Ar Forestry Commission Recognizes Champion Mulberry Tree at Fountain Hill

Those pictured here, with the Champion Arkansas Mulberry Tree and stone are: Jody Perritt, Jerry Lynn, Beverly Harville, Mike Harville, Keith Breshears, and Bobby Linder.

HAMBURG, ARK. – The Champion Mulberry Tree is located in Fountain Hill at the home of Mike and Beverly Harville, and is a new recipient of a Champion Tree monument stone delivered by Arkansas Forestry Commission (AFC) personnel on March 25th. This 90+ year old tree (estimated age) stands 70 feet tall, stretches 294 inches in circumference, and is 78 feet across in crown spread. The mulberry joins 118 known Champion Trees across Arkansas.

The grandchildren of Beverly and Mike
Harville with the Champion Tree

The AFC Champion Tree Program recognizes the largest tree of each species, and in some cases – through a partnership with the Ross Foundation – provides stone monuments to commemorate the sites of known Champion Trees.  Mike’s aunt, Gwen Chadwick, was a resident of the home as a child, and remembers when the mulberry tree was only a small sapling that grew from the family’s chicken coop in the backyard. Gwen is 90 years old, which provides Mike and Beverly with a sound estimate for calculating the tree’s age. Mike and Beverly have lived at the residence for 38 years.

The mulberry is a native Arkansas tree species and grows throughout the state. It is the only Champion Tree currently located in Ashley County. Beverly describes the mulberry as a great shade and climbing tree for the many generations of children in the Harville family. Residents may visit the tree and its monument by appointment, only (please contact the Ashley County AFC Crew by calling: 870-364-3524).

Champion Trees are interesting because they are all unique in species, size, and shape. Not all Champion Trees are necessarily giants, rather they are large, wide, or “champion-like” for their respective species characteristics. Landowners may nominate any tree as a Champion. Trees are then measured by AFC Officials according to a “Bigness Index,” which is found with the following formula:
Circumference in inches + height in feet + ¼ the average spread in feet = Bigness Index. The Champion Mulberry Tree has a Bigness Index of 383.

All Arkansas Champion Trees are listed at the AFC website at www.forestry.arkansas.gov. Champion Tree Nomination forms may be obtained from local AFC offices, and from the AFC website.

The mission of the Arkansas Forestry Commission is to protect Arkansas’s forests, and those who enjoy them, from wildland fire and natural hazards while promoting rural and urban forest health, stewardship, development, and conservation for all generations of Arkansans. To report wildfires, call 1-800-468-8834. To report prescribed burns, call 1-800-830-8015.