New State Champion Trees Announced

The Tennessee Champion Tree Program recently recognized new winners as part of its annual effort to identify the largest specimens of various tree species across the state. Trees are nominated throughout the year on the Champion Tree website, then measured on-site by program administrators during the summer, with winners announced each year in the fall.

Four trees in Davidson County were recognized as Tennessee Champions this year:

• Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) - circumference of 223.2 inches, height of 85 feet and crown spread of 95.8 feet

• Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) - Circumference 47.6 inches, height 110.25 feet and crown spread 74.05 feet

• Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana) - circumference 21.6 inches, height 19 feet and crown spread 10.8 feet

• Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) - circumference 163.2 inches, height 69 feet and crown spread:73.6 feet

In addition to the four trees in Davidson County, other trees in Middle Tennessee to win recognition as state champions this year include an American Basswood in Williamson County and a Douglas fir in Montgomery County.

Two nominators were also honored for their ongoing contributions to the Tennessee Champion Tree program. Randy Allen of White House, who has been studying and planting trees for over 50 years, received the Prolific Nominator Award. Conservationist David Smith received the Lifetime Nominator Award — he has nominated approximately 30 species of trees, seven of which have become state champions, and five of which have become national champions.

Nominate Your Favorite Big Tree

Nominations for the 2022 Tennessee Champion Tree season are now open, and organizers are hoping to double the number of nominations received last year. If you’ve seen a large tree anywhere in Tennessee that might qualify as a champion, consider nominating it. Anyone can submit a nomination through a form on the program website, where you’ll also find a list of all reigning champions by species.

Although it’s been around since the 1970s, the Tennessee Champion Tree Program has grown in reach and public awareness since the University of Tennessee Knoxville began administering it in recent years. The program also receives support from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry and the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council.

Choosing the Champions

Champion status is awarded based on the points for each tree: 1 point for each foot of height, 1 point for each inch of trunk circumference at 4.5 feet above ground, and a quarter point for each foot of crown spread. If it’s the first time a species has been nominated, that specimen automatically becomes a state champion. For species where a champion has already been named, the tree with the most points becomes the new champion.

What’s the point in recognizing big trees, you might ask? Jaq Payne, student director of the program, notes that Champion Trees perform valuable services for our ecosystems — from improving air and soil quality to reducing noise and heat. When one of these huge trees dies or is cut down, the carbon stored in the tree is returned to the environment, the soil improvement and water retention are lost, and the food and habitat that the tree provided for wildlife disappear. Identifying the biggest trees in Tennessee is one means toward educating the public and providing extra protection for these natural wonders.

Exceptional Trees

In addition to this statewide effort, the Nashville community has its own programs to recognize large trees in our city, most notably the Nashville Tree Foundation’s Big Old Tree Contest, which has honored more than 800 trees since it began in 1988.

A public program, the Metro Historic and Specimen Tree Registry, also catalogs trees in Davidson County that should be protected from removal because of their exceptional size, age or historic significance. Learn more about how to nominate a tree for the program here.

As State Forester David Arnold pointed out during the Tennessee Champion Tree presentation, “We all have a favorite tree.” If you’d like special recognition for your favorite (big) tree, consider nominating it for recognition in one of these state or local programs.

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