The Michigan Big Tree Program

Introduction

Trees, especially very big trees, have always held a special fascination for people. Not only can they enormously outsize any other living thing, but they also may outlive us by several generations. Recognizing this, it is perhaps only natural that records would begin to be kept and friendly competition arise to see where the very biggest trees reside. Thus most, if not all, states now maintain such a register––finding, measuring and registering the largest individual of each species. Each state has an agency or organization that has stepped up to sponsor the program in their state. In Michigan it has been the Michigan Botanical Society (previously known as the Michigan Botanical Club).

Aside from general public interest, why is it important to maintain such records? As stated on the Society’s website for the Michigan Big Tree Program:

First, it is a vital record of a precious natural resource. These trees are typically the oldest of their type, and therefore their genetic material is also the oldest and may play a critical role in species preservation. These trees are also growing at the physiological limit for their species, and if global climate change is coming these trees will likely be the first to be affected. The register is also important because humans have always enjoyed a close relationship with trees. Many of us had a favorite tree from our childhood, a tree that provided shade, adventure, inspiration, or recreation. Trees have also been central to our history and our faith. Consider the metaphors of the “Tree of Life,” “Our Family Tree,” or “Our Roots,” or the role that council trees and trail marker trees have played in our history. The register stands as a record of grand examples of these historically, spiritually, and personally important trees.

History

In September 1875, “in response to rapid and wasteful postwar development and intense wildfires,” concerned citizens founded the American Forestry Association, later renamed American Forests (American Forests 2023a). Over ensuing decades their conservation pursuits focused on such conservation efforts as promoting the need for a national forest system (U.S. Forest Service), collaborating with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps, pioneering tree planting as a social responsibility on a national scale, and providing a platform for legendary conservationists such as Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold, and Ansel Adams. As a natural outgrowth of its efforts to advocate for wise management and conservation of forests for future generations, American Forests established the National Champion Trees Program in 1940 to engage the public in forestry activities by way of a national search to discover and document the largest living tree of each species in the United States.

American Forests has published its National Registry of Big Trees ever since with the initial support of the Davey Tree Expert Company and, on an ongoing basis, in collaboration with state coordinators. These standings were eventually published every two years, and the Official Register of Champion Trees is now posted on the Internet (American Forests 2023c).

Michigan was among the first states to follow the lead of American Forests and began searching for its own state (and possibly national) champions. The Michigan Botanical Society (MBS) was organized in 1941 (albeit under a different name than it currently has) and initiated its own Big Tree Program soon afterward. Paul Thompson, a research associate at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, became MBS’s first Michigan Big Tree Program Coordinator and began the accumulation of an official record of the state’s largest trees of each species. Early records were of course maintained manually and printed by typewriter. Paul Thompson also published status accounts of Michigan’s big trees in The Michigan Botanist that were especially focused on champion trees, including 17 national champion trees (Thompson 1975, 1986), as well as a popular article that appeared in the magazine of the Michigan DNR (Thompson 1983).

Paul Thompson served as Michigan’s State Coordinator for over 40 years until his death in 1994 (Fitzstephens et al. 1994). At that time the position was transferred to Dr. Elwood B. (“Woody”) Ehrle, a botanist who was then the President of the Michigan Botanical Club and who had served as Professor of Biological Sciences and Provost at Western Michigan University (WMU) (WMU News 2009). Program efforts and records were centered there for 15 years, during which Ehrle published numerous papers on Michigan’s champion trees and shrubs in The Michigan Botanist (e.g., Ehrle 1997, 2003, 2006; Ehrle and Thompson 1992).

During the early decades of the program, the list of trees on the Michigan Big Trees register grew dramatically, at one point reaching over 1100 active specimens. Contributing to this growth were the concerted efforts being made by several tree specialists with access to a great variety of species in a concentrated setting. Notable among them were:

FIGURE 1.

Register # 1305. Black walnut, Juglans nigra, Kalamazoo County. With Deb Hoeksema. Photo by Roger Hoeksema.

Jeff Boddy of the Leila Arboretum in Battle Creek. The Arboretum dates to 1922 when the land was donated to the city of Battle Creek. Soon afterwards, a number of trees were planted that make up some of the largest specimens today. It was then largely idle until 1981, when a group of citizens established the Leila Arboretum Society. There are now more than 2,500 marked trees and plants. (Brett Myers, pers. comm.) Thanks to Jeff Boddy, a number of them are now on the state register of big trees.

Stuart Bassett of the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station. The station was once the summer residence of cereal magnate W. K. Kellogg. Beginning in the late 1920s, he not only cared for the surrounding natural forest, but also planted a wide variety of other trees and species. Upon his death, the lands and properties were gifted to Michigan State University. As groundskeeper, Stuart Bassett began caring for the trees in 1980 and set out to conduct an inventory of the species growing there. In 1983, having seen an article in the local media about a “Big Tree Contest” and noting that even the planted specimens were over 50 years old and of considerable size, he entered a number of them in the contest. Several turned out to be state champions. Contest entries continued to be made in ensuing years and also made their way into the Michigan Big Tree Register. Mr. Bassett retired in 2022. (Stuart Bassett, pers. comm.)

FIGURE 2.

Register # 1256. Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, Berrien County. With Greg Carra. Photo by Don Carra.

Robert Bloye. During the late 1980s, Robert Bloye enrolled at the University of Michigan to pursue graduate work in Forestry. There several professors, including Burton V. Barnes and Warren H. Wagner, Jr., who had collaborated on publishing Michigan Trees (Barnes & Wagner 1981; revised edition 2004), the preeminent guide to the trees of the Great Lakes region, persuaded him to join the Huron Valley Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club (now MBS). That connection led to meeting big tree enthusiast and Michigan Big Tree Coordinator Paul Thompson, whom he subsequently accompanied on a number of big tree searches. Bloye later accompanied Woody Ehrle, then the Michigan Big Tree Coordinator, on many additional big tree jaunts. During the 1990s he and Woody developed a primitive register to document their discoveries. While at the University of Michigan, Bloye measured and recorded most of the trees on campus and in the University of Michigan Arboretum. He later enrolled at Michigan State University (MSU) in 1996 to pursue additional work in Forestry, specializing in dendrochronology. While teaching on the MSU campus and preparing for an overseas trip, he received a vaccine injection which left him quite ill and marooned on campus. To make the best of it, he undertook to measure most of the trees and shrubs on campus. (Robert Bloye, pers. comm.). In time some of them found their way onto the state register of big trees.

FIGURE 3.

Register # 2286. Trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides. Chippewa County. With Casey Cloeter. Photo by Casey Cloeter.

Woody Ehrle continued to oversee the program from WMU, including the beginning of a computerized listing of specimens. Also, beginning in 1992, he was the first author of many papers in a new series about Michigan’s champion trees published in The Michigan Botanist (Rabeler 1992). Initially with Paul Thompson and later with other authors, Ehrle published many short, individual accounts of each species. He also authored the most recent in-depth articles about the Michigan Big Tree Program, listing all of the champion trees and shrubs on record for the State (Ehrle 1997, 2003, 2006). In addition to a more elaborate history of the early program years, an overview of the techniques for measuring big trees was included, and a hope that interested individuals would continue to correct, update, and expand the big tree listings. Ehrle’s (2003) article included a complete listing of all of the individual trees for which reliable data was available at that time. During the period between 1992 to 2005, numerous articles by various authors, many of them by Ehrle, appeared in the pages of The Michigan Botanist focused on individual discussions of 49 species of trees common to Michigan.

FIGURE 4.

Register # 1958. Black ash, Fraxinus nigra. Gogebic County. With Joseph Youngman. Photo by Justin Miller.

Upon the death of Dr. Ehrle in 2008, he was succeeded as Michigan Big Tree Coordinator by Andrew (“Andy”) Sawyer. A member of the Southwestern Chapter of the MBS who also served as the organization’s webmaster, Sawyer developed an updated digital register and used the improved version that he and Ehrle developed to track the ever-growing and ever-changing list of entries. Its 2012 version was titled the “Michigan Big Tree Register Species List.” Not long afterward, however, the computer program became inoperative and could not be restored. This was a serious problem, and a variety of options for outside assistance were considered. With no likelihood of success in restoration in sight, in 2018 the new webmaster of the MBS, Sheila Bourgoin, was able to capture an earlier record of some 800 trees and transform it into a new computer program and register, which remains in use today (Michigan Botanical Society 2023a).

FIGURE 5.

Register # 2259. Ironwood, Ostrya virginiana. Washtenaw County. With Tim Eiseman. Photo by Irene Eiseman.

FIGURE 6.

Register # 1208. Red pine, Pinus resinosa. Gogebic County. With Justin Miller. Photo by Justin Miller.

When Andy Sawyer retired from his position as State Coordinator late in 2017, he was succeeded in January of 2018 by Ted Reuschel, a retired forester from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. About 150 new trees had accumulated which had been manually maintained by Mr. Reuschel during the period while the MBS Michigan Big Tree computer program was inoperative; and they were then added to the new register.

Ted Reuschel then began a review of the various records of big trees to assure that all past records were accounted for in the new MBS register and were also up-to-date. The new register, constructed from available data in 2018, was compared with that recorded in the prior MBS program. Additionally, MBS member Jim Charvat was able to obtain a printed copy of the 1999 record kept at WMU. This was also compared. In both cases, discrepancies and missing trees were evaluated, and to the extent reasonable, brought into agreement, updated, or dismissed from consideration for various reasons.

As suggested by the early titles of the various listings, which included the terms “inventory” and “shrubs,” these lists grew to include a very large number of trees and shrubs. The result was a record of some 1500 specimens! It was found that these records included a vast number of species, including non-natives (often cultivated in private yards or public places), hybrids and varieties, and small shrubs, many of which were very difficult to identify by anyone but an expert botanist. Frequently, there was only one representative of a species on the entire register, which was thereby automatically considered a champion. The records also included many species that would never reach typical tree size or form. Furthermore, per national and state standards, each of these would also require a 10-year re-measurement in order to remain active. During this same time, field re-visits and data updates for previously registered trees had been relatively limited, so that a large inventory of outdated information was accumulating.

This presented a big task for the State Coordinator and the field certifiers. Consequently, the MBS Michigan Big Tree Committee agreed to pare down the list of species that Michigan would track, including elimination of most species in the “shrubs” category. This was completed in 2019 and endorsed by the MBS Board of Directors. Over time, therefore, the focus of the program has shifted from a broad and open scientific inventory of large specimens to a publicly appealing register limited to Michigan’s bigger trees.

Big Tree Certifiers

A program of this magnitude would be impossible to carry out without a team of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer certifiers around the state who conduct inspections in the field. There are currently more than 40 volunteer certifiers working statewide to keep the Michigan Register up-to-date and to assure that new trees are carefully reviewed in a timely manner. During each year a few certifiers retire, but others are gained. Additional certifiers are needed in some areas. Table 1 lists certifiers active in the program since 2017.

Anyone can become recognized as an MBS Big Tree certifier. All it takes is (i) a willingness to travel around a county or two, (ii) an ability to confirm the identity of tree species or to identify the species using a key, and (iii) an ability to take and record accurate measurements using a measuring tape, a forestry tape, or a smart phone with a height and diameter app and GPS capability). Certifiers take photos of the trees they are evaluating, which are also needed for documentation. Each certifier is provided with Michigan Botanical Society/Big Tree Program business cards that help to establish legitimacy when they knock at the door of folks with potential big trees. The card, which has the certifier’s phone number and email address, can be left with a short note on the back when an owner is not home. Certifiers can also purchase safety green T-shirts or sweatshirts to provide improved visibility when working in the woods or along busy roadways and help identify bonafide certifiers with the MBS Big Tree program.

General Program Objectives

Each year the Michigan Big Tree program receives new nominations or referrals and measures and certifies new trees in the field. Like the National Register of Champion Trees, which requires re-verification of national champions every 10 years, the Michigan program also updates the measurements for the top ten trees of each species that have not been revisited within the previous ten years. It is also necessary to delete any trees from the register that have died, have been cut down, or have been severely damaged.

Instructions and Procedures for Certification

Basic guidelines for Michigan certifiers, which are to be followed in gathering all of the pertinent data on each tree, are summarized in the MBS document Procedures for Certifiers: Basic Steps. This is available from the Michigan Big Tree Coordinator upon request. Certification and other special program instructions and procedures are on file in the archives of the MBS in the documents that are listed below. In general, for most trees, the procedures are simple and consistent, and require obtaining a total point score for a candidate tree based on (i) girth in inches, measured at 4.5 feet above the ground, plus (ii) height in feet, plus (iii) one quarter of the average crown spread in feet. There are of course exceptions to the norm in nature that require modifications to these procedures. For example, branching or abnormalities may occasionally occur at the 4.5 foot girth height, or the tallest limb may not be situated over the base of the tree or might extend over a slope or depression or mound, or the crown spread may be highly irregular or may reach partly across a neighbor’s fence or a river or pond. Procedures for dealing with these exceptional circumstances are also covered in a number of the documents listed below.

In the interest of insuring the program continues into the future and that its details are carried out consistently and accurately, several documents have been prepared that detail what and how to perform the responsibilities of the State Coordinator and the field certifiers. These documents are based on the national standards of American Forests and are on file in the MBS archives, or they can be requested from the Coordinator. They are:

Responsibilities and Procedures for the State Coordinator

Procedures for Certifiers: Basic Steps

List of Big Tree Certifiers

Guidelines for Listing of Trees on the Big Tree Register

List of Species Not Tracked on the Michigan Big Tree Register

How To Verify Trees Nominated for National Champion Status: Guide for State Coordinator

Michigan Big Tree Record Form

Status of Michigan Big Trees in 2022

The focus, variety, and level of activity undertaken by big tree certifiers in a typical program year are illustrated by the following summary of the 2022 calendar year.

The Michigan Big Tree website includes a nomination form for individuals who believe they may have an exceptionally large specimen (Michigan Botanical Society 2023c). Completed nomination forms are automatically forwarded to the state coordinator for initial evaluation. During 2022, 74 nominations were submitted through the MBS website––a rate of about six per month. An additional 86 nominations did not use the MBS website, and instead came directly to the state coordinator or were reported through certifiers by outside observers. The 160 nominations submitted represented 41 of Michigan’s 83 counties. Of these new nominations, 31 trees were determined to be too small to warrant an on-site inspection by volunteer certifiers. Another 10 were disqualified without visit due to obvious multi-stem origin. Two were of a species not tracked in Michigan, and three were trees already on the register. Of the remaining 114 nominations, 97 trees were visited, and 17 trees remained to be checked at the end of the calendar year.

During 2022, certifiers also continued to evaluate the status of the roughly 260 trees which had been found listed on an older unpublished register, titled Michigan Big Tree and Shrub Inventory—1999. This register had been maintained by Woody Ehrle while he served as Coordinator, and some of its entries dated back to 1958. From this list one more tree was able to be evaluated in 2022, leaving just six trees remaining to be checked in subsequent years.

In accordance with national and state standards, certifiers also performed the 10-year updates for trees already on the Michigan Big Tree Register. They were able to complete 24 re-visits of these, either through field inspection or other determination. About 13 trees still remained to be re-inspected at year’s end.

The National Registry of Champion Trees, sponsored by American Forests (American Forests 2023b), has its own set of national champion nominations, submitted directly to it by individuals, bypassing the state big tree programs, although its register does list all state big tree programs and their coordinator contact information. There were around 72 of these that came to the program’s attention in 2021. A systematic review of these at that time had found that 23 were already smaller than the current national champion and therefore not contenders and not warranting further attention. Some 39 others were found to be multistem, dead or lost, or of a species not tracked by Michigan. For the 10 or so that still had potential, those field inspections were all completed by the end of 2021.

The net result of all of these efforts was that the 2022 program ended with 639 trees listed as active on the register. Of these, our certifiers had measured 19 trees which either became brand new state champions or were confirmed as continuing state champions after their 10-year re-inspections.

2021 National Champion Trees

American Forests maintains the register of the largest trees of each species in the nation. At one time, several decades ago, Michigan had 53 national champions on the register. Over time, other states stepped up their searches and found larger trees. Also over time, since national champions require 10-year updates, some of those in Michigan fell off the list for lack of attention. Only one remained a national champion. However, during 2021, eight new specimens were submitted to the National Registry of Big Trees for national champion consideration. Five of them were declared new national champions. A sixth, a red pine, is pending further review. They are listed in Table 2, with photos on the preceding pages.

It should be noted that in 2022 the American Forests organization determined that it was no longer able to oversee the national champion tree program and was seeking a new sponsor.

Accessing the Big Tree Register

The data resulting from field activities of certifiers is entered by the state coordinator into the register of trees that is viewable on the MBS website. Readers who wish to access the MBS Big Tree register to search for information about a particular species or individual Big Trees may refer to Appendix 1 for detailed instructions for doing so.

Special Considerations and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)

The Michigan Botanical Society recognizes that there are other interests by big tree enthusiasts and that many people have reasons to be fascinated by big trees other than their huge size alone. It should be noted that there are Facebook pages and other websites that are potentially filling the void between scoring big tree size and just enjoying other features of big trees. Such sites are welcome, and independent specialty programs are preferable to making sweeping compromises to modifying the current MBS Michigan Big Trees program in order to accommodate all potential interests.

Occasionally there are other questions and suggestions regarding the MBS Big Tree Program’s philosophies, policies, and procedures. Appendix 2 addresses a number of these frequently asked questions (FAQs). If needed, the MBS Big Tree Program coordinator can be contacted for additional information.