Crull Island: Allegheny River Islands Wilderness Area   Dale J. Luthringer
  Sep 27, 2004 13:39 PDT 
Bob, Bruce, Will,

Another catch up post from 9/7/04.

I took the opportunity this day to take a closer look at Crull Island.
Crull Island is located on the Allegheny River in Warren County and is
part of the island system of the Allegheny River Island Wilderness Area.
Some sources said it had old river bottom trees and others a small
acreage of old growth forest.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/allegheny/recreation/wilderness/#islands

Crull Island (96 acres) is the largest island in this wilderness area
and the first island down-river from the Buckaloon Recreational Area
(1.1 miles) which has an excellent boating put-in/take out area.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/allegheny/recreation/camping/buckaloons.html

The Buckaloons is also a very historic site in terms of the history
leading up to the French & Indian War. Celeron was reported to have
buried one of the lead plates that claimed this area for the French in
1749 at the confluence of Brokenstraw Creek and the Allegheny River
(Buckaloons Rec Area).

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=494

Crull Island is also just up-river and across from the touted Anders Run
Natural Area which is home to the gigantic Cornplanter Pine.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/oldgrowth/andersrun.aspx

The only good access to this island besides swimming/wading the river is
by boat. With all the high water lately, I decided the best course of
action was to access the island by canoe to try to confirm a possible
old growth area. The trip down-river was easy and relatively
uneventful. I stopped a few times to check back coves and eddies where
the Brokenstraw Creek delta empties into the Allegheny. There were so
many coves and side streams on the north side of the river that I
thought I might've passed Crull Island a number of times. As I gazed
downstream I noticed a bald eagle which soon led my eyes to what turned
out to be the elusive Crull Island.

I beached my canoe on the north side of the island and started inland.
Decent sized sycamores jumped into view almost immediately. Most ranged
from 7-9ft CBH with heights that maxed in the upper 120's. I was also
delighted to measure my first naturally grown silver maples in the
state. I continued downriver in the middle of the island and soon found
a very nice sycamore (13.4ft CBH x 123.7ft high) and some respectable
sugar maples. There was a small section of old trees showing old growth
characters: (staghead branching, balding and deep fissured bark
characters, some large CWD). There was a slippery elm here that had
such deep furrows that I first that it was a cottonwood. I'd put some
of the hackberry and slippery elm here to over 100 years. Select N. red
oak, white ash, sycamore, and sugar maples probably went over 150, They
appeared to be growing fast in such rich depositional soils.

The surprise of the day were the hackberry that were located on the
island. It is the oddest bark character I've seen to date and also my
first hackberry in the field since my dendrology days in college. Will
Blozan explained it to me best as bark ridges in negative as on photo
film. Kind of hard to explain. the warty ridged character was quite
peculiar.   I'm afraid the understory was full of exotics or other
similar pests; loaded with poison ivy, Japanese barberry, Japanese
"snotweed" on the edges along with multiflora rose and stinging nettle.
Mayapple, sensitive and cinnamon fern, hawthorne, and blackberry made up
the rest. Oh yes, don't forget the black flies and mosquitoes. Every
time you stopped for more than 20 seconds, the black flies just
converged on you. They eventually escorted me off the island. The trip
back home was a one mile paddle back upstream through strong current.
Through sweat and blood donations, I was able to earn the following
finds:

Species                        CBH     Height   Comments

Am. basswood               3.5        81.4
Am. basswood               6.6        95.5
Am. basswood               7.1        96.7
Bitternut hickory            5.4        104.2
Black cherry                  7.3        84.1+
Black locust                  5.2        90.1+
Common hackberry        9.8        76.7      old
Common hackberry        7          91.1
Common hackberry        6.4        99.1+    tallest northeast?
N. red oak                     10.7      101.9
Red maple                     6.7        99.1+
Silver maple                   6.6        78.1+
Silver maple                   9.4        105.6
Slippery elm                  3.2        68.3
Slippery elm                  8.2        92.5      very deeply ridged &
furrowed bark
Sugar maple                  9.1        94.4
Sugar maple                  7.9        102.1+
Sugar maple                  8.7        108.1+
Sycamore                     13.4      123.7    12x100 class (41 49.399N
x 79 16.025W)
Sycamore                     8.2        124.9
Sycamore                     8.7        126.1+
White ash                     5.2        99.1+
White ash                     10.2      107.4

Crull Island Rucker Index = 104.07

Species                        CBH     Height

Sycamore                     8.7        126.1+
Sugar maple                  8.7        108.1+
White ash                     10.2      107.4
Silver maple                   9.4        105.6
Bitternut hickory            5.4        104.2
N. red oak                     10.7      101.9
Red maple                     6.7        99.1+
Common hackberry        6.4        99.1+
Am. basswood               7.1        96.7
Slippery elm                  8.2        92.5

All in all. a very good day. Just don't forget your bug repellant!

Dale
RE: Crull Island: Allegheny River Islands Wilderness Area   Dale J. Luthringer
  Sep 27, 2004 13:46 PDT 
Bob,

If we take into account the tall sycamore on Thompson Island, next
island downstream from Crull Island and the Anders Run Natural Area - 3
miles downstream from the Buckaloons, I get a Rucker Index of 104.99 for
the Allegheny River:

Species                        CBH     Height

Sycamore                     N/A       135.3
Sugar maple                  8.7        108.1+
White ash                     10.2      107.4
Silver maple                   9.4        105.6
Bitternut hickory            5.4        104.2
N. red oak                     10.7      101.9
Red maple                     6.7        99.1+
Common hackberry        6.4        99.1+
Am. basswood               7.1        96.7
Slippery elm                  8.2        92.5

Dale