Western Champion Lists   abi-@u.washington.edu
  Apr 12, 2006 06:59 PDT 
ENTS,
...

Here in the Western states, many of our champions are located in remote areas that take all day, or multiple days to locate. I have have spent two days to remeasure a tree many times, three days twice, and four days once (for a single tree!).

In addition, many of our giant conifers here in the West and hundreds, if not thousands of years old. Other than breakage or death, the dimensions of these trees do not change. Coring is the only way to detect change in diameter of a 15 foot diameter Douglas fir, for example. Growth rings are often measured in tenths of millimeters. A chunk of bark that flakes off will affect the measurement more than actual growth. In the preparation of my Forest Giants book, I visited a few Ponderosa and Jeffrey pines that were champions more than thirty years earlier. The updated measurements of circumference were nearly identical to the initial ones.

Here I have nominated more than 70 trees that served as National Champions for at least part of the last 20 years. I don't know if that is a record or not (I think Frank Callahan has more), but there are few people who have devoted more time into this process than me.

To think that a tree that has served as the National Champion for three or four decades, will all-of-a-sudden become a 'species without champions' just because a State Coordinator did not have the time to revisit the tree is ludicrous!

As coordinator of a state with nearly 50 National Champs, many of which are very remote, this is not going to happen. Many of the other Western states have coordinators who are not as active as me, will suffer a similar fate.

Frustrated in Seattle,
- BVP
  • Ed Frank wrote:

    "Ethan Kerns indicated that American Forests will be instituting a sunset
    policy in which measurements must be reverified every 10 years or they
    would be dropped from the list."
RE: AF lists and back to Bob   Robert Leverett
  Apr 12, 2006 07:43 PDT 

Bob,

 ....

   Your dedication in relocating the western giants made even my eyes
open wide - four days to relocate and measure one tree. Wow! Could I ask
you to share the details with your admiring fellow and sister Ents? That
has to be a great story.

Bob
RE: AF lists and back to Bob   abi-@u.washington.edu
  Apr 12, 2006 11:58 PDT 

Bob,

... I departed from AF with my first Washington State Big Tree Register in 1989. I have always kept track of the tallest, largest trunk, highest points, and in many cases crown spread for each type of tree. At least half of the states individual programs that I have seen are also superior to the National one.

Cheers,
- BVP