Saturday, September 2, 2017

Heritage Trees - Living Links to our History

I was out driving a week ago and I came to a stretch of gravel road lined by big beautiful trees. A sign near the start of the trees stated it was a Heritage Tree - Avenue -1947. It also had a website address on it. This piqued my curiosity but I was on my way to a wedding so I had little time to dilly dally on this lovely sun dappled lane. I drove slowly down the avenue, soaking in the tranquility of the short journey and made a mental note to self to look this place up later.


The photo does not do this place justice.

The following day....

The website on the sign brought me to the Alberta Heritage Tree Foundation.  The goal of the foundation is to preserve and celebrate heritage trees. Heritage trees can be individual trees, avenues, shelter belts, groves, tree gardens, or arboretum and sites of botanical or ecological interest. The age, size, shape, special interest, location and/or history can all be virtues of a heritage tree.

Since the inception of the project in May 2006, over 900 nominations were received, 600 trees were verified, and 450 trees qualified for Heritage Tree recognition. A plaque has been placed either on or near each tree.

I wanted to know more about heritage trees, and the avenue I found. The Foundation published Heritage Trees of Alberta in 2008, it sold out but a copy was donated to every library in Alberta. (Awesome! Support your local library!). It contains 300 tree locations, pictures, maps, and many stories of these heritage trees. The avenue I stumbled across had no story in the book and is listed as containing 'various species'. Still it felt like a special place.

 You never know where a road will take you or what you might find. I never knew about the heritage tree project until a week ago. I will be keeping my eyes open for plaques and I will likely search out some of the interesting trees I read about in the book.

Thanks for stopping by, I enjoyed branching out into new material for this post and now I must leaf you. 🍁




17 comments:

  1. Jeez, even TREES have their own websites these days!

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  2. That's a nice stand of trees! It's great what you can find by just by turning left instead of right. There are seven Heritage Trees here in Medicine Hat, all within walking distance of my place.

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    1. That's really cool Michael, I had a feeling you'd know about heritage trees! 😊

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  3. That's a great group! I'll have to look for that book.

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  4. That's a great project to hear about. I think many people take trees and old forests for granted, they are magical beautiful places and deserve to be preserved and admired!

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    1. I agree Rain!! There are some neat stories behind some of these trees.

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  5. There was a heritage tree not far from where we live in Calgary, standing all alone between two lanes of a major thoroughfare. It looked so out of place with all those cars zipping by. Before the road the land was a ranch and the tree stood in the front yard. Sadly it died a few years back and was removed.

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    1. They took all the trees
      Put 'em in a tree museum
      And they charged the people
      A dollar and a half just to see 'em

      Don't it always seem to go
      That you don't know what you've got
      Till it's gone
      They paved paradise
      And put up a parking lot

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  6. Have you seen the heritage tree in downtown Edmonton. It's a chestnut tree. It's just south of Jasper Ave and either 105 or 106th Street. Horse Chestnut trees are not supposed to grow here. It was planted from a cutting from around Vienna and placed in a front yard. Actually several were planted and only this one survived. Now there are office towers all around it but the tree was saved (no easy task) and now it thrives. I'm told that people try to get the chestnuts when they fall so that they can plant their own from this hardy tree. Sam Holowach planted this tree in his yard in in 1920.

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    1. Hey Glen! I haven't seen that one, I haven't spent a lot of time in Edmonton. That's really awesome that they saved the tree, usually development and progress win out. Thanks for the comment, I like the story of this tree!

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  7. Where was this trail head - what city? I am trying to reignite the heritage project in Alberta with a number of other arborists.

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    1. Hello! It is just outside of Markerville, AB. I believe it is part of River Road but I can find out for sure.

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    2. There is another heritage tree in the cemetery at a church in Pine Lake as well.

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  8. Where was this trail head - what city? I am trying to reignite the heritage project in Alberta with a number of other arborists.

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