Does anyone know where Garry Oaks are located on Sumas Mountain, near Abbotsford, BC? There are many references in books and the Web to Garry Oaks in this location, but none of them state exactly where to look. I've been poking around that area for years hoping to see some native oak trees in the Lower Mainland, but I haven't found a single one. If someone in this forum knows the whereabouts of these elusive trees, please tell us where to look. Thanks.
Somewhere clear of other trees for a long time. Likely a barren rocky area, on the south side. Maybe they are even coming mostly out of a cliff or other hard to get at area, and that is why you have not seen them. If the mountain has been heavily logged, with a dense growth of young Douglas fir etc. predominant the oaks may have not been able to compete and died out. This slow-growing species occurs within a wide range of precipitation regimes, from quite low to near "rainforest" and on soils from quite dry to swampy. The obvious overriding limitation is an inability to compete with other trees for light. Local groves are always located where fire or other factors have kept the site open enough for them.
hi there, a former resident of abbotsford here...hopefully these locations can help you find what you are looking for! i don't know personally what a garry oak looks like, but some of the old growth places can be found following these directions: 1) take the abbotsford/mission hwy, head towards mission. take the exit off the hwy (east) towards clayburn village (old clayburn rd, i believe the exit is) drive past clayburn village, and instead of branching up the hill after the village, take the lower road (straighton rd). you will pass a large amount of parkland with trails on your right and left before civilization. 2) if there isn't some here, you can keep heading up straighton rd (turns into dawson rd) to upper sumas mtn road, turn left (north) and follow it up there. there is active logging and gravel mining taking place out this way, but there are also many old growth trees a walk away from the road on your right and left. 3) lastly, (if you can't find any at either of these two locations), turn the opposite direction down upper sumas mtn rd and follow it the other direction. do not turn at mckee rd (near the auguston development) but continue towards the native reservation. tonnes of old growth trees around here too. again, watch out for the gravel trucks! you can turn left to get to lower sumas rd (at the exit of two gravel pits) and there are also lovely old trees here too. hope this helps you find what you are looking for!
Wouldn't be among old growth forest giants. Could be among small scattered old growth on bedrock outcroppings or cliffs. Associated with balds and grasslands.
Thanks for your answers. I'm very familiar with the environment that suits Garry Oaks; so I was looking for some specific location information, since Sumas Mtn is about 12 km long by 5 km wide. Shortly after I started this thread, I found a new Website that narrows the search to about a square kilometer, which is much better than anything I had found earlier. There are no public roads going anywhere near the area; so it will be a long bushwack to get close, but that's the sort of thing I like to do. I just wonder why this unique ecosystem isn't better known and protected.
Google Earth has quite high resolution cover of the area - you could probably pick out suitable habitat types, and maybe even the oaks themselves, from that. The area immediately around Sumas is flat and substantially agricultural, so you may need to get permission from landowners to look for retained trees in fields and hedgerows. A bit further east, there's some good-looking deciduous woodland on the SE-facing slopes of the ridge immediately NW of Cultus Lake (is that what's meant by 'Sumas Mountain'? - Google Earth doesn't have a name for it). If you find them, post the location, it'd be interesting to try and see what they look like on Google Earth!
Hmmmm . . . looks like I was confused as to the location of Sumas Mountain - I'd assumed it would be closer to the town of Sumas, than it is to the rather larger town of Abbotsford! Found it here: 49°07'14"N 122°07'39"W. Looking on Google Earth, there's a couple of likely-looking habitat patches at 49°06'44"N 122°07'21"W and 49°07'05"N 122°07'26"W. They both match Ron's habitat description. Not much else promising on the whole mountain, which is mostly conifer forest (fortunately, GE's coverage of the mountain was taken in spring, so broadleaf trees stand out much lighter green than the conifers!).
