Taylor said the tallest sugar pines he’s found tend to be on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and up into Oregon where there isn’t as heavy of a snow load. “Given that we know the climate is changing, what can we learn from these trees that have been around for literally hundreds of years, about previous such shifts in the air temperature or the water cycle, or any other information we need to know?” Kennedy said. Kennedy is studying environmental studies at University of Nevada, Reno but has been helping Taylor since he was 13 years old. The tree died in 2014 from bark beetles and a fungus attack and was cut down in fear of it falling down on a nearby Girl Scout Camp. The famous naturalist John Muir had been pictured sitting at the base of the tree and Taylor said Muir claimed it was one of the biggest trees long before science was taking measurements. One example is the Whelan Tree, which was at one point the largest sugar pine standing at over 200 feet and about 600 years old. “Not all trees will get so old or so tall, but it is instructive to get a sense of their ‘potential.” “Tracking down these huge specimens also gives us a sense of possible sugar pine lifespan,” Gibbard added. “Just as we take interest in how octogenarians have thrived and what type of diet and lifestyle they have led to yield such robust health and longevity in our fellow humans, foresters and conservationists want to know what conditions produce the healthiest, most robust trees and ecosystems. “Finding the tallest, longest-lived specimens helps us understand what types of environmental conditions may favor optimal growth and longevity,” said Tressa Gibbard, program manager for SPF.

The foundation is excited to see the tree discoveries, which they say allows them to learn more about the sugar pine as a species. Taylor has been a longtime partner of the Sugar Pine Foundation, a South Lake Tahoe based nonprofit that is working to combat the impacts from bark beetles and blister rust. With the help of a partner, Duncan Kennedy, they go to those areas, which are oftentimes very remote, to confirm the size of a tree.

The maps he receives can be overlaid on Google Maps. Geological Survey and looks for where the tallest trees might be located. Taylor receives LiDAR data from NOAA as well as NASA and U.S. “I’m doing really accurate topographical or gray shade models for roads, landslides, basically mapping the geology.” “In my case, I’m looking for the tallest trees but also doing digital terrain models,” Taylor said.

Sugar pine