Champs stand tall above rest

Willard Fell has spent a lifetime combing Georgia's forests in search of living treasures that deserve recognition.

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As the keeper of the Georgia's Champion Tree Registry, the Statesboro, Ga., forester has photographed, measured - and even climbed - some of the Peach State's most impressive living fossils.

"The list changes every year," he said. New trees are discovered - and sometimes, majestic old ones succumb to disease, weather or the inevitable ravages of time.

Mr. Fell sees himself simply as the humble keeper of the list. The true heroes, he said, are those who recognize a tree's potential - and take the time to nominate it, which requires a series of measurements that are run through a mathematical formula to generate a composite score.

Potential champions are scored with a point system that considers height, circumference and crown spread, he said. Trees scoring within five points of one another are deemed co-champions.

The ever-changing Georgia list includes hundreds of species, from alder and ash to yaupon and yucca, and the Augusta area has its share of stately honorees.

One of Augusta's timbered treasures, Mr. Fell said, is the ancient ginkgo tree next to the old Government House building on Telfair Street. First honored as a champion May 31, 1971, it was somehow stricken from the list and is in the process of being reinstated.

Many other local trees, including a sand post oak in Westover Memorial Park, once were state champions but have been eclipsed as larger ones are found .

Roy Simkins Jr., of Augusta, has nominated plenty of big trees over the years, including the Government House ginkgo and a Darlington oak in Jefferson County that also was recognized as a national champion tree.

"It's in declining health, but it's still standing," he said. That particular tree was briefly disqualified after experts elsewhere concluded it was a subspecies of laurel oak, and not a separate variety of tree.

After a flurry of scientific debate, however, the tree was reinstated.

"It got thrown out, and we got it put back in," Mr. Simkins said.

Other champion trees in Augusta include a sparkleberry on Lombardy Court, an aphanantha at Augusta National Golf Club, even a bluejack oak in Hephzibah.

In surrounding counties, a persimmon tree in Screven County's Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area is a champion, as is the 700-year-old baldcypress in a blackwater bay near Wadley, Ga.

Although nominating big trees for the champion list is time-consuming, it's also rewarding, said Mr. Simkins, who hunts trophy trees like seasoned hunters chase giant whitetails.

"Whenever I see one that's extraordinarily big, and I think the potential is there, we go ahead and measure it," he said, adding that there are plenty of champion trees yet to be discovered.

To get a tree on the list

To be accepted for consideration, nominations should be submitted to the address below on a form provided by the Georgia Forestry Commission or on a neatly printed sheet of paper containing at minimum the following information:

1. Correct species, both common name and scientific name

2. Circumference in inches of trunk at 4 feet high

3. Total vertical height in feet

4. Average crown spread in feet

5. Date measured and by whom

6. Exact location; should be specific enough to easily locate tree

7. Name, address and telephone number of owner

8. Physical condition of the tree

9. Name, address and telephone numbers of person nominating the tree

10. A photograph of the tree if possible. Please identify the tree species on the back along with the names of any people in the photo.

11. Send to: Willard H. Fell, Georgia Forestry Commission, 18899 U.S. Highway 301 N., Statesboro, GA 30461, (912) 681-5347, fax (912) 871-1719, e-mail: wfell@gfc.state.ga.us

Local champs

The Augusta area has several champion trees: