Story Published:
Feb 29, 2008 at 5:27 PM PST
Story Updated:
Aug 14, 2008 at 4:05 PM PST
CAPE MEARES, Ore. (AP) - Almost three months after a windstorm toppled the Klootchy Creek Giant, the Oregon Big Tree Registry has crowned a new champion Sitka spruce.
The Sitka spruce at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint stands 144 feet tall, with a circumference of 48 feet and an average crown spread of 93 feet. That's much shorter and skinnier than the Klootchy Creek Giant, which topped out at 206 feet and a circumference of 56 feet 1 inch.
"The reason it is so small is that the top blew out probably 100 years or more ago," Brian French, an arborist who is part of a group dedicated to documenting Oregon's most impressive trees, told The Oregonian newspaper. "At one time, it was a massive, massive tree. It was very close in size to the Klootchy Creek Sitka spruce."
Designation as one of Oregon's champion trees does not earn it legal protection, but people are less likely to damage it if they know it's on the registry, said Cindy Deacon Williams, program coordinator for the Oregon Big Tree Registry.
"Keeping track of the big trees is worthwhile because it sort of sparks the public's imagination to think about the weight of history that has passed since this tree was germinated," she said.
The Cape Meares tree in Tillamook County is less than an hour's drive south from the remains of the Klootchy Creek Giant, the Oregon icon located east of Seaside. A highway sign reading "Largest Sitka spruce tree in the United States" persuaded thousands of motorists each year to stop and have a look.
But its days were numbered after a 2006 storm knocked a chunk of rotted wood from its core. Word that the tree might fall at any time brought visitors by the thousands and suggestions on how to save it. In the end, state foresters decided to let it go naturally, which it did during the December windstorm.
The Klootchy Creek Giant was believed to be between 700 and 750 years old. French think the new champ could be the same age or even a little older.
"This one is in pretty rough condition," French said. "We have two trees left like it in Oregon - the other is in God's Valley in Tillamook County - and a small handful of trees like it in Washington. There is only a small handful of these in the world."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
