The Stagg Tree, officially the Amos Alonzo Stagg Tree and formerly known as the Day Tree, is a
giant sequoia
''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...
in
Alder Creek Grove
Alder Creek Grove is a giant sequoia grove located both on private land and within the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the western Sierra Nevada of California. The grove is spread out over approximately of land and contains 483 giant sequoias ...
in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's
Sierra Nevada mountains
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Cars ...
. It is the
fifth largest tree in the world and the tallest giant sequoia south of
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincoln ...
in
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing ...
. Stagg features the second largest footprint of any living giant sequoia, measuring in circumference at ground level, and second only to
Boole
George Boole (; 2 November 1815 – 8 December 1864) was a largely self-taught English mathematician, philosopher, and logician, most of whose short career was spent as the first professor of mathematics at Queen's College, Cork in Irel ...
. The tree is believed to be over 3,000 years old, making it one of the
oldest living giant sequoias.
Stagg has sat upon the private land of the Rouch family, making it the largest privately owned tree in the world. However, it remains freely accessible to the public.
History
The tree was renamed in 1960 after
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...
(1862-1965), a pioneering football coach at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
who spent much of the last several decades of his life coaching in
Stockton in the nearby
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...
.
In 1993, a group of climbers scaled the full height of the tree and discovered a hollow room inside its trunk near the very top.
On September 17, 2019, the
Save the Redwoods League
Save the Redwoods League is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore coast redwood (''Sequoia sempervirens'') and giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees through the preemptive purchase of development rights ...
announced it had agreed to pay the Rouch family $15.6 million by December 31 to formally protect Stagg and the
surrounding grove. Once the deal is finalized, the League plans to spend another $4.75 million on ecosystem studies and restoration work before handing the grove over to the
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
to be incorporated into
Giant Sequoia National Monument
The Giant Sequoia National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the southern Sierra Nevada in eastern central California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Sequoia National Forest and includes 38 of the 3 ...
.
[ It will then become the largest giant sequoia on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, edging out the ]Boole Tree
The Boole Tree is a giant sequoia in the Giant Sequoia National Monument, Fresno County, California. The Boole Tree is the eighth tallest sequoia in the world and is the largest in terms of base circumference at 112 feet. It is estimated to be mo ...
of Converse Basin Grove
Converse Basin Grove is a grove of giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees in the Giant Sequoia National Monument in the Sierra Nevada, in Fresno County, California, 5 miles (8 km) north of General Grant Grove, just outside ...
, the current largest on forest service land.
The Stagg tree was saved from the Castle Fire
SQF Complex or Sequoia Complex was a complex of two of the August 2020 California lightning wildfires, burning in Sequoia National Forest and adjacent areas. Sparked on August 19, it included the Castle and Shotgun fires. As of January 5, 2021, ...
in 2020 by a sprinkler system set by firefighters.
Dimensions
L. Day noticed the tree in 1931 and, with help from two others, made measurements of it in 1932. Wendell Flint, the author (with photographer Mike Law) of ''To Find the Biggest Tree'', measured it in 1977 as follows:
See also
* List of largest giant sequoias
The giant sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') is the world's most massive tree, and arguably the largest living organism on Earth. It is neither the tallest extant species of tree (that distinction belongs to the coast redwood), nor is it the ...
* List of individual trees
The following is a list of notable trees. Trees listed here are regarded as important or specific by their historical, national, locational, natural or mythological context. The list includes actual trees located throughout the world, as well as ...
* List of oldest trees
This is a list of the oldest-known trees, as reported in reliable sources. Definitions of what constitutes an individual tree vary. In addition, tree ages are derived from a variety of sources, including documented "tree-ring" (dendrochronologica ...
References
External links
Composite image of the Stagg Tree; Copyright: photographer James BalogAerial footage of the Stagg Tree; Copyright: Animal Planet, Redwood Kings, 2013.
Natural history of Tulare County, California
Individual giant sequoia trees
History of Tulare County, California
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