Displaying items by tag: champion tree registry

The 2024 National Champion Tree Register features the largest documented trees across the U.S. such as the National Champion Sitka Spruce, which people can see in Olympic National Park in Washington.  Brian Kelley via American Forests

Beginning in February, citizen scientists and others can help catalog our biggest trees

Katie Donaldson is a communications specialist for the University of Tennessee School of Natural Resources.

The original story continues below.

KNOXVILLE — The National Champion Tree Program (NCTP) will take nominations for new Champion Trees on its website starting Feb. 28. The list of eligible tree species for the 2025-2026 register includes more than 1,200 species of trees native and naturalized to the U.S., a steep increase from the 900 species eligible for the 2024 register. It is available online in the Register of Champion Trees. Nominations for potential Champions will stay open through August 2025.

“Each year, people find ‘new’ Champions all over the country,” said Jaq Payne, NCTP director. “It could be the tree in your backyard, the tree in front of your church or the tree in one of your local parks or state forests.” For the first time in the program’s 84-year history, an additional list of “culturally important non-native” eligible species will be included to represent common, widely recognized urban species previously not found on the register.

Champion Trees are identified based on a point system including the trunk circumference, height and average crown spread. After members of the public nominate trees, the NCTP will work with state coordinators to verify the submissions and their measurements. Verified trees will be added to the program’s data management system. National Champion Trees are crowned once every two years and must be re-verified every 10 years.