Foresters Can't See The Wood For The Tallest Tree
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday August 22, 1997
The Pacific Highway township of Bulahdelah is back on the tourist map as home to Grandis, the State's tallest tree. A new survey has relegated its rival, the Styx River's Noble Tree, to second place in the NSW Outstanding Tree Register by 7.8 metres.
Sophisticated survey equipment being used on the $193 million Pacific Highway Bulahdelah-to-Coolongolook road deviation has rectified 1984 State Forest survey inaccuracies, confirming the Grandis's height at "87 metres to the tip of a dead branch". The surveyed height for the live section of the tree, according to Thiess Contractors road survey teams, is 84.3 metres - 8.3 metres taller than earlier survey results. The revised height has stumped foresters from the Walcha district, who since June have been seeking formal "tallest tree" recognition of a 79.2-metre white gum in the 400-hectare Cunnawarra Flora Reserve on the Styx River - 65 kilometres east of Armidale.
"This is a competitive business," Walcha forester Mr Justin Williams said. "... Our surveyors will be on the job. We'll just find a bigger white gum." Technical services manager for Thiess Contractors at Bulahdelah, Mr David Bax, said he "felt sorry" for the local community when Grandis, which draws 25,000 visitors a year, was robbed of the title "tallest tree". Grandis is highly prized as a significant Pacific Highway tourist drawcard.
He commissioned two independent surveyors to survey the tree, and both reached the same height conclusion. "Maybe it's grown a bit," Mr Bax said.
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald