PRINT5 Things: About the trees of Columbia
We speak for the trees of Columbia in this 5 Things
April 12, 2012 | 12:00 a.m. CST
FREE TREE
To celebrate Arbor Day on Saturday, the City of Columbia TreeKeeper volunteers and Columbia Parks & Recreation will give away 1,000 tree seedlings from 8 a.m. until noon in the parking lot of the Area and Recreation Center. Columbians can get up to two seedlings each.
MIZ-LOTS OF TREES
More than 6,000 trees are rooted at the MU campus, which includes the university’s tallest tree, a pin oak standing more than 100 feet north of Schlundt Hall and east of Memorial Union. Can we get a zipline network, please? Think: Truman the Flying
Tiger Tours.
I LIKE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME BIG TREE
Located just south of Columbia, near McBaine, a 350-year-old bur oak is affectionately referred to simply as The Big Tree. The tree stands majestically at nearly 100 feet tall and has 6,839 fans on Facebook, or four times that of Vox. Please like us.
MONEY GROWS ON TREES
In 2010, a dozen trees had signs that showed their yearly monetary net economic value to the community based on the trees’ species, diameter and the land around it. The most profitable tree at the park is a silver oak, yielding $425 a year. Tree-ching.
TREE CLIMBING LIKES IT'S MY JOB
Columbian Ann Koeing, 39, has competed four times at the International Tree Climbing Competition. The certified arborist placed 14th out of 19 at the 2007 world finals, and her fastest 40-foot climb using a double-climbing line clocks in at 23.9 seconds.
