As the end of the year approaches, new trees crowned as champions
DENVER — In late fall and early winter, Neal Bamesberger spends his days measuring trees in and around Colorado. Why? To determine the champion trees for the year.
Bamesberger has volunteered for the Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC) for more than twenty years and is the champion tree coordinator for Colorado. He said, “our mission statement is to preserve, renew, and enhance community forests.” And the main part of their mission is geared towards homeowners, helping them properly care for trees on their property.
Bamesberger manages a CTC program called the Colorado Champion Tree Program. Trees can be nominated by anyone, and once nominated, it is his job to determine if they are worthy of the champion title.
He measures the diameter (or circumference), crown spread (tree branch width), and height of nominated trees. These numbers act like a point system and are entered into a formula, which can rank trees across different species.
Extremely wide or tall trees come to mind first, but the criteria aren’t actually all that extreme.
Bamesberger said, “the minimum requirement is a three-inch trunk diameter and at least 13 feet in height.”
This is because there is such a variety of tree species. For trees that have multiple stems like the American smoketree, Bamesberger must measure the diameter for each stem and will use the largest measurement for the circumference.
He will take these measurements and compare them to other trees of the same species already on the list or recently nominated. The champion list typically includes the top three largest trees of each species, which means some trees might get knocked off the list.
Bamesberger said, “there are about 750 trees on the list with about 225 different species.”
The CTC also checks in on champion listed trees every ten years to make sure they still qualify for the title, or, sadly, to see if they have died or been destroyed. In 2018, for example, a fire outside of Durango consumed two of Colorado’s largest trees.
Some trees can even achieve a national champion title if they out-compete across the nation.
This all requires a lot of work, but it is worth it for Bamesberger. He gets to work with, “arborists, city foresters, and state foresters—a bunch of great people.” Plus, he gets to appreciate the outdoors and the history of Colorado.
“The benefits of trees in general [is] that they provide for our environment and for us as well. Even more interesting sometimes is the history connected with the tree or with the property the tree is on or the park,” he explained.
Bamesberger retired this year but plans to continue volunteering to help the state determine its champion trees.
Nominations close December 1st each year. To nominate a tree, you can visit this website.
Clarissa Guy is a multimedia journalist for Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach her at clarissaguy@rmpbs.org.