Maryland State Champion White Oak, Cecil County
Maryland State Champion White Oak, Cecil County

For information on how to register a big tree, contact John Bennett at mdbigtreeprogram@aol.com, or call 410-287-5980.

The text and photographs appearing on this website remain the sole property of the contributing author/photographer. They may be downloaded and used for non-commercial forestry-related educational and outreach purposes. Credit must be given to the individual author / photographer, if named, and to the Maryland Big Tree Program.

What's New
Sunday, September 30, 2018
John Bennett, Volunteer Coordinator
Please change my contact number to 610-467-1247. The old number, 410-287-5980, is no longer active.
more

Maryland’s first forester

Fred Besley
Fred Besley

Fred Besley was Maryland’s first forester, serving from 1906 to 1942. He developed the formula used today to measure trees:


Circumference in inches +
Height in feet +
¼ of the average crown spread =
TOTAL POINTS

MD Association of Forest Conservancy

Mel Noland, Steve Koehn
Mel Noland, left
Steve Koehn, right

Mel Noland was President of the MD Association of Forest Conservancy District Boards 2004-2010. Under his leadership, the Maryland Big Tree Program moved from the Department of Natural Resources Forest Service to the volunteers of the local Forestry Boards where it thrives today. Money from his memorial fund sponsors this web site.

Steve Koehn, MD State Forester “On behalf of the Maryland Forest Service, I am pleased to support this web site and the Maryland Big Tree Program. I salute the many volunteers who are promoting this and other forestry programs in MD.”