How big is that tree?

[xtremetrees]

Here is the website to nominate those monsters, There is also a list of them by state and then by county.

Has anyone here ever nominated a champion tree?

Here is the guidelines, its taken me along time to figure this out. This year I plan to nominate (measure) at least one a year from here on out.

Anyway heres the sight
http://www.championtrees.org/champions/nominate.htm

 

[treeman82]

I used to work at this one place where they had some arborvitae that I thought were worth nominating. Did some research and they were way shy on the points.

 

[xtremetrees]

So you climbed them and scored them?

An inclometer?:monkey:

 

[treeman82]

Scaled it out from the ground.

 

[clearance]

Scaled it from the ground, scaled it, hmmmm. About how many cubic metres of wood is in it, or how many board feet, and how much is it worth, at the mill, is that what you mean? Like with a scaling stick, aka gyp stick? It ain't worth nothing just standing there, put er on the ground, buck er up.

 

[treeman82]

It was somewhere around 60 - 70' tall, 17" diameter, and maybe all of 15' wide. The STATE champ was 30'+ wide, height wise it was less I think, but stem diameter wise it was much larger.

 

[Nickrosis]

Great topic! I love looking up big trees in the area or in places I'm visiting. Right in my home community, we have the state champion dawn redwoods and a mis-nominated sycamore maple that, according to AS and Elmore, is not a sycamore maple.

Actually, I've found it to be a great value to tell customers about their champion trees if they have them. Immediately, they light up and get excited about caring for their trees. The one that I'm thinking about is an amur corktree that ranked in the top 10 or higher for the state - a really gorgeous tree.

On campus in my undergrad days we pruned the state's second largest northern pin oak which got me interested in champion trees. I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin. The person who conducted it works for the state's DNR and went over measuring the height with a clinometer (duh), the trunk at DBH (duh), and the more unique process of measuring the canopy using two measures.

 

[clearance]

Great topic! I love looking up big trees in the area or in places I'm visiting. Right in my home community, we have the state champion dawn redwoods and a mis-nominated sycamore maple that, according to AS and Elmore, is not a sycamore maple.

Actually, I've found it to be a great value to tell customers about their champion trees if they have them. Immediately, they light up and get excited about caring for their trees. The one that I'm thinking about is an amur corktree that ranked in the top 10 or higher for the state - a really gorgeous tree.

On campus in my undergrad days we pruned the state's second largest northern pin oak which got me interested in champion trees. I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin. The person who conducted it works for the state's DNR and went over measuring the height with a clinometer (duh), the trunk at DBH (duh), and the more unique process of measuring the canopy using two measures.

So Nick, is that all it took to get ISA certified, is that what certification you are talking about?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

I actually became certified through a simple process to be able to nominate trees for the State of Wisconsin.

 

[treeseer]

Hey Tom, what did Nick say again?

Watch that clinometer usage...

How Tall is that Tree?


If a tree is not laying on the ground so you can use a tape measure, how can you be sure how tall it is? Foresters have historically used a variety of methods and tools to answer this question. Readings from an Abney hand level, hypsometer, transit, Biltmore stick and clinometer are accurate enough to show the approximate length of the trunk and about how much wood will be harvested.

These techniques may also be used to satisfy the needs of modern research, which looks instead at the height of the entire tree. When the highest point of the tree is visible and directly over the base of the tree, and the tree is growing on level ground and not leaning, they tell you how tall that tree is. On trees that lean or spread, other techniques are used, because canopy researchers demand greater accuracy, and insist on repeatability.


The Middleton Oak, at a plantation with the same name near Charleston SC, was measured with a clinometer at 85 feet tall. Technicians of various experience, under the direction of Dr. Robert Van Pelt of the University of Washington, measured this massive tree using the Eastern Native Tree Society Laser Method. (See http://www.uark.edu/misc/ents/measure/tree_measuring_guide.htm ) Their readings were all just over 67 feet; the tape measure that I dropped from the top read 67’4”. (Wake County’s Capital Trees Program also hosted a workshop on the ENTS method on July 22nd, and its members were impressed with its accuracy.) Dr. Van Pelt and the ENTS have measured the total volume of that oak at 4,820 cubic feet. A tuliptree that reaches100’ taller measured only 3,990 cubic feet.

American Forests, keeper of the National Big Tree Registry, http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees/register.php is looking at total volume as a future category for champion status, but for now is relying on the traditional formula of height plus circumference plus one-quarter of the average spread. What is new is the requirement that only trees measured within the last five years are eligible. Advanced climbing gear makes it easier to get to the top, and using the ENTS method with the laser rangefinder (<$200) makes it easier to measure accurately without climbing.

There will be a call for a lot of remeasuring, so it is more important than ever to get the height right. Trees in NC in search of a national champ include winterberry, Ilex laevigata, American and Bigleaf snowbells, Styrax americanus and grandifolius, the Kelsey locust Robiniae kelseyii, Bigflower pawpaw, Asimina obovata, and Sarvis holly, Ilex amelanchier. Also, a recent survey showed 42 deceased NC champs, so big tree hunters are needed to nominate replacements. For a free copy of the summer issue of American Forests magazine containing the Registry, and a copy of the ENTS measuring guide, email [email protected] .

 

[clearance]

Tom, once again a most condesceding man, I asked Nick, but seeing how it was you that answered you must be right. If that is all it took then it supports my contention that ISA certification really is a joke, a scam. Looking at and nominating trees, wow, pathetic, no wonder ISA guys wanted me to climb stone cold trees, etc. You are shameless.

 

[moss]

Tom, once again a most condesceding man, I asked Nick, but seeing how it was you that answered you must be right. If that is all it took then it supports my contention that ISA certification really is a joke, a scam. Looking at and nominating trees, wow, pathetic, no wonder ISA guys wanted me to climb stone cold trees, etc. You are shameless.

Clearance!!! We're going to have to call your mother and have her spank you good! Chill out dude, you're wearing yourself to a nub!

I thought we were talking about measuring trees! Check out these folks they are deep into the science of tree measurement:
http://www.uark.edu/misc/ents/

Edit: I see that treeseer included that link

 

[Diesel JD]

Pretty cool, that Florida champion live oak is in my home county. We have lots of them like that here...well maybe not quite that big but big! My only gripe is not near enough tree species are represented there. No pines except bristlecone...what's up with that?

 

[clearance]

Clearance!!! We're going to have to call your mother and have her spank you good! Chill out dude, you're wearing yourself to a nub!

I thought we were talking about measuring trees! Check out these folks they are deep into the science of tree measurement:
http://www.uark.edu/misc/ents/

Edit: I see that treeseer included that link

Moss, I asked Nick a question, Tom was not asked anything and chose to butt in. As far as my mother spanking me, she died of cancer in 1998, so that might be a little difficult.

 

[appalachianarbo]

A tuliptree that reaches100’ taller measured only 3,990 cubic feet.

I climbed that 168' tulip with Will to set the ropes for Bob Van Pelt, but wasn't able to make the climb on measuring day. Here's a pic of me and my "twin" with the trunk, using a little photo stitch magic...

ENTS has a new way to measure volume which is more accurate than laser/tape readings. Details should be on the website.

 

[treeman82]

Sad news, I happened to drive by the place with the large arbs the other day, they are all gone There had been 7 when I started working there, and I personally had removed 4 of them due to a break in 1, and 3 others were LOADED with ants and leaning HEAVILY towards the house.

 

[rbtree]

Clearance, if you'd actually practice some reading comprehension, you'd understand what Nick said, which had absolutley nothing to do with ISA certification. Tom certainly got Nick's drift... and repeated it for you. Yet you still seem clueless.......

 

[rbtree]

awesome, app-arbo! Lore has it that liriodendron once soared over 200 feet!

We have a few fast growing specimens in Washington. One, that I've pruned and cabled, is over 6 feet in girth and 110 feet tall. It resides in a tiny yard, its canopy extends over two homes and the primaries. Another nearby tree is approaching 145 feet in height and is over 5 feet dbh.

As treeseer points out, American Forests' recognized method for scoring trees is based on dbh, height and crown spread. It is not as accurate as Bob Van Pelt's method which uses a laser tool to estimate total wood volume. Interested folks might get his book, "Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast". (ISBN 0-295-98140-7) It includes his fabulous to-scale drawings, photos and descriptions of 10 or so specimen of each of the 20 largest West Coast species of conifers.

 

[rbtree]

It ain't worth nothing just standing there, put er on the ground, buck er up.

Groan........

 

[xtremetrees]

Heres his sight koolies ty much
http://www.forestgiants.com/