Experts say the western red cedar found in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park is likely to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old.

Western red rice grows in a remote part of North Vancouver's Lane Hedoters Regional Park with an estimated diameter of 4.8-5.8 meters, depending on the method used to calculate diameter at breast height (DBH).



A biologist has discovered what is likely to be one of the largest trees ever recorded in British Columbia.
Ian Thomas measured western red rice in North Vancouver, BC, to be somewhere between 4.8 and 5.8 meters in diameter.


If Thomas' initial measurements are correct, the giant he found at Lynn Headwaters Regional Park would hardly fit inside the cabin of the Boeing 747.


He said the tree's diameter at chest height (DBH) still needs to be officially verified and could end up reaching up to 1 meter below its 5.8-meter calculation, depending on how it is measured on a steep slope.
Regardless of its exact size, there is no doubt that the huge tree is very, very old.
"It came at the cease of about 10 hours of bushwack," Thomas stated."I spend a whole lot of my time reading satellite maps and government records units - and wandering around these incredible and threatened ancient forests, some of which we're very lucky to have right here in British Columbia."
He and his colleague Colin Spratt called the tree "amazing" they found in an orchard of "primitive" red cedars the North Shore Giant.


The tree is located in the territory of Tsleil-Waututh Nation. The director of the treaty, land and resources, said that his people used Western red rice in everything from canoes, clothing and buildings to ceremonial and medical uses.


Hearing about the discovery made his "heart happy", he hoped to remind others of the importance of the few remaining ancient forests in British Columbia.


"When I saw that picture and heard that story, it was very exciting," Gabriel George said.
Although this cedar is already within a protected area, Thomas said it is a reminder of how grace the province still has such natural wonders.


"You are facing one of the largest and oldest living things on the planet," he said. "It's like seeing a blue whale or a northern white rhino - this piece of this rich wild world."


According to British Columbia University. Forest Professor Robert Jay, hosts the Great Western Red Cedar"ecosystems in most of its branches."


"A tree of this height must be very very old," he said. "They can reach 1000 or 2000 years. We have trees on the north shore approaching 2000 years." Since red cedar hollows out as you age, it is often impossible to calculate its inner rings like other trees.