Crowning CHAMPIONS for a New Age.

NEW CHAMPS SOAR, FLORIDA SCORES, AN ENDANGERED SPECIES EMERGES, AND FROM CALIFORNIA; REAL STAR POWER. STORY & PHOTOS

I write this article in late 1999 with full confidence that the National Register of Big Trees--and the big trees themselves--will survive the passing of the second millennium.

That's because I've met a survivor from the first millennium. Utah's champion Rocky Mountain juniper; and I have visited California's champion giant sequoia, a tree born when we first began counting the years toward a millennium. I've even made the acquaintance of the champion western juniper, which no doubt scoffs at Y2K, having been around since Y2KBC.

Even if you're among those who realize that, in the absence of a Year 0, the real millennium doesn't begin until 2001, relax, put your trust in ancient champion trees, and check out the Class of 2000.

The National Register of Big Trees celebrates its 60th year and begins the popularly accepted new millennium with 867 champs and co-champs representing 826 species. From the world-famous, incredibly huge, 60-year veteran giant sequoia to the obscure, diminutive, rookie Georgia holly, this exclusive list features the dimensions of the most magnificent individual trees in America. And by doing so, of course, it highlights each species' potential.

The Big Tree Register is a lot like a healthy natural forest. On any given day not much happens. But over the years its dynamic nature becomes apparent as most trees get bigger, some are diminished, and a few bite the proverbial and literal dust. In the two years since the last Register, 150 stately trees have been crowned as the biggest of their kind, and 100 have been dethroned.

Most dethroned champions simply lost the point game to a bigger tree. But a few were deemed undeserving in the first place. The former titleholders for Oregon white oak, Norway maple, rock elm, buckwheattree, turkey oak, and blackhead catclaw were all unmasked as trees of a different species.

Six trees, including the 737-point exaggeration of a sycamore, were stripped of their crowns because they broke the multi-stem rule: If a tree forks below 4 1/2 feet, the circumference should be measured from the largest single stem above that level. It is important to follow that rule because the circumferences of multi-stem trees greatly inflate their point totals. This detracts from the impressions of true giants, robbing them of the respect they deserve.

At least 16 champion trees died of various causes. An Engelmann spruce in Payette Lake, Idaho, succumbed to bark beetles. Gravity and wind got the best of the co-champ eastern white pines in Upper Michigan. In Florida, Hurricane Georges knocked out the biggest Key byrsonima while Josephine flattened the biggest yellow hawthorn. On the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, lightning struck down one of two co-champion Chihuahua pines. (To add insult to injury, the other was dethroned by a tree elsewhere in Arizona.) A tornado obliterated a 461-point silver maple in Polk County, Iowa. And a 367-point digger pine in Redding, California, met its demise by the most powerful force of all: the Highway Department.

The newly crowned in the Class of 2000 cover nearly the entire arboreal spectrum, from the twig-like 17-point Florida crossopetalum to the colossal 1,291-point coast redwood. At first one might wonder how, after 60 years of searching, big tree hunters--or even casual hikers--could miss the world's biggest coast redwood. But the best hiding place for a giant tree is a forest of other giants.

The team of Ron Hildebrant, Michael Taylor, and Steven Sillett found not one but two trees that beat the 1998 champion redwood. In fact, the one dubbed the Lost Monarch is only 9 points shy of the ol' General Sherman giant sequoia, long recognized as the biggest tree in the world!

To picture the size of the Lost Monarch, stand in the middle of a room roughly 22 feet on all sides. Then imagine it entirely filled with wood and gradually tapering upward 30 stories, a bit taller than the Statue of Liberty, including pedestal.

Also notable at the upper end of the spectrum of new royals are two others in the Top 10. The coast Douglas-fir solidified its No. 5 ranking among the biggest of the big with the discovery of an 804-point tree in the Olympic Mountains of Washington. A California-laurel from Grass Valley, California, boasting a 45-foot girth and 684 points, bested its Oregon predecessor by 77 points and moved up to 7th place as the Top 10's only hardwood. (The only hardwood on the previous list was the now-dethroned sycamore.)

Four other new champions topped the 500-point mark: in California, a bluegum eucalyptus owned by Clint Eastwood (629 points--see Register, page 14), canyon live oak (548 points), and California red fir (547 points), and in Washington, a Western hemlock (545 points). These impressive point totals grant them membership in the exclusive 500+ Club, which includes only 43 of America's 826 tree species.

The runts of the tree world make up the opposite end of the new champion line-up. The 2000 list has 34 new champs with fewer than 50 points. It may be hard to call them monarchs with a straight face but, as the biggest of their kind, they deserve the same respect as the giant sequoia.

None of these tiny titans have trunks wider than this page, and only one reaches 30 feet tall. The smallest is the 17-point Florida crossopetalum on Key Largo. It has a trunk you could encircle with the fingers of one hand, a crown half the spread of your arms, and an uppermost leaf Michael Jordan could easily slam dunk.

The big tree freshman class of Y2K is scattered across the country from the southwestern deserts of California to the northern Appalachians of New Hampshire, and from the Florida Keys to the Olympic Peninsula. Of the 28 states boasting new champions, Florida tops the list with 39, primarily because of the efforts of Joseph Nemec, a park ranger at Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Site. Working in endemic tree heaven, he found 14 new champs, all on Key Largo, with appropriately exotic names like princewood, Bahama strongback, red stopper, and myrtle-of-the-river.

Also in Florida, the Register has its first-ever listing of not one but two co-champion key tree cacti, an endangered species. One of those co-champs is the ultimate bean pole of the tree world with a 23-foot height and a crown spread of 1 foot. When American Forests reported on the status of endangered trees and their champions in 1996, four trees were on the brink: roundleaf birch, Florida torreya, key-tree cactus, and Santa Cruz cypress.

Since that time, when only the birch and the torreya had champions, recovery efforts have proved so successful the roundleaf birch has been reclassified as threatened. Unfortunately, the Gowen cypress, then a candidate for listing, has been added to the Endangered Species List because of urban growth and the fire suppression that follows. The species needs fire to reproduce. The new champion Gowen cypress was found at California's Point Lobos State Park in one of only two remaining natural stands.

In Arizona, state big tree coordinator Robert Zahner and fellow big tree hunters Ken Morrow, Mike Hallen, and Ken Porter discovered 18 of that state's 29 new champs. Among the notable additions are a 249-point quaking aspen in Coronado National Forest, a 384-point alligator juniper in Prescott National Forest, and a 426-point Arizona sycamore in Aravaipa Canyon. California also did well this year with 21 new champs, 10 topping 400 points. State big tree coordinator Art Cowley contributed half of those, including a 464-point California sycamore and the aforementioned 629-point bluegum eucalyptus.

Florida, Arizona, and California have an unfair advantage because 200 tree species are found only within their borders in the United States. That makes the accomplishments of Georgia and Tennessee especially impressive, with each counting 9 and 11 new big tree titles, respectively. The rest of the botanically similar southeastern states add only 11.

In Georgia, this year's champs include the reinstated Darlington oak, which was removed from the 1998 list because it was considered too similar to the laurel oak to be classified as a separate species. After protests from experts and Georgia tree lovers, AMERICAN FORESTS turned to specialists at the U.S. National Arboretum, who deemed it worthy of separate species status. Welcome back!

Finding a big tree worthy of a crown isn't as hard as it may seem. Currently, 93 species have no champion at all. Many big tree hunters have multiple nominations, proving that luck plays a minor role. Spending time in the woods and maintaining an awareness of trees wherever you go are far more important. And, if you live in the southern portion of a species range, in an area full of endemics or near old-growth forest, your chances are even better.

So with field guide and measuring tape in hand, head to the woods and keep your eyes peeled for a tree with royal sap. Whether Y2K spells the end of the world or the beginning of forever, can you think of a better way to spend the day?

Photojournalist Whit Bronaugh lives in Arlington, Kentucky. He nominated the national champion elephant-tree.