Message from the Director
Ron Mahoney
Director, Idaho Big Tree Program
The Idaho Big
Tree Program is part of a national program to locate,
measure, and recognize the largest individual tree of each species in
Idaho. The nominator(s) and owner(s) are recognized with a certificate,
and the owners are encouraged to help protect the tree. Most states,
including Idaho, keep records of state champion trees and forward
contenders to the national program. Some cities, such as Boise and
Lewiston, Idaho, also keep local records, and occasionally counties or
other organizational units do the same. Lewiston, Coeur d’ Alene, Boise,
and other communities also recognize and promote historically
significant trees.
Champion trees are based on
a point system. One point is recorded for each foot of height and for
each inch of circumference. Circumference is measured at breast height,
defined as 4 ½ feet above the average ground level. The final component
of the point system is the average crown width, with ¼ point for each
foot of crown.
A tree is defined as
vegetation with a woody stem at least 3 inches diameter at breast
height, or 9.4 inches in circumference, and at least 13 feet tall. With
these specifications, Idaho’s smallest champion tree is a western
dogwood measured about 16 years ago along the Selway River. At 30 total
points, this tree, if still alive, would probably still be the smallest
current champion if it were re-measured today. Many of our state and
champion trees need to be re-measured and also determined to be still
living. However, some long-term champions are in remote locations, such
as the record whitebark pine 14 miles into the Sawtooth Wilderness.
The National Register
of Big Trees lists all the U.S. champions for the nation-wide
program with coordinators in each of the 50 states. Begun in 1940, the
nearly 60 year-old program relies on volunteers to hunt down, measure,
and nominate state and national champion trees. For most of that time,
the authority for acceptance of a tree species has been based on its
inclusion in the Checklist of Native and Naturalized Trees by Dr.
E. L. Little, JR., last updated in 1979.
In Idaho,
Professor Emeritus Fred Johnson led the Big Tree Program for many years;
his dedication to the diverse vegetation of Idaho led to publication of
Wild Trees of Idaho in 1995. While applicable to a wide swath of
land covering much of the Pacific Northwest extending into western
Canada, this book is what I use as the definitive source for tree
species for the Idaho Big Tree Program. Based on our criteria,
Idaho has 13 national champion trees, although three have been
challenged by the national program.
Finding and measuring
special trees are good ways to get involved with natural resources. When
you look at trees more closely, you learn about features that identify
individual species, how and where trees grow, and how trees interrelate
with plants, animals, and other natural resources.
