m.w. ritchie, pacific southwest research station

M.W. Ritchie, Pacific Southwest Research Station

“…present a stand density index which does not require a yield table and which is not affected by possible errors in shape of the total basal area-age curve.” L.H. Reineke 1933

Bo·gos´·i·ty n. the state or condition of being bogus.

1. Scant data, N=19

2. Range of QMD

3. SDI=850?

“…some explanation as to how the maximum line for a species was determined might well have been included...” G.L. Schnur. 1934. J. Forestry 32:356.

Mixed Conifer: D. Dunning & S.B ShowRed fir: F.X. SchumacherDoug-fir: R. McArdleRedwood: D. Bruce Ponderosa Pine: W.H. Gallaher“In Figure 5c data are shown… for second-growth ponderosa pine as measured by Gallaher.” L.H. Reineke 1933--Who is Gallaher?--Why haven’t I ever heard of him?--Why is Reineke using this guys data?--Oh, and could I please take a look at the data?

“Today, there are perhaps a dozen foresters in America (and one must include the Canadians to muster even this number) who have any real grasp of the statistical method and most of these feel keenly their inexperience.” D. Bruce 1925.

“Bruce is probably better qualified now to write a book on volume tables and timber estimating than anyone else in the country.” D. Mason, December 1914

Reineke. 1925. A test of taper tables. J. Forestry. Reineke. 1926. The determination of tree volume by planimeter. Reineke. 1927. Yield tables, How many plots? Reineke. 1927. A modification of Bruce’s method of preparing timber

yield tables. Bruce and Reineke. 1929. The use of alinement charts in constructing

forest stand tables. Bruce and Reineke. 1931 Correlation alinement charts in forest

research: a method of solving problems in curvilinear multiple correlation.

Reineke and Bruce. 1932. An alinement chart approach for preparing timber yield tables. Bull 304.

1928. Promoted to head of Measurements Section (Chief Mensurationist) 1929. Reineke returns to Cornell and … 1929. Reineke heads west in the Fall, to Cal for a Masters degree, part

time.

“…the time is not far distant when the bulk of the profession will not be able to interpret intelligently the results our forest experiment stations produce.” D. Bruce. 1925.

-- 1920-1923 Data Collection for MC Yield by Show and Dunning-- 1925 Show published eastside study-- 1926 CFRES created-- 1926 Show appointed Regional Forester-- 1926-1930 MC Study is orphaned

Stuart Bevier Show

Duncan Dunning

W.H. Gallaher. 1913. Second growth yellow pine. Forestry Quarterly.

W.H. Meyer. 1938. Bulletin 630. --“Gallaher, W.H. Second Growth Yellow Pine. File

Memorandum. 1912.”

“The reasons for the high values obtained by Gallaher are not fully evident. His measurements were taken 25 years ago...” W.H. Meyer 1938. Yield of even aged stands of Ponderosa pine.

“The Yale Forest School was established when the movement of forestry in this country was in it’s infancy—at a time when the majority of the people were ignorant of, indifferent to or opposed to the aims and methods of forestry.” H.S. Graves. 1913. Biographical Record of Yale Forestry Graduates.

William GallaherForest AssistantTahoe NF 1910-1913Forest ExaminerR5 1913-1917

SDI=514

“Dunning was working in the ponderosa pine silviculture at Berkeley and he quit in a huff. He was a pine silviculturalist [sic]. He wrote very little and left a mass of material unpublished.” Leo Isaac. 1967 Interview.

Reineke did not use data “measured by Gallaher.” Although he probably had access to it.

Reineke used data measured by Larsen.

How they became confused with Gallaher is not clear.

I do know that PSW gave all the data on hand to Meyer in 1933…

Gallaher’s plots were ¼ acre and larger, most were 1/4.Elevation: 2700 (2500-3300)

1. He had real problems finding pure stands.2. Uniform spacing at something approaching “fully

stocked” cond.3. No gaps, little or no mortality.

Larsen’s plots ranged from 1/20 to 1/10 acre.Elevation 4800 (4200-5200)

Larsen’s data were substantially different…

“The chief difficulty in this country is to find plots which are pure and fully stocked.” H.S. Graves. 1907. Forest Mensuration. Page 377.

Larsen’s 1914 Sierra data. Larsen Unpublished1914 Slope=-1.619 s.e. =0.19SDI90=828

Gallaher’s Complete Tahoe data. Gallaher 1914, unpublished

Slope=-1.607 s.e. = 0.057SDI90=610

Show’s 1919 Eastside Pine Data (Show 1925)

Slope= -1.532 s.e.= 0.067SDI90=515

Victor Clement’s data from 1933 (provided to Walter Meyer for Bulletin 630)

Slope= -1.657 s.e.= 0.052SDI90 = 592

1. Reineke did not use Gallaher’s data, as claimed.

2. Reineke chose not to use Show’s data.3. Instead, Reineke used Larsen’s data.4. His published SDI from Larsen appears

too high (by 200-300 tpa).5. Reason: Plot size, elevation, age???

“The chief difficulty in this country is to find plots which are pure and fully stocked.” H.S. Graves. 1907. Forest Mensuration. Page 377.

Bruce left the Forest Service for good in about 1931. Spent the rest of his career with Mason Bruce and Girard.

Show became regional forester (R-5) in 1926, effectively ending his research career. He retired in 1946. Died in 1966. Buried in Palo Alto CAGallaher, had enough of the low wages and was hired by Standard Oil at more that twice the salary at the close of WWI. He spent the rest of his career working around the world for SO. Retired in the late 1950’s. Died in New York Dec. 12th, 1964. Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.Larsen published his only paper in 1916. He left the Forest Service shortly thereafter and disappeared.

“During the past five years, there has been a cumulative realization that the low scale of salaries paid by the Forest Service was causing a shortage of competent men on the National Forests.” Aldo Leopold. 1920. J. Forestry.

What ever happened to Lester Reineke?

• In 1932, Reineke left Berkeley (degree not completed) for New Haven in the Northeast Station.

• His supervisor there was Charles Edward Behre. They didn’t get along.

• In 1942, after numerous reprimands, Behre demoted Reineke to a laboratory technician and shipped him to Siberia (Madison WI). He worked there in relative obscurity until his retirement in December 1965.

• After the death of his first wife (Evelyn) in 1970, Reineke remarried and he moved with his new wife (Dorothy) in 1975…

What ever happened to Lester Reineke? … to 12270 SW 14th Street, Beaverton Oregon.

He remained there until his death in October 1995. He was 95 years old.He is buried at Willamette National Cemetery, plot Y 1540.