I just had to add that red cedar...especially from western Oklahoma is my favorite wood for my turkey calls.

I've made a few from yellow cedar and it always smelled like pencil shavings, but it was from old fence posts.

Pete

I just had to add that red cedar...especially from western Oklahoma is my favorite wood for my turkey calls.

I've made a few from yellow cedar and it always smelled like pencil shavings, but it was from old fence posts.

Pete

A friend of mine was hooking at a camp somewhere south and east of Ketchikan and told me they got into a stand of white fir. That was probably 35 years ago. The most beautiful tree I ever logged was a Western White Pine, 7 foot through and green which is remarkable because white pine blister rust has killed almost every one.
You would probably feel different about red cedar if you owned some. Worth a fortune.

AK, do you work by the thousand.?

An interesting thread . I can now get the gist on those who don't like dealing with cedar...the huge western reds.

For me, my favorite trees are the huge cedars and Hemlocks. I have loved being in huge old stands of them. As an artist, the boughs and colours of them streaking down high mountain slopes , into valleys , are amazing.

Some of the largest cedars in the world are in N. Idaho and NW Montana. There is one tucked away in the forest near me that is said by the forest service to be one of the largest on record. No one knows where it is, it has been kept a secret.

There are old logging area stumps that can be seen , where ten men standing fingertip to fingertip cannot reach totally around the circumference. A logger told me this long ago, and I've seen them.

I bemoan the stripping away of all cedars , in places where they don't leave any . I can see harvesting a reasonable amount.

I adore the wood grain and sweet aroma.

Tall old gnarly Hemlocks are lovely too. Their black green colour and drooping top , as if in a polite bow, is unique.

These stands are not common and only exist in certain northern habitat .

I have cedar and hemlock on my place, and love to see them every day. I've even gone up in elevation and found small Mountain Hemlock trees, to transplant into my yard. They are slow growing , but amazing.

Thank you for such an interesting discussion. My views are strictly aesthetic in nature, enjoying the look of them. There are no other conifers like them.

Small world, TT. That Priest Lake area is one of the precise locations the logger who worked there all his life showed me those huge stumps .

Along with huge ones still standing. There are two places in Idaho where visitors can go see trees like that. One place in Montana. But other places that are not well known are the spots I have loved to explore.

Private property has them too. Or quadrants of Natl Forest that have been blocked off to human use for a long time.

When I am amidst stands like that, I feel a different vibe in the force of life . A unique feel emanating from such aged stands. I guess call it Qi (Chi) , the electromagnetic life force from such magnificent flora.

The wilderness area a bit north of Priest lake is amazing. How special it is that you had the chance to see them.

That is some ugly timber. Back in the day we would have called that non-merch. No such thing anymore.
Down here they're not logging any old growth anymore, of course. They are still cutting blocks, mostly shingle and some of the claims will run up to $15,000.00/acre for cedar salvage.

It was maybe middle 80s when the FS decided we needed wildlife trees. Then the State land in like the 90s and private soon after. Now there are trees left all over units although the private land they tend to bunch them up. All of a sudden it became safe to work around snags and such. I am lucky to be alive after we knocked over one snag. 4 broken ribs and a bruised liver. 3 feet closer and I wouldn't be here.

Well Eastern Red Cedar is a juniper so completely different, you rarely see one even a foot in diameter here...

Small world, TT. That Priest Lake area is one of the precise locations the logger who worked there all his life showed me those huge stumps .

Along with huge ones still standing. There are two places in Idaho where visitors can go see trees like that. One place in Montana. But other places that are not well known are the spots I have loved to explore.

Private property has them too. Or quadrants of Natl Forest that have been blocked off to human use for a long time.

When I am amidst stands like that, I feel a different vibe in the force of life . A unique feel emanating from such aged stands. I guess call it Qi (Chi) , the electromagnetic life force from such magnificent flora.

The wilderness area a bit north of Priest lake is amazing. How special it is that you had the chance to see them.

We get some pretty good size ones here in places, I can find cedars the size of those up above Priest Lake within an hour of my house. But if you want to see truly huge diameter red cedars, go to the Olympic peninsula.

TT, they've made it a lot more dangerous logging with their regs on leaving bird/wildlife trees. It ain't just the rigging crew, it is more dangerous for the feller also when you have to leave snags in your strip.

we got plenty of sizeable ones