Atlas Grove

Atlas Grove is an informal nickname given to a grove of trees in California's Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The largest coastal redwood tree in 'Atlas Grove' is called Iluvatar.

According to author Richard Preston, the Atlas Grove is said by to have been discovered by amateur naturalist Michael Taylor, in approximately March of 1991. [Preston, Richard (2007). "The Wild Trees: A Story Of Passion And Daring". Allen Lane Publishers. page 82.] This claim is challenged by Oregon Arborist, M. D. Vaden, who found and photographed over 100 legible markings (decades old) in the grove, indicating previous discovery and recognition of the grove, dating back almost to World War II.

Author Preston also wrote that "the grove had been known to some park rangers".

Among big tree hunters and bontanists, some individual trees are given names privately or unofficially. On the other hand, over 900 entire groves have been given names in honor of people, families or organizations; often related to monetary donations. These groves are said to be an "everlasting memorial to an individual, family or organization". [Save the Redwood Memorial Groves List (2008). [http://www.savetheredwoods.org/protecting/pdf/grove_list.pdf "Save the Redwood Memorial Groves List".] List of Memorial Groves] . If Atlas Grove is a stand of trees already dedicated in honor of someone as an "everlasting memorial", that could be an issue regarding assigning it a name. Neither Richard Preston, or other researchers have disclosed, or discounted, whether 'Atlas Grove' is one of over 900 dedicated named memorial groves.

The size of 'Atlas Grove' is not very large. A part of it was was studied; referred to as the Atlas Project, confined to approximately 1 hectare. The location of this stand of trees is undisclosed. For importance, 'Atlas Grove' is virtually on par with the Grove of Titans, another undisclosed grove with remarkably large titan redwoods. The age of the oldest trees in the grove is unknown, but estimated to date back as far in time as Julius Caesar.

Trees in the stand have been measured from top to bottom with graduated measuring tapes and laser range finders. 20 days, with 5 climbers, was spent just for measuring Iluvatar, the largest tree in this grove. Scientific canopy studies have also been done with moisture, light and sap flow sensors. Wildlife in the grove has also been studied; including the North American wandering salamander - Aneides vagrans.

This grove contains other old coastal redwoods including Atlas Tree, Gaia, Pleiades, Ballantine, Promethius, Bell and others. Neighboring species include "Pseudotsuga menziesii", "Picea sitchensis", "Acer macrophyllum", "Rhamnus purshiana", "Umbellularia californica", "Tsuga heterophylla", "Chamaecyparis lawsoniana" and "Lithocarpus densiflorus".

References

External links

* [http://www.mdvaden.com/grove_of_titans.shtml Photographs: Documentation and Information for Atlas Grove]