Encounters With An Ancient Forest

Have you ever come across a huge tree that requires 3 people to wrap around its trunk? How about 6 people? Picture this: thousands of colossal trees with little undergrowth, undisturbed by logging, expanding for hundreds of meters on rolling ridgelines laid in front of you. There are few forests that feature some “champion” trees on the east coast, and Caledon State Park features one of those forests.

My position with the Virginia Service & Conservation Corps (VSCC) entails volunteering at several Virginia State Parks to maintain the natural, cultural, and historic resources that are featured within the parks I serve. I perform meaningful activities such as trail construction and maintenance, invasive species removal, prescribed fire burns, disaster relief, and other related duties. Ultimately, it is a unique way to serve my local community (one large, overarching goal of Americorps) and to assist park rangers in maintaining public lands.

However, I don’t believe the phrase “serving my community” does my position justice. Rather, it should be changed to “serving my ecosystem”, because my position with the VSCC primarily focuses on maintaining and conserving natural resources through meaningful service. Since humans play a substantial role in all ecosystems around the world, it is justified to say I “serve my ecosystem” in the most productive manner possible. And this past week, I had the pleasure of serving my local ecosystem at Caledon State Park nestled on the historic Potomac River in King George, Virginia.

Please enjoy this awkward 3-minute introduction to part of my service at Caledon this past week:

Allow me to reiterate: there are some ancient, gigantic trees at this park. I mean ginormous trees. Ranger Joey said many of these trees are upwards of 250+ years old. Now how often do you actually stumble upon trees that lived through the signing of our Constitution and the Civil War?

Old growth forests serve many unique purposes that are merely augmentations of regular forests on a grander scale. The cool part of trail work at Caledon is once we are finished with the mountain biking and hiking trail, everyone will be able to experience the old-growth forest firsthand in the most unobtrusive way possible. But for those who have never ventured into an old growth forest, let me impart some ecological wisdom on you:

-          Old growth forests are critical ecosystems that store massive amounts of Carbon, both above (in plants) and below the ground (in soil as peat)

-          Biodiversity of plant life and animal life is rich for a multitude of reasons, but mostly due to

o   A wide variety of microniches available (varying canopy levels with different degrees of sunlight, multiple tree species, topographic changes, etc.)

o   The perpetuation of forest stability and continuity due to little/no disturbance

-          Old growth forests maintain, replenish, and/or dictate:

o   CO₂ and O₂ cycles

o   Water purification

o   Soil stabilization and nutrient regeneration from decaying organic matter into useful minerals, compounds, etc. for other organisms to utilize

o   Local climate control, and plenty more

Old-growth forests enable insects like this common decomposer, the Patent Leather Beetle, to thrive and hibernate without human disturbances

Many trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, etc. thrive in old-growth forests like Caledon, but let me tell you about this inconceivably large Red Oak tree (Quercus rubra) I stumbled upon after we finished work one day. This Red Oak in question is precisely the same oak pictured above and below.

The canopy of this Red Oak extended well beyond the top of the picture

A native eastern & midwestern tree, the Red Oak is well renowned in timber production as quality lumber for a multitude of purposes to the benefit of humans. The species is considered all-purpose, hardy species adapting rapidly to most soil and light conditions. Red Oak acorns, unlike their White counterparts, must endure exposure of ≤ 40° F for 3 or more months in order to properly germinate. After that, two years must pass before development of that little acorn is complete and it can be considered a viable individual for reproduction (granted, it will still be a small tree in two years’ time).

When I wrapped my comparatively miniscule arms around the durable, aged bark of this 247 year old Red Oak, my mind raced through all the special conditions this tree met each and every year to survive. How cold were the winters back in 1770? What kind of animals passed by this particular Red Oak that had the opportunity to browse on the acorn but instead didn’t? Did any human ever gaze at this tree at one point and visualize it as a quaint table to have tea & porridge on? What has this Red Oak seen but will never have a voice to reveal to us?

This Red Oak met some pretty special conditions, as did the rest of the old-growth forests here at Caledon State Park.