Ode to the White Pine

Of all the beautiful Michigan trees, the majestic White Pine stands alone.

The Native Americans named it the “Tree of Peace.” It’s also the state tree of Michigan and Maine and the provincial tree of Ontario, Canada.

The Eastern White Pine is a large-standing conifer — the tallest tree in eastern North America with some trees over 200 feet in height! To identify it, you can check its long needles, which occur in bundles (fascicles) of five. The seed cones are slender and scaled, and open slightly when seeds are released.

Popular with loggers, pine lumber is often used for building dwellings, barns, cabins and fences in the Midwest and northeastern U.S. and Canada. Old-growth pine is a highly desired wood since it produces large, knot-free boards and is common and easy to cut. Many homes use pine for paneling, floors and furniture. Manninen’s Cabins are made from pine logs harvested from the surrounding land and cut and planed on the family sawmill.

Estivant Pines, located in Keweenaw County near Copper Harbor, is one of the last old-growth, protected stands of White Pine in Michigan. It’s a sacred place. Many of the giant trees there are over 125 feet tall, 3- to 5-feet in diameter, and 300-500 years old. Hiking in the sanctuary is a walk worth taking.

For me, the white pines are the guardians of the land. After I removed a dying blue spruce near the entrance to the cabins a few years back, I transplanted a 4-foot white pine there. In three years it has taken hold and nearly doubled in size. It stands tall and straight and greets the cabin guests each time they arrive and depart. I walk by it daily on my way to the cabins and appreciate its presence. The way its branches move in the wind is calming and mesmerizing. It is home.