The Rutherford Shade Tree Committee is proud to announce an Important Arbor Day Community Activity

The Hunt For Heritage Trees 2009 Open to all Rutherford Students

A Great Opportunity to Learn About Our Trees & Our Borough

Do you know a great heritage tree? Is there a tree you treasure for its beauty, history, or special memories? If so, then enter it in The Hunt for Heritage Trees contest.

Heritage Trees are those outstanding trees that have one or more of the following qualities:

• Superior Height or diameter
• Advanced age
• Rare or unusual species
• Special community or historic significance

The Borough of Trees has many such Heritage trees which have never been identified or listed. Students can play an important part in locating and preserving these special trees by searching in town and documenting them in words & pictures.

The Heritage Tree Hunt will help foster an appreciation of trees, and promote public awareness that heritage trees are living treasures and a vital community asset.

Help take care of your community forest!

The Hunt For Heritage Trees 2009

SUBMISSION RULES

1. To be considered, candidate trees must grow within Borough limits and meet at least one of the following criteria:
   
   • Possess unusual size, age, species significance or other characteristic that contributes to its heritage status. A grove or windbreak grouping of trees also qualifies.
   • Be involved in local history in some way, such as located on an historic site like Borough Hall, or contribute to the significance of a site.
   
   
2. In the picture frame area of the attached entry form draw or place a photograph of your candidate for Rutherford Heritage Tree.
   
3. Try to identify and measure the tree, and tell us why your tree is a candidate by writing a short description of the tree and your reasons. Include any stories or comments about the candidate tree. If you cannot identify it then give it a name. Please give the best possible information on the street address or location of the tree.
   
4. Please do not trespass on private property without the owner’s permission. If your candidate tree is on private property then describe, draw, or photograph it from the street or sidewalk.
   
5. All entries must be submitted to your teacher by Arbor Day, Friday, April 24. Students may enter as many trees as they wish.

Parents are encouraged to participate and assist their children in the Hunt.

Winners selected will be trees most outstanding in all or some of the criteria, to be announced at a Borough Council meeting, and their nominators given Commendation Awards. All entries will go into the 2009 Book Of Trees for permanent display at the Rutherford Library.

By the submission of a nomination for the Rutherford Heritage Tree Hunt, you authorize the Borough of Rutherford to use your images and/or artwork, without compensation, for the sole purpose of promoting and documenting the trees of Rutherford.

HINTS

Where to find special trees in Rutherford:

Many different kinds of trees grow in the Borough of Trees. Some are native to our area, planted by accident when birds or animals carried their seeds here, and some were brought and planted by people. Heritage trees can be found in Borough parks like Memorial, Sunset, and Lincoln Parks, as well as along sidewalks and in front and back yards.

Here are some websites that will help you to learn about and identify our trees:

http://www.njstf.org/ go to LINKS
http://treegrowersdiary.com/tree_id.html

Have fun, but please, do not ever trespass on private property to find your tree!

 Click here to open and print the Art Entry Form

TAKING TREE MEASUREMENTS

Three measurements are used in nominating heritage trees: trunk circumference, tree height, and average crown spread.

Circumference
Measure the distance around the tree trunk with a string or tape measure at 4.5 feet above the ground.

Height
One quick way to estimate height is to hold a stick at its base vertically, making sure that the length of the stick above your hand equals the distance from your hand to your eye. Staying on ground level, move away from the tree while sighting the trunk base above your hand. Stop when the top of the stick is level with the top of the tree. You should be looking over your hand at the base of the tree and, moving only your eyes, looking over the top of your stick at the top of your tree. Measure how far you are from the tree and that measurement - in feet - is the tree's height.

Another way is to just hold out the stick or pencil and move toward or away from the tree until the top of the pencil is lined up with the tree’s highest point and the bottom of the pencil lines up with the spot below that highest point. Then turn your hand so that the pencil is “laid down” on the ground, keeping the bottom at the same point. Visually mark the location where the top of the pencil now is found on the ground out away from the tree (a friend can help do this). Tree height should be equivalent to the distance from the pencil bottom spot to the new pencil top spot, as long as that point is at a right angle to you.

A third way to estimate height is to tie a ribbon or cord around the tree trunk at 1.3 meters. With a meter stick, move away from the tree to a distance that allows you to see the entire tree. Count the number of centimeters the tree covers (from A to C on the drawing) and the number of centimeters from the ground to the ribbon (from A to B on the drawing).

Tree Height (m) = (Cm representing tree) / (Cm representing 1.3 meter mark) x 1.3 m

Example: if the tree covers 80 centimeters on the meter stick, and the ribbon height covers 8 centimeters, the estimated height of the tree is 13 meters.

Crown or Canopy Width
To find the width of the canopy or crown, measure the distance between any two points along the drip line of the tree. The drip line is the outline on the ground of the outermost leaves of the crown.

It is most accurate to take two measurements, one at the widest spread (C to D) and one at right angles to that (A to B). The crown width is the average of the two measurements.

The distance (A to B) + (C to D) / 2 = average width.

For more information see:
American Forests Measuring Guide
Virginia Big Tree Circumference Guide
Texas Tree Guide