Arborists hope Columbia bur oak can top champion Kentucky tree

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Thirty years ago, Bill Spradley was a freshman at the University of Missouri and became one of countless mid-Missourians to fall in love with the massive bur oak tree, the state's champion in McBaine.

When he came back in 2006 to visit the tree with his son, Kyle, a Missouri agricultural journalism student, Spradley said he was saddened to see the great oak in decline, with dead branches and possible rot.

"I thought, 'Somebody's got to do something,"' said Spradley, a certified arborist who received his forestry degree from the university in 1982. "This tree has survived so many stresses, and it's not going strong anymore. It's only a few points away from being the national champion. We have a treasure here. In Missouri, this is our hope."

To help the ailing tree, Spradley began communication with horticulturist Chris Starbuck and the landowner, John Sam Williamson. Spradley also brought out a crew from his Kirkwood firm Trees, Forests and Landscapes Inc.

The company donated equipment and labor for about eight hours recently to implement Spradley's five-step health plan to get the oak back in top condition.

The team pruned away the deadwood and gave the tree a nutrient boost with two specialized fertilizers. Workers also drilled holes in the ground surrounding the tree to aerate the soil that had been packed down by cars cutting across the dirt in front of the tree instead of staying on the paved road.

"The driving really has been a problem in the past 20 years," Williamson said. "It's one of my pet peeves."

Spradley said the compacted soil contributes to root rot, so the aeration should help. The crew also added wood chips around the tree to prevent further compaction.

The tree, which stands at least 90 feet tall, was estimated by the University of Missouri Forestry Club in the 1950s to be 300 years old, Williamson said, making the tree about 350 years old today. Starbuck said estimates range from 200 to 400 years old.

If the club's estimate is accurate, the bur oak was already more than 100 years old when the Williamson family bought the land it stands on in 1835, survived the Civil War and saw the passing of Lewis and Clark on the nearby Missouri River. It was Boone County's "Liberty Tree" for the bicentennial celebration in 1976, Williamson said, and it survived months in feet of standing water after the Flood of '93.

"People have parties out here, and I don't mind sharing it as long as people pick up after themselves," Williamson said. "I know several generations of MU students have enjoyed it."

The McBaine tree is only two points away from the national champion bur oak in Paris, Ky. According to the American Forests National Big Tree Registry, the Kentucky tree hasn't been measured since 1980, and Williamson said he is hopeful new measurements taken this year of both trees will place Missouri at the top.

Along with trimming deadwood away, some thin branches were taken to graft to saplings so the oak's genetics can be passed on to other Missouri trees.

"It's a way to perpetuate the genotype, which we want to preserve," Starbuck said. "It could be that this tree's progeny will live for another thousand years."