Big Lonely Doug

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Big Lonely Doug
Big Lonely Doug 2 (cropped 3).jpg
Photo of Big Lonely Doug from 2018 with a person at the base for scale
Big Lonely Doug
SpeciesCoast Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii )
Location Vancouver Island
British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates 48°38′47″N124°27′02″W / 48.64626°N 124.45063°W / 48.64626; -124.45063
Height 66.0 m (216.5 ft) [1]
Girth 11.91 m (39.1 ft) [1]
Diameter3.79 m (12.4 ft) [1]
Date seeded~1000 CE

Big Lonely Doug is a large Coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree located in the Gordon River Valley, 10km north of Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of the largest Douglas-fir trees in the world. It has the third highest tree score [2] and third widest diameter of any known Douglas-fir in Canada, following the Red Creek Fir in the nearby San Juan Valley and the Bonin Giant in the Coquitlam River watershed in British Columbia's Lower Mainland. [1]

Contents

History

The tree was seeded sometime around 1000 CE. [3]

In 2011, logger Dennis Cronin discovered the enormous tree while surveying a patch of forest that was to be logged for timber. He wrapped green ribbon around the tree with the words "Leave Tree" repeated along the ribbon, saving it from being felled. In 2014, photographer and activist T.J. Watt happened upon the tree and named it "Big Lonely Doug", a play on the tree's species name and its relative isolation amid the clearcut. The tree has since become a symbol of nature conservation in Canada, [4] [5] and was featured in the 2018 book Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada's Last Great Trees by journalist Harley Rustad. [6]

Dimensions

These measurements were made by forest ecologist Andy MacKinnon on behalf of the Ancient Forest Alliance and University of British Columbia on 18 April 2014. The results were published the following week on 24 April 2014. [3]

Height above base [1] 66.0 m216.5 ft
Circumference 1.37 m (4.49 ft) above point of germination [1] [7] 11.91 m39.1 ft
Diameter 1.37 m (4.49 ft) above point of germination [1] [7] 3.79 m12.4 ft
Average crown spread [1] 18.33 m60.1 ft

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 > "British Columbia Big Tree Registry List of Conifers".
  2. ↑ . "British Columbia Big Tree Registry Tree Importance Score".
  3. 1 2 "Big Lonely Doug Officially Measured and Confirmed as Canada's 2nd Largest Douglas-fir Tree". Ancient Forest Alliance. 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  4. ↑ Rustad, Harley (2016-09-19). "Big Lonely Doug". The Walrus. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  5. ↑ "Big Lonely Doug: Canada's 2nd Largest Douglas-Fir - Arborist Now". www.arboristnow.com. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  6. ↑ "Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada's Last Great Trees". harleyrustad.com.
  7. 1 2 "British Columbia Big Tree Registry Measuring Trees".
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