Look at it this way: there are 120 trees on the Nevada Big Tree list from Northwestern Nevada, but there are many more kinds of trees that flourish here. For example, there is no European Birch on the Big Tree List, and there are many thousands of them living -- if not thriving -- here. The Nevada Department of Forestry (which adminsters the Nevada State Big Tree List ) is always on the lookout for either new kinds of trees or bigger specimens of current champion trees (see this discussion). They are also interested in how the Current Champion trees have grown since they were last measured.

Wide-eyed has taken the bait from the NDF. We figure that, since the last edition of the list was in 2003, it's about time to update the list. We have gotten involved in remeasuring Current Champions, nominating challengers (Bigger specimens) and finding new champions. We have compile listings of remeasured Current Champions, listings of challengers to Current Champion honors and nominees for champion status for Northwestern Nevada.

Strategies for Finding Prospective Champion Trees

The great thing about the Nevada Big Tree program is that anyone can nominate a Big Tree; you don't have to be an expert dendrologist or have a PhD in Horticulture to get your name on the list as the nominator of a Big Tree.

So if you are game for Big Tree Hunting, here are some tips:

Reading the parameters for deciding which tree is the Champion (in the NDF paper on Nevada Big Trees) will show you that circumference is the most important parameter for finding a Prospective Champion. For example, if a tree is one inch larger than another, the second tree would have to be three feet taller or have twelve feet more average spread than the first tree to have as many points. Since the circumference is taken at breast height (four and a half feet above the ground), a tree with a huge trunk at three feet which splits at three and a half feet would have a smaller trunk above and would be less likely to have as many points. So you have to look at the tree at breast height to narrow your search. An example is Purple Leaf Plum (Prunus cerasifera). There are perhaps a hundred thousand of these in Northwestern Nevada, but almost all split into several trunks around three feet above the ground.

So what kind of tree to search for? Chances are that you are unlikely to find a bigger Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) or Fremont Cottonwood (Populus fremontii). However, there are a lot of other kinds of trees which fall into two categories (and we are giving you some examples of each category!): trees for which there is no Prospective or Current Nevada Champion; and trees which have either a Prospective or Current Champion named, but for which there are probably bigger ones out there.

Are the biggest trees necessarily a hundred years old? Not really. An analysis of the trees for which we have fairly good planting dates stretches all the way from the 1870s to the 1990s, with the median age of the Current Champions only about 50 years old! This stands to reason because in recent decades a lot of new trees have been introduced into the area.

Finding one of these beauts takes persistence, luck or good contacts with your friends. You may be discussing your search with your friend and she says that there is this great big tree just down the street from her, she doesn't know what kind of tree it is but it sure is big. Get in your car and drive down her street.

We in Northwestern Nevada love our cars and drive around. Sometimes we change our route and turn a corner and see It.

Most of the trees around here are of a couple dozen common kinds, and the Big One may be one of these. But it is more likely that your quarry is one that looks "different." For example, Wide-eyed was driving around and saw a driveway with three "different" trees. Observation and description of the tree, followed by a stint on the Internet, revealed that these were Crypomeria (Cryptomeria japonica). These are not deemed hardy in our Zone 6 climate, so were probably almost an accident planted by an adventurous homeowner. There may be a handful in Northwestern Nevada. Bingo! A Prospective Champion.

This brings us to an obvious conclusion. If only one in a thousand homeowners had the foresight to plant off-the-wall trees (maybe they used mail order or brought a seedling from where they lived Back East), this means that there are perhaps a thousand sites with off-the-wall trees; and a homeowner with one off-the-wall tree probably has another one...

Where to Look for a Potential Champion

The percentages are against finding a Champion in an area built less than 20 years ago, though there are some champions planted later than that. But any area older is fair game. Perhaps the best places to look would be in 20-plus-years-old upscale subdivisions. Parks have been scoured, particularly Idlewild Park, Rancho San Rafael and the UNR campus in Reno. (However, an older park might have a gem such as the Spanish Fir (Abies pinsapo) in Newlands Park in Reno)

When to Look for a Potential Champion

Perhaps we drive past a particular tree all year and don't notice it until it shows us its glory. For example, a Freeman Maple (Acer X freemanii) -- which is not yet on the State List -- hides among the Silver Maples (Acer saccharinum) -- which is on the State List -- and only identifies itself in Fall, when its brilliant red-orange foliage distinguishes it from the Silver Maple's dull yellow foliage. Other trees become prominent in either Spring or Summer.