Feature

Tennessee’s Newest Champion Trees are a Living Legacy for the State

By Mara Lind, Jaqueline Payne, Jacob Chitwood, Kayla Stuart, (UT Forestry Wildlife and Fisheries students), and Dr. Sharon Jean-Philippe, Faculty Advisor and Professor, UT Forestry Wildlife and Fisheries Department

Beginning as a friendly competition to find the largest American trees, the National Champion Trees program was established in 1940 by the nonprofit organization American Forests.

The program was initiated with the intention of bringing awareness to the ecosystem services, beauty, and need to protect these specimens. During the last 80 years, hundreds of National Champions have been named, yet the search and constant work of updating is an ongoing exercise. Recognizing that the titleholder for Champion Trees is subject to change across time, the process was designed to be reevaluated frequently. Trees can fall victim to old age, weather, pests, and losses associated with human disturbance and development. Newly nominated and discovered trees might usurp past champions, claiming the title’s glory for themselves.

Standards for the title of National and State Champion trees are high. Not just any tree can be awarded that top honor: only native, naturalized, or non-natural exotic species are eligible. Invasive species and unclassified variants need not apply – they will not be judged. Candidate trees must also be living, qualify as the largest of its species in the state, and be assessed and verified by an expert.

In Tennessee, the pursuit of State Champion Trees began in the 1970s and started with efforts to identify and catalog the largest trees in East Tennessee. The program has since been expanded to accept nominations across the entire state. An effort to reinvigorate the program was launched in 2016 (see Winter 2017 Tennessee Greentimes, 18(4): 10–12). In 2020, the Tennessee Division of Forestry partnered with the University of Tennessee, Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries to officially host the state’s Champion Tree program. David Arnold, Tennessee State Forester commented that, “partnering with the UT Department of FWF has elevated Tennessee’s Champion Tree program to an elite status. The program is now more available and engaging to Tennessee’s citizens. The UT students have made it exciting and fun to learn about our state’s biggest individual tree species. Hats off to these dedicated students!” Now, a hard-working cadre of talented UT students are being trained as tree assessment experts and are taking the lead at assisting in 1) managing the champion tree website and database, 2) vetting new nominations, 3) reinventory of current champions and 4) publicity for the Tennessee’s Champion Program. This year round internship provides students with practical, professional skills, and training in the major that will support them as they matriculate through school into their careers.

In 2021, students Jaq Payne and Jacob Chitwood traveled at least 400 miles from Memphis to Johnson City as guides for the competition. Over the course of two weeks, the team visited 116 trees, with 27 new trees winning the champion title. “The most impressive tree was the Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) we measured in Nashville (Photo 1), just for the sheer size of it,” Chitwood said. The Dawn Redwood, measuring 110.25 feet tall, is roughly the same height reached by 3 school buses stacked on top of each other. Despite champions being the largest trees in the state, the trees can range anywhere from 19 feet tall (like our Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha) Champion) to 213.6 feet tall (like our Post Oak (Quercus stellata) Champion). Trees are only judged against other trees in its species, leveling the playing field for each species to sprout its own champion.

Trees are measured on height, circumference, and crown spread (Table 1), which is the width of foliage and branches growing outward from the tree’s trunk. Each foot of height and circumference counts as one point, while each foot of crown spread counts as 0.25 points. While circumference can be measured manually by walking a measuring tape around the base of the tree, height and crown spread are calculated with a measuring device called a laser rangefinder. Students are trained during the school year (Photo 2) by Bob Leverett and Don Bertolette, who wrote the American Forests Tree-Measuring Guidelines Handbook, to prepare for the summer measurements.

PHOTO 2 — Students Kayla Stuart and Jacob Chitwood measure a Sawtooth Oak on the campus of UT Knoxville.

But why award trees solely on size?

Because big trees are vital to ecosystems. Most trees provide services such as shade covering, stormwater management, and carbon sequestration, yet the largest trees do so on a bigger scale. As an example, tree roots improve soil aeration and water penetration within soil. Root systems typically spread between 2-4 times the size of a tree’s crown spread. To put this in perspective, the current White Oak (Quercus alba) champion (Photo 3) has a crown spread of 96.82 feet, meaning its root spread could be a little under 400 feet in diameter or covering about ~2.88 acres. Roots this size have a large positive impact on soil health.

PHOTO 3 — The 2021 White Oak Champion has a crown spread of 96.82 feet, meaning its root spread could be almost 2.88 acres

In addition to roots, the size of a tree’s trunk impacts the amount of carbon that can be held in its wood. The taller and wider a tree is, the more carbon it can hold. The impressive Dawn Redwood, which was over 110 feet tall, was also 12.3 feet wide. This large resource volume is ideal for carbon sequestration, or the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is an increasingly crucial ecosystem service provided by trees as climate changes occur.

This year, Tennessee’s Champion Tree program hopes to double its nominations. Student Director Jaq Payne is working hard to spread the word on Champion Trees (Photo 4).

PHOTO 4 — Advisor Dr. Sharon Jean-Philippe and students and students (left-to-right) Kayla Stuart, Jaq Payne, and Jacob Chitwood. Not pictured: IT Specialist Kristy Keel-Blackmon and students Mara Lind and Jimi Miller.

“Now that we’ve had a few years to establish a strong foundation, we’re ready to ‘branch out,’ so to speak,” Payne says. “We’re hoping to get more Tennesseeans paying attention to Champions in their neck of the woods.” To nominate a tree, participants must simply fill out the form on the Tennessee Champion Trees website at championtree.tennessee.edu. Identifying trees can be tricky, but apps such as TreeSnap (which was designed by University of Tennessee’s Plant and Entomology faculty member Dr. Meg Staton) bring down this barrier.

Bringing awareness to big trees is symbiotic. People are educated on the importance of big trees which in turn protects these valuable trees for future generations to come. Trees offer solutions to water management, air quality, even climate change and so much more. Awareness is also important because State Champion trees, like Tennessee’s Champion Sassafras, may be at risk from introduced, non-native plant pathogens. The plant pathogen Raffaelea lauricola causes laurel wilt in native Bay trees (Persea spp.), Sassafras trees and Spicebush (Lindera bezoin) shrubs and was found infecting trees in several Tennessee counties in 2019.

“We can’t protect and honor what we can’t see,” Payne summarizes. “When we recognize the largest trees in the state, we’re encouraging the community to consider the impact these trees have.”

MEET the CHAMPION TREE TEAM:

• JAQ PAYNE – Student Director

• KAYLA STUART – Data and Nominations Management

• MARA LIND – Communications and Social Media

• JACOB CHITWOOD – Mapping and Measurements

• JIMI MILLER – Operations Assistant

• KRISTY KEEL-BLACKMON –Champion Tree Program IT Specialist

• DR. SHARON JEAN-PHILIPPE – Faculty Advisor

More information about the program can be found at https://fwf.tennessee.edu/champion-tree/.

For questions about the Tennessee Champion Tree Program, contact championtreehelpdesk@tennessee.edu.