Sequoia groveThis year’s champions have been crowned! The 2016 Champion Trees National Register is full of more than 750 giants that are the biggest known trees of their species. This year, big tree hunters from across the country scoured backcountry wilderness, rural farmland, city centers and even college campuses to find 64 new champions to add to the register.

Big tree hunters in Oregon discovered the most new champions at 14, while Texas and Montana each contributed nine new giants to the register. Seven massive oaks and six impressive pines were entered into the competition, including a Coast live oak with a 110-foot crown and a sugar pine that reaches 241 feet into the sky. But, the real star of the 2016 champions was a Coast Douglas-fir from Oregon, which stole the crown of 10th largest tree in the register! Much of its 792 overall points came from its astonishing 444-inch trunk circumference.

Big trees like these have been compiled in the National Register since 1940 as a way of celebrating the protection of ancient forests and inspiring the restoration of the giants of tomorrow. Old, large trees are a critical component of a healthy forest ecosystem and are the preferred habitat of many threatened and endangered wildlife species.

Without further ado, view all the champions in the 2016 Champion Trees National Register!

Also, a special thanks to The Davey Tree Expert Company, the premier sponsor of our Big Tree Program!