I'm the kind of guy who sometimes has trouble seeing the forest for the trees. As a relative newcomer to tree climbing, I have also tried to expand my knowledge of the forests where the best "climbers" can be found. Along this line 'Eastern Old-Growth Forests - Prospects for Rediscovery and Recovery" Mary Byrd Davis, ed., Washington, DC, Island Press, 1996, is a treasure trove of information from a lot of different perspectives (arborists, botantists, historians, zoologists, etc.). Especially intriguing are the reference in Ch. 3, "Using Lichens to Assess Ecological Continuity in Northeastern Forests," to specific stands of old growth forests in New England. The book could have been improved with some illustrations.
Good reading.