Big Trees of Los Alamos County

Text by Dorothy Hoard

Everyone loves the biggest and the best, and everyone feels compelled to make lists. Most states and many counties list their largest trees; Los Alamos County obviously needs to be competitive. We are asking for help in finding our biggest trees. Supersleuths Roy Greiner and Chick Keller have scoured our mountainsides. They've found excellent candidate trees. We still have undocumented species, and we challenge you woods wanderers to find bigger and better specimens.

Trees are measured at a standard breast height of 4.5 feet. Circumference is the easiest measurement to make, and we can easily convert to diameter. At PEEC, we have a pamphlet that shows how to estimate height, and a booklet that tells how to identify trees of Los Alamos County.

Los Alamos is a small county, but ranges in elevation from 5,400 to 11,000 feet, giving it much more diversity than one would expect in its 42 square miles. Unfortunataely, over one-third of that is within the Los Alamos National Laboratory secure area. The county extends from the north rim of Frijoles Canyon on the south to Garcia Canyon on the north; from the saddle above Camp May on the west to an illogical set of straight lines from the northeast corner to White Rock, then down the center of the Rio Grande to Frijoles Canyon on the southeast. Upper Frijoles Canyon from Upper Crossing to the Apache Springs Trail crossing is also in Los Alamos County.

Below is a list of the largest trees we have measured so far. CAN YOU TOP THIS?

We still need a pinyon, one-seed juniper (the common kind), white fir, corkbark fir, and boxelder. We also need a suitable prize for the winners.

In reporting a candidate tree, we need the species and UTMs (we use NAD27 but can convert). We will check it out. For more information or to report a big tree, please contact PEEC at Center@PajaritoEEC.org.

Photographs of Big Trees

Click for larger image. Alligator Juniper, Burnt Mesa.	Click for larger image. Douglas Fir, Cañon de Valle. Photo, Yvonne Delamater.
Click for larger image. Ponderosa Pine, Cañon de Valle.	Click for larger image. Southwestern White Pine, Cañon de Valle.