Largest Pine Felled by Windstorm

Cambridge Pines State Forest
Largest Pine Felled by Windstorm
January 2024

The Fallen Giant

The largest (and probably the oldest) tree in the Cambridge Pines State Forest/Natural Area (CPSF) came down during the January 2024 windstorm, breaking off at about ten feet above the base. The Fallen Giant grew on the slope below the Mountain View Cemetery, off Bartlett Hill Road in Cambridge, and was known as Harold’s Tree. The Putnam family say it was the favorite tree of Harold Putnam, to whom credit goes for saving the Cambridge Pines stand from clearcutting in the 1940s by convincing the Cambridge Cemetery Association to sell the forest to the newly established Vermont Department of Forests for exactly the amount the sale of the timber would have realized. The State purchased the 22-acre forest for $2,000 on August 12, 1944.

In his book Big Trees of Northern New England (2022), Kevin Martin gave this tree’s dimensions as 164” CBH (circumference at breast height), 140’ VH (vertical height), and 42’ACS (average crown spread) for TOTAL POINTS (the formula used for Big Tree designation) of 314. At the time of his measurement in 2021, he considered this tree tied for the Champion Big Tree for Eastern White Pines in Vermont. For information on how Big Tree sizes are determined see the chapter About the Big Tree Program in Kevin’s book. At the Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation website the three largest Vermont Eastern White Pines listed are all wide in bulk but not particularly tall, measuring 119 ft., 110 ft., and 90ft.

Tall Trees in the Cambridge Pines State Forest/Natural Area

The Native Tree Society ranks trees by their vertical height, not by a formula. Judson Kimble, an arborist and tall tree enthusiast, gave us information on the data on the height of some of the Cambridge Pines, taken from Native Tree Society lidar scans and verified in the field with measurements. They found that nine Eastern White Pines in the CPSF are of the extraordinary height of between 157’5” and 148’8”. The tallest were:

White Pine
157′ 5″ x 8.14’cbh
156′ 9″ x 7.26’cbh
156′ 6′ x 11.19’cbh
154′ x 10.02’cbh
153′ 6″ x 8.51’cbh
Eastern Hemlock
114′ 2″ (not less than)

Age of the Cambridge Pines Trees

The general belief is that the Cambridge Pines area was cleared in the late 1700/early 1800s, except perhaps for the gully area below the cemetery, and that the forest has grown back since farming there ended sometime in the mid-1800s. The only actual estimate of the age of the oldest trees was in the early 1980s, when Peter Krusch did his best to count the rings in the stump of a tree felled on the edge of the cemetery. His best estimate was 180 rings. Judson has a colleague who may be able to return to try to core the Fallen Giant, if it is possible with the amount of rot in the still-standing stump. The only actual estimate of the age of the oldest trees was in the early 1980s, when Peter Krusch did his best to count the rings in the stump mention in the text below the FPR map. His best estimate was 160-180 rings, which would make the oldest trees c.200 years old in 2024.

Krusch Preserve Trails Provide Access to the Cambridge Pines Natural Area

Our main nature trail leads to the border of the state-owned Cambridge Pines and provides good views into the old forest. Vermont Forests, Parks, and Recreation has told us they intend to build a short interpretive trail from the Krusch Preserve border into the Pines sometime in the next few years, on a route approved by their Natural and Fragile Areas committee.

Harold and George Putnam at Harold’s Tree, March 1996
Harold Putnam was responsible for the conservation of this tract of forest, now the Cambridge State Forest/Natural Area.
This was his favorite tree, called by his family Harold’s Tree.

Judson Kimble on the Fallen Giant, January 2024

Stump of the Fallen Giant, February 2024
Photo by Nancy Putnam