USFS confirms death of ‘Big Tree’

The most accurate way to know its age would be counting its rings, but there isn’t a core sampling tool long enough to get all the way through the Big Tree’s trunk. To make matters worse, parts of the tree’s interior are rotten, which hampers counting tree rings. The Forest Service could cut it down to know exactly how old it was, but Forest Service officials said it’s worth more standing.

It survived an untold number of forest fires and the estimated magnitude 9 Cascadia earthquake of 1700.

Ponderosas generally are considered by federal officials and academics to be the most widely distributed pine in North America. They’re typically found in the Intermountain West rather than on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. Ponderosas prefer drier, warmer conditions rather than the humid forests of coastal areas.

The Trout Lake area that the Big Tree grew in was probably near the end of the ponderosa’s tolerant range. But the Big Tree may have benefited from growing relatively close to the coast.

The Big Tree wasn’t the biggest known ponderosa alive on Earth, but it might have been the tallest. A ponderosa on the Yakama Indian Reservation, which also recently died, was shorter but considerably stouter and thus the biggest ponderosa in Washington state.

Ponderosas typically live between 300 and 600 years. So at possibly half a millennium old, the Big Tree was well within its twilight years.

It wasn’t climate change, a rampant infestation from an invasive species or ravenous beavers that finally killed the old giant. For the last several years, the tree was in rough shape from the stresses of old age, a regional drought, an untold number of insects chewing away at it and perhaps years of visitors compacting the soil around its roots. But the deathblow, likely came from a Western Pine beetle attack.

Now the Big Tree might be more aptly named the Big Snag. The Forest Service closed the picnic area near the base of the tree to protect the public from any falling dead branches. But because it’s leaning away from the road and because it’s valuable to wildlife, it will be left standing.