ENTS,
Following are reports on old growth sites visited this spring in central NY:

Selkirk Shores State Park, Oswego County, NY:

On Apr. 25,  2009, Jack Howard and I visited Selkirk Shores State Park on the shore of Lake
Ontario in Oswego County, NY. This park contains some of the oldest forests in
central NY. Our first stop was at the Pine Grove at the Boat Launch. The Pine
Grove covers about 3-4 acres, and has dozens of impressively large White Pines
– it is almost a pure stand of White Pine, and is the finest stand of this
species in central NY. The White Pines average 24”-28” dbh, with several
larger, and the tallest are possibly 100’ tall; pit and mound topography is prominent
and White Pines are reproducing in all sizes and ages. The Pine Grove is
Secondary not Primary Old Growth as the oldest trees do not date to
pre-settlement times; the oldest pines are probably about 150 years old, with
180 years being an absolute maximum.

Secondary Old
Growth status is based on the definition in Kershner and Leverett’s  Sierra Club  Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast.

I counted 120
rings on the cross-section of a White Pine snag from at least 40’ up, 8”
radius.

Trees measured
with “D” tape:

White Pine 2
tops 32.4” dbh (8.5’ cbh)

White Pine 30.5”
dbh (8’ cbh)

White Pine 25.1”
dbh (6.6’cbh)

White Pine 30.8”
dbh (8.1’ cbh)

White Pine 27.7”
dbh (7.2’ cbh)

White Pine by
cabin 29.8” dbh (7.8’ cbh)

Lichen-covered
Red Oak by cabin 40.1” dbh (10.5’ cbh)

Black Cherry
back of cabin 35” dbh (9.2’ cbh) mostly forest-grown

White Pine
between cabins 31.1” dbh (8.1’ cbh)

Red Oak near
just above 46.3” dbh (12.1’ cbh) crown not large

White Pine 25.2”
dbh (6.7 ‘ cbh) bark getting platy, spiral grain trunk

White Pine 2
leaders, twisting trunk 34.6” dbh (9.1’ cbh)

White Pine 32.8”
dbh (8.6’ cbh)

Cross-section of
fallen White Pine 70 rings, 8” intact radius, outer 2” covered with moss, about
40’ above base

Open-grown near
boat launch:

White Pine 32.3”
dbh (8.5’ cbh)

White Pine 41.3”
dbh (10.8’ cbh)

White Pine 39.8”
dbh (10.4’ cbh)

Jack and I next
went to the Bluff Parking Area in the Day Use Area. There are many large trees
there in the lawn, especially Red Oaks.

Largest of all
there: Red Oak 53.9” dbh (14.1’ cbh) biggest forest-grown single-trunked Red Oak I’ve ever
seen in central NY! This tree has a huge crown, possibly 100’ tall with spread
about 70’.

Jack and I
walked into the forest between the Day Use Area and the Campground, the forest
that on 4/12/2002 Robert Henry and I determined to be the only known Primary
Old Growth forest in Oswego County. There are many OG characteristics including
large old trees, spiral grain trunks, trees that date to pre-settlement times,
pit and mound topography, etc. The old growth forest covers about 7-10 acres
and is easily accessible on a paved trail. Dominant trees are very large Sugar
Maple, Red Oak, White Ash.

Shadbush by edge
above Lake Ontario rough-bark 15” dbh (3.9’ cbh) huge for species

Gnarled
old-looking Sugar Maple moss into crown 34.4”dbh (9’ cbh)

Red Oak
forest-grown 29” dbh (7.6’ cbh) old lichen-covered bark

Sugar Maple 30”
dbh (7.9’ cbh)

By road through
cabins at edge of forest – big Red Oak with 3 trunks, stumps of 2 other trunks
– I counted 190 rings (pre-settlement age) on 13” radius stump of 1 trunk.

Yellow Birch
with stilt roots

big 3-trunked
Shagbark Hickory

Red Oak near
Hickory 34.6” dbh (9.1’ cbh)

Most trees have
single mossy trunks with rugged twisted crowns with heights most likely limited
to under 100’ because of winds off Lake Ontario.

We entered the
hollow that contains the biggest trees, including the utterly gigantic
3-trunked Red Oak that awed Robert Henry and me 4/12/2002. All 3 trunks are
forest-grown, with each trunk over 40” diameter. Below the split into 3 trunks
the tree’s main trunk is about 24’ circ.

Biggest tree
near the giant Red Oak:

mossy 2-trunked
Red Oak 55.2” dia. (14.6’ circ.) below split

Also in this
hollow: Red Maple 27.9” dbh (7.3’ cbh) shaggy bark, spiral grain

Also in OG
forest: White Ash 27.5” dbh (7.1’ cbh)

White Ash 25.5”
dbh (6.7’ cbh) big buttress base

Big fallen
twisting Black Cherry

Sugar Maple
33.6” dbh (8.8’ cbh) buttress roots, spiral grain, peeling, balding bark

Eastern
Cottonwood on rock pile near edge 39.7” dbh (10.4’ cbh)

Red Oak 36.8”
dbh (9.6’ cbh)

Red Oak big
hollow in side, near parking lot but still in forest 44.8” dbh (11.7’ cbh) –

largest
single-trunked tree in Old Growth forest at Selkirk Shores

Tom Howard    6/7/2009

 North Syracuse Cemetery Oak Grove, North
Syracuse, NY  4/29/2009:

On Apr. 29,
2009, Jack Howard and I visited the small (1.5 acres) North Syracuse Cemetery
Oak Grove.  I grew up near this old
growth grove and we have been studying it for many years. Dominant species are
White Oak, Red Oak, Black Oak, and Red Maple, and the oldest trees are estimated
to be over 200 years old. Several years ago I counted 190 rings on the stump of
a small (about 18” dbh) long dead White Oak.

On 4/29/09 Jack
and I used “D” tape to re-measure several trees. The results follow.

Numbers of the
trees refer to numbers on the map for the brochure that Robert Henry and I
developed in 1999:

White Oak #15
25.9” dbh (6.8’ cbh)

Red Oak #13
30.7” dbh (8’ cbh) this tree has gnarled ancient “broccoli” like top

White Oak #24
24.4” dbh (6.4’ cbh)

White Oak #23
31.1” dbh (8.2’ cbh) straight and tall

White Oak #25
23” dbh(6’ cbh)

Red Oak #26
30.1” dbh (7.9’ cbh) top broken in 1994 storm

Black Oak#27
43.9” dbh (11.5’ cbh) biggest tree in grove – this tree impressed Bob Leverett
when he measured it to a height of 100.5’ 4/25/98

White Oak#33 38”
dbh(9.5’ cbh)

Tupelo #34
hollow, balding bark, twisting crown 19.9” dbh (5.2’ cbh)

White Oak#22
20.7” dbh (5.4’ cbh)

White Oak #16
30.7” dbh (8’ cbh)

White Oak #19
33.1” dbh (8.7’ cbh)

White Oak #14
24.6” dbh (6.4’ cbh)

The densest part
of the grove is on the southeast edge of a swale or vernal pool, and the
density of large tall forest-grown trees is higher than in any forest I’ve ever
seen in NY.

The canopy is
filled with old gnarled crowns.

The oak grove
could be the inspiration for the “Truth Pond” in L. Frank Baum’s The Road to
Oz as Baum grew up near this site and great oaks surrounded the swale in
his time (c.1868); analysis of cores taken in the grove has proven that today’s
oaks existed then.

In second-growth
forest just north of Oak Grove:

Sassafras 21”
dbh (5.5’ cbh) forest-grown and most likely Onondaga County champ

Near Sassafras
open-grown Red Oak  38.4” dbh (10’
cbh)

Tom Howard
Central NY Old Growth Survey
 Friends of Wizard of Oz Memorial Oak Grove
6/8/2009

I'll soon be sending a post about Clark Reservation State Park in Onondaga County.
Tom Howard6/14/2009