Champion Trees in Newark Valley, NY   edniz   Jul 31, 2005 04:50 PDT  Hello,             I actually have some tree measurements to share with the group. I got together with Kevin Mathers who works for Cooperative Extension out of Broome County [NY] and another friend of mine. Kevin has a degree in environmental education and is one of the local tree experts. He was especially interested in an elm tree located appropriately enough on Elm Street in the Village of Newark Valley. Kevin had seen two elms listed: one in Suffolk County [Long Island] and one in Albany. The one in Albany isn't a true co-champion, but because there are so few large elms left in the state, it is listed. The champion elm has 359 points with the Albany elm at 277. The Newark Valley elm came in at 295. It is surprising that the tree hasn't expired from root restriction let alone Dutch Elm disease. It is hemmed in by sidewalk, lawns and the street. When I checked the Big Tree website for New York State, only the Albany elm was listed.             In the Town of Newark Valley near the Bement-Billings Farmstead, a living history site, we currently have the co-champion shagbark hickory. I have given it the name "Asa" because it may have been growing when the first settler on the farm, Asa Bement, was still alive. He died in 1847. It is currently co-champion with a hickory in Schoharie County, but the measurements for "Asa" are at least 15 years old and those for the other hickory are relatively recent. Right now the points are listed at 257 and 255.             I remember when the tree was first measured and have checked the trunk every few years. It has gained an inch every year on a fairly regular basis. We came up with 268 points, but our height of 87' was four feet lower than the official one. Either our height is off considerably or it wasn't measured correctly initially because the top has not blown out. It seems like it should have grown a few feet in 15 years. It is a tree that sits all by itself in a field.             One of our other local "champion trees" is a sugar maple also located on Farmstead property in a maple grove. It is nearly as big around as the shagbark, and also has an enormous crown spread. We did maple sugaring this year and the fellow who tapped the trees said that this tree produced more sap than other the other trees in the grove put together.             We also had time to check out a very large white ash. It must have been one of those trees that was left in a pasture. It was growing next to a seasonal stream so it had a good water supply. Currently many other trees have grown up around it and the trunk has a large cavity.    It has a circumference of 18' 1". In places the bark has developed these deep furrows that are two to three inches deep and it doesn't really look like white ash bark anymore. We didn't try to measure crown spread because the surrounding trees covered the limbs too much. We'll take another look in the fall when the leaves are down.             The long and the short of it, however, is this: Newark Valley may have two champion trees for New York State and the white ash and the sugar maple may be the largest in our county.             Here are the measurements: Shagbark Hickory ("Asa") Cir. - 163" Height - 87' Crown spread - 64' (approx.) Points: 268 Sugar Maple Cir. - 156" Height - 102' Crown spread - 85' Points: 279 [New York's champion sugar maple has 343 points with a trunk circumference of 230"] American Elm Cir. - 156" Height - 108 Crown spread - 106 Points: 295 White Ash Cir. - 217" Height - 83' Crown spread - not taken [New York champion white ash has 420 points with a trunk circumference of 304"] Ed Nizalowski Newark Valley, NY   Home