Drumkeeragh Forest | |
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Map | |
Geography | |
Location | Down,Northern Ireland,United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 54°21′06″N5°56′45″W / 54.351599°N 5.9458209°W Coordinates: 54°21′06″N5°56′45″W / 54.351599°N 5.9458209°W |
Elevation | 190 metres (620 ft) to 310 metres (1,020 ft) |
Area | 179.81 hectares (444.3 acres) |
Administration | |
Governing body | Forest Service Northern Ireland |
Drumkeeragh Forest is a mixed coniferous forest located on the lower slopes of Slieve Croob, near Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland. It is used for commercial felling and is managed by the Forest Service Northern Ireland. [1]
The forest is predominantly made up of sitka spruce but Norway spruce, western red cedar, European larch, Douglas fir, noble fir, and Scots, lodgepole and Corsican pines are also found there. The trees are felled for timber, with cleared sections rotating every 50 years. The high elevation (190 metres (620 ft) to 310 metres (1,020 ft)) and poor soil mean that deciduous trees used to produce timber can not grow in the forest. [1]
In the cleared areas, replanting has been carried out with wildlife conservation and landscaping in mind. Some of the replanted trees have included mountain ash and silver birch, both native broadleaf trees, which has led to a wider variety of birds in these areas. [1]
Drumkeeragh Forest was the scene of the death of Penny McAllister. On 27 March 1991 McAllister had her throat slit by her husband's lover, Susan Christie, while they walked together in the woods. Christie originally claimed that a "wild bearded man" attacked them both but she was later convicted of manslaughter. [2] [3] [4] [5]
On 20 December 2004 Karen McMullan was left at Drumkeeragh forest, along with a burnt out car, after being held hostage for more than 24 hours. The kidnapping was part of the robbery of Northern Bank headquarters in Belfast, where her husband worked. [6]
Pseudotsuga is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae.
The Douglas fir is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three varieties: coast Douglas-fir, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and Mexican Douglas-fir.
Pinus sylvestris, the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orange-red bark.
The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at 7,980 ft (2,432 m); however, the eastern slopes rise out of Puget Sound from sea level and the western slopes are separated from the Pacific Ocean by the low-lying 20 to 35 km wide Pacific Ocean coastal plain. The western slopes are the wettest place in the 48 contiguous states. Most of the mountains are protected within the bounds of Olympic National Park and adjoining segments of the Olympic National Forest.
Picea mariana, the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and is that province's most numerous tree. The range of the black spruce extends into northern parts of the United States: in Alaska, the Great Lakes region, and the upper Northeast. It is a frequent part of the biome known as taiga or boreal forest.
The Mourne Mountains, also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the highest of which is Slieve Donard at 850 m (2,790 ft). The Mournes are designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it has been proposed to make the area Northern Ireland's first national park. The area is partly owned by the National Trust and sees many visitors every year. The Mourne Wall crosses fifteen of the summits and was built to enclose the catchment basin of the Silent Valley and Ben Crom reservoirs.
Picea sitchensis, the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost 100 meters (330 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-largest conifer in the world, and the third-tallest conifer species. The Sitka spruce is one of the few species documented to exceed 90 m (300 ft) in height. Its name is derived from the community of Sitka in southeast Alaska, where it is prevalent. Its range hugs the western coast of Canada and the US, continuing south into northernmost California.
Abies alba, the European silver fir or silver fir, is a fir native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and south to Italy, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania and northern Greece; it is also commonly grown on Christmas tree plantations in the North East region of North America spanning New England in the US to the Maritime provinces of Canada.
James Hugh Allister, is a British Unionist politician and barrister in Northern Ireland. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) political party in 2007, leading the party since its formation. Allister has served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2011, and is the TUV’s only representative in the Assembly.
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
On 20 December 2004, a total of £26.5 million in cash was stolen from the headquarters of Northern Bank on Donegall Square West in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Having taken family members of two bank officials hostage, an armed gang forced the workers to help them steal used and unused pound sterling banknotes. The money was loaded into a van and driven away in two trips. This was one of the largest bank robberies in the history of the United Kingdom.
Tsuga heterophylla, the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma County, California. The Latin species name means 'variable leaves'.
Jimmy Brown was a militant Irish republican and drug dealer who was a member of Fianna Eireann, the Official IRA, then Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP)/ Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), and latterly of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO).
The Fraser fir is an endangered species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States.
The Rocky Mountains subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below tree line in the Rocky Mountains of North America. In northern New Mexico, the subalpine zone occupies elevations approximately from 9,000 to 12,000 feet ; while in northern Alberta, the subalpine zone extends from 1,350 to 2,300 metres.
Cushendall, formerly known as Newtownglens, is a coastal village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located in the historic barony of Glenarm Lower and the civil parish of Layd, and is part of Causeway Coast and Glens district.
Djouce at 725 metres (2,379 ft), is the 74th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 91st–highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale. Djouce is situated in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mountains, and dominates the views of the Wicklow Mountains from Roundwood to Newtownmountkennedy. Djouce is one of a few Irish mountains for which the Irish Office of Public Works (OPW) maintain a boarded mountain trail, using railway sleepers, from its base to a point close to its summit; making the mountain even more accessible to the public, but while also protecting the underlying bog and soil from human erosion. Djouce is popular with hill walkers, and it lies along the 131-kilometre Wicklow Way; on its southern slopes at a senic viewpoint is the J.B. Malone memorial stone, dedicated to the creator of the Wicklow Way.
Mullaghmeen, at 258 metres (846 ft), is the county top for Westmeath in Ireland, and is the lowest county top in Ireland. Mullaghmeen is located in the Mullaghmeen Forest, known for having the largest planted beech forest in Europe.
Scotland is ideal for tree growth, thanks to its mild winters, plentiful rainfall, fertile soil and hill-sheltered topography. As of 2019 about 18.5% of the country was wooded. Although this figure is well below the European Union (EU) average of 43%, it represents a significant increase compared to the figure of 100 years previously: in 1919 it was estimated that only 5% of the country's total land area was covered in forest. The Scottish Government's Draft Climate Change Plan has set an aim of increasing coverage to 21% of Scotland by 2032, with the rate of afforestation rising to 15,000 hectares per year by 2024.
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii, commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward to central California, United States. In Oregon and Washington its range is continuous from the Cascades crest west to the Pacific Coast Ranges and Pacific Ocean. In California, it is found in the Klamath and California Coast Ranges as far south as the Santa Lucia Mountains with a small stand as far south as the Purisima Hills, Santa Barbara County. In the Sierra Nevada it ranges as far south as the Yosemite region. It occurs from near sea level along the coast to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the California Mountains. Further inland, coast Douglas-fir is replaced by Rocky Mountain or interior Douglas-fir. Interior Douglas-fir intergrades with coast Douglas-fir in the Cascades of northern Washington and southern British Columbia.