Need help

[Kpro]

Hello, I am in need of getting someone with tree expertise to review two photographs of logs and review the “fingerprint” of the two, and tell me if they think these two logs are a match. If you would consider this, please see the link to a Youtube video, which is about 10 minutes long and then email me with your thoughts. Kpro3@aol.com

 

[lxskllr]

Looks like a court case. You might get more interest if you gave more info about why you want this, and you might get other avenues to explore. Looks the same to me, but this is the kind of stuff software should be best at.

 

[vharrison]

Welcome to the TreeHouse Kpro!

 

[Treeaddict]

Welcome Kpro. You made me think. I can definitely understand that a cross section of growth rings would be unique to a specific tree- none the same, ever. Much harder to think about that in log form

 

[SkwerI]

Absolutely no way to tell. If the samples were taken from opposing sides of a saw cut, then yes they can be matched. But tree grain will vary so much in the course of a few feet that there is no way of knowing if they are from the same tree or just similar logs of the same species but different trees.

and to be honest, I don't see much to indicate if they are even the same species. You have a dried log on the ground and trying to compare it to a picture of a root flare. Unless you are going to examine it at the cellular level to determine species, there's not much to go on.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

I can't see what you are loocking for. Is this a quizz question? What do we win?
Our expertise as tree men isn't needed at all and we can't add anything more to what you already got by consulting other people. It's just a problem of image analysis. The real question is : Are two pics taken three years apart are of the same subject or not?
You can do that the same way with a pic of your driveway. Would you ask to the masson union if they match? Seriously.

 

[Nutball]

From the start, I don't like the smell of this one. Looks like a subscriber seeking post.

 

[lxskllr]

A forensic study of logs is pretty dry material. Good luck getting subscribers with that. I bet the back story is kind of interesting though. I think it's a lawyer preparing a court case for(?), and needs to prove the location of a specific log for(?)

 

[Tree09]

It looks like it's a treasure hunter conspiracy nut. A crazy followed one of the others back to here

 

[lxskllr]

Oh, I didn't even look at the video owner. I guess that changes my opinion. I'd still like to know why the log matters.

 

[Altissimus]

It doesn't

 

[Mesquite]

From the little we can see in the pics it does not even look like the same spot let alone the same tree. The cracks in the wood are different. Unlesd the same log was move to a different spot and was rolled over, that way we are looking at a different side of the wood. The way the shade is in the og pic to help find up. One other thing that would help are some mesurements lenght, diameter, due north?

If your into tresure check out terry Carter on the 'ol youtube. He interviews treasure hunters and old timers to save history and what rabbit holes they have been down. Very interesting things like certain reservoir being build to hide things and also where/the general area cool things have been found. Egyptians, romans in america? There was just one on forest fenns tresure being found and that forest sent these guys out to find it because his family didnt want it out there after he was dead. That was the first time hearing about ol forest and i am surprised that there was that big of a deal over it. Even if i did know about it i wouldnt have wasted my time. Was there any proof that he put one out there? Snip hunt? He might not have even put one out there if he had these guys go "find it". Sorry for the derail.

 

[Kpro]

Thanks for all the replies. I didn’t give the back story as I didn’t want to bias anyone, but here goes, the short version. The one picture from 3 years ago was from a man who found a 2 million dollar treasure hidden by Forrest Fenn, but since it was found in Yellowstone National Park, the government intervened and will press criminal charges if the finder discloses the location. Throughout the last 3 years, many have tried to find the location and literally grid searched the area, for hours and hours, and found this potential match. Many of us non-experts are split on if it is the same log, so I thought of posting it on some of the best forums (I own a forum on treasure hunting, and lots of good info there but no tree / wood experts) and found this forum from a google search. I also sent to various professors of “wood science”. I don’t know what I don’t know here. Like there is a crack near the knot in the before picture, but it seems to “heal” or close. Some think that is due to the weather (Wyoming) and time of year. I have no idea, so thought to put together a short video and direct potential experts with a willingness to check it out to do so. Thanks everyone for your response K

 

[BeerGeek]

Okay, I'm intrigued, but can't really provide any assistance.

Ala Cory....

 

[Altissimus]

crazy legal question ... if this "treasure" is in Yellowstone National Park , isn't it the property of the American people ?

 

[BeerGeek]

I doubt it Dave, as it wasn't owned by the govt. in the first place. If someone tried to apply your line of thinking, I would see the govt. coming in and just confiscating it "for the people", and we all know how that would turn out. I think the objective of that ruling is to try and discourage someone from doing something like that again in the parks.

 

[Altissimus]

I know from my prospecting days that Federal Lands have lot's of rules

 

[Altissimus]

Also from my years at the ski area which had roughly half the terrain on Federal land. Rules , permits , everything done was physically checked by USFS

 

[Altissimus]

The line "property of the American people" came from them , they take their jobs quite seriously. Often showed up unannounced in uniform and marked trucks , also plainclothes with unmarked rigs and ski equipment in season , used the lifts to get around (resort issues them season passes for this purpose)

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Like there is a crack near the knot in the before picture, but it seems to “heal” or close.

The big crack near the knot didn't close, no reason to do that while the other cracks are the same or even wider.
In the before pic, you can see the beginning of a decay, as a spear shaped discolored area along the crack on top of the log ( brownish, botom left in the pic). Beside some cracks and the rot's beginning, the log looks mainly cylindrical with a smooth surface. Three years later, the decay has invaded the log's top on more than half of its length in the pic, the log's surface in this area is hollowed out and all jagged. Actually, a big chunk of wood disapeared due to the fungy's activity. That's why the crack is no longer here, the wood of the left side of the crack vanished and only the wood of the right side of the crack is still visible.
If that makes sens.
For me, same log, same location.

 

[Mesquite]

I just watched this video the other day, terry carter has tons of interviews with people that have been treasure hunting there whole life, some have found cool things, some not.