Western Red Cedar

theXman

theXman

Branched out member
Location
MD, USA
I was in Washington state the last 6 days for a wedding. Visited some parks and trees out there too.

Maybe some of you Western guys can respond. I was wondering about your Western Red Cedar. (the bark looks just like our Eastern Red Cedar, but the needles like an arbivitae), Is it real red/pink inside like our Red Cedar and very rot resistant too? That would be pretty cool if it was. Do they cut these for timber. Looked like the old fallen logs in the woods have been there quite a while.

I visited an old grove on an "island" in a creek next to Mt. Rainer. Saw some big doug firs and Red Cedars, they say around 1000 yrs old. Pretty neat trip.
 
I think when RBTree sees this he will be one of the better guys to give you thoughts about the innards of Thuja plicata (AKA Western Red Cedar). I can tell you the roots have a lot of red in them and yes, its quite rot resistant. I know they have a reddish layer under the bark but I havent sawn through enough to tell you about the rest.
 
I will snap and post a pic of a photo in my awesome DR Kinsey book which I just got, when I get a chance. I had a copy of "This Was Logging", all his photos, but gave it to Dennis Greffard at the 2002 Clearwater Revival. I just got a hard bound, awesome book of his photos, and story of his life. The pics were taken from 1890 to 1930, largely of logging in Wa State. His most used camera was a 11x14 view camera, but he also used a behemoth 20x24!!!

The pic is of some cedars which grew over a downed nurse log. They look to be 6 feet dbh...the downed log was still not very rotten!!!
I'll also post a copy of the pic of a 100 foot circumference cedar!!!(at the ground most likely, not breast height)

The only native US wood that outlasts cedar is locust, that I'm aware of, anyhow...
 
This ASite thread has the story of the failed cedar we did 16 months ago.....also click on the next page for more posts and pics...

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=12381&page=26&pp=40

Interesting that now these cedars are slated for removal, as they're declining fast, thanks to construction trauma, and lawn/irrigation around them. They are up to 160 feet tall. The largest is close to 8 feet dbh, due to its amazing root flare, and may scale out to 2000 bf.
 

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XMan, Yes, Western Red is actively logged out here. It is pretty lucrative too, some mills and logging companies specialize in it, and I have been on tracts that were logged for the cedar primarily, and the other trees were taken as a byproduct.
When you cut it, the wood can vary from a purplish-red close to the bark, to almost yellow or light tan. It ages to a pretty uniform red color, and is popular for siding, shingles, trim, etc, due to its pretty color, attractive scent, rot resistance and close grained, knot-free look.
Currently at the lumber yard, "tight-knot" cedar runs $0.41 a board foot, and clear cedar is $0.71 a board foot.
 
Hey thanks all!

It's interesting to see a different specie and learn something about it.

The biggest W. Red Cedar we saw was probably 12' diameter and there were two Douglas Firs maybe 10 to 12' diameter too.

I didn't climb anything, didn't bring any gear.

I've got some digital pictures.
 
Here's those two awesome shots from the Kinsey book.Just imagine, this cedar was nearly as large as the General Sherman tree!!
I set the camera on a tripod, and copied these under incandescent light, had to adjust for sepia...


my online photo site:
http://www.pbase.com/rbtree
 

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Note that the stumps that grew around the fallen log must be at least 150-200 years old. And the log to be about 800 years old, plus is still not decayed
 

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turns out I don't have as many pictures as i thought. Camera kept turning off with low batteries and many pics were blurry.

Anyway, here's one of my wife on a trail with W Red Cedars.

I haven't posted a pic in about a year maybe, so........
 
try #2.

wife on trail with cedars.

again, this is not re-sized so probably don't bother if you are dial-up like me. And I'll post more when I can re-size them.

thanks for the neat pics from the book!!!

Added later: Ahhhh forget it! that pic didn't download all the way either.

I'm taking the attachment off.

I'll do later.........
 
I wonder if that's the same Giant Arborvitae (Western Redcedar) as this one Dee Kinsey photographed featured in "This Was Logging"? The caption under the photo says it was supposed to be the largest tree in the state of Washington, measuring 76 feet around, 1 1/2 feet from the ground.

Giant Arborvitae
 
Here's a photo of Shelley Retchless at the champion Lake Quinault Western Red Cedar, this summer. We were at the PlantAmnesty Retreet, held at The Locherie Resort.

Notice the Western Hemlock sidecar rootwad she is standing on.
 

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I never have heard about these big Western Red Cedars before I visited the West Coast again.

You always hear of Redwoods and Sequoias. Seems the W. Red Cedar doesn't get talked about. That's why I was so supprised to learn of them when I was in Washington state.

Those pictures are cool! thanks for posting.
 
Here's a 360 degree panoramic photo of the forest on Vancouver Island. The format is Quicktime VR, so you'll need a plugin installed on your browser to be able to see it.
Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island

If you don't believe the trees, let me ask you this. Does it rain in your neighborhood over 100 inches per year? Over 200 inches?

The annual conference of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture is going to be held on Vancouver Island next weekend.

We'd love to have you, and you can get all these space relationships and extreme altitude sickness sorted out.
 
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