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46 YEARS AGO • JANUARY 23, 1975

BIG PONDEROSA LOGGED BY USP

A giant ponderosa pine tree which was a seedling 20 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, recently was harvested near Dahl Lake in North Pleasant Valley on U.S. Plywood Co. land north of U.S. Highway 2.

The tree is one of the largest, if not the largest to be handled through the Thompson River log landing.

The log hauled to the Flodin Lumber Co. log landing by LHC, Inc, contained 4,530 board feet. The 32-foot log measures 70 inches in diameter at the butt end and 54 inches at the top.

One of the largest logs to be handled by the Flodin Lumber Co. mill is scheduled for sawing soon.

“This is one of the largest logs that has been handled by our sawmill,” commented Millar Bryce Monday. “We can handle it without splitting it but the time required to saw it will be one hour or more.”

According to Carl Richardson, head sawyer, some years back the firm purchased a log larger than this one from Ray Warner of Plains. That log was cut on the Warner Ranch near Swamp Creek out of Plains. It counted 395 rings and also was a ponderosa pine.

“Local Woodsmen tell of larger trees now standing in this area, but it is certain that a log this large is seen only once in a blue moon in western Montana,” said Bryce.

“It is widely known that the large logs are over mature and usually contain lower grade lumber. There are a few exceptions to this. One local report now has it that there are three ponderosa pine trees standing on USFS land in the Weeksville Creek drainage that are larger than this U.S. Plywood log,” Bryce said. “However, it is also a known fact that the first liar doesn’t have a chance.”

FORESTER RECALLS BIG PONDEROSA

The recent harvest of a large 374-year-old ponderosa pine tree in North Pleasant Valley by U.S. Plywood has caused I.V. Anderson of Spokane, pioneer Sanders County forester, to recall an even larger yellow pine that grew on Valley Creek south of Ravalli. That tree is believed to be more than 1,000 years old and may still be standing. The last time Anderson saw it was in 1951.

An article appearing in The Western News, published at Libby, Feb. 8, 1933 stated:

“Western Montana’s largest tree, a huge bulky yellow pine of ancient appearance, a true grizzled monarch of the forest has been examined by I.V. Anderson of the Northern Rocky Mountain Experiment Station, who found the giant seven miles south of Flathead Station on Valley Creek. Talking with sawyers at Greenough concerning big trees, Anderson was told the huge tree up Valley Creek, which was too large for their saws, as the seven-foot and six-foot saws used by sawyers offered no purchase for their heave-hos.

“The tree measures 77½ inches in diameter breast high (DBH 4½ feet high up off the ground on the uphill side of the tree), Anderson said. This is 10½ inches greater in diameter than the previous record for size held by a tree cut by the Polleys loggers on the John Helterline place west of Libby.

“A thousand years old, the tree stands alone on a meadow on the Fritz Frey ranch on Valley Creek, where Joe Moderie logged for several seasons. This tree was left because it was too large for the saws used by the crews. It contains approximately 11,000 board feet of lumber, if sound. There are scars of ancient fires attacking it at the base.”

After Anderson visited the tree in 1951, the Northern Region News of the U.S. Forest Service contained this item:

“The Valley Creek pine still stands and looks quite vigorous. This giant ponderosa was photographed in 1933 by K.D. Swan. At that time it was 77½ inches DBH and contained four merchantable logs to a crotch where the tree had been broken off many years ago. Possibly during the intervening years someone has observed a ponderosa pine that is larger. If so, it’s news. Let the USFS know about it.”