Forestry Board Seeks Nominations For

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Contact: Joe Keyser, 240-777-7700
Joe Howard, 301-585-8818

For Immediate Release: August 7, 2000

FORESTRY BOARD SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR "BIG TREE CONTEST"

The Montgomery County Forestry Board is currently soliciting nominations for its sixth bi-annual Big Tree Contest. The contest is part of the Forestry Board's efforts to promote conservation and create awareness of the County's forest resources.

Results of the 1998 contest were published in the Register of Champion Trees, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1999, which lists the oldest and largest trees for 111 species and features photos of ten particularly impressive ones. Seventeen new species were added in that contest, and 13 previous champions were unseated by newly discovered trees. Montgomery County is home to ten of the Maryland State champions, including the red maple, the County's official tree.

This year's contest will include several new species, including: green ash, apple, pignut hickory, paw paw, persimmon, and black willow. The Forestry Board would like to encourage nominations for these as well as any other trees that residents think may be the largest of their species in the County.

Nominating forms can be obtained at any County library or nature center, at the Lathrop Smith Environmental Education Center, or by calling the local office of the Maryland Forestry Division in Woodbine at 301-854-6060. Nominations should be sent to David Plummer at the Maryland Forestry Division, 17400 Annapolis Rock Road, Woodbine, MD 21797.

Nominations will be accepted through November 30, 2000. Owners and nominators of new champion trees will be listed in the 2001 Register of Champion Trees and will be honored as part of the Forestry Board's Arbor Day celebration in April 2001.

For more information, contact Joe Howard at 301-585-8818.

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