This conservation site is an extraordinary remnant of the softwood forests of bygone eras. There are two distinct tree canopies in this 22 acre (9hectare) site.  The lower canopy is formed largely of 16” (40 centimetre) wide red spruce trees, which are actually the youngsters of the stand. Small cores drilled into a sample of these show they are all about 160 years old. Given the amount of charcoal within the forest soil, it has been suggested that these spruce sprung up after a fire in the area. Above the spruce is the upper canopy of large (30-43”/76-110 centimetres wide) white pine. The age of the “super-canopy” pines is estimated to be between 275 to 350 years and are up to 120’ (37 metres) tall. The thick bark of the white pine likely spared it from the fire that burnt the undergrowth and made way for the red spruce. There was some evidence of selective harvest of a few of these massive pine in the early 1900’s, but nothing more recent. Our foresters, who travel the stands of this region daily, instantly recognized this as a site of ecological importance, providing habitat for a certain community of plants and animals that do best in environments that are stable over the very long term. With over 400 years of European settlement in this area of the world, it is difficult to find these old stands but rest assured, when we do, we add them to our conservation program to allow them to continue their growth for as long as Mother Nature allows.