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In 1953, in Seeley Lake, Montana, the U.S. Forest Service
dedicated a 60-acre old growth grove of Western Larch,
(Tamaracks), as a memorial to
James W. Girard. The grove, located along the Clearwater
River, was discovered in 1896. Girard had a fondness
for the Western Larch and his grove is special, in that many
of the trees are 600 years or older. The memorial grove was
a cooperative effort of the Lolo National Forest,
Intermountain Logging Conference, the Anaconda Lumber
Department, the consulting firm of Mason, Bruce, and Girard,
and retired Forest Service personnel.
The record-holder tree is a 1,000-year old tamarack known
locally as Gus. To be considered as a record tree, it must
be nominated, measured and confirmed. Gus is the largest of
its species in the world and is believed to have survived at
least 40 wildfires over its lifetime. It measures 153 feet
tall by 34 feet wide at its crown and is taller than the
Statue of Liberty (not counting the statue's pedestal). Near
the ground, Gus is 22 feet 9 inches in circumference and 7
feet 3 inches in diameter.
The Girard Grove is one of the finest remaining stands of
Western Larch in the United States. Each year in October,
Seeley Lake hosts its Tamarack Festival and Brewfest
celebrating the annual turning of the tamarack and the old
growth trees found in the memorial grove. |
