Posted by Dave Thewlis on February 07, 2009 at 16:07:37 user dthewlis.
In Reply to: Re: Four firs that used to be in a wood posted by Mike Field on February 07, 2009 at 12:04:12:
In the northern part of Humboldt County California (abou 80 miles south of the Oregon border) Sitka Spruce grow all over the place, especially as second grow following timber-cutting. Unfortunately in this area they grow extremely rapidly with very wide rings, and the result is wood that isn't very useful for applications such as masts or ribbing for wooden airplanes; in fact it generally is regarded as not commercially viable, and a sort of "junk wood" - the trees reach tall heights and are done in 40 years or so. Further north in British Columbia it grows slowly and has long been highly esteemed, as Mike indicated.