Several years ago, I printed out information from the Arkansas Forestry Commission’s Champion Tree Program and put it in the glove box of my truck. I travel around the state almost daily for work and pleasure and wanted to keep the guide to the state’s biggest trees handy so I might see some of them.
That paid off a couple of years ago when my wife, Theresa, and I decided to drive to the state Veterans Cemetery near Birdeye in Cross County. We were going there to visit the gravesite of a friend. But before I left home, I took a look at my big-tree guide, which indicated the cemetery on Arkansas 163 east of Crowley’s Ridge was also the site of a state-champion Southern red oak. We decided to look for it when we arrived.
The tree wasn’t as easy to find as I expected because there were several massive oaks scattered around the well-manicured property. But when we found a path mowed from the cemetery road to a giant oak in the middle of a meadow, I knew we were on the right track. We hiked over to the base of the ancient tree, where we found a metal plaque embedded in a large rock that said, “Arkansas Champion, Southern Red Oak, Quercus falcata.” We were certain now; this was it. This was the biggest Southern red oak known in Arkansas.
From the road, we couldn’t get a true perspective of the tree’s size. But when Theresa stood beneath the oak, which towered 88 feet tall and had a crown that spread 105 feet, it was obvious this was an exceptional specimen. My wife looked tiny beneath it. One could only wonder how long that ancient red oak had shaded that beautiful meadow.
Today, there are 123 State Champion Trees, each believed to be the biggest of its kind in Arkansas. The Arkansas Forestry Commission’s Champion Tree Program heightens awareness of these living monarchs and helps protect these special trees so future generations can enjoy them.
To see a complete listing, visit www.aad.arkansas.gov/champion-tree-program. Updates occur every five years. Former champions are removed from the list as new, larger champions are identified. The champion Southern red oak my wife and I visited, for example, was replaced with a new and bigger champion on private property near Alma when recent updates occurred. Arkansans wishing to nominate a tree for measurement as a possible new champion will find a form for doing that on the program website.
Size makes champions. Scorers measure each tree’s height, trunk girth and crown spread. Then, using a special formula, the scorer determines the tree’s “bigness index,” which officials use to decide if the tree is the biggest of the big for its species.
The largest champion in the Arkansas program is a bald cypress tree in the White River National Wildlife Refuge near Ethel in Arkansas County. A 1.2-mile trail leads to the tree’s base, where you can look up in awe at the largest and oldest living thing in The Natural State. The cypress, which experts believe could be 2,000 years old, towers 120 feet above the ground. Seven men holding hands would barely be able to surround the tree’s huge trunk.
Not all champions are giants, though. For example, the state-champion fig tree in Brinkley measures just 18 feet tall with a crown spread of 7 feet and a 44-inch trunk. That’s much smaller than the 143-foot-tall champion loblolly pine in Howard County. It has a 72-foot crown and 178-inch trunk. Each champion exhibits qualities that make it special and worthy of protection.
Some champion trees grow in remote areas or on private lands, making them difficult to view. Fortunately, others can easily be seen near roadsides or on lands open to the public.
Visitors to the Yell County Courthouse in Dardanelle, for example, can see the state-champion yellow poplar near the front entrance of the building. Arkansas’ biggest Southern catalpa grows in Historic Washington State Park in Hempstead County. The champion chinkapin oak, a 102-foot giant, towers above Riverside Park in Batesville. Native-stone monuments have been placed beside many champions in recent years, helping visitors make sure they’ve found the tree they’re looking for.
In addition to crowning champion trees, the Arkansas Forestry Commission assists with a program to recognize trees with historic significance. Called the Arkansas Famous and Historic Tree Program, it works to promote appreciation of Arkansas trees significant to national and/or state history. The dozens of trees and tree communities currently listed come with as many stories as they do growth rings.
The Arkansas Millennium Landmark Tree ranks high among the notable listings. This ancient white oak, known as the Council Oak, grows beside the Arkansas River in Dardanelle. The tree is the lone survivor of a group of oaks once found there. Native Americans used the river for transportation and named the “Council Oaks” as their designated spot to meet and discuss tribal relations. Arkansas territorial governor Robert Crittenden and Chief Black Fox of the Cherokee Nation signed an 1823 treaty under the oaks, ceding Cherokee land south of the river to Arkansas.
The America the Beautiful Fund initiated the Millennium Landmark Tree project in 2000. Its goal was designating one historic tree in each state for preservation in the new millennium. Arkansas first lady Betty Bumpers nominated the Council Oak, which was recognized in 2001.
Chicot County proudly honors a group of historic trees at Lakeport Plantation near Lake Village. These three pecans, four Eastern red cedars, four Southern magnolias, one sweet bay magnolia, one black walnut and several live oaks all date back to 1859, when the plantation home was built by Joel Johnson and his son Lycurgus. It is the last antebellum, Greek-revival-style plantation house in Arkansas along the Mississippi River and is surrounded by working cotton fields.
In 2001, the house was donated to Arkansas State University and was reopened as a museum in 2007. It was listed on the National Historic Register in 1974, designated as an official project of the “Save America’s Treasures” program of the National Parks Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is listed as an Arkansas Delta Heritage Site. The trees help tell a story of pre- and post-Civil War-era life on this beautiful plantation.
The Apollo 14 Mission Moon Pine planted at Fort Smith’s Sebastian County Courthouse in 1976 bears historical significance as well. This loblolly grew from seeds taken on the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 by astronaut Stuart Roosa. NASA gave four of the pines to Arkansas, but only two stand today — the one in Fort Smith and one at the 1836 Hempstead County Courthouse in Historic Washington State Park.
“People love stories about trees like these,” said Lynn Warren, Arkansas Famous and Historic Tree Program program coordinator. “It connects them to history, culture, life and nature. All of us have childhood memories with trees and love to hear the stories about those silent witnesses to history. It is fascinating to think about what an old tree has seen in its lifetime, which in some cases spans generations.”
To read more stories about Arkansas’ famous and historic trees, visit arhistorictrees.org.