Arizona took top honors for the state with the most national champion trees — 94 — in the 2008-2009 National Register of Big Trees. A total of 733 trees were crowned in 44 states & the District of Columbia, 219 of them new this year. The Register is maintained by American Forests, the nation’s oldest conservation group, & sponsored by The Davey Tree Expert Company.
Arizona’s 26 new champs—including a Geyer willow, the smallest big tree in the Register—are second only to Virginia, which had 37. The Geyer willow, on Fort Apache Indian Reservation, was one of two Arizona trees marking their species’ first appearance on the Register. The other is a littleleaf sumac west of Duncan in Graham County.
A new rule that all trees must be remeasured within 10 years to remain as champions resulted in the most changes in the Register’s 68-year history. American Forests relies on public participation to find & nominate champion trees; the nominations are then verified by state coordinators & the list updated every 2 years. Trees receive a point total based on their height, circumference, & ¼ of their crown spread. Trees within 5 points become co-champions.
Among Arizona’s notable titleholders: a 353-point velvet ash in Prescott National Forest, a 653-point Fremont cottonwood in Sonoita Creek, Santa Cruz County, & a 409-point longbeak eucalyptus in Chandler. Striking a blow for higher education, the University of Arizona boasts 3 national titleholders: a huajillo, a co-champ guajillo, & a co-champ tree tobacco; Central Arizona College has a co-champ blackbrush acacia. Boyce Thompson Arboretum near Superior had 3: althorn, Texas kidneywood, & Florida mayten. Tucson Medical Center has the national champion Indian-fig.
The biggest of the big trees on this year’s list is again California’s General Sherman giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park—Earth’s largest living thing & a perennial champ since the first Register in 1940. Standing 274 feet tall with a girth of 1,020 inches & a crown spread of 107 feet, it racks up a point total of 1,321.
Six states—Delaware, Hawaii, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, & Wyoming—had no champs at all.
For more information about all the champions, visit the American Forests’ website: americanforests.org. From there, you can download interesting trivia about the champs, a description of how to measure a tree, a nomination form for new champs, & e-mailable postcards. You also can check out the list of 189 species that are currently without a national champion.