Big Trees of Los Alamos County 2013

By Dorothy Hoard, July 2013

Measuring a big Douglas Fir.
Measuring a big Douglas Fir.

This is a sad list to compile. Beginning in 2005 an intrepid group of interested people located big trees in Los Alamos County, excluding Los Alamos National Laboratory lands. They found the biggest evergreens in Cañon de Valle and at Cañada Bonita. The Las Conchas Fire in 2011 killed most of those trees and many of the second and third runners up. This list seems a pale shadow of our previous champions, but they are our trees to love.

Due to the elevation of the county, several species, while present and true trees at lower elevations, become little more than shrubs here. Thus we eliminated several from the big tree search. Gambel oak grows as a tree in Los Alamos Canyon but the Lab closed the area to the public. (There are nice specimens in Frijoles Canyon just downstream of the Falls Trailhead in Sandoval County.) We had a little grove of hawthorn trees at Upper Crossing in Frijoles Canyon; the Los Conchas Fire incinerated them. We should have corkbark fir but no one has reported one yet. The Fremont Cottonwoods at Ashley Pond and in White Rock are planted, but there may be some natives along the Rio Grande. I left in hackberry trees, although ours are pretty wimpy; also boxelder, even though we could not find a specimen with only one trunk.

We use methodology developed by the non-profit group American Forests to compare trees. This group maintains the National Registry of Big Trees. The State Forestry Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department maintains New Mexico’s Big Tree Program. We provide data from these two lists in the description of each tree species. The American Forests Big Tree formula is as follows:

Total Points=circumference(in.)+height(ft)+[average canopy(ft)/4]

For each tree we give circumference in inches (C), height in feet (H), and average canopy crown in feet (Cr). It is difficult to find many of these trees without a GPS, so I list the UTMs, NAD 83.

As always, if you find a bigger tree, PLEASE let us know!

 

Evergreen Trees

Alligator Juniper
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Alligator Juniper, Juniperus deppeana

Los Alamos County Champion
C=59 in., H=24 ft, Cr=20 ft. Points: 88
Location: Burnt Mesa, Bandelier National Monument
Easting 13 0380690/Northing 3963428
Found by D. Hoard, 2010/04/21

State Champion: Grant County
C=220 in., H= 63 ft, Cr= 62 ft. Points: 299

National Champion: Prescott NF Arizona
C=311 in., H= 53 ft, Cr= 76 ft. Points: 383

One-seed Juniper
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One-seed Juniper, Juniperus monosperma

Los Alamos County Champion
C=146 in., H= 45 ft, Cr= 40 ft. Points: 201
Location: White Rock Canyon, Pajarito Springs.
Easting 13 0391848/Northing 3962866
Found by Yvonne Delamater, 2009/10/29

State Champion: Jicarilla Mountains, Lincoln County
C=168 in., H= 29 ft, Cr= 28 ft. Points: 204

National Champion: Coconino NF Arizona
C=130 in., H=28 ft, Cr= 28 ft. Points: 165

Rocky Mountain Juniper
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Rocky Mountain Juniper, Juniperus scopulorum

Los Alamos County Champion
C=78 in., H= 37 ft, Cr= 28 ft. Points: 122
Location: Private home, Los Alamos
Easting 13 0382543/Northing 3971521
Found by Dorothy Hoard, 2011/05/28

State Champion: Malpais Nat’l Mon, Cibola County
C=203 in., H= 18 ft, Cr= 31 ft. Points: 229

National Champion: Cache National Forest, Utah
C=284 in., H= 40 ft, Cr= 28 ft. Points: 331

Colorado Blue Spruce
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Colorado Blue Spruce, Picea pungens

Los Alamos County Champion
C=47 in., H= 85 ft, Cr= 24 ft. Points: 138
Location: Los Alamos private home
Easting 13 0381907/Northing 3971555
Found by Jane Sherwood, 2011/03/01

State Champion: none listed

National Champion: Ashey National Forest, Utah
C=190 in., H= 129 ft, Cr= 40 ft. Points: 331

Englemann Spruce
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Englemann Spruce, Picea englemannii

Los Alamos County Champion
C=108 in., H=138 ft., Cr=28 ft. Points=253
Location: Cañon de Valle
Easting 13 0375431/Northing 3969068
Found by Roy Greiner, 2008/05/18

State Champion: none listed

National Champion: Boise, Idaho
C=292 in., H= 181 ft, Cr= 52 ft. Points: 486

Pinyon Pine
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Pinyon Pine, Pinus edulis

Los Alamos County Champion
C=71 in., H= 34 ft, Cr= 32 ft. Points: 113
Location: White Rock, north rim of Potrillo wash
Easting 389050/Northing 3963664
Found by Paul Arendt, 2011/06/26

State Champion: Cuba, Sandoval County
C=142 in., H= 51 ft, Cr= 48 ft. Points: 205

National Champion: Kaibab Nat’l Forest, Arizona
C=104 in., H= 41 ft, Cr= 48 ft. Points: 157

Ponderosa Pine
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Ponderosa Pine, Pinus ponderosa

Los Alamos County Champion
C=138 in., H= 133 ft, Cr= 56 ft. Points: 285
Location: Cañon de Valle , high on north slope
Easting 13 0374068/Northing 3970445
Found by Roy Greiner, 2008/05/26

State Champion: Catron County
C=193 in., H= 114 ft, Cr= 58 ft. Points: 321

National Champion: Lolo National Forest, Montana
C=246 in., H= 194 ft, Cr= 64 ft. Points: 456

Douglas Fir
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Douglas Fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii

Los Alamos County Champion
C=174 in., H=143 ft, Cr=48 ft. Points: 327
Location: Canada Bonita
Easting 13 0374614/Northing 3974633
Found by Chick Keller, 2010/08/08

State Champion: Otero County
C=222 in, H= 131 ft, Cr=45 ft. Points: 364

National Champion: Olympic NF, WA
D=505 in, H=281 ft, Cr=71 ft. Points: 803.7

White Fir
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White Fir, Abies concolor

Los Alamos County Champion
C=122 in., H= 117 ft, Cr= 40 ft. Points 249
Location: Downhill off Canada Bonita Trail
Easting 13 0374492/Northing 3973391
Found by Dorothy Hoard, 2010/08/08

State Champion: Village of Cochiti, Sandoval County
C=180 in, H=156 ft, Cr=41 ft. Points= 346

National Champion: Uinta National Forest, UT
C=244, H=101, Cr=56 Points=359

Limber Pine
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Limber Pine, Pinus flexilis

Los Alamos County Champion
C=138 in., H= 85 ft, Cr= 44 ft. Points: 234
Location: Grant Road near cemetery
Easting 13 0382591/Northing 3974032
Found by Chick Keller, 2013-07-14

State Champion: Sandoval County
C=122 in., H= 116 ft, Cr= 30 ft. Points: 245

National Champion: Uinta National Forest, Utah
C=275 in., H= 62 ft, Cr= 48 ft. Points: 349

Southwestern White Pine
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Southwestern White Pine, Pinus strobiformis

Los Alamos County Champion
C=101 in., H= 110 ft, Cr= 36 ft. Points: 220
Location: Pueblo Canyon Quemazon Communities
Easting 13 0380207/Northing 3972592
Found by Curtt Ammerman 2011-06-26

State Champion: location not listed
C=186.5 in., H= 129 ft, Cr= 46 ft. Points: 327

National Champion = New Mexico champion

 

Deciduous Trees

Boxelder
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Boxelder, Acer negundo

Los Alamos County Champion
C= 56 in., H= 52 ft, Cr=48 ft. Points: 120
Location: Entrance to Bandelier
Easting 13 0384780/Northing 3962062
Found by Dorothy Hoard, 2010/06/26

State Champion: none listed

National Champion: Washtenaw, Michigan
C=260 in., H=76 ft, Cr=68 ft. P: 353

Netleaf Hackberry
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Netleaf Hackberry, Celtis reticulata

Los Alamos County Champion
C=55 in., H= 24 ft, Cr= 28 ft. Points: 86
Location: White Rock Canyon.
Easting 13 0393443/Northing 3964543
Found by Becky Shankland, 2010-11-10

State Champion: Catron County
C=180 in., H= 69 ft, Cr= 75 ft. Points: 268

National Champion = New Mexico Champion

Narrow-leaf Cottonwood
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Narrow-leaf Cottonwood, Populus angustifolia

Los Alamos County Champion
C=121 in., H=100 ft, Cr= 20 ft. Points: 226
Location: Los Alamos Canyon upstream from West Road
Easting 13 0379010/Northing 3971408
Found by Yvonne Delamater, 2009/10/07

State Champion: none listed

National Champion: Carbon County, Montana
C=169 in., H=78 ft, Cr=64 ft. Points: 263

Quaking Aspen
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Quaking Aspen, Populus tremuloides

Los Alamos County Champion
C= 73 in., H= 97 ft, Cr= 16 ft. Points: 174
Location: Los Alamos Canyon,
Easting 13 0373765/Northing 3975402
Found by Yvonne Delamater, 2009/10/07

State Champion: none listed

National Champion: Coronado National Forest, Arizona
C=152 in., H=130 ft, C=36 ft. Points=291
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