Hi, does anyone have experience rooting cuttings of [what we believe is] Western Red Cedar Thuja plicata?  I know it's not a true cedar, but rather it's related to cypress and juniper.

The tree is located in a national forest, about a mile from a place my dad has gone camping since childhood. In 1935, the tree was a 3 foot sapling with the circumference of my then-8 year old dad's thumb. It had gotten knocked over in a rainstorm. Dad propped it up and spent a few hours building an earth/rock berm around it, and it survived.  Now it's about 75 feet tall and my dad is 85 [he was 80 when this picture was taken].

A huge forest fire [the first recorded since the coming of Europeans to the area in the 1770s] went through there 2 months after the picture was taken [notice the bear scratchings on the bark], so we thought it was a goner. However the fire burned the trees surrounding it [the trees with which the cedar tree was competing for sunlight], and it is doing fine.

As you can imagine, this tree has great sentimental value to our dad, and we'd like to root some cuttings from it (we'll be there in about a month).   

Anyway, if anyone has suggestions [preparation, storage, timing, environment, etc.] about rooting these cuttings, please let me know....thanks!

Try airlaying to get best results or look for a thin sapling near the ground for better performance. It might take longer because it's a slow growing tree. You might need to keep checking on the Airlaying to keep it moist. 

Thanks for the response Americanfigboy. I should have stated that the tree is in a very remote location (it's hours from the nearest public road then about an hour on foot), 1000 miles from my home, in a place that I can only visit every year or two. Therefore air-layering would not be possible. However I appreciate your response!

if the tree have a branch low enough to the ground bending it until you can put dirt over it. pin it down so it doesn't move. leave until next time you go back. I cant see around the whole tree so I dont know if this is possible. Also look for a sapling near roots. Find green fresh growth and try cutting with that the same way you would with figs.

A wonderful story Paul. I did an Internet search on the Thuja plicata and it seems like it grows easily from seeds formed in the small cones on the tree. Perhaps you could get some cones and remove the seed to plant. Just a thought.
"gene"

Or plant the whole pinecone on it's side.  I'm just that lazy! :-))

I seem to remember [my last visit was that day in 2007] that there were a lot of sprouts up to 10 or so feet away from the tree. However, I don't recall if they were coming from roots or were actual seedlings. If the latter, I could probably find one with some good roots...and with some TLC, could bring a few home.

If you get some seeds (cones) be sure to stratify them before placing them in rooting medium.  Wouldn't hurt putting them in the frig for 3 or 4 months.  I am in the process of raising Ozark Chinkapin's from seeds and have been very successful.  They were kept in the frig for 5 months at about 40 degrees.  Then I moved them to zip locks with a wet paper towl into indirect sunlight and a temp of about 65.  Thus far I have 14 seedlings several are 5 inches tall.  So I would try to gather seeds if at all possible.