| The
Hemlocks Natural Area, PA |
Ernie
Ostuno |
| Jul
27, 2004 02:30 PDT |
The Hemlocks Natural Area is located in the Tuscarora State
Forest in
Perry County, PA. If you like big hemlocks, this is one of the
finest
stands Pennsylvania has to offer. I visited here in May and
September,
1999 and the wooly adelgid was not a problem at that time. Let's
hope
these trees are able to survive the HWA onslaught. It would be a
shame
to lose them. Here are my notes:
This is an area of primarily hemlock and some tulip poplars in a
stream
valley. The trees here are very large. I measured a dbh of one
stump
(the tree had recently fallen due to heartrot) of 53 inches.
Many other
living hemlocks had dbhs of 45 inches or greater. Heights of
some of the
taller hemlocks are probably close to 130 feet. Hemlock
recruitment
appears to be occurring in this area. Some old growth appears to
be
outside (to the west) of the natural area boundary. Otherwise,
the area
is surrounded by second growth hemlock/hardwoods.
A Pennsylvania DCNR pamphlet lists the following description of
the
natural area:
"This 120-acre tract is approximately one and one-half
miles long and
one-fourth to one-half mile wide. The area supports eleven
commercial
tree species including hemlock, yellow birch, black birch, red
oak, red
maple, and chestnut oak. More than 50 percent of the hemlock
trees are
over 24 inches in diameter. The largest hemlock measured was 52
inches
in diameter and 109 feet tall. The tallest was 123 feet with a
diameter
of 38 inches.
|
| RE:
The Hemlocks Natural Area, PA |
Ernie
Ostuno |
| |
 |
Hemlocks Natural Area, PA:
Large stump of a fallen hemlock. Photo taken May 1999.
|
 |
Hemlocks Natural Area, PA: Some of the
taller hemlocks here are close to 130 feet tall.
|
|
| RE:
The Hemlocks Natural Area, PA |
Yorks,
Thad |
| Jul
27, 2004 06:33 PDT |
The HNA certainly is an impressive stand and a nice hike, but
Todd Hurd
(Shippensburg University) tells me that this stand has not done
well
with HWA in the last several years.
Thad
Thad E. Yorks, Assistant Professor
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
California University of Pennsylvania
|
| RE:
The Hemlocks Natural Area, PA |
Dale
J. Luthringer |
| Jul
27, 2004 07:13 PDT |
Ernie,
That large stump hemlock is very close to the largest single
stem
hemlock I've found so far in PA: 13.9ft CBH x 116.6ft high
(Forest
Cathedral N.A.-Cook Forest). I have a number of hemlocks in the
130ft
class at Cook, with only a small handful in the lower 140's. If
the
130's hold true in Hemlock N.A. and are still hanging in there
with the
HWA, we have good potential to break into the 140ft class at
Hemlock
N.A. also. Sure would be nice to find a 150 footer in PA.
Bob's been trying to get me in there for awhile also. I planned
on
going last year, but the state cancelled nearby training to save
money... another N.A. that's on my 'must see' list.
Dale
|
|
The Hemlocks Natural Area, PA |
Dale
J. Luthringer |
| Dec
28, 2004 |
Subject: RE: neat weather band at Cook Forest
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 17:08:19 -0500
Ernie,
"Narrow cold frontal rainbands"... now there's one I'll have to remember. It was too. I was amazed at how straight AND how long it was. It almost ran the entire "height" of the state. I'm sure you folks get some serious stuff out there though.
Sorry about not posting my trip to Hemlocks N.A. yet. I've just been swamped with extra park duties. I did get some hemlocks in the 130's, one almost made it to 140. The tulips were nice too, but I couldn't put any over 140 either. I believe I measured every hemlock and tulip in there that was in the ravine or looked impressive.
The HWA is pretty bad, although forestry is busy with predator beetle releases in there. The whole area is opened up with all the HWA defoliation.
Found a monster black gum too... at least for me. It's the biggest I've seen yet in PA. It very well could be one of the top 3 largest overall in the state. Here's a quick Rucker Index:
|
Species
|
CBH
|
Height
|
Comments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
tuliptree
|
N/A
|
138
|
|
|
E. hemlock
|
9.8
|
137.9
|
|
|
N. red oak
|
N/A
|
119
|
|
|
red maple
|
N/A
|
115.5
|
|
|
Am. basswood
|
N/A
|
113.4
|
|
|
cucumbertree
|
N/A
|
111
|
|
|
black gum
|
8.6
|
109.5
|
tallest NE
|
|
white ash
|
N/A
|
104.1
|
|
|
chestnut oak
|
N/A
|
102.8
|
|
|
black locust
|
N/A
|
96.3
|
|
Hemlocks N.A. RI = 114.75
That puts it 7 out of 19 PA sites surveyed so far.
Oh yes, the fat black gum I found is the largest girth I've come across so far at 10.7ft CBH x 96.4ft high. I kicked myself for not getting a crown spread on that tree!
Merry Christmas!
Dale
|
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