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The massive live oak was added to the National Register of Champion Trees in 2019. It is the largest known tree of its species. This tree is recognized not only for its size but also the critical ecosystem services that it provides such as food and shelter for wildlife, its water purification abilities, and its role in absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing carbon in its wood.
Never have I come across a live oak so perfectly shaped and healthy at such an advanced age.
Depending on the camera and angle the tree appears even larger than its massive size. Here I look back toward one of the 1970s-era buildings behind the enormous tree.
On closer inspection one sees why Village Sentinel has become the largest of its species. The tree has been engineered with steel cables to keep its low-hanging appendages from collapsing under their own weight.
To get a feel for the real scale of Village Sentinel you need to lie in the grass below the tree and look up (below).
Above: A portrait of the Village Sentinel tree in Waycross, Georgia.
Above and Below: Above, the green steel wire is the lightning rod. Other steel rods keep one large section of trunk from falling under its own weight. Below, an individual limb is supported with another steel cable.
Village Sentinel stands 78 feet tall, has a circumference of 440 inches (36.66 feet) or about 11¼ meters. The tree's crown is what is really impressive. The crown spread is 161 feet giving Village Sentinel a total point score of 558 points. By comparison Florida's taller Cellon Oak only scores in the 520s because its crown is not as large or symmetrical.
Village Sentinel is also the only large tree I've photographed this year that has its own lightning rod. In the image above the arborists that care for the tree have allowed it to spread over sidewalks, park benches, and buildings. The amazing care given Village Sentinel has given this tree an advantage over some other giants.
So why care about the great trees. For me Champion Trees represent some hope for our future. Hope that was dashed over the past 4 years as populism and right-wing fanaticism overtook the American psyche (and government). In 2021 it feels like we might be getting a reprieve from social and political craziness proffered by far right fascists, but we constantly hear rumors of their return. So an afternoon with one of these trees (that was by-the-way alive during the signing of our nation's constitution), offers me hope that we'll survive today's threats to our climate and democracy too.
That this Champion Tree lives in Georgia is gravy. Georgia saved us in November 2020, and so might the great trees sometime in the future.
There are several plaques under the tree that were placed starting in the 1960s. Each is interesting in its own way. In 1967 Village Sentinel was the #3 tree in Georgia. It has moved up the list as others have died or been damaged by storms or human encroachment.
A sign in front of the Baptist Village gate announces that Village Sentinel is the largest live oak in Georgia. They need a new sign to announce the tree's prominence in 2021.
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