Duncan Cedar
The Duncan Cedar, also known as the Duncan Memorial Cedar and the Nolan Creek Tree, is a large specimen of Western red cedar. The tree is located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It is currently the largest known Western redcedar in the world,. The tree is surrounded by second growth forest that has grown up after the original old-growth rainforest in this area was clearcut by commercial logging interests in the mid-20th century. The tree was discovered by Wiley and Ed Duncan, Rayonier Co. loggers when they were cutting the state timber sale in 1975. The tree, 19.4 feet in diameter and 178 feet tall is also 1,000 years old. Located on Department of Natural Resource state school trust lands, the Fork’s Lion Club lobbied the Commissioner to remove the tree from the timber sale. Their successful efforts caused the tree to be renamed, “The Duncan Cedar” in honor of the two loggers.
The Duncan Cedar is estimated to be over 1,000 years old. Most of the tree is dead, with the exception of a strip of bark on one of the trunks. However, due to redcedar's natural resilience to pests and rot, the Duncan Cedar is not necessarily in poor health. According to University of Washington Forestry Professor Robert Van Pelt, the tree may live for many more centuries, unless destroyed by wind, fire, or human intervention.