Email from the crew

looks inviting

i didn't know you guys had trees out there

lots of trees, snoop..

In the Bible, it's either in First or Second Condominiums, God divided Oklahoma into two distict areas: East of I-35 and West of I-35. East looks like Arkansas, West looks like the Texas Panhandle. 😉

What was the standard practice for planting tree lines there, was it along the line with common ownership or were they offset from the property lines? We have both here and when we find the trees on the property lines the fences are offset so property corners do not fall in the fence and those fences were in place only to control livestock and never intended to mark ownership. Caused problems in some areas when proper research was not done. I see a tree line in the photo is why I ask.
jud

Jud

Most tree lines around here are 'volunteer'. Probably left by a little birdy that stopped on the top wire to relieve himself. Elm and cedar. Hay cultivation, grazers and fires keep the rest of it from popping up.

Seriously, they just grow up along fence rows. Most of the wooded areas in Oklahoma are not 'old growth'. It's difficult to find a tree older than 50 years old in the 'uplands'.

When Central Oklahoma was settled (1890) it was all rolling prairie. I've followed 1/4 section line fences through some seriously overgrown woods. When you plot it out, they're straight as an arrow. That leads me to believe the trees weren't there when the fence was first built.

Jud

I have seen the same thing further west, where the only trees used to be in creek and river bottoms. Now they are in fences and every where else. Especially Shinnery and Western Cedars.

Jud

No trees planted in fence lines in range or wheat lands. Where the problem of trees being planted on or alongside of property lines is up North where the Oregon-Washingtom Railroad and Navigation company bought and subdivided a large tract of land, the Bureau of Reclamation also put in some ditches for irrigation. Was advertised for orchard use and sold. Russian Olive trees were planted on or near property lines as a wind break to protect the orchards. Some of the irrigation ditches were also on or near property lines so occupation was not always controlled by the owners. Makes it risky to blindly pick one of three possible lines and runn with it because of a rule that sounds good but does not always apply to every circumstance.
jud

I'd love to be out there. Don't you think that locating trees in the manner shown here is less than ideal?

Ro:

I think that "tree" he's locating has a #6 copper ground wire stapled to the side of it.

Ro:

Aw yes, the "Copper Oak", Quercus Copperus.

Ro:

At least he's on the south side.
(Sigh)

Ro:

I thought it was a split in the trunk, even so, i would estimate the accuracy of a shot taken like that to be .1 to 33 meters, give or take.

We take two shots..

..on utility poles; opposite sides, in line with the longitudinal alignment (did that terminology really come outa my head this early?). You know, centerline.

In the office we place the pole on the midpoint of a 3-d line between the two collection points.

We've tried several things, but that seems to work pretty good. If the pole has a cross-arm that may infringe on a R/W line, we use a reflectorless TS to x-y-n-z the little 'upstairs' details.