I hope everyone had a good Christmas and has a Happy New
Year. On Wednesday the 27th, I traveled to Tallahala Wildlife Mgt. Area,
and Bienville Scenic Pines Area, near central Ms., in Bienville National
Forest. I spent a full day measuring and photographing trees. This is a
very special place to me and it is where I feel one with the forest and
the wildlife! The area I went to is traversed by creek bottoms,
hardwood stands and pine ridges.   The forest here was clearcut in the
1930's, and in most places has not been touched since then. So for a
second growth forest, it has many large trees. The forest canopy is
about 120' high, I couldn't imagine what it must have looked like before
the 1930's?  !   

cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh	cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh	cherry bark red oak 121'x8" cbh
nuttall oak 130'x 10'6"	nuttall oak 130'x 10'6"
swamp chestnut oak 121'x11"	swamp chestnut oak 121'x11"	swamp chestnut oak 121'x11"
shellbark hickory 115' x5'6"	shellbark hickory 115' x5'6"	shellbark hickory 115' x5'6"
blackoak 110' x8'6"	blackoak 110' x8'6"	blackoak 110' x8'6"
slash pine 123' x9' 9"	slash pine 123' x9' 9"	slash pine 123' x9' 9"
spruce pine 123' x8'10"	spruce pine 123' x8'10"	spruce pine 123' x8'10"
willow oak 125' x 9'4"	willow oak 125' x 9'4"	willow oak 125' x 9'4"
shumard red oak 115' x 8'6"	shumard red oak 115' x 8'6"	shumard red oak 115' x 8'6"
swamp chestnut oak 121' 11"	swamp chestnut oak 121' 11'	swamp chestnut oak 121' 11'

1st Tallahala-     
                       
Slash Pine- 125' Height 8'6 CBH, 127' Height 10'1" CBH
Loblolly Pine- 123' Height 9'9" CBH, 125' Height  8'7" CBH         
Spruce Pine- 123' Height 8'10" CBH                  
Willow Oak- 125' Height 9'4" CBH                       
Northern Red Oak- 120' Height 11' CBH                     
Shumard Red Oak- 115' Height 8'6" CBH                         
Cherrybark Red Oak- 121' Height 8' CBH                           
Nuttall Oak- 130' Height 10'6" CBH                                  
Black Oak- 110' Height 9'6" CBH                                       
Swamp Chestnut Oak- 121' Height 11' CBH                               
Shellbark Hickory- 115' Height 5'6" CBH                              
Southern Shagbark Hickory- 105' Height 6' CBH                        
Hercules Club- 60' Height 2'8" CBH     

     After a late lunch, at about 3;30, I decided to go to Bienville
Scenic Pines Area in Forest Ms. I arrived there at about 4;30, not
having much daylight left, I began my measuring and photographing. This
area is a tract of about 200 acres of Loblolly Pine in 120 year old
class. A pine stump from a tree cut recently revealed 120 rings and
talking with the foresters they said these trees were all planted about
then, which would be 1886. Ed, I'll send you the photos when I get back
to work. Here are my results, 

2nd- Bienville Scenic Pines      

The photos are all Loblolly Pine, one is 10'10" cbh, 120' Height, the largest pine to date I've measured! The others are 120' or more. This area is about 200 acres of large Loblolly's, with a park like setting. Located not more than a mile from I-20 near Forest Ms. Also a photo of a Loblolly stump 36" Dia., with 120-130 rings on it. Making these trees about 120-130 years old. Probably, the oldest tract of pine timber in the state. The final photo is a butt cut of an old Loblolly cut in 1952 due to a lightning strike, 46" Dia., 180 year old tree. The cut had ring counts marked it was a seedling in 1772!

Loblolly Pine- 120' Height 10'10" CBH, 126' Height 8'6" CBH         

All the pines here were this size so I just measured these two. The 10'10'
Loblolly is the largest Dia., pine I have ever measured. There are so
many large trees in Bienville it would take years to cover it all.
Tallahala alone is 28,000 acres, and Bienville is about 300,000. 

The Deep Southern Ent-       

Larry Tucei