DLNR seeks nominations for native and culturally important trees
to compete in the National Big Trees competition

MEDIA RELEASE

HONOLULU — The Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) invites the public to help the Division of Forestry and Wildlife take part in a national Big Trees competition. The Big Trees Program, run by American Forests, is a national competition to find the largest trees of particular species in the nation.

American Forests’ 2011 National Register of Big Trees represents more than 660 species – 30 more than last year – with trees in 45 states and the District of Columbia. There are 751 grand champion trees, however there are still 210 species without champions.

“We hope that including Hawai‘i on the national Big Trees register will help educate and encourage conservation of our native and culturally important trees,” said William J. Aila, Jr., DLNR chairperson. “It is our goal to eventually create our own State of Hawai‘i Big Trees Program.”

The State of Hawai‘i is looking forward to taking part in this Big Tree competition and is searching for potential candidates of the following species.

Hawai‘i/Common Tree Name    Species
wauke                       Broussonetia papyrifera
niu, coconut                Cocos nucifera
hau                         Hibiscus tiliaceus
mānele                      Sapindus saponaria
‘a‘ali‘i                    Dodonaea viscosa

To nominate a tree, three measurements are needed: 1) trunk circumference (measured in inches), 2) height (measured in feet), and average crown spread (measured in feet).

These measurements are combined to assign the tree a score.

DOFAW staff will also need to know the exact location of nominated big trees to verify any candidates.

To learn more about the specific measuring requirements, please review the guidelines at the American Forests website.
http://www.americanforests.org/our-programs/bigtree/big-tree-measuring-guidelines/

Please send your measurements along with GPS coordinates or specific directions to a candidate big tree before December 1, 2011 to:

Sheri Mann, Cooperative Resource Management Forester
DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife
1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 325
Honolulu, HI 96813

Or email her at Sheri.S.Mann@hawaii.gov