Yellow cedar on trail to Mount Steele.
Sample taken by Randy Stoltmann indicated this tree found within the proposed cutblock is the world's oldest known hemlock - 902 plus years.
ANCIENT TREES
Where are the oldest trees in the Tetrahedron and how old are they? A Yellow Cedar stump from the Tannis Lake clearcut was dated at more than 1200 years and has triggered a search for other ancient trees.
On May 28 of this year, Alliance members guided Randy Stoltmann, author of the Hiking Guide to the Big Trees of Southwestern B.C., through this summer's proposed cut blocks in the Tetrahedron.
To date a tree's age, Stoltmann uses a borer, which extracts a pencil-thin core sample. This is then placed under a microscope where its growth rings can be counted. One Mountain hemlock specimen was so large that the borer could only penetrate 85 percent of its radius. Even so, it contained 902 growth rings, automatically placing it in the record books as BC's oldest recorded Mountain hemlock.
Larger standing Yellow Cedars in the vicinity have been dated at more than 1000 years. They may be the oldest living things on the Sunshine Coast.
Should these old growth stands be logged as an export commodity, or preserved for this and future generations of Sunshine Coast residents?
If you object to this summer's proposed logging in the Tetrahedron forest, please write to:
Honorable Claude Richmond
Minister of Forests
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4
