Winners of Big Tree Contest in Yellow River State Forest announced

The winners of the Friends of Yellow River State Forest “Biggest Tree in the Forest” Contest have been announced. Those winners include the following:

Armund and Laurie Bartz of New Albin won the Maple division, finding a tree with a circumference of 138 inches in the Paint Rock Unit, Mississippi Trail. Armund Bartz is pictured in the photo above. He works in the Natural Resource field, and he said this was the largest sugar maple he has ever seen in the Driftless region.

Paul and Joan Burns of Iowa City won the Oak division, finding a Red Oak with a circumference of 170 inches in the Luster Heights Unit. Joan Burns is pictured in the photo below.

Theo Marcu and his grandmother, Dana Dotzenrod, found a White Pine in the Little Paint Campground with a circumference of 101 inches. Theo, who is pictured in the photo at center, is two years old and is the son of Ted Marcu and Jess Tranauskus of Decorah.

There were no entries in the Cottonwood or Cedar tree divisions of the contest.

For the contest, the diameter of the trees was measured three feet up from the ground. Winners receive a Friends of Yellow River State Forest t-shirt and two free nights camping, plus bragging rights. The contest was designed for visitors to explore Yellow River State Forest during autumn.