Crowning CHAMPIONS for a New Age

NEW CHAMPS SOAR, FLORIDA SCORES, AN ENDANGERED SPECIES EMERGES, AND FROM CALIFORNIA; REAL STAR POWER. STORY & PHOTOS

I write this article in late 1999 with full confidence that the National Register of Big Trees--and the big trees themselves--will survive the passing of the second millennium.

That's because I've met a survivor from the first millennium. Utah's champion Rocky Mountain juniper; and I have visited California's champion giant sequoia, a tree born when we first began counting the years toward a millennium. I've even made the acquaintance of the champion western juniper, which no doubt scoffs at Y2K, having been around since Y2KBC.

Even if you're among those who realize that, in the absence of a Year 0, the real millennium doesn't begin until 2001, relax, put your trust in ancient champion trees, and check out the Class of 2000.

The National Register of Big Trees celebrates its 60th year and begins the popularly accepted new millennium with 867 champs and co-champs representing 826 species. From the world-famous, incredibly huge, 60-year veteran giant sequoia to the obscure, diminutive, rookie Georgia holly, this exclusive list features the dimensions of the most magnificent individual trees in America. And by doing so, of course, it highlights each species' potential.

The Big Tree Register is a lot like a healthy natural forest. On any given day not much happens. But over the years its dynamic nature becomes apparent as most trees get bigger, some are diminished, and a few bite the proverbial and literal dust. In the two years since the last Register, 150 stately trees have been crowned as the biggest of their kind, and 100 have been dethroned.

Most dethroned champions simply lost the point game to a bigger tree. But a few were deemed undeserving in the first place. The former titleholders for Oregon white oak, Norway maple, rock elm, buckwheattree, turkey oak, and blackhead catclaw were all unmasked as trees of a different species.

Six trees, including the 737-point exaggeration of a sycamore, were stripped of their crowns because they broke the multi-stem rule: If a tree forks below 4 1/2 feet, the circumference should be measured from the largest single stem above that level. It is important to follow that rule because the circumferences of multi-stem trees greatly inflate their point totals. This detracts from the impressions of true giants, robbing them of the respect they deserve.

At least 16 champion trees died of various causes. An Engelmann spruce in Payette Lake, Idaho, succumbed to bark beetles. Gravity and wind got the best of the co-champ eastern white pines in Upper Michigan. In Florida, Hurricane Georges knocked out the biggest Key byrsonima while Josephine flattened the biggest yellow hawthorn. On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, lightning struck down one of two co-champion Chihuahua pines. (To add insult to injury, the other was dethroned by a tree elsewhere in Arizona.) A tornado obliterated a 461-point silver maple in Polk County, Iowa. And a 367-point digger pine in Redding, California, met its demise by the most powerful force of all: the Highway Department.

The newly crowned in the Class of 2000 cover nearly the entire arboreal spectrum, from the twig-like 17-point Florida crossopetalum to the colossal 1,291-point coast redwood. At first one might wonder how, after 60 years of searching, big tree hunters--or even casual hikers--could miss the world's biggest coast redwood. But the best hiding place for a giant tree is a forest of other giants.

The team of Ron Hildebrant, Michael Taylor, and Steven Sillett found not one but two trees that beat the 1998 champion redwood. In fact, the one dubbed the Lost Monarch is only 9 points shy of the ol' General Sherman giant sequoia, long recognized as the biggest tree in the world!

To picture the size of the Lost Monarch, stand in the middle of a room roughly 22 feet on all sides. Then imagine it entirely filled with wood and gradually tapering upward 30 stories, a bit taller than the Statue of Liberty, including pedestal.

Also notable at the upper end of the spectrum of new royals are two others in the Top 10. The coast Douglas-fir solidified its No. 5 ranking among the biggest of the big with the discovery of an 804-point tree in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. A California-laurel from Grass Valley, California, boasting a 45-foot girth and 684 points, bested its Oregon predecessor by 77 points and moved up to 7th place as the Top 10's only hardwood. (The only hardwood on the previous list was the now-dethroned sycamore.)

Four other new champions topped the 500-point mark: in California, a bluegum eucalyptus owned by Clint Eastwood (629 points--see Register, page 14), canyon live oak (548 points), and California red fir (547 points), and in Washington, a Western hemlock (545 points). These impressive point totals grant them membership in the exclusive 500+ Club, which includes only 43 of America's 826 tree species.