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Abstract
Most people are aware that there is a National Big Tree Registry, celebrating the largest trees of each species in the United States, but fewer are aware that this Registry was started in Maryland, and that Maryland had the first official State Big Tree Registry. Within Maryland some counties have registries and some do not. In this paper we review the current status of the Big Tree registries at the county level. We also present updated records for Wicomico County, including the discovery of four new State Champion trees.
INTRODUCTION
National Big Tree Registry
The United States hosts the oldest, largest, and tallest trees on the planet, but it was not until 1940 that we started documenting them. As Charles Darwin noted in his classic text, The Origin of Species, there is individual variation within every species (Darwin 1859). As a result of the genetic differences of individuals, as well as differences in environmental factors where individuals are located, there is, somewhere, a size champion for each species on earth - the largest living specimen of that particular species. Humans seem especially interested in finding the largest of each tree species. The National Register of Big Trees is managed by the American Forests organization (formerly known as the American Forestry Association). Because trees continually grow, and eventually die, the list of big trees is always in flux. As a result, boxing terms such as: contender, champion, challenger, and title; are used in describing the status of a tree. The largest of each tree species is considered the national champion. If another tree of the same species ranks within five points it is considered a co-champion (see methods for full description of point system). Information on current champions is published bi-yearly in hard copy and electronically (American Forests 2006).
State Big Tree Registry
Maryland holds a historic distinction regarding big trees - it was the first state in the nation to have an official state registry. The registry was the idea of Maryland?s first State Forester, Fred W. Besley. It was started with a Big Tree Contest in 1924. The contest proved to be so popular that he urged the American Forestry Association to develop a national contest. The American Forestry Association was...