OREGON BIG TREE NOMINATION FORM

INSTRUCTION GUIDE

The following instructions provide guidance on how to identify and measure your tree, calculate your trees total points, describe the location of your tree, and provide other information required on the Oregon Big Tree Nomination Form.  A copy of these instructions can be downloaded to your computer. 

HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR TREE

You must include the common and scientific name of the tree you are nominating.  There are several references that can help you correctly identify the tree.

• Checklist of United States Trees (Native and Naturalized) by Elbert L. Little, Jr. USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook No. 541. Available from Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
• Manual of Oregon Trees and Shrubs edited by Ed Jensen.  Available from Oregon State University Book Stores
• International Paper Pocket Guide to Trees by Keith Rushforth.  Available in some used and antiquarian bookstores

Also, identify and describe the tree's condition and its physical characteristics.  Is there a pronounced lean to the trunk?  Is it forked at the top?  Are there multiple trunks at the base?  Has it been hit by lightening or scorched by fire?  These items help us to positively identify your tree and will make it easier for us to verify your nomination.

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR TREE

To accurately measure a tree it helps to have a few simple tools, as well as an assistant.  Take a big ball of twine (it may take 300 feet or more to measure a big tree!), a long measuring tape (1 66-foot forester's tape is best, but a carpenter's tape will work), a half-dozen stakes, a notepad and pencil, an Abney hand level, hypsometer or transit, or a straight stick cut to the exact length of your arm.

General measuring instructions are discussed below.  If you still have questions, check out American Forests' Big Trees measuring guide at http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees/measure.php

MEASURING CIRCUMFERENCE

Use a measuring tape to determine the tree's circumference and record the result in inches.  If it is a very large tree, have someone help you keep the tape level.

If the tree has a single trunk, your measurement needs to be made about the tree 4 1/2 feet above the ground at mid-slope.  If the tree forks below or bulges at 4 1/2 feet, measure the circumference at the point below 4 1/2 feet where the tree tapers to normal size.

If the tree has multiple trunks, you only measure one!  So, measure the largest single trunk at a point 4 1/2 feet above the ground at mid-slope.

For a very large tree sitting on a very steep slope, it may be necessary to measure its circumference above the 4½-foot mid-slope point.  In this instance, attempt to measure the tree as near as possible to the ground level on the uphill side.  Then measure the number of feet above the mid-slope point where the circumference measurement was taken and record this information.

The circumference in inches also gives you the tree’s total circumference points (circumference inches = circumference points).

MEASURING HEIGHT

Measure the height from the ground level to the highest point. You can measure height with an instrument such as an Abney hand level, hypsometer or transit.  Otherwise, use a straight stick that has been cut to the exact length of your arm.  Walk away from the tree to a point where, by holding the stick vertically at arm’s length, the entire tree’s vertical centerline is hidden behind the stick.  Drive a stake into the ground where you are standing, then measure in a straight, level line the number of feet between the stake and the base of the tree.  This will give you the tree’s approximate height.

The Indiana Division of Forestry recommends another method of measuring tree height. First, temporarily mark a spot 4 feet from the base of the tree to serve as a sighting point.  Back away from the tree, holding a yardstick vertically in front of you. It must be straight for an accurate measurement.  Stop when the 4-foot section of the tree occupies exactly 1 inch of the yardstick.  Sight to the base and the top of the tree, noting the number of inches the entire tree height occupies.  Multiply that number by 4 feet to determine the total tree height.

Of course, trees up to about 25 feet tall can most easily be measured with a stiff carpenter’s rule pushed vertically up through the crown!

The height in feet also gives you the tree’s total height points (height in feet = height points).

MEASURING CROWN SPREAD

To find the tree's average crown spread, you first must find the points in the tree’s crown that are widest and narrowest.  Walk around underneath the tree and visually assess where the tree’s branches extend the farthest from the trunk.  Drive a stake into the ground directly beneath this point, and following a line directly through the center of the tree’s base, find the opposite side of the crown’s widest point and drive a second stake into the ground.  Follow the same process to mark the narrowest spread in the tree’s crown.  Now you are ready to measure (in feet) the widest and the narrowest dimensions of the crown.  Add these two measurements together and divide by two, and the result is the tree’s average crown spread).

To calculate the tree's total crown spread points, simply divide the average crown spread by 4.  That gives you the tree's quarter-crown-spread points.

DETERMINING YOUR TREE’S TOTAL POINTS

Once you’ve completed the measurements and calculations described above, determining your tree’s total points is easy!  Simply add together the tree’s circumference, height, and quarter-crown-spread points.  That’s the number that will be used to decide if you’ve found a champion.  If your tree has more points than any other of its species, or is within 10 points of the biggest so far recorded for its kind, your tree will be recognized as a champ!

DESCRIBING THE LOCATION OF YOUR TREE

Providing a good description of your tree’s location is critical.  If we can’t find it, we can’t verify it.  And, if we can’t verify it, your tree can’t go in the Register of Big Trees.

As a start, indicate where your tree can be found by specifying the county, the nearest town, and – using a standard map – identify the township, range, section and quarter section.  Provide written driving and/or hiking instructions starting from the nearest cross street or mile marker on a specified highway.

Make a map of the tree’s location.  Draw it on the grid page that is part of the nomination form.  Indicate prominent landmarks such as rivers and streams, rock outcrops and cliff faces, power lines and bridges, and roads and trails.  Of course, the best location information is GPS coordinates – so if you can, please provide them.

Include a photograph or two of the tree.  This will help us identify which tree has been nominated and can be very important if your tree happens to be in a grove or stand of giants!  We won’t be able to return the pictures you send us, though, so be sure to make us a copy – or send digital photos on a disk.

IDENTIFYING LANDOWNER INFORMATION

Note whether the land is public or private.  If the land is private, write down who owns the land where the tree is located, how to contact them, and whether there are access restrictions.  If known, include the landowner’s address and telephone number.

PROVIDING NOMINATOR CONTACT INFORMATION

Include your name, mailing address, email address, telephone number, and the dates the tree was measured and photographed.  If someone else made the measurements or took the photograph, write down their name.  Finally, be sure to sign your nomination form and record the date of its submission.