Living Jackson Magazine

Crowning Champions

Jackson County boasts more CHAMPION TREES than any other county in Georgia

By Mary Dugan
Photography by Nancy Bryan

If only these magnificent, invaluable trees could speak, these grandfatherly oaks would sew an intricate quilt of history. Instead, these ancient, awe-inspiring relics can only whisper with the wind their living testaments—a quiet pride of their genetic and circumstantial endurance—the only true gentry of Jackson County.

Southern Red Oak, Jefferson
While not a champion (yet!), the Southern red oak (quercus falcata) located off Storey-Porter Road in Jefferson is a pastoral sight for pavement-weary eyes. Its girth spans 200 inches with a rusted remnant of barbed wire poking out from its center—a sign that it long ago engulfed an old farm fence. Hilda Blackstock Tonge says the tree was big even when she was a young girl growing up on the land, which has been in the Blackstock family for more than two centuries.

A Prized Pecan
The state’s largest documented pecan tree (carya illinoensis) recently withstood a most aggressive affront from a mixed use retail and residential development. This natural skyscraper survived, and in contrast, thrives as the center of a traffic round-about behind Mulberry Park Shopping Center in Braselton.

The tree was given an ample soil berth at its base equal to its crown—the extent of its branches—to catch precious rain. All too often asphalt encroaches too close to the trunk of many trees, sealing their fate to a slow, thirsty death.

Just as protectively, a heavy-gauge cable hangs from the pecan’s highest bough as a lightning rod to divert a strike into the ground because its impressive height could also be its downfall in storms.

One of the earliest mentions of Jackson County’s heavily forested heritage is found in the historic account published by G.J.N. Wilson:“Trees of fabulous dimensions interlocked their ponderous branches, and the acorns and chestnuts of the previous year literally covered the ground.”

Heritage Tree
This water oak (quercus nigra) at Curry Creek Park is among the first nominated for Jefferson’s Heritage Tree Program, recently established to recognize old and significant trees throughout the city.

Old Mitchell’s Hill
A few ponderous remnants from one of Jefferson’s original oak summits still stand, although they are estranged on various properties. One very old white oak can be found on the site of the former Martin Institute at the corner of Martin and Institute Streets.

Another tall white oak resides behind the First United Methodist Church in Jefferson impeded by pavement, yet keenly defended by some longtime members of the congregation. The tree was likely young, yet already firmly rooted in place in 1845 when, as church archives reveal, a deed was secured for a one-acre lot described as an oak grove on Mitchell’s Hill.

Several other grove oaks prevail on private property behind historic Storey Street.
Photo by Joshua T. Barnett

Champion Post Oak
On a private cattle farm less than a mile from downtown Jefferson, the nation’s largest documented post oak (quercus stellata) stands in modest splendor—modest only in that most passers-by would likely pass it by. Yet, this stately patriarch unpretentiously attracts a bit of international ecotourism to Jackson County.

“A vacationing family from Mexico made a side trip to Jefferson to visit this tree,” said Jean Shewbert, who has owned and lived on the farm for nearly 45 years. “And, there have been a lot of other people from around Georgia and some from out of state.”

One would think occasional tree trekkers might be bothersome to the owner, but on the contrary, “everyone has been so nice,” complimented Shewbert. “The kinds of people who appreciate trees usually are the type who respect property.”

Champion Tree Programs
The Georgia Forestry Commission maintains the list of Georgia Champion Trees and accepts nominations for any tree growing in Georgia, whether it is native, naturalized or exotic. On a much larger scale, American Forests keeps a National Register of Big Trees with the largest known specimens of every tree in the United States. Champions are registered based on height, circumference, crown and overall condition. While it’s an honored distinction, champion status currently offers no legal protections for registered trees.

Champion of Champions
The post oak champ has its own champion in Jackson County resident Jimmy Mock. It’s his favorite tree of all the state’s title holders. “It has the best shape and the largest circumference,” he commented.

“Tree identification was one of my favorite subjects when I taught high school agriculture and worked with FFA (Future Farmers of America),” recalls Mock.

The retired educator identified his first state champion in 1977, a turkey oak in South Georgia, which Mock said was later hit by lightning and no longer lives. Mock, a soil technician with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, is the nominator for dozens of other trees in Georgia and is likely the reason Jackson County boasts more champion trees—22 species—than any other county in Georgia. Clarke County ranks second with 21 registered species.

The Age of Trees
The actual age of a tree remains mostly unknown unless a core sample is extracted by means of drilling into the tree’s trunk near the base, which could ultimately damage the tree by allowing an access for insects, parasites and the elements. So, experts generally offer educated guesses about a tree’s age rather than expose it to detriment. Mock says some oaks, white oaks (quercus alba) in particular, reach more than 200 years in Jackson County. Other titans like cypress species and live oaks (quercus virginiana) in Georgia can live for thousands of years, surviving disease, drought and brutal storms.

Mary Cobb Dugan is a public relations consultant and former journalist living in Jefferson with her husband and three tree-climbing children. She recently coordinated the City of Jefferson’s 2007 Arbor Day celebration.

Track Your Own Trees

If you know of a very large specimen tree, consider taking initial measurements:

Measure the trunk’s circumference in inches at 4.5 feet from the base.
Estimate the vertical height; use a laser distance measurer if available.
Note the physical condition of the tree.
Compare the measurements with other registered trees found on the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Champion Tree Listing:
www.gfc.state.ga.us/ForestManagement/ChampionTree.cfm

Call the Georgia Forestry Commission at 800-GA-TREES for more information.

Benefits and Value of Trees

Trees allow us to breathe by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and producing oxygen. Carbon dioxide, produced from burning fossil fuels, is the greenhouse gas most blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere and linked to global climate change.
One acre of trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe each day and eliminates as much carbon dioxide from the air as is produced from driving a car 26,000 miles.
Tree root networks filter contaminants in soils producing clean water.
Trees prevent erosion by trapping soil that would otherwise become silt. Silt destroys fish eggs and other aquatic wildlife and makes rivers and streams shallower, causing more frequent and more severe flooding. Trees along streams also hold stream banks in place to protect against flooding.
By creating shade, trees moderate temperatures both globally and in the micro-climates of cities and counties.
Planting 30 trees each year offsets greenhouse gases from your car and home.
Three trees located strategically around your house can cut air conditioning bills in half.
Trees create buffers to reduce noise.
Property values of homes with trees in the landscape are 5 to 20 percent higher than equivalent properties without trees.
Metro Atlanta is loosing trees at the rate of 50 acres a day according to NASA.

This information is provided courtesy of Trees Atlanta, an independent nonprofit citizens group founded 19 years ago.