Timnath cottonwood ties for state champ honors

By JoAn Bjarko
Fossil Creek Current

Timnath has a state champion gracefully posed along the banks of the Poudre River south of town.

This lanceleaf cottonwood, believed to be at least 100 years old, has officially tied a Fort Collins tree as a state champion of its species. It makes its home on the Poudre River Ranch owned by Craig and Carol Harrison.

Harrison, referring to the ranch's original abstract, said the U.S. government conveyed the land by patent to John D. Davis on Sept. 20, 1870. The Harrisons purchased the land in 1990.

Decisions on champion status are made by precise measurements submitted to the Colorado Tree Coalition. Neal Bamesberger, chairman of the champion tree committee, said the tree's circumference is measured 4.5 feet off the ground. Foresters also measure height and crown spread.

Denver resident Don Davis, who lived in Timnath while attending college in the 1950s, nominated the tree. "I've always been extemely fond of it," he said.

Numbers for the Timnath tree are 255 inches in circumference (81 inches in diameter), 95 feet tall and 75 feet average crown spread, according to Keith Wood, assistant staff forester for the Colorado State Forest Service. The result ties the Timnath giant with another lanceleaf cottonwood at the corner of Mountain and Bryan in Fort Collins City Park.

The Colorado Tree Coalition is affiliated with the nonprofit American Forests, founded in 1875 to protect, restore and enhance trees and forests. Colorado has about 650 trees on its list of champions, representing more than 200 species, Bamesberger said. The official list is updated annually in February.

A national registry of 889 big trees is available online at americanforests.org. It does not list any lanceleaf cottonwoods, however. The national champion plains cottonwood is located in Hygiene, Colo. When measured in 1967, it had a circumference of 432 inches, height of 105 feet and spread of 93 feet.