Talk:Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge

Tree death news articles
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"BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- At the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge, New Jersey -- they don't need stained glass to make ..."

"Towering Oak Tree that Has Been Basking Ridge Landmark for ... The Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church must now address how to cut back ."

Video: "SEPTEMBER 18, 2016, 10:50 AM| Basking Ridge, N.J., grew around a church that was built beside a tree 300 years ago. At that point the tree had already seen three centuries. But now experts say the oldest white oak in North America is destined to come down. Steve Hartman went "On the Road" to talk to a town filled with mourners."

"The 600-year-old white oak tree at New Jersey's Basking Ridge Presbyterian ... Residents of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, are mourning the ..."

"BERNARDS — Church officials have decided that the 600-year-old white oak tree that has called the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church ..."

"BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bernards Township's iconic symbol and ... "It is sad to say that the hope we all had for our Oak tree's future has not ..."

"In June, the venerable tree, which is located beside Basking Ridge ... Jean Baptist de Rochambeau marched past the great oak tree en route to ..."

"The obituary was written this summer for a white oak in Basking Ridge, which had seen a community effort to save the tree over the past few ..." The new biggest tree in New Jersey is identified as another white oak tree in the yard of the Sparta Historical Association of Sparta, New Jersey.

Sparta tree
For use in editing an article about the new largest tree in New Jersey on grounds of the Sparta Historical Society: "SPARTA -- In a race that is exceedingly slow -- reaching the heights on the list of largest trees in New Jersey -- there is now a new champion white oak and corresponding moves up the list for the down-list contenders.

"Ours will be around for a long time more," said Mary Ann Francisco, of the Sparta Historical Society, home to the second-largest white oak in New Jersey.

The obituary was written this summer for a white oak in Basking Ridge, which had seen a community effort to save the tree over the past few decades. Taking its place at the top of the white oak list is the Quercus Alba in the Friends Burial Ground in Salem.

Trees don't make the list based on age, but on a combination of measurements including height, size of the canopy and circumference of the tree at chest height (4.5 feet).

In the contest for white oak, the Salem tree scores 397 while the Sparta tree is 353.

State records show the tree in the yard at the Historical Society on Route 517 is 98 feet tall, with a crown of 103 feet and a circumference of 229 inches.

The Salem specimen is 103 feet tall, has a canopy of 104 feet and is 268 inches in circumference.

Joe Bennett, an assistant regional forester with the Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Forestry, is the coordinator of the state's list of biggest trees. He was given the position this spring and has been traveling the state confirming champions on the list and scrutinizing nominations.

That work has confirmed the dethroning of 13 champion trees on the new list, victims to natural causes, diseases or insects or being struck by lightning, a hazard of being the tallest around.

In fact, Francisco said that when Bennett attended a small "promotion" ceremony earlier this month, one of his recommendations was that the society look into some sort of lightning protection.

He also provided the society with a list of professional arborists to give the tree an occasional check-up.

"He told us we have a very healthy tree," said Francisco, a trustee of the society and its publicity chair.

The ceremony "was important for us to get recognition from the state," she said.

She said the society has not invested in a plaque to put on or near the tree. "One, we're non-profit so we don't have money," she said, "and second, we might have to get a new plaque when we become number one."

The tree has been aged at 365 years, meaning it was likely a tidbit forgotten by a squirrel in 1651, long before Dutch settlers would have put down their own roots in the area.

The tree was nearly 150 years old when the Van Kirk family built the house in the 1790s which now serves as the historical society's home. And it was 250 or so years old when two boys who lived in the home, posed for a picture beside the tree.

The state's updated "champions" list has 129 entries, including the Basking Ridge tree, but not all are the largest. Some of the entries are for second- and third-place trees.

On the list are eight champions which can be found in Sussex County along with two trees which stand in second place.

Bennett said anyone can nominate a tree by taking the proper measurements, along with identifying the species, and sending it to his office.

The trees are then assigned a point value using the formula of the circumference of trunk (in inches), plus the height of the tree, in feet, plus one-quarter the average crown spread, in feet. The total is the tree's points value.

Full instructions for nominations, as well as a complete list of large trees is available at: treeswww.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/forest/community/bigtree.html.

Bruce A. Scruton can also be contacted on Twitter: @brucescrutonNJH or by phone: 973-383-1224"