CROSBY &045; A stand of 400 year-old virgin pines known as the Flat Rock Reserve will remain in northeastern Wilkinson County to demonstrate what happens to unmanaged forests, thanks to an area timber company and a retired timber agent.

The 65-ace tract was set aside in the 1930’s by Crosby Lumber and Manufacturing Company, according to Gloster resident Cletus McCurley, whose father worked for the company and first suggested the reserve.

The tract later belonged to St. Regis Lumber Company and Georgia-Pacific Corporation, before Plum Creek Timber Company acquired the property last year.

Plum Creek initially considered harvesting some of the trees, but after learning more about the history of the informal reserve from McCurley, company officials decided to leave the stand intact.

&uot;They (Plum Creek) called me and said they were going to leave that tract just like it was.

They gave me a key to the gate, and every now and then someone will ask me to take them out there,&uot; said McCurley, who celebrated his 91st birthday Thursday.

On Thursday, Plum Creek Environmental Affairs Manager Kit Hart confirmed that the company has no plans to harvest the gigantic longleaf pines, some of which now tower 150 tall and measure over 30 inches at breast height.

&uot;We’re still deciding how we will manage certain aspects of the property with hunting leases involved, but we do plan to continue the reserve on an informal basis, just as our predecessor companies did,&uot; Hart said.

A canopy of uncut hardwood in the reserve has shaded out pine seedlings, leaving the old pines to eventually die of natural causes.

McCurley remembers cutting and removing 17 trees that were infested with pine beetles in the reserve about 50 years ago.

&uot;We counted the rings on one tree.

It was 350 years old,&uot; he said.