One of Pennsylvania’s largest oak trees topples
MONT ALTO – One of Pennsylvania’s largest oak trees has fallen.
The trunk of the champion black oak is more than 6 feet in diameter. Penn State Mont Alto forestry classes once posed on its branches for class pictures.
The tree succumbed to root rot, high wind and wet soil on Monday afternoon. Its demise cleared away a half-acre in the surrounding woods.
Patti Nitterhouse said the tree had been a highlight for prospective homebuyers on the introductory tour to Penn National. She is co-owner of White Rock Inc., developer of the golf course community and owner of the tree.
“It was a beautiful, beautiful landmark,” Nitterhouse said. “I’m in shock. You’d never expect something like that to fall over. It was one of our treasures. We have it on our map along with the golf course and Michaux State Forest.”
At one time, climbing the tree was a rite of passage for students in arbor culture class at Mont Alto, according to Doug Poe, a manager at Cumberland Valley Tree Service. Poe said he was setting ropes in the tree for fellow students in 1998 when the previous owner of the property put an end to climbing.
“It was a famous tree around here, especially in the industry,” Poe said. “Everybody at Mont Alto talked about it. They talked about sneaking in at night just to say they climbed it. Sad to see it go. That’s for sure.”
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David Poe, a manger at Cumberland Valley Tree Service, takes a close look at a 110-foot black oak, which was listed as the biggest in Pennsylvania The tree fell in a field about 100 yards off Orchard Drive in Mont Alto. (Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)
David Poe, a manger at Cumberland Valley Tree Service, takes a close look at a 110-foot black oak, which was listed as the biggest in Pennsylvania The tree fell in a field about 100 yards off Orchard Drive in Mont Alto. (Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)
A 110-foot black oak, which was listed as the biggest in Pennsylvania, fell in a field about 100 yards off Orchard Drive in Mont Alto. (Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)
The tree was about 200 years old when the forestry school was founded in 1903.
“That tree was growing when the campus was an iron operation,” Nitterhouse said. “It’s a piece of history that’s gone. I have to figure out how to honor it. It’s like a death. It is a death.”
Loggers skipped the black oak a couple of times when harvesting timber from the area, according to George Pogue Jr., general manager of Cumberland Valley Tree Service. The tree likely survived the saw for hundreds of years because it was located at the corner of a property. “Corner trees” marked property lines.
Champion Trees of Pennsylvania ranked the tree as the largest black oak in Pennsylvania with 387 points based on measurements in 2004 of its trunk, canopy and height. The largest black oak (447 points) in the U.S. is located in Hartford, Connecticut, according to American Forests. Its height and spread is not as great as the Mont Alto tree, but it has a larger trunk.
The title of largest black oak in Pennsylvania now goes to a tree that scored 373 points in 2013 at Ridley Creek State Park, Gradyville.
Cumberland Valley Tree Service, Chambersburg, and Mont Alto forestry students in 2004 pruned the tree and installed cables.
“It got buggered up a few times by ice and snow storms,” Pogue said. “That’s the reason we decided to clean it. Some of the branches were so long and heavy, they were cracking and splitting.”
“It was a fun tree to climb,” Poe said. “It had a very large canopy to climb around in. We probably had five or six people in the tree when we were cleaning it out.”
The tree grew in thick again and became less aerodynamic, Pogue said.
David Poe, a manger at Cumberland Valley Tree Service, takes a close look at a 110-foot black oak, which was listed as the biggest in Pennsylvania The tree fell in a field about 100 yards off Orchard Drive in Mont Alto. (Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)
A combination of factors toppled the giant.
“Definitely there were some root decay issues that weakened it,” Poe said.
The soil also had become too wet for the root system to hold the tree, he said. The roots of most local trees are located in the top two feet of soil and extend beyond the spread of the tree’s canopy.
“We’ve had this happen before,” Pogue said. “If you get heavy saturation, the roots are subject to loosening from the soil.”
The black oak was located in a super-saturated, low-lying area, and a high wind came from a slightly abnormal direction, according to Pogue.
Around the same time Cumberland Valley answered a second call for a large tree down. A scarlet oak with a 5-foot-diameter trunk fell near Old Main at Shippensburg University.
“It was older than most of the buildings on campus,” Pogue said. “We had to have a 40-ton crane load it onto a truck. Both came up with their root systems. We think there’s a connection.”
The Mont Alto tree is still on the ground. Nitterhouse said she wants to use the wood for furniture or artwork.
“We have to decide how we’re go to honor this tree and how to use the wood,” she said.
The tree
Trunk circumference: 20 feet
Height: 110 feet
Spread: 135 feet
The trunk is measured 4.5 feet above the ground.
The height of a tree is taken to the highest point.
The width and length of the canopy are measured. The two measurements are added together and divided by two to figure the spread of a tree.
Source: www.pbigtrees.com.
Jim Hook, 717-262-4759
David Poe, a manger at Cumberland Valley Tree Service, shows the rubbery bark of a 110-foot black oak, which was listed as the biggest in Pennsylvania The tree fell in a field about 100 yards off Orchard Drive in Mont Alto. (Photo: Markell DeLoatch, Public Opinion)
