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Witness trees

Richard Stephen Haynes
/
WikiMedia Commons

Trees were critical in the mapping of our nation.

Starting in 1785, surveyors with the federal General Land Office began mapping the vast public lands of our young country. Surveyors created rectangular grids of townships and sections that ultimately covered 1.5 billion acres in 30 states. These were the foundation of our land ownership records.

At first, surveyors marked these boundaries with “corner monuments” using wooden posts, piles of stones and even wagon axles, things that could be scattered or decompose. If those corner markers became obscured or lost, confusion and disputes over land ownership would result.

So, they began to use nearby living trees as corner markers, which served as longer-term “witnesses” to their boundaries.

In their records, surveyors identified the tree’s species and noted its compass bearing, its diameter and its distance from the marker. They also cut away a patch of bark to inscribe the wood beneath it with the township and range number.

They did a good job of selecting durable trees, because some witness trees have lasted for over two centuries.

And, there’s another meaning to witness trees. Every tree is a witness, because the width of its rings is a testimonial to the dynamics of the environment around it.

Dr. Nalini Nadkarni is an emeritus professor of both The Evergreen State College and the University of Utah, one of the world’s leading ecologists and a popular science communicator. Dr. Nadkarni’s research and public engagement work is supported by the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. @nalininadkarni
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