Big changes for big trees: Deaths, growth spurts, and a new list-altering rule. It's our biennial check on the state of our nation's biggest trees

摘要

If you hoped to see your name in the National Register of Big Trees again for that really big tree you measured a while back you're likely to be disappointed. A newly decreed 10-year rule states that no tree can retain its crown longer than 10 years without being remeasured. One hundred champs this year were casualties of the new rule, all trees not remeasured since 1998. The demise of many more now-former champs became known only because nominators and state big tree coordinators were motivated by the new rule to find and remeasure them. This has resulted in the biggest set of changes ever in the 68-year history of the Big Tree program.