The Klootchy Creek Giant is a bit shorter. But its saga continues.
On Friday, Feb. 11 the Clatsop County Parks Department had the upper section of the once-giant Sitka Spruce cut off to protect visitors from loose, decayed wood in its broken trunk.
The tree, the central attraction of Klootchy Creek County Park on U.S. Highway 26 east of Seaside, was broken in half in the December 2007 coastal windstorm. The rot that caused its fall three years ago left the top portion of the remaining trunk unstable and posed a potential risk to people standing at the base of the tree, according to Clatsop County Natural Resources Steve Meshke.
The spruce, once more than 200 feet tall and estimated to be as much as 750 years old, was the first honoree inducted into the Oregon Heritage Tree program, which recognizes trees of special significance. Before the 2007 storm the tree was believed to be the largest, and oldest, in the state.
Even in its reduced form, the tree, with a circumference of 56 feet at the ground, is still an impressive sight. That’s why the department wanted to make the area safe so visitors could continue to see the tree close-up and, over time, experience its full life cycle as its fallen sections become nurse logs and provide nutrients to a new generation of giants.
“It still has a story to tell,” Meshke said.
Historically located on private timber land ? story has it the tree escaped the axe because it contained too many limbs ? the giant spruce and surrounding acreage was acquired by Clatsop County in 1988. Nine years later it became part of the new Heritage Tree program.
A windstorm in 2006 opened up a gash along an old lightning scar, causing chunks of decayed wood to come lose and prompting the parks department to fence off the area immediately around the tree for safety reasons. A year later, a storm with hurricane-force winds broke off the trunk about 80 feet from the ground.
Even after the tree toppled, there was still a large amount of loose, rotten wood high up in the trunk, leading to concerns that visitors could be at risk from falling debris, Meshke said. For that reason it was decided to remove the top half.
On Friday, David Kurns of Kurns Tree Service scaled the giant and sawed through trunk. After some additional cutting by Richard Vetricek of Quality Tree Removal, a truck equipped with a cable pulled the upper section down.
The downed portion of the tree, more than 10 feet in diameter, will be left where it fell, allowing visitors to appreciate the sheer girth of the giant ? and giving someone with the time and patience the opportunity to determine the tree’s true age by counting the hundreds of rings. photo courtesy: Clatsop County
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