The hunt is on for the largest trees in the Mid-Columbia, in the state and in the country.

For the past two years, the Mid-Columbia Community Forestry Council has been sponsoring a contest to locate and recognize the largest trees in our area.

Within the state and the country, the search for the largest trees is carried out by people who like trees—everyday folks, parks workers and foresters. They search the nation's forests, parks, countryside and urban areas for tree champions—the largest of their kind.

If you ask these people why they are looking for the biggest trees, you will get a variety of answers.

Some want to find the biggest trees because they like trees and they're there. For others, trees are a link to our past, as well as our future. Some look for the giants so they can better understand the requirements of a species, as well as its limitations.

From a landscape design standpoint, knowing the ultimate size a tree grows in an area helps homeowners and landscape designers plan for a tree's growth.

Tree size also helps us better understand the growing conditions in a particular area. It tells us what trees grow well and survive in an area. Who wants to plant a tree that isn't well-adapted to the climate and soil, and probably won't live very long?

Last summer, the Mid-Columbia Community Forestry Council invited Dr. Robert Pelt, coordinator of the Washington Big Tree Program, to the Tri-Cities to talk about the Big Tree Program and to see how some local trees measured up to the statewide champions.

Three potential state champions were identified along with a number of beautiful local champs. The potential champs are a honeylocust in Richland, a Russian Olive at Sham-Na-Pum golf course and a golden weeping willow in Kennewick. The book listing the 1995 Washington big trees should be available soon.

Before we go any further, let's talk about what makes a tree a champion.

It's not just the tallest tree of its species. The trunk circumference and the spread of the crown also are part of the equation.

The trunk circumference is measured in inches at 4 1/2 feet above the ground. The average crown spread is figured by measuring the widest spread of the crown and measuring the narrowest spread of the crown, adding the two results and dividing by two.

The official bigness is determined using a point system with one point for each inch of circumference, one point for each foot in height and one point for every 4 feet of crown spread. Thus, the biggest tree isn't always the tallest tree.

For those wondering how to measure the height of a tree without climbing it with a tape measure, there are some fairly simple ways.

Professionals use a special tool, such as an Abney handlevel, a hypsometer, a transit or a clinometer. The average person doesn't have one of theses gadgets for measuring a tree's height. However, it's easy to estimate how tall a tree is simply by using a yardstick and a 100-foot tape measure. You don't have to climb the tree.

Here's how: Situate yourself as far away from the tree as you estimate the tree is tall. Hold the yardstick at arms length in front of you so it's vertical. The length of the yardstick above your hand should be equal to the distance from your hand to your eye.

Line up the base of the tree with the top of your hand that is holding the yardstick. If the top of the tree is higher than the stick, walk backward until they are equal. Go forward if the top of the tree is below the stick. When the length of the yardstick looks the same height as the tree, the distance to the tree is the approximate height of the tree. Voila!

As coordinator of the Washington Big Tree Program, Van Pelt has put together a book listing the champion native Washington trees and champion exotic trees. Exotic trees are introduced species not native to the country. Van Pelt constantly searching for new Washington champion trees and welcomes nominations.

The Washington program is patterned after the American Forestry Association's National Big Tree Register started 56 years ago. The American Forestry Association leads the national movement in locating and preserving tree champions.

However, The American Forestry Association only recognizes native species in its registry. Van Pelt has chosen to also recognize exotic species—those species not native to North America.

New champions regularly appear on the Washington tree list and the National Big Tree registry.

In some cases, new trees of certain species are found that score higher than the reigning champ. Some old champs die of natural causes, and others are killed.

In the Washington Big Trees book, Van Pelt provides a list of some dethroned state champions and the reason for their replacement on the list.

The most common reasons for the loss of individual trees were from storm damage and removal by the owner.

In some cases, a tree disappeared from the list because it was identified incorrectly as a certain species and turned out to be a different type of tree.

Here's a sample: Douglas maple, tree died and was removed; pink locust, fell Inauguration Day storm, 1993; sugar pine, killed by blister rust in 1998; Tanoak, fantastic specimen, lot subdivided, tree removed; blue spruce, nice tree, cut down by homeowner; Chinese weeping willow, extremely rare tree, planted 1857, lot subdivided, tree murdered; and staghorn sumac, died of unknown causes.

It's interesting to note, of the top 12 champion big trees in the nation, three are in Washington, three in Oregon, four in California and only two from the eastern part of the UNited States.

Of all these giants, only one is a species that thrives in our part of Washington: a sycamore.

The tallest of the trees in the national registry is a coast Douglas fir found in Coos County, Oregon.

The fattest champion tree (or the one with the biggest girth) is a coast redwood found in Prairie Creeks Redwoods State Park, California.

The oldest tree in the United States is believed to be a western juniper in a meadow on the west slope of the Sierrra Nevada in Stanislaus National Forest, California.

This tree is believed to be at least 4,000 years old. Coming in at the smallest champion tree is an 8-foot tall Velvetseed (Guettarda scabra) in Totten Key, Florida.

Understanding how a tree ages can give us even greater respect for large old trees.

Consider that when a tree starts out as a seedling, it's predominantly composed of living cells—the leaves, twigs, branches, trunks and roots. This living tissue is able to store energy in the form of starch and oils.

When a tree is young, significant amounts of tissue may be removed, through pruning or injury, without causing a complete disruption of the tree's functions.

It has enough energy reserves it can call on for help. It also has enough energy reserves it can fend off the attacks of many insects and diseases.

Keep in mind, the wood of a living tree is composed of dead, dying and living cells made of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignins.

Sapwood is the younger wood closer to the bark that still contains living cells. With living cells, the tree still has some energy reserves, nitrogen reserves and defensive potential.

Water also moves within sapwood. As a tree grows and matures, the inner wood cells die. The area of dead wood cells often is referred to as the heartwood of a tree. Heartwood provides strength and structure to a tree.

It also stores water that is chemically bound to the wood cells and does not flow within the tree.

When the wood cells start to die, they release nitrogenous substances, making these available to the living cells.

As the tree ages, the volume of heartwood and dead tissue increases. The older and larger a tree gets, the larger the ratio of dead mass to living mass.

As a seedling, a tree is predominantly composed of all living cells. As a mature tree, only about 10 percent to 20 percent of the tree is made up of living cells.

A tree's energy reserves, in comparison with mass, decreases.

Why is this important? When a tree doesn't have good energy reserves, it can't maintain a good defense against diseases and insects.

When a tree's energy supply is depleted, the roots begin to die back, and the tree declines. Maintaining a good crown with plenty of branches and leaves is the best defense against "old age" for a tree.

Leaves are living tissues that provide the food and energy for the tree. Loss of leaves from disease, insects or drastically pruning older trees will seriously deplete an older tree's energy resources.