Ash Flats, MTSF   Robert Leverett   May 01, 2006 07:10 PDT  Dale, Will, Ed, et al. The last two days have been rather intense tree measuring exercises for me and my muscles ache from climbing steep ridges on two sites.     John Eichholz and I visited Ash Flats in MTSF on Sunday. John did his usually outstanding job of tying down the decimals. Dale, the good news for you and the bad news for us is that John and I didn't add to the MTSF Rucker index. Cook remains comfortably in second place. The good news for us is that we confirmed some amazing ash trees at Ash Flats. Three years of growing has made a big difference. The list below contains Sunday's catches. Species Township Height Circ Measurer HM MTSF     107.6 5.3 RTL RM MTSF         108.2 5.4 RTL WP MTSF         152.6 10.9 RTL WP MTSF         148.7 6.3 RTL WP MTSF         146.9 7.7 RTL WP MTSF         143.0 8.7 RTL WP MTSF         135.5 8.1 RTL WP MTSF         135.0 7.3 RTL WP MTSF         126.3 8.1 RTL WP MTSF         125.4 9.3 RTL WP MTSF         121.4 7.6 RTL BNH MTSF         125.8 4.8 RTL BNH MTSF         122.2 5.1 JE BNH MTSF         120.3 8.2 RTL NRO MTSF         122.9 8.3 RTL WA MTSF         150.1 6.2 JE WA MTSF         145.7 8.6 JE WA MTSF         144.7 5.4 JE WA MTSF         144.6 6.8 JE WA MTSF         144.2 6.8 JE WA MTSF         144.1 7.5 JE WA MTSF         141.7 6.0 JE WA MTSF         140.0 8.1 JE WA MTSF         138.2 7.5 JE    Before our visit, I had 3 ash trees over 140 in Ash Flats. We remeasured one. The other two are different trees from what we measured yesterday - at least they appear to be. All in all there are 10 white ash trees at Ash Flats over 140 feet, one of which is a new 150. The total number of white ash trees in MTSF over 140 now stands at 25.    Interestingly, the 150-foot white ash trees in MTSF, one in Trout Brook and the other at Ash Flats are both 6.2 feet in circumference. They are bean poles. Incidentally, the 145.7-foot, 8.6-foot around ash at Ash Flats was measured by Will Blozan in Nov 1998 to about 138.5 feet, as best I remember. I had measured the tree several times and had numbers ranging from 138 to 140 feet and wanted an independent measurement. In 7 growing seasons, the tree has gained 7 feet in height. That gain is quite reasonable for the productivity of the site. More good news-bad news scenarios. In terms of jumps in Mohawk's Rucker index, the bitternut hickories listed above, despite their respectible heights, are not strong, powerfully growing trees. In fact, the bitternut is not a strong performer anywhere in Mohawk. So future contributions from the species will likely not be impressive.    As a consequence of this weekend's catch, MTSF's Rucker index iteration sequence through 125.0    1. 136.0    2. 134.0    3. 132.7    4. 130.6    5. 129.3    6. 128.3    7. 127.7    8. 126.6    9. 126.0 10. 125.4    Mohawk's index remains above 120 for 19 iterations. It will eventually add 1 or 2 more iterations, as we eventually measure every bloody tree on the property, but the 120s will likely not go beyond 22 or 23, because the lower 5 performers are maxed out now.    To summarize. Dale, Cook Forest State Park is safe in second place until the new season's growth has been added. Then it may be a horse race. Trees in Cook will have grown too, so differential growth rates are important. Bob    Robert T. Leverett Cofounder, Eastern Native Tree Society   Home