Scientists ponder significance of eastern Oklahoma forests

OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) -- Washington Irving described it as "a forest of cast iron."<br/><br/>Now, scientists are studying just how old and how significant the sturdy, unwavering post oak trees that cover

Monday, May 24th 2004, 5:39 am

By: News On 6

OKMULGEE, Okla. (AP) -- Washington Irving described it as "a forest of cast iron."

Now, scientists are studying just how old and how significant the sturdy, unwavering post oak trees that cover the Cross Timbers area of eastern Oklahoma are.

At one time, the dense band of trees stretched from southeastern Kansas all the way to central Texas. At some points, the trees were more than 100 miles wide.

David Stahle, a geoscientist at the University of Arkansas, has been leading an effort to determine the age and size of the ancient Cross Timbers. Using core sampling, Stahle found many trees more than 400 years old.

Beneath them, the trees have root systems that can last thousands of years, regenerating trees above them indefinitely, said Stahle, director of the school's Tree-Ring Laboratory.

"This goes on and on through the generations," Stahle said. "Where does one life end and the next begin? It's hard to say. Maybe they are approaching immortality."

Too rugged for travel, too rocky for farming, its trees too small or twisted for lumber, the Cross Timbers area has protected itself from generations of explorers and settlement.

"Most of what exists is on rough, inaccessible land," said Dave Patton, who owns 1,300 acres in Cross Timbers country near Checotah. "It just resisted man's best effort to get in there and clear it."

Patton, 56, marvels at the fact that many of the trees were alive when Europeans first came to America.

"I think, 'What was going on elsewhere in the United States when those trees were babies?"' Patton said. "I've always heard of virgin forests. I never dreamed we were living in the midst of it."

Beyond America's history, the trees also provide scientists a diary of meteorological conditions and a unique ecosystem to study -- a transitional zone between plants and animals of the East and those of the West.

But while the history is being studied, the future is uncertain. Most of the remaining trees are on private land.

Patton says he's trying to decide what will happen to his part of it after he's gone. For now, he said, he will just appreciate it.

"I have no plans," Patton said, "other than to leave it alone."