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89.9 m tall Noble Fir in Goat Marsh (dead)
In short
Noble firs are beautiful, impressive trees – the largest firs. It is possible that the highest noble firs fairly recently exceeded 100 m height but in the 1990ies the tallest noble fir was at the Goat Marsh – in 1989 it was 89.9 m tall. Unfortunately, this tree is dead by now.
22.3%
GPS coordinates
Location, address
Species
Height
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Map of the site
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In detail
The noblest of all firs
Noble fir is a beautiful tree with an extremely slim trunk – trunks of sequoias of similar height have almost two times bigger diameter.
This slenderness is made possible by the extreme lightness, toughness, and flexibility of the wood. The wood of noble fir was used for the building of early airplanes and is much-sought material also today.
Natural groves of this tree are met only in the states of Oregon, Washington, and also California. The most impressive stands of noble fir are located around Mount St.Helens.
In Harmony Falls grove northeast from Mount St. Helens there was known 99 m tall noble fir before 1980. This tree is not standing anymore as well – it was destroyed by the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Goat Marsh
Goat Marsh is a beautiful natural area located some 7 – 8 km west of the crater of Mount St. Helens. This wetland has been created by a pyroclastic flow (or several flows) from the volcano – it blocked local streams some 300 – 450 years ago.
To the north from wetlands there is rising especially impressive forest. This is a unique stand of noble fir with an area of 28 ha. Trees are 325 – 350 years old and have miraculously escaped the devastating eruptions of Mount St. Helens.
This forest has one of the highest wood densities per hectare in the world – one hectare contains up to 5,752 m3 of wood. This result is exceeded only in some groves of Californian coastal redwoods.
Stand was discovered in the 1950s and since then is managed by USDA Forest Service. Here was established Goat Marsh Research Natural Area and the stand of noble fir is used for educational and research needs.
Goat Marsh stand contains also Goat Marsh Giant – largest noble fir by volume (126 m3). Here grow also very tall Douglas firs – some of these trees are up to 93.3 m tall.
Here grows also the current tallest noble fir – it is 86 m (282 feet) tall. This tree is dying as well. (1). But there are healthy noble firs in this grove which exceed the height of 80 m.
References
- Native Tree Society BBS. Accessed in 3 December 2019.
Noble fir in Goat Marsh is included in the following article:
Linked articles
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