World’s tallest ponderosa pine climbed, measured at 268 feet outside Grants Pass | OregonLive.com

http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2011/12/worlds_tallest_ponderosa_pine.html

World’s tallest ponderosa pine climbed, measured at 268 feet outside Grants Pass

It took only a few minutes for Will Koomjian to know he was walking into a special place, the home of the planet’s tallest known pine tree.

“I had never seen so many large ponderosa pines growing so close to each other,” said the arborist from Portland, who climbs trees to measure their height. “They tend to be in a mixed forest, one here, one there. We were seeing trees four to five feet thick every minute, with five of them in one spot.”

The location of the big pines had not been a secret. They grow in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, a 24-mile drive southwest of Grants Pass. A campground in the area is named Big Pine and was home to the world’s tallest known ponderosa, 259 feet.

What prompted Koomjian’s October visit to southern Oregon was that even taller pines had been discovered early this year beyond the campground. A laser measurement made by Michael Taylor, a big tree hunter from Trinity County, Calif., came up with a reading of 268.35 feet.

Koomjian, 29, led a team from Ascending the Giants, the official keeper of Oregon’s big tree register, to physically measure the tallest pines. They do this with a measuring tape after climbing to the top.

He had utmost confidence in Taylor’s laser reading, but it’s prudent to have a second form of measurement when declaring a tree as the world’s tallest living pine.

The only taller one had been a 269.2-foot-tall sugar pine, but it died from a bark beetle attack in California’s Yosemite National Park. Sugar pines are known as the “king of the pines” and typically grow 40 feet higher than ponderosas.

View full sizeAugust Schilling/Ascending the GiantsPortland arborist Will Koomjian traverses, 200 feet above the ground, between the wrong tree (right) that he climbed unknowingly to the tallest ponderosa pine tree (left) known in the world. Phalanx, the new height champion among pines, grows in southern Oregon’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, outside Big Pine Campground.
When Koomjian arrived at Big Pine Campground, he and his team headed into the forest using global positioning readings taken by discoverers of the trees, Taylor and Mario Vaden of Beaverton.

As Koomjian approached the site of the reading, he noticed a big pine with some orange ribbon around it. Figuring it must be the tree, he used an oversize slingshot to launch a line into the upper branches and began the process of climbing it.

As he neared the top, he got a better view of the forest and noticed a taller pine was growing 80 feet away. No problem! He launched a line into that tree and traversed to it 200 feet above the ground.

When he reached the top, his tape measure had the tree at 268.3 feet tall, almost the exact same as the laser reading.

Over the next few days, the Ascending the Giants team climbed more trees and discovered one to be co-champion as the largest pine in Oregon (as measured by height, circumference and crown spread).

Taylor eventually joined the group and measured the 10 tallest known ponderosa pines in the world.

The exact location of the tallest pine will remain a secret, at least for now, to protect it.

“If you want to see it, go to Big Pine Campground and spend a day or two walking around,” Koomjian said. “You will probably see the tree, but not know which one it is.”

The campground is closed October to May, so save the trip for spring.

Virginia Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, said a management plan is in development for the area where the big pines grow.

“We’re working to identify the biggest trees, map them and maintain their health,” she said. “We may do some thinning in the forest understory. We will address public access down the road.”

Logging of Douglas firs has occurred in the area, but the Forest Service plans to protect the pines.

“We’re doing some measuring of our own and may find some bigger trees ourselves,” she said.

Tallest pines:

World champ: Named Phalanx, the ponderosa pine that grows near Big Pine Campground in the Oregon’s Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest was discovered this year and recently measured at 268.3 feet.

Tallest sugar pine: In Oregon’s Umpqua National Forest, it is 255 feet tall.

Biggest pines (points are generated by adding height, girth, crown spread):

Largest sugar pine: The Whelan Tree, a sugar pine, scores 636 points. It is 208 feet tall, 11 feet in diameter and grows near Dorrington, Calif.

Largest ponderosa: This tree grows in California’s Eldorado National Forest, out of view from any road or trail. It scores 562 points, is 235 feet tall and 8.6 feet in diameter.

Oregon ponderosa: A 254-foot tall ponderosa, also near Big Pine campground, shares the state tile with 535 points. Co-champ is Big Pine in La Pine State Recreation Area, which is “only” 166 feet tall but has a whopping diameter of 9.1 feet (compared to 7.1 for the other champ).

Oregon sugar pine: A sugar pine in the Umpqua National Forest, located by Michael Taylor, is much larger than any currently measured in Oregon. The tree awaits formal measurement.

On the Web: landmarktrees.net, ascendingthegiants.com, americanforests.org/our-programs/bigtree