Death of a Champion

[WDH]

I took an outdoor writer to see some champion trees today.  Much to my deep disappointment, I found this:





The Georgia Co-Champion shumard oak went down in a thunderstorm 2 weeks ago.  Winds got to 60 mph.  I am sorry to see this grand old champion expire.  It measured 321 points.  The next champion in line measures 315 points.  However, about 100 yards down below this felled champion, I found another shumard oak that measured 300 points.  It is 152' tall!  I plan to submit it, but I am not sure it will gain co-champion status.  Still, it is a grand tree.

[Mooseherder]

What is gonna happen with the tree WDH?

[WDH]

It will slowly become compost.  The tree is on land formerly owned by the company I work for (a large timber company).  Unfortunately, a consortium of real estate speculators bought this 22,000 acre block of beautiful land.  They plan to make a city there.  The State of Georgia is currently managing this property as a Wildlife Management Area, but the speculators are threatening to pull the property out of the Wildlife Management Program (they currently lease it to the state for public use).  The outdoor writer is trying to draw attention of the uniqueness of this property and make a case that the State of Georgia buy the property as a part of the conservation program.  The speculators are more than willing to sell to the state, but their price is $14,000/acre (as quoted in a recent newspaper article).  So, not gonna happen.

The tree is very inaccessible, plus it would take a grapple skidder to get it out.  It would cost at least $750 to get it to the road, then there is the hauling cost which would be $150.  You would also need a very large knuckle-boom loader to unload the logs, so the cost is now way north of $1000.  There is some rot in the butt, but I am not sure how far it extends up the bole.  The rot weakened the tree, and the huge crown acted like a sail in the strong gusts of wind, resulting in a blow-down.

I am sad :-[.  I found that tree and measured it for a champion.  I will miss it :-\.

I have not given up on getting some of the wood to saw (and preserve in another form..... furniture), but I need a creative plan. 

[Radar67]

Fencerow Phil has a swinger, as well as several others in your area.

Stew

[WDH]

Excellent point, Stew.  I need to figure out how many bd-ft would be in that tree.

[Dodgy Loner]

It's a shame to see that tree down.  It was certainly a beauty.  I hope you can find a way to get some useful lumber out of it!  Did you show the writer the big cow oak and cherrybark oak that were near by?

[WDH]

Yes sir, the cow oak and the one of the many huge cherrybarks.   One of the cherrybarks I posted a pic of in the Hot Walk in the Woods post.  You have visited it too, DL.  (Near the tree that you are disqualified from :).  (I wonder if those seeds sprouted ???.)

[Mooseherder]

Excellent point, Stew.  I need to figure out how many bd-ft would be in that tree.

Could there be a Southern event in the making when it cools down??? ;D

[WDH]

It is shy of 5', but not by enough to matter.  Will Burlkraft bring the swinger to GA?  There is always the Breadmaker and Hedge-row Phil ( :) if he (Burlkraft) needs to lay Quartlow for a while :D.  That Customsawyer could handle it to on the little LT-70 I bet.  We could hold Toms new Baker in reserve :D .

[Dodgy Loner]

That would be a great FF get-together if that old champion could be sawn.  I wonder if the current owners would go for it ???

[SwampDonkey]

Nice trees down there. Sure are tall. Sure your not in the tropics down there? ;)

[Dave Shepard]

It's a sad day when we loose a champion, but every champion is defeated. At least if was of natural causes. The MA champion cherry tree succumbed to a logger tree thief who went onto state lands and felled it. The trunk was rotten so he took two foot blocks off all the way up the trunk and ended up leaving it as junk.  >:(


Dave

[Dodgy Loner]

It's a sad day when we loose a champion, but every champion is defeated. At least if was of natural causes. The MA champion cherry tree succumbed to a logger tree thief who went onto state lands and felled it. The trunk was rotten so he took two foot blocks off all the way up the trunk and ended up leaving it as junk.  >:(
Dave

What a nice fellow  >:(.  Many of the champion trees on state lands here are not advertised as such, to prevent just such an occurence.

[Larry]

There is a little story in Remarkable Trees Of The World.  A geography student in Utah borrowed a tree-borer to check out some bristlecone's.  He snapped off the borer and cut down what used to be the oldest living tree in the world to recover the borer.

Incredulous what stupid people will do...I have no problem with people keeping champion trees a secret.

Might be a pretty good trick to get that big sucker on the ground...safely.  Don't take any chances if ya attempt it WDH...and make sure your camera batteries are fresh.

[Dave Shepard]

You would think that if the guy was that interested in the tree, he would have known it was worth way more than the couple a bucks the borer was worth. >:( People say I am contradictory when I cut down trees, and then fight to save a grand specimen. I value some trees more than I value many people. I sure don't want to see a 5 foot sycamore dropped so more people can park at McDonalds.


Dave

[Dodgy Loner]

To be fair to the student who cut down that tree, he had no idea how old the tree was before he cut it down.  He asked for permission from the Forest Service, and they granted it without a second thought.  The tree turned out to be much older than the surrounding trees he had been sampling (over 4800 years old).  The attention that the bristlecone pines garnered after that tree was cut down was helped earn them the protection that they enjoy today.

[Lanier_Lurker]

You would think that if the guy was that interested in the tree, he would have known it was worth way more than the couple a bucks the borer was worth. >:( People say I am contradictory when I cut down trees, and then fight to save a grand specimen. I value some trees more than I value many people. I sure don't want to see a 5 foot sycamore dropped so more people can park at McDonalds.


Dave

I was down in Macon, GA in May for a wedding at the Presbyterian Church near the downtown square.  There was a Sycamore right next to it that was between 4 and 5 feet.

My wife got aggravated with me because I lingered to take a closer look at it in awe (she said it was hot out outside).

Some folks just don't get it......